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Types of Farming:

(as it relates to growing food, not raising livestock)

1. Subsistence Farming - those who grow just enough food for themselves and their families, sometimes not enough to fee their family for the year
2. Sustainable Farming - a type of organic farming, being able to farm the same land repeatedly without depleting the nutrients of the land which can include a highly dense form of farming-growing more food in a smaller space, it is a method of farming that works with natural systems that exist rather than against them
3. Industrialized Farming (practices) - a form of farming that came about after WWII when chemicals replaced traditional farming practices, dung or composted fertilizer; crop rotation; wind breaks; and so forth, that have lead erosion and to other non-sustainable practices in an effort of maximizing profits over all else, especially the health of the land and the people who eat the food
4. Permaculture - Permanent Agriculture, a farming technique that combines organic and sustainable farming practices, among others that allow a farmers to continue farming indefinitely on the same land, a technique that combines many of the natural forms of farming: organic, sustainable, wind-breaks, composting, vermiculture, etc.
5. No-Till / No-Plowing Farming - a farming technique by which the land is not tilled and last years crop is allowed to decay, much the same way nature does by dropping leaves in the fall that builds a healthy soil
6. Crop Rotation Farming - a farming practice which rotates the crops grown on a plot of land to replenish nutrients, reduce insect damage or blight, this is a form of farming often incorporated with organic or other natural forms of farming and goes back to the begining of farming
7. CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) - organic methods of farming that are supported directly by the consumer who pays a yearly fee / membership and then receives regular deliveries of produce or other farm goods at harvest time
8. Terraced Farming - a type of hillside farming technique that creates stepped terraces that form flat areas and make use of land normally too steep to farm that also makes use of natural water flows that occur seasonally
9. Nature Farming - differs from other forms of farming in that it includes a spiritual component to help establish a "Paradise on Earth" free from poverty, disease and conflict
10. Slash and Burn - is an old from of framing where an area is cleared but cutting down the vegetation before it is burned, this is not a sustainable form of farming as the area needs to be abandoned after a short period and the process is repeated elsewhere
11. Shade or Forest Farming - where only a select few trees and underbrush are removed, to create enough of an opening in the canopy which allows light to filter down to the garden / farm below, this is often a sustainable form of farming where people and nature work in concert
12. Hydroponics - a system of raising plants without soil, roots are continuously bathed in a nutrient solution, this is not a sustainable form of farming as it relies heavily on chemicals that are easily dissolved in an aqueous solution which limits the type of nutrients a plant has access to, many minerals and micronutrients are not supplied to the plant
13. Stone Plot Farming - a type of farming that is practiced in arid areas, an area is cleared, compost is added to the soil, seeds or plants are added and a cover of small stones are added to reduce evaporation, this type of farming is not sustainable as plots needs to be abandoned and left fallow for several years before being used again

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