Done in 2008 and before:
sheep transferred to MIG
composter & compost pile
Done in 2009 (many thanks to our WWOOFers without whom that wouldn't be possible) :
pest control responsibilities transferred to a traveling band of chickens;
many techniques for food preservation and ways to cook delicious and nutritious dishes from things we produce right here have been studied, tested and implemented;
aquaponics system has been researched and construction started;
rainwater retention system for the pastures started;
research for the master plan of the site design is about 80% done.
Done in 2010 (many thanks to our WWOOFers without whom that wouldn't be possible) :
continue to build rainwater retention systems for pastures (swales)
edible forest started
vine trellises/ shade protection for the south side of the house built
herb mound and small garden of annuals established
Plans for 2011:
improve pastures by adjusting the mix of plants toward more productive and cold-weather plants
finalize the master plan
finish aquaponics system
finish rainwater retention systems for our roofs and pastures
ducks (a must for any permaculture design … right?)
10,000 little things that would lessen our dependence on energy coming from elsewhere and close production loops that are still open.
Permaculture forums
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6 comments:
ducks are always necessary! i grew up with them... they are much pleasanter and less quarrelsome than hens, and i love their eggs... i wish we had room for stuff like this!
what fruit trees do you have, leon? and, what about bees? we have a huge hive here, in the middle of downtown deland. i'm about to make my first batch of soap--honey and milk.
i have lots of opinions and ideas about permaculture... but, lamentably, too little yard to implement them.
oh, and, the russian post... day job. got my blogging wires confused.
Having ducks would be pretty cool and it also would close a couple of loops that are currently open, such as an excess of water plants in our little pond. They've been in the plan for a few years but every year we don't have enough time - we have no experience with ducks whatsoever, so everything from the breed to design on the duck house needs to be researched first. Hopefully, this year.
So far we have a fig, mulberry, lemon, orange, kumquat, persimmon and feijoa. Paw-paws and apricot died soon after planting - I suspect we killed the apricot by over-watering and I think oaks did the paw-paws in.
Actually, a lot of permaculture designs were done on post stamp sized lots - Toby Hemenway lives in a city now, so about 3/4 of Gaia's Garden would be pretty applicable to your situation. Also those guys who wrote Edible Forest Gardens - one of the case studies there is what they did on their own lot, which I think is a quarter or a half of an acre. Permaculture is all about stacking and packing densely ... land area shouldn't be a problem at all. And of course, people around you can (and should) be part of your design and energies exchange. If you ever in our neck of the woods, let me know and I'll be happy to show you the books I'm talking about (if you don't have them yet). We don't allow check outs on those as they're too valuable as a reference but you're welcome to work with them here. It usually takes about 15 minutes for people to say "Man, I'm getting me one, this is so great!" anyway :)
Bees would be great but once again - it's a new species we know nothing about. Too many projects, too little time. May be one day. I tried to make an arrangement with a local beekeeper where he would put a hive or two here for pollination and take care of them (I'm not even asking for any free honey) but the guy is like 100 years old and thinks about getting out of bees altogether. Although to think about it, if he does, there won't be any bees around, so may be I should assign a higher priority to this project :) How difficult are they to set up and maintain?
The russian post - well, I'm glad I alerted you then :) I actually decided to finally see for myself what's this book everyone is talking about (War and Peace) and started to read it yesterday :) I'm about 30 pages into it - pretty good so far. I wish I had it with me last time I was stuck at the airport.
w&p is one SLOW book for the first 100pp or so... stick with it. marvelous stuff. i just read it for the first time in a decade and was astonished. the old man could write!
i gotta say that the #1 tree in my yard is my flordaprince peach. in its 3rd year in the ground it produced 100 peaches, the fourth 150... it's now getting ready for its fifth spring and i'm expecting a big crop with all this chilly weather. i've added another peach and several plums to the yard, too. blueberries are a little more trouble, but once they've adapted (and it takes 1-2 years), they are extremely easy. mine produced a fine crop last year (their third in the ground).
we had mallard/muscovy mix ducks. when they were young they produced a lot of eggs, and even when they were old (and i think these ducks lived for at least 8 years, maybe longer--they were a part of my childhood for as long as i can remember) they still produced a fair number. hens start to peter out after a couple years, in comparison.
finally--bees. i don't have a hive of my own (yet). the hive i have is a wild one, in the side of my house. (very old house! lots of nooks and crannies.) we had a bee keeper out and he was amazed at the size of the hive and said he'd love to retrieve it, but it would involve removing a half ton of stucco... my kids are in 4H and their project is bee keeping--we're getting a hive sometime in the next few months. they've been to bee school and are working with a very nice local apiary.
permaculture--i've got a pretty good system going here, using what space i've got. lots of blueberries under peach trees in front of lettuce beds and pots of herbs... with grape arbors running over it all. that kinda thing. works well, but i'm ultimately limited by the lack of direct sun more than a lack of space.
i'd love to get down there... maybe sometime in the spring. i'd invite you up here but i've got precious little to show off compared to you!
I guess, not as slow as I am :) I thought the story was pretty tight from the beginning. Either that, or I'm reading some Cliff Notes version - either way, I'm about a 100 pages in now and really love it. Can't remember when I enjoyed a book so much - thanks for your mistake :)
Will definitely look at the trees you recommend. We considered having a peach but then decided that it's too dry here for it (or was it too hot?). Although last year we realized that our soil/sand holds water a whole lot better than we thought, so - may be. We have blueberries and blackberries but they're still getting over transplant shock or may be we're doing something wrong but they still look pretty miserable. We planted them from 1 gal pots about 6 months ago.
Did you have this breed in FL? Also, can they fly a little or not at all? We have several layers of defense (we have to with all this meat walking around) but there may be an occasional fox or coyote down by the lake, so I think we need ducks that can fly a bit. I plan to lock them up for the night though.
My bees problem and your space problem - the answer is the same - community building, your design doesn't have to stop at your property line. I know it's easier said than done, of course, - we live in a rural area but in 4 years we found 1 (one!) family interested in growing their own food and all that. But as my hand jerked to include bees in my plans, I once again realized that we can't do everything ... which is exactly why I argued with some folks on another blog recently that complete self-reliance is impossible for one person or even small family - a small village is probably as small as it goes... Just thinking out loud, sorry :)
> i've got precious little to show off compared to you!
Yeah, right :) The paragraph directly above that begs to differ ... and after reading your blog for a few years - nope, I don't believe that for a second :)
we had those ducks in indiana--my dad kept their wings clipped. in their later years we kept them in a big cage... i think they died when i was at college--raccoon got them. anyway, definitely give peaches a thought. you get more chill hours down there than i do. once the trees are settled in they require very little water, though of course irrigation will improve yields.
living smack in the middle of deland has lots of advantages--i ride my bike to work and to shop, my kids can walk to parks and friends', etc. but there's precious few folk here who would be interested in growing a garden or raising ducks. that said, my wife is a first-rate baker and we have a great trade economy with a friend who lives in the country--a dozen eggs for a big load of country bread once a week. and my friend always brings excess produce she grows, like red peppers, persimmons, oranges, etc. she's an amazing gardener, and has a couple dozen hens. i have another friend who provides me with all the free cow shit i want, windfall from oak trees in her pastures, and bag after bag of citrus... so, i guess this community thing has a thing or two going for it.
Thanks for the duck info - I hope we'll get it done this year.
Community - sounds great.
It's funny - my wife's hobby (or rather reason for existence) is also baking :)
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