Hidden in a small village in Marysville Victoria, southeastern Australia, is a magical world where the sculptor Bruno Torfs has 25 years contributing his work to combine the beauty of art with the beauty of nature around him. Born in South America, at age 15 his family moved to Europe in search of new opportunities.With frequent trips, sometimes alone and sometimes with his wife Marleen, to form the artist’s personality, which is reflected in the form of paintings and sculptures . After years of living like this, Bruno and his family decide to go to Australia to create a garden with sculptures that immediately became a permanent attraction. After finding the ideal site in the small village, it took a further five months preparing the park for opening to the public. Bruno began with just 15 sculptures and today you can find over 150 and he continues to add some from time to time. He has gone to live there with his family in the area of rainforest that he bought to live happily with their creations. Looks very Worthwhile.

There have been many different approaches to agroforestry influenced by environment, resources climate, timescale and levels of technology.  There are also many claims that ‘only method X is truly agroforestry’.  Personally I would say all approaches are welcome and can be studied for benefit.

We planted a small scale experimental plot at Tweed Horizons at Newtown St Boswells in the Scottish Borders in the 1990’s.  This is a steep hillside site where the intention is for the strips of woodland to provide shelter for livestock from summer heat and winter chill.  The woodland is rich in wild fruiting plants which were originally used as poultry habitats with an increasing element of self-feed.  As the trees mature they are also available for browsing as a top up feed to livestock when grass production falls in mid-summer and in winter.

Forestry Comissioner Sir Michael Strang-Steel opened the plot for us, and remarked that the original Ettrick Forest (the Wardenship of Sir Walter Scott) was itself agroforestry and that we were seeking to relearn ancient wisdom.  I’m inclined to agree.