permaculture

[rick valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

How do you maneuver a ladder in a food forest indeed!
I have to say that I treat the Manual illustrations as cartoons, not
blueprints! I do lots of "plant 'em all- let God sort 'em out" designs, as
any of my friends will testify- and I'm very familiar with mistakes &
pratfalls, but I've made lots of good observations studying abandoned
homesteads, old Italian's gardens, wild fruit groves of all sorts. It's
highly complex, a huge subject, and I think there's so much opportunity for
permies to specialize (!) in this sort of design. 
Caging small fruit is def. a workable tactic; Mollison talks about it; so how
do you plan the cage for multiple functions? What can you use under
blueberries? What can you do to supply an acidic mulch? What varieties you
can grow are highest in antioxidants? Do you want one harvest or an extended
one? On the other extreme, how can you grow a blueberry in Cal.,(miles from
its home), in a low-input manner, and not get it eaten by deer? (I think it
could be done)
Nothin' but fun...
-Rick


Rick Valley Northern Groves 
PO Box 1236, Philomath, OR 97370 
Mobile-(541)602-1315, hm.& msg. (541)929-7152  Bamboo catalog $3 or at 
<http://www.teleport.com/~dbrooks/bamboo.html>
"Useful Bamboos and other plants‹ Permaculture education‹ Ecological design &
consultation centering on water,landform and horticultural systems"