Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["bruce smith" <cityhomesteader@gmail.com>]

Hi
I've begun a forest garden here in my CT woodlet..

My recent plantings were.. Persimmon, paw paws, 3 dwarf pears, beach plums, cranberry bushes, and red currants..

On Sat, Aug 30, 2008 at 2:35 PM, E. E. Mitchamore Jr <emitch@att.net> wrote:

Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately, our climates are too different to share much beyond a philosophy - not that that is insignificant!  We've lived on our land for 35 years and most of that time was spent outdoors, so I know the land & climate pretty well.  Also, for the last 5 years we've been developing a native tree nursery, so I'm fairly familiar with local flora.

 

I, too, have read everything I can get my hands on.  I've just finished Vol. I of Dave Jacke's Edible Forest Gardens, and am starting my first Forest Garden.  I eat a lot of fresh fruit, so that's my main interest.  Here's a description of it that I sent to our local Permaculture group:

 

I have made some progress on my forest garden plan.  At this point I intend to use a 30' x 66' strip just downslope from a nursery area, so that it will receive water and fertilizer runoff from the nursery.  Currently that strip is bounded on the (long, downhill, north) side by a row of sunflowers (Maximillian and Common) at the fence, a second row of alternating Agarita and Yaupon (both evergreen), and a third row of Tx Mtn Laurel (also evergreen, and nitrogen-fixing), as a visual barrier to the horse pasture beyond, to capture runoff, to block north wind, and to impede critters (how's that for stacking functions?). 

 

Currently this area has two Desirable Pecans (which are not wide-spreading, oddly enough) about 20' tall, along the uphill edge (South long edge), a Retama (nitrogen-fixing, light foliage), two Figs and the aforementioned raised bed with Sunchokes (about 8' x 10').  There's a native thicket next to one end, with Live Oak, Elbow Bush (early Spring,bee-attractor), Hackberry, Sumac & God knows what.  The other end has Ashe Juniper, Mx Silk Tassel  & native grasses nearby.

 

The plants I have growing in containers are: Methly Plum, Grenada Pomegranate, three Doyle Blackberries, three different Rabbiteye Blueberries, a Jujube, and three more Figs of different varieties, along with hundreds of natives and herbs to select from.  Nope, I don't expect to get them all into that space.  It's clear that I have lots of figgerin' to do, but it's starting to get interesting.

 

That's when I really started to realize that I don't know what to put in the shrub layer.  There just aren't any native or commonly-used fruiting shrubs for this area.  Apparently, I'm going to have to research the shrub layer from scratch.  If you have any thoughts or information about hot-weather fruiting shrubs, let me know.

 

Although we have 4 acres, only about 1/2 acre is fenced, and we have White-tailed Deer that would not allow fruiting shrubs to grow so, for now, I'm limited to this small fenced area.

 

BTW, see website, below, for more philosophy, etc.

 

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz

----- Original Message -----

From: scakya@lobo.net

To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 1:05 PM

Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Forest Garden

Hi Mitch,
    I'm doing a forest garden in central New Mexico. Being an avid reader
and this being dry country in high desert(12 inches a year precipitation)one
learns quickly what works in a particular location. As I live in a mountain
valley, drying winds can be a concern as can the general lack of moisture in
the air, and of course the intense sun we seem to have developed the last
few years at 6250'.
    How well do you know your location? Have you taken notes on temperatures
and winds, gotten to know your soil, paid attention to the natural
plants/shrubs and trees in a 25 mile radius, watched when it rains top see
how it flows and where, etc? These are yours starting points.
   What do you want to accomplish? Supplement your pantry,feed wildlife
or....
   Even when you think you've got it figured out, nature has a tendency to
surprise, so that is something you take into consideration also. A simple
wind break might make the difference in a plant getting established and
moving onto thriving where as lacking one-it just survives or worse-fails.
    Learn your land, read, read, read and take any classes that may assist
you in creating not only a forest garden, but how to take care of it. Forest
gardening,Permaculture introduction, orchard care taking, soil, mycellium,
beekeeping, bird identification, and so on are just a few classes that can
aid you in creating a successful forest garden.
     If you need suggestions in reading material or websites just let me
know and I'll be happy to share what little I know.

Have a tree...mendous day,
Pat Maas
NM

 


> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:46:01 -0500
> From: "E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>
> Subject: [Livingontheland] Forest Garden
> To: "Living on the Land" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <005f01c908a7$798a30b0$0201a8c0@NOTHERE>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I have begun to turn one small corner of my lot into a perennial-plant "forest garden", as an adjunct to my raised-bed gardens with annuals.  I wonder if anyone on this list has any experience with such an effort in Texas or the Southwest.
>
> E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
> www.hillcountrynatives.biz
 

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--
Bruce Smith

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A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. ~Author Unknown