permaculture

["Kirby Fry" <peace@totalaccess.net>]

Hi Marsha,

What are the months and seasons during which you wish to garden?

Have you done anything to your soil topography yet, i.e. swales, living
brush or rock barriers?  You mention that, you have sandy soils and low
organic content.  Your site may once have been a part of the Amatitlan, the
now nearly extinct Coastal Atlantic Rainforest.

Some cane grasses can simply be cut and laid down continuously in-line on
contour, spaced every thirty feet at the steepest part of your land.
They'll sprout from almost every node and slow erosion, send out nutrient
absorbing roots, and build biomass.  Elderberry can also be laid out the
same way or stuck into the ground like stakes every few feet.

Also you can create compost strips on contour.  Take your fodder and organic
material lay it out on contour and then hoe some soil over it from above
your contour line.  Over time you will create shallow swales and organic
berms and the soil covering will aid in preserving the organic matter.

Also, even in an annual garden you need farmers trees, at least thirty per
acre.  These are acacia, locust, mesquite, mimosa and other nitrogen fixing,
leguminous trees that offer a relatively light dappled shade.  Plant them on
contour among the grass barriers and the should stay out of your way nicely.
If you do the compost strips and want to garden on top of those then you can
plant the farmer's trees in the swales instead - something you wouldn't
necessarily do in clayey soils.

If you're working with cattle then there are many choice farmers trees that
can be coppiced and used for fodder.

Your cow idea is great.  I would commence right away and do it perpetually.
Maybe you should just pile up the finished material and wait till the rainy
season starts.  Though the rains will wash away your nutrients as quickly as
the sun will desiccate them.  If you put the finished material out in a faja
abonera (compost strip) you might get away with protecting it year round.

The barerra viva (live barrier) of cane will also provide a network of roots
that will snatch up nutrients and perpetually turn them over in the form of
leaf litter.  The grass as it matures will also provide some shade.  A
relatively square acre of annual gardens should have seven or more soil
conservation structures passing through it.

Also, have you heard of REBRAF?  They're an outfit in Rio that's been
plugging away at agroforestry systems for quite a while.  If you contact
them I bet they will know of several agroforestry outfits in Bahia.

Do you have the potential for any kind of irrigation?  Seems like a 300
gallon cement tank for water collection when water pressure is up and drip
system could do you a lot of good.

Also, I'd bet that during any other season than the rainy season you'll need
to be gardening under some kind of tapezco or shade structure.  Again, tree
fodder can be used to easily build a 3' by 30' tapezco.

Lastly, I would recommend plugging in perennial food plants wherever
possible.  I've returned to many abandoned annual gardens where the only
things left growing are the asparagus, grapes and blackberries planted along
their margins.

Good luck!

Kirby