permaculture

[ERDA Institute <erda@nor.com.au>]

Assume one of the main pest problems would be coddling moth for apple &
pear. I visited some trial organic  orchards at Lincholn Ag College in New
Zealand where they had 80% drop in coddling moth damage when they planted
lots of flowering plants to attract predatory wasps. The main plants were
umbellifers including parsnips, dill, fennel, carrot, widow's lace and
members of the aster family like daisies. They left the meadow grow tall on
a narrow strip along the tree row-line and mowed the inter-row spacings.
This was supported by mixed species hedgerow/windbreak plantings with bird
attracting shrubs and trees.
This could be further enhanced by running poultry during the fruiting
season, especially chickens under the trees to take care of fallen and
damaged fruits - they love eating the grubs.
The main problem being surrounded by spray-dependent neighbours is loss of
natural predators - you might need to search for insectiaries to
re-introduce these critters.
The other aspect is revitalising a natural healthy soil ecosystem which can
take 3-5 years.
Don't expect to turn things around in one season - it takes time,
persistence, lots of observation and strategic thinking.
All the best
Robyn

on 16/9/03 2:23 AM, Andrew Clements at jara@otenet.gr wrote:

> Hello ,
> 
> I recently acquired a 2 acre mixed orchard of apple , pear , plum ,
> cherry , lotus , walnut , fig trees and grape vines with lots of naturally
> occuring herbs and flowers. The plot belonged to a chap who farmed it for
> profit for many years using lots of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. I
> would like to turn the whole thing into a permaculture edible forest garden
> . The orchard is surrounded by lots of intensive monoculture orchards,
> mainly apple and pear and all my neighbours are very good customers of Bayer
> and Monsanto ;-((
> 
> About 4 yrs ago a sensible neighbour decided that she would like to go
> organic (NB I said organic monoculture farming NOT permaculture) and stopped
> fertilizing and spraying . Within a year her orchard had been reduced to a
> writhing , noisy , smelly mess of worm flea bitten looking trees and fruit
> flies . She blames the deterioration of her orchard on the cessation of
> spraying and has urged me not to make the same mistake . She said it was
> heartbreaking to watch an orchard that was the pride of the village for
> centuries decimated by her stupidity as she put it .
> 
> Could anyone advise me on how to make the transition from what I have to
> a fully integrated permaculture natural ecosystem without befalling the same
> fate ?
> 
> Thanking you in advance .
> 
> Andrew.
> 
> 
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