LittleMissProcrastination

The book blurb: "Peter Andrews is a racehorse breeder and farmer credited with remarkable success in converting degraded, salt-ravaged properties into fertile, drought-resistant pastures. His methods are so at odds with conventional scientific wisdom that for 30 years he has been dismissed and ridiculed as a madman. He has faced bankruptcy and family break-up. But now, on the brink of ecological disaster, leading politicians, international scientists and businessmen are beating a path to his door as they grapple with how best to alleviate the affects of drought on the Australian landscape. 

Described as a man who reads and understands the Australian landscape better than most scientists, supporters of Peter Andrews claim he has done what no scientist ever thought to do — he has restored streams and wetlands to the way they were before European settlement interfered with them. The startling results of his natural sequence farming are said to have been achieved very cheaply, simply and quickly."

I find Peter Andrews to be didactic and opinionated. He seems to think that just by firmly stating his view, it becomes a fact. It becomes extremely irritating at times.

However, after incorporating his ideas on two, rural Australian properties, I am convinced of the effectiveness of his vision. Australia is not like European countries, and our heavy handed treatment of our land has brought it to the brink. The good news is it recovers very quickly, given the right treatment. Trees and shrubs are not 'woody weeds', riparian zones need protection from stock, and recharge areas allowed to re grow on slopes. I can also tell you it's a bloody wonderful feeling seeing land recover, and native flora and fauna return and flourish.