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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] frozen trees and baby steps to permaculture

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  • From: Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] frozen trees and baby steps to permaculture
  • Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:40:15 -0700

Kathy, just to create a weedlot of ideas...

Can I grow fruit trees in clay soil in the understory of oak/hickory forest?
fruit yield drops dramatically when light levels drop. Clay soil can be modified over time, but light is the finite supply of energy on the site, the majority of energy may be captured by your overstory of oak and hickory. There is a limit to primary (i.e. plant) productivity in a system, you can boost it some over time with soil fertility, by trapping nutrients and water in the system... but in genearal the number of leaves and fruit that can be grown in a given patch of sun is finite -- in a more mature system I'd start looking for how to build food web complexity, niches for secondary products by recycling or concentrating wastes to create yields other than fruit, or start thinking about creating a disturbance (removing canopy) that creates new sun niches.

1. focus on 'gardening' south edges and north sides of substantial canopy gaps.
2. focus on more understory fruit and leaf species (raspberries, huckleberries, nettles) and anticipate light production
3. focus on species that use light in the shoulder seasons when leaves haven't sprung... bulbs, nettles...
3. look into other yields than fruit... medicines, dye, garden poles, mushrooms...
4. consider creating canopy gaps. The bodies of young oaks (~6 inches DBH) are great for mushroom production (shitake is commonly grown on oak).
5. consider animals that take advantage of nut production (sorry I don't know much about animals).

It's easy for me to be overwhelmed trying to understand and apply permaculture and not sure how to just begin in a small way.
Inventory all your waste from garden and house, inventory everything you buy into your home, and look for matches and substitutes. Assess your energy demand for house heat, warm water, cooking, and look at efficiencies system by system. In general I am finding that the object of design/restoration is not the land, but rather ourselves.

In some settings removing an oak might simultaneously provide some warmth and light for a house, a patch of sun for minor food supplement, and material for mushroom production. In general though I wouldn't plan on planting an orchard under a hardwood forest canopy.

Paul Cereghino




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