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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] grass in orchards

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  • From: Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] grass in orchards
  • Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2007 09:22:26 -0700

Thank you Paul for a practical thread,

Here is my dilemma: I keep meeting people that have fruit trees and
are hearing the word "permaculture" for the first time. Some of them
are still spraying a variety of pesticides or using "weed and feed".
I have 60 seconds to talk them out of it - or to perhaps convince them
to use less. If I'm convincing enough in 60 seconds, I might be able
to get ten minutes. Maybe even get some seeds into their hands to
make a difference.


Some general thougths:

Weed n Feed was invented because it is very effective. Switching from weed n feed requires a paradigm shift, or perhaps a healthy dose of of 2,4,D.
I have not had much luck broadcast sowing into sod because seed has poor seed soil contact, they are easy prey for birds and rodents, and seedlings are in brutal competition with established adults -- sounds like capitalism ;)
Sod let grow rank, then cut short, has gaps between grass crowns and more potential recruitment niches.
Fukuoka overcame some of the broadcast into veg limitations by pelleting seed (mash seed with clay, push through 1/4" hardware cloth screen of frame into dry clay poweder in shaker tray, lay in sun to dry). I have experimented once with this and was not successful.
In an open competition situation you will not get replacement of one species by another rather a blending... you may need to change the management regime to favor the species you are introducing to get a strong effect without a preceding disturbance.
I belive you will need to apply a distrubance regime to create more niches for recruitment of your new species... heavy grazing, surface tillage, topdressing fine material, etc.
Where competition for water is your challange, any thick herbaceous growth will reduce tree yield.
Where tree yield is your primary focus you will be driven to solutions that are more labor intensive because maximized single species yield is not typical in a natural system.
Packet 1 and 2 would need to be designed to soil, moisture, climate specs.
Packet 1 would in my mind be a species that grows fast and tall and thick and then dies in winter. Hairy vetch is a weaver between plants, not a dominator. Consider broadleaf mustards or rapid annual grains as this nurse crop. Many of the mustards also have the virtue of a tap root (daikon, rapeseed) -- Fukuoka again uses a lot of daikon. I have thin germination in late fall planted vetch but pretty good cover by crimson clover and winter rye, but with strong impacts to establishment from soil saturation. I'm in USDA zone 8-9 with very moist silt loam soils and abundant winter rain. In my climate I'd move planting to early-mid fall to get good pre-winter germination and am thinking more about mid-spring to avoid inundation during establishment. Fukuoka's books emphasize and reemphisize timing. There is a story of him leaving his farm and the students bungling the timing of broadcast sowing into veg and it taking years to bring the cycle back.
In short, the magic pill 1-2 packet approach attempts to achieve the output of ecological design while still using the delivery model of 2,4,D and the lawn mower. I wish to heaven and earth it were that simple.
Keep it up, and let us know your results.

Paul Cereghino





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