permaculture

["Don" <ujgs@4dirs.com>]

Perfect strategy for Zone 5 rehab...I love it. Thanks for the recipe!

Don

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jara" <jara@otenet.gr>
To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 1:19 AM
Subject: [permaculture] Nature vs Human Design


> While reading this beautifully expressed article and well thought out 
> design
> experiment I could not help but think why these people don't enlist the 
> help
> of nature. The energy, thought and effort that has obviously gone into 
> this
> is immense and in my humble view completely needless. Why not simply
> broadcast super biodiverse (100 + indiginous species of trees, shrubs,
> canes, berries, herbs, annuals, perennials etc etc etc) Fukuokian 
> seedballs
> the size of golf balls made with rockdust, inoculant and kaolin. Then 
> chuck
> a thin layer(1-2cm) of straw mulch, rockdust and compost on top of that 
> and
> let nature get on with it. Having done this I can vouch for the efficacy 
> of
> the whole thing and the minimal labour, effort input.
>
> Of course it is a bit difficult to flog seminars and patent a process 
> where
> nature is doing all the design and work but are we interested in making a
> killing or in permanent culture.
>
> Andrew.
>
> > WOOSTER, Ohio ? Carefully designed polyculture systems, grown on small
> > farms or even in suburban yards, could self-limit pest problems and
> > gross up to $90,000 per acre, says Joe Kovach, head of Ohio State
> > University?s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program.
> >
> > Together with Loren Harper and Rosa Raudales, both also of the program,
> > Kovach has planned and planted four different polyculture systems, or
> > ?modular ecological designs,? each combining the same wide mix of
> > high-value fruits and vegetables, annuals and perennials, tall crops and
> > short ones, into 45-by-60-foot plots.
> >
> > The goal: To see which system works best based on yield, economics and
> > pest reduction ? and to make, by selling retail, $10 per linear foot, or
> > $90,000 to $100,000 per acre.
> >
> > ?We?ve known in pest management that polyculture systems seem to have
> > fewer pest problems than monocultures, and when there are problems,
> > they?re usually less severe,? Kovach said. ?We wanted to see if we could
> > come up with a primarily fruit-based system that, if we arranged it in
> > the correct way, would see fewer pest problems.?
> >
> > At the same time, though, ?With a goal of $10 per linear foot, we?ve got
> > to be productive,? he said. ?We can?t mess around.?
> >
> > Polycultures, as opposed to monocultures, grow two or more crops
> > together, not just one.
> >
> > Kovach?s four designs, even more diverse than typical polycultures,
> > combine apples, peaches, green beans, tomatoes, strawberries,
> > blueberries, raspberries and edamame soybeans. But each design tests a
> > different arrangement. The first has solid rows, with each row having a
> > single crop, and the crop height switching from row to row: for example,
> > a row of high apple trees, a row of low strawberries, a row of high
> > peach trees, a row of low tomatoes.
> >
> > ?There?s some hint that architecture might have an impact on insect
> > pests that occur,? Kovach explained, ?so we decided we?d use tree and
> > shrub crops alternated with lower-growing crops.?
> >
> > The second design mixes more than one crop within a row but keeps the
> > high crops and low crops together in their own rows. Apples, peaches and
> > raspberries, for example, would line up in a row, then green beans,
> > strawberries and tomatoes in the next, as a way to roadblock 
> > infestations.
> >
> > ?The concept,? Kovach said, ?is that insect pests seem to move down
> > rows. So if you?re an apple pest, you might stop at the peaches. A peach
> > pest might stop at the raspberries. A raspberry pest at the blueberries.
> > And so forth.?
> >
> > The third design goes a step further. It mixes the crops within a row
> > and also alternates heights in the row. A single row might grow apples
> > then strawberries, peaches then green beans, raspberries then tomatoes.
> > Kovach calls it the ?checkerboard? system.
> >
> > The fourth design adds raised beds to the equation ? ?kind of our
> > souped-up future strategy,? Kovach said ? with mixed rows planted within.
> >
> > All four designs employ drip irrigation, disease-tolerant and -resistant
> > varieties, fencing against rabbits and woodchucks, staggered planting
> > dates for the annuals and maturity dates for the perennials (allowing
> > for early, mid- and late-season harvest and season-long production), and
> > newer, less-toxic pesticides if and as needed, with sustainability, not
> > 100-percent organic production, the goal.
> >
> > ?Once we find this optimum design ? and this is where the ?modular?
> > aspect comes in ? we?ll know how much food you?ll get from one plot,?
> > Kovach said. ?Maybe one is all you need for personal use. Or maybe you
> > run a roadside stand; you could have maybe three in a series. Or maybe
> > you sell at a farmers? market; you could have, say, six or eight.?
> >
> > Small farms near cities could gain from such setups, Kovach said. Fewer
> > inputs, a steady lineup of high-value crops, and proximity to thousands
> > of hungry consumers would make the farms even more successful.
> >
> > Homeowners, whether for food, hobby or both, could use the modules too.
> >
> > ?We have a lot of these suburban houses that have five-acre lots,?
> > Kovach noted. ?People spend a lot of time mowing their lawn. This could
> > be an opportunity to do something else.?
> >
> > Finally, he said, the modules would ramp up local production, a plus in
> > terms of tastier food and lower transportation costs.
> >
> > The project, funded by the Ohio IPM program, a joint effort of OSU
> > Extension and the university?s Ohio Agricultural Research and
> > Development Center (OARDC), will continue for the next five or six years.
> >
> > The test plots ? 16 in all, four replications of all four designs,
> > covering a total of 1.5 acres ? lie on OARDC?s Wooster campus.
>
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