permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Anne Erlandson wrote:

> LL,
>
> I've got a couple of acres that are in abandoned pasture and weeds 
> (blackberry, thistle and canary reed grass) that I'm going to want to 
> prepare for food production and I was interested in the methods you 
> mentioned in your last post.  Are there any books that describe these 
> methods in more detail, describing for example how to determine how much 
> rock dust the soil can hold and when to apply it, what the "maximum 
> allowable quantities" of manure are for a particular piece of land etc.  
> Basically, what the 12 month sequence to prepare land in this way would be.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Anne in Seattle

A. Questions: what kind of soil, what is the lay of the land, can the field 
to be put in production be mowed,
do you have freezing temperatures where you are, how heavy are the weeds: 
grasses and other short perennial and annual weeds?
blackberry?

B. Answers:

1)
Maybe we can turn this into a FAQ with three components: equipment, materials 
and methods.
This post can be recycled in the list gaining corrections and additions each 
time.
Tip of the iceberg:
Basically, put the rock dust and manure/compost on the land in strips with 
skid loader.
The loader can premix all these ingredients then apply by the bucketload 
directly where the raised beds will be,
leaving room for tractor tires/walking path between them.
Details (this will evolve):
I. drive equipment on the land as little as possible and never drive on raised bed area undergoing tillage and never walk on it after'all 
tillage is completed - or as little as possible - reason for this will become readily apparent
2)

> LL wrote:
>
> Grow what can be grown in any particular season locally for local 
> distribution
> and consumption. Only import essentials like citrus
> and apples.
>
> Untold tons of farm wastes are * going * to * waste *. Manure, hay, silage,
> other ag waste products: get it from local sources and apply it
> in maximum allowable quantities on land to be put in production; same 
> with rock
> dusts from quarries: put it on by the hundreds of tons,
> as much as soil will allow. Jump start land this way then add no more than
> occasional top dressing and cover crops tilled under or sheet
> mulched from then on or as needed by market operations growing heavy 
> feeders.
>
> Till, extensively, once, after adding amendments, then no more or with 
> rarely
> with minimally invasive equipment.
>
> 1) Apply amendments
> 2) bottom plow, Yeomans plow, cultivate with tillage tool, rotovate
> (tractor-mounted rototiller), hill and/or bed - make raised beds (46")
>    with hiller/bedder implement [Roll-A-Cone makes the best one available].
>
> Do this once then plant and tilth/cultivate minimally, with hand tools, or
> notill, for the next hundreds of years.
> Walking paths, drainage channels and water impoundment is achieved along 
> with
> bed preparation.
> 3 acres of land can be turned into productive raised growing beds within 
> one
> year this way, permanent tilth, compaction never again.
>
> I have achieved this on my land and have some of the finest garden dirt 
> in North
> Carolina. I spent longer than 12 months in preparation but
> could have done it in that amount of time.
>
> LL
> --
> L.F.London
> lfl@intrex.net
> http://market-farming.com
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech
>
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--
L.F.London
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech