permaculture

[Rick Valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

>> As for plantings along the creek I would think willows are a
>> particularly suitable species.

> I wouldn't use willows.  While they are a good tree for this application,
> they will catch junk and make pasture management harder.

You might consider planting willows so they will catch junk, and add to
fertility, perhaps add diversity to the stream flow. Or become beaver
habitat.
And you needn't let the willow get big and fall over; pollarded willows can
feed cows quite well, and the browse can be given to the cows when the
pasture is droughted out.

And poison ivy isn't useless- it's bird food, nectar for honey, dye and
laquer.

As for the debris on the fence- the mechanized way would be to rent a track
hoe with a claw on the bucket and load that stuff into a dump truck.
But maybe you can just turn it into a hedgerow right there, and just let the
paddock be  a bit smaller.

Look at the need to create income, not the need to work every square inch of
the land.

Develop habitat (there are 2 warblers that nest in river cane bamboo) and
cater to bird watchers, even.

Feed your cattle bamboo leaves. And then sell the poles to people who pay to
fish in the ponds the beaver make.

I wouldn't want to WOOF on a farm that wasn't working. And I have seen so
many complain of being slave labor that I'd not want to conceptualize their
role as such to begin with!

maybe you could design in a place for more people.

But it's really hard for me to visualize a place through words alone.

-Rick