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  • From: Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Tvo post Mar 98- Trashland Treasure
  • Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2006 21:18:34 -0700

Rob wrote:


Think unconventional. Think long-term. Think about the sylvan
agriculture of the Roman Empire, the Cedars of Lebanon, the olive groves
of Greece and Italy, the acorn and chestnut forests of Spain---all of
which would qualify for the description of trashland today with the
mature forests replaced by less valuable second-growth vegetation.


Anyway, my point was that sylviculture is especially important out West. Back East you can scalp a piece of high ground, plant a pasture, and barring any dramatic mineral deficiencies, ultimately build good soil and have a great farm. Here there's a different reality. Oops, it quits raining altogether. Without water, the fungi and other organisms that build soil die, so that applications of organic matter don't even make it into the soil. It's not practical to irrigate large tracts of land from a small well meant for household use, and the neighbors might even take exception. So about the only choice left, if not to bring in tons of feed, is to plant deciduous trees to provide some seasonal shade for grass, or grow more browsable shrubs, for forage, and harvest other tree and shrub crops for fruit, nuts and seeds. What's the point of clearing land only to have it look like Livermore?

http://www.zigamorph.net/albums/livermore20000711/20000711193300livermore.sized.jpg

Bill
S. Oregon coast




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