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Forest gardening differed fundamentally from agriculture.
Agriculture:
- Cleared land completely
- Planted single species (monoculture)
- Imposed human design totally
- Required constant intervention
- Disrupted natural processes
Forest Gardening:
- Worked within existing forest
- Encouraged plant diversity
- Supported natural patterns
- Required minimal intervention
- Enhanced natural processes
Agriculture was appropriate for food production (predictable yields, easy harvesting, efficient processing), but for medicine, forest gardening was superior—producing more potent plants, maintaining diversity, requiring less labor, causing less environmental damage.
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