Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Zen crops

pre-emptive crop-circles
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Most ploughed fields are boring - lots of parallel lines.

But suppose we took a few very large boulders, and strategically pseudo-randomly strewed them over the surface[1]. Then when sowing the wheat[2], after doing the parallel strips, we took extra care to plough a circular set of furrows around these.

Then we'd have a zen field, somewhat reminiscent of a zen garden.

[1] One or two trees would be fine - in the UK some fields have these already. I like to think that the farmer is behaving like I am in my garden : "This plant shouldn't be here, but I like it too much to take it out."

[2] Or other cereal.

Loris, Nov 27 2015

Zen garden https://commons.wik...anJi-Dry_garden.jpg
scale up, substitute soil for sand [Loris, Nov 27 2015]

How Zen would it be... http://3.bp.blogspo...er-through-barn.jpg
...for the rocks to make their own patterns? [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 28 2015]


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Annotation:







       //[2] Or other cereal.// - Cheerios?
hippo, Nov 27 2015
  

       //Cheerios?//   

       If you can get them to grow.
Loris, Nov 27 2015
  

       A visual in this case, would be very helpful.
blissmiss, Nov 27 2015
  

       Actually on re-reading, perhaps using the phrase "Zen garden" would be helpful. <edit>
Loris, Nov 27 2015
  

       //in the UK some fields have these already// i.e. baked, widely known to exist, &c. &c.
pocmloc, Nov 27 2015
  

       //i.e. baked, widely known to exist, &c. &c.//   

       I don't think you understand how that works, pocmloc. Something isn't "widely known to exist" just because one of its components already exists.
Loris, Nov 27 2015
  

       But it's more than one component; many fields have trees, and the furrows bend around the tree as well as curling along the edge of the field &c.   

       And it's not just trees - plenty of fields have large boulders, or groups thereof, similarly positioned, which the plough furrows dutifully bend around.   

       In fact I wonder if it is the case, that zen gardening was invented by a Japanese student, going down at the end of their time at Corpus or Christ Church, and, on their return to the Orient, missing the characteristic landscape of their day-trips to the Cotswolds.
pocmloc, Nov 27 2015
  

       //But it's more than one component; many fields have trees, and the furrows bend around the tree as well as curling along the edge of the field &c.//   

       It is clear that furrows do already bend around obstructions, which are present in some fields already. However I've never seen what looks like a deliberate arrangement with the precisely crafted furrow which is essential to the form. In fact, in what I think of as the canonical style, parallel furrows run across the area - and specifically do not bend around the 'islands'.
When you consider that it's significant extra work to do that, it's not surprising that it doesn't happen often. I was, however, slightly surprised to find no images of that when I googled the obvious terms. The closest I see is a tea field, with large rows bending around multiple trees on a slope, but clearly functionally designed and only incidentally aesthetic.
  

       //In fact I wonder if it is the case, that zen gardening was invented by a Japanese student, going down at the end of their time at Corpus or Christ Church, and, on their return to the Orient, missing the characteristic landscape of their day-trips to the Cotswolds.//
Yeah, that's probably how it happened.
Loris, Nov 27 2015
  

       Thank you [Loris], now I get it. A perfectly peaceful bun for you.
blissmiss, Nov 28 2015
  

       I think you could grow crops in a rock garden with hydroponics.
travbm, Nov 28 2015
  

       // present in some fields already //   

       ... but only until we arrive with a spade and a Land Rover loaded with blasting gelatin and det cord.   

       Boulders, trees, derelict buildings, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, unique and irreplaceable patches of wildlife habitat ... now you see them, now you don't. Bits of endangered species can fall out of the sky up to three kilometers away. And those silly netting insect traps the blokes from the University left burn really, really well ...
8th of 7, Nov 28 2015
  

       Not exactly the same but if you google 'crop art japan' it's done with differently coloured rice varieties.
not_morrison_rm, Nov 28 2015
  

       //Bits of endangered species can fall out of the sky up to three kilometers away.//   

       I think I saw a video of you demolishing a whale, 8th.   

       //Not exactly the same but if you google 'crop art japan' it's done with differently coloured rice varieties.//   

       Oh yeah. Pretty cool.
Loris, Nov 29 2015
  

       Yep, snowball Earth, took volcanoes a long time to pump out enough co2 to kick-start the thaw. On the other hand, making Google Earth would have been a lot easier.
not_morrison_rm, Nov 29 2015
  


 

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