Permaculture Design EXERCise

[Permaculture Design EXERCise]

Veronica Hill

Permaculture Course Design ProjectVeronica Hill

Prepared By: Midwest Permaculture PDC Course #41June 28, 2013

Assessment of Property

8901 Ransom Rd. Mt. Vernon OHFull Climatic Information is available on-line:

Long/Lat. --

40 degrees 22 12 N

82 degrees 35 45 W

Elevation Above Sea Level avg. 1360 ft

Rainfall avg.

Dominant Wind Directions are from the West-South/West: All data available here:

Wind Rose: Jackson/Reynolds, MI, airport

Sun Aspects

Topography: 2 foot lines

Soil: Predominately BnB, some CdC2 and CdB, meaning silt-loam throughout.

BnB:

CdC2:

CdB:

Vision for Property

Agricultural education and some meat harvest sales. Cattle, sheep, chickens and possibly hogs. A vision of a food forest to feed animals and the Hill family, marked by contour swales throughout pasture. Mob grazing throughout pasture. Cereal crop rotation between linear food forest rows.

Key Challenges

Ensure livestock are easily watered

Ensure livestock have appropriate shade

The property owners also work with cereals, which require less shade

Strong westerly winds

Size of land

Timeline

First 1-2 years:

Get the hedges started, and install one-two swale and pond systems as an experimental plot.

Plant boundary fence, which will take 5-10 years to mature growth

Plant Korean Nut Pine, which takes 10-15 years to mature growth

Learn and experiment with root stock and grafting; find a mentor in the area that can assist with gathering trees on site.

Years 3-5:

Install rest of swale and pond system on landscape.

Linear food forest plants can also be planted

Continue to add perennial vegetable to garden

As time goes on, continue to observe, plant, and harvest from the system.

Early Design Strategies

Access water for livestock

Capture water and fertility high on landscape

Build soil fertility and organic matter

Capture the sun

Attract pollinators

Design access

Easy maintenance and harvest

Budget

Design for public amenities and use

Aesthetics

Slow and steady solutions

Minimize wildlife pressure

Maximize for small livestock and poultry

Minimization of fossil fuels

Design for seasonal changes

Maximize design for sequential harvest

Consider neighboring runoff

Biodiversity in market crops

Conscious of woodlots

Support existing orchard

Design for wind support

The Permaculture Design(Recommended Techniques and Specific Design Solutions)

Water:

Swale design on contour with hugelkultur;

connecting ponds for the purpose of water retention

dryland saturation and livestock hydration

Emphasis on holding water high on the landscape, and for the purpose of food forest growth.

Keyline in the south west corner, where steep slopes reside

Access/Circulation: Fine with current access, but do require gateways between pastures. Cattle with move around food forest linear design, with 3-4 entryways between pastures.

Vegetation and Wildlife: Mob grazing to promote natural grassland, planting of food forest for animal feed, human consumption, and possible sales. Encourage natural wildlife, but also need more observation to design for a diversion crop (possibly Maximillian Sunflower).

Microclimate: Creating cooler microclimates in shaded areas to cool animals, and provide shade for crops such as canola. Ponds also provide housing to new species and aquaculture (arrow root, cattail, water lilies, amphibians, fish, insects).

Buildings and Infrastructure: Natural hedging on North edge using Korean Nut Pine; natural edging also along west edge requires more filling to keep animals in. This west edge also serves as a wind break. This will be Osage Orange and Black Locust.

Design solution to challenge of watering in the fields is resolved by ponds that have pump sources to troughs. These will be gravity fed whenever possible.

Zones of Use: Frequency of travel to zones 3-4 (food forests and pasture) to maintain grazing and to harvest. Edible trees are planted on the margin to increase productivity in zone 4. Zone 5 forests still exist on east and south areas of property. Zones 1 and 2 merge in the orchard nearest the home.

Soil Fertility and Management: Mob grazing provides an opportunity to increase and protect soil fertility: cattle take in longer grasses, sheep follow and eat grass into the ground, hogs root the soil, and chickens follow with scratching. This way, the manure replenishes soil and gives old seeds an opportunity to germinate. This method prevents over-grazing. The food forest plantings and water retention in the form of swales and ponds also replenishes the soil. Crop rotation will continue in a Modified Norfolk Rotation system. Also want to propagate Comfrey on a half-acre plot to add nutrients and mulch.

Aesthetics/Experience of Place: Currently the Hills land is solely pasture, and livestock are managed with electric netting. Over time, with this design, natural vegetation will replace fencing and boundary fence will be significantly enhanced. Machinery will also be replaced with animal tillage, providing the aesthetics of a farm on the European countryside.

Ideas for various food forest layers:

ZONES 1-2:

Currently carries: Peaches, grapes, raspberries, apples, elderberry, blueberry, diverse native understory, day lilly, some annuals, perennial herbs, canola, Jerusalem artichoke, gooseberries, currants, Russian sage, yarrow, among others.

To consider: Goomies, Medlar (semi-dwarf), Cherry, Comfrey, Paw Paw, Asian Pear, Plum, Maximillian Sunflower possibly on border.

Linear Food Forests ZONE 3-4:

Canopy: Apple, Cherry, Crabapple, Hazelnut (runners), Kentucky Coffee Tree, Paw Paw, Pear, Plum, Linden (coppiced), Osage Orange, Black Locust (Coppiced)

Shrub Layer: Blackberry, Currant, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Siberian Pea Shrub, elderberry

Herbaceous Layer: Arugula, Chamomile, Chives, Comfrey, Stinging nettle, Dill, Fennel, Canola, Ground Plumb Milk Vetch (Endangered), lemon balm

Ground Cover between rows: Already carries great diversity, but would like to add plantain and chicory.

Korean Nut Pine on northern edge zone

ZONE 5:

Natural Forest-mushroom potential?

Cross Section Example of a Linear Food Forest with Hugelkultured Swale

Many other species of plants might be included.

Closing Conclusions

For what is the use of a houseif you havent got a tolerable planet to put it on?

~ Henry David Thoreau

References

(Woodchips) make an attractive, stable road base that holds soil in place and compacts into the ground to make a firm driving surface. Creation of a wood-chip driveway is a permanent work in progress because this organic surface biodegrades over time and needs new chips added periodically. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/create-wood-chip-driveway-32638.html

Quick List of Useful Permaculture Plants

Temperate Climate, North American, Midwestern Species

Common Name

Scientific Name

Uses

Canopy

Beech

Fagus grandifolia

Nuts

Butternut

Juglans cinerea

Nuts

Shagbark Hickory

Carya ovata

Nuts

Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum

Syrup

White Oak

Quercus alba

Nuts

Understory

American Persimmon

Diospyros virginiana

Fruit

Apple

Malus pumila

Fruit, flowers

Cherry

Prunus spp.

Fruit, flowers

Cornelian Cherry

Cornus mas

Fruit

Crabapple

Malus spp.

Fruit, flowers

Hazelnut

Corylus spp.

Nuts

Kentucky Coffee Tree

Gymnocladus dioica

N-fixer

Paw Paw

Asimina triloba

Fruit, flowers

Pear

Pyrus communis

Fruit, flowers

Plum

Prunus domestica

Fruit, flowers

Serviceberry

Amelanchier spp.

Fruit, flowers

Witch Hazel

Hamamelis virginiana

Medicinal, flowers

Shrub Layer

Blackberry

Rubus occidentalis

Fruit, flowers

Currant

Ribes sativum

Fruit

Elderberry

Sambucas nigra

Fruit, flowers

False indigo

Baptisia australis

N-fixer

Gooseberry

Ribes uva-crispa

Fruit

Raspberry

Rubus idaeus

Fruit, flowers

Rose

Rosa spp.

Medicinal, flowers

Siberian Pea Shrub

Caragana arborescens

N-fixer, flowers

Herbaceous layer

Arugula

Eruca vesicaria

Edible

Chamomile

Chamaemelum nobile

Tea, flowers

Chives

Allium schoenoprasum

Edible

Comfrey

Symphytum uplandicum

Medicinal, mulch

Cornsalad

Valerianella locusta

Edible

Dill

Anethum graveolens

Edible, insectary

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

Edible, insectary

Garlic

Allium sativum

Edible

Kale

Brassica oleracea

Edible

Lemon balm

Melissa officinalis

Tea

Lettuce

Latuca sativa

Edible

Lovage

Levisticum officinale

Edible

Mint

Mentha spp.

Edible

New Zealand Spinach

Tetragonia expansa

Edible

Onion

Allium cepa

Edible

Parsley

Petroselinum crispum

Edible

Rhubarb

Rheum rhabarbarum

Edible

Salad burnet

Sanguisorba minor

Edible

Sorrel

Rumex scutatus

Edible

Spinach

Spinacea oleracea

Edible

Stinging Nettle

Urtica dioica

Edible, mulch

Flowering Ground Covers

Strawberry

Fragaria spp.

Fruit, flowers

Nasturtium

Tropaeolum minus

Edible flowers

Violet

Viola spp.

Edible flowers

Vines

Grape

Vitis vinifera

Fruit

Hardy Kiwi

Actinidia arguta

Fruit, flowers

Hops

Humulus lupulus

Medicinal

Scarlet Runner Bean

Phaseolus coccineus

Edible, N-fixer, flowers

Wisteria

Wisteria floribunda

N-fixer, flowers

Leaving the planet in better condition than we found it.Midwest Permaculture

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