permaculture

["Charland, Stacy" <CHARLANS@nigms.nih.gov>]

        Hi, I'm from PA, about 1/2 hour from Baltimore.  Also, I grew up in
Lancaster
        County & so am familiar with a lot of trees in our region.
        [Charland, Stacy]  Hi Sherry!  Nice to meet you...

        Please tell us a little more:
        1) How many feet long & wide can your hedgerows potentially be?  (This
helps
        us decide how many layers may be used-- which is recommended, esp. 
where
you
        want a windbreak).
        [Charland, Stacy]  The land we are purchasing is 56 acres, basically a
rectangle, 14 wooded acres on the North (non-sunward) side, the rest cleared.
There is already some trees/scrub around the perimeter of the property, but in
some spots pretty sparse. With 40 acres of cleared area, we have a lot of
options on design! 

        2)What's happening in the fields (what type of growing or forage or
whatever)?
        Or if not feilds, what is landuse beside hedgerows?
        [Charland, Stacy] The cleared land has been traditional, mono-cropped
farmland for quite some time.  Clay soil, very little organic matter.  
Although
we may put some in hay/pasture, I expect that a good bit should be converted
back to forest.  The hedge areas I am thinking would be set up to surround our
house, orchard, and animal pastures (all yet to be designed and 
constructed!).  

        3)Are there water courses, pipes, roads or dwellings within several
hundred
        feet of them?  If so, describe in relation to the hedgerow.
        [Charland, Stacy]  We would like to put in some catchment ponds in 
some
of the lower areas,  but most of these are not close to existing property 
lines.
There are springheads just inside the existing woods, but no other running
water.  Topography is very slightly rolling, highest points to the east side,
and mostly sloping down to north, west, and south.

        4)Are there any native species already there that you want to keep or
that
        you'd like to put there?  
        [Charland, Stacy]  around the perimeter, there is what looks like wild
cherry (my identification books are somewhere in storage!) and osage orange,
plus poplar, some blackberry, and the ever present wild roses.  I wouldn't 
mind
keeping some blackberry patches, but closer to home I'd prefer less invasive
beasties.  This property is poor on the diversity side, which I would like to
improve.  I'm looking now for appropiate species, so I can start setting up a
plant nursery.

         5)Are you already growing any fruit trees elsewhere?
        [Charland, Stacy]  No, but plan for an orchard to be planted after the
house is built.

        6)Do you keep or plan to keep bees?
        [Charland, Stacy]  Yes! (plan to). 


        ~~Sherry/ aka FionaNyx@aol.com

         If anybody would like to come out and have a design spree, let me 
know!
        Stacy Charland
        Stacy_Charland@nih.gov