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Sharashkin, Leonid. The socioeconomic and cultural significance of

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interplanted with rows <strong>of</strong> rye. To maintain soil fertility, potatoes <strong>and</strong> rye switch places<br />

every year, <strong>and</strong> rye straw is used as mulch to add organic matter to the soil <strong>and</strong> to control<br />

weeds.<br />

Likewise, because <strong>of</strong> the small plot size, the annual <strong>and</strong> perennial plantings are usually<br />

highly integrated: the gardeners have no space so as to devote one patch <strong>of</strong> ground<br />

exclusively to an orchard, another exclusively to the vegetable beds, etc. On the contrary,<br />

annuals, shrubs <strong>and</strong> trees are planted together, <strong>and</strong> gardeners take care to position the trees<br />

in such a way so as not to shade other crops. Figure 5 shows a hedge <strong>of</strong> raspberry bushes<br />

alongside vegetable beds. In addition to producing harvests <strong>of</strong> raspberries, this low-maintenance<br />

“living fence” protects the garden from winds, attracts birds that control pests, <strong>and</strong><br />

keeps unwanted visitors out.<br />

Figure 4. An intensive potato/rye alley cropping. Photo 2004 by Alexey Kondaurov.<br />

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