Past tense of fallow: to leave farmland temporarily unplanted so the soil can recover its nutrients and fertility.
From Old English fealgian, related to fallow (the color). Originally meant to plow without planting. The term evolved from the pale, empty appearance of unworked soil to the agricultural practice of letting land rest.
Medieval farmers figured out something remarkable without any chemistry—if they left a field empty for a season, it grew better crops the next year. This 'fallow' system was so important that it shaped European agriculture for over a thousand years.
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