permaculture

[Scott Vlaun <scott@moosepondarts.com>]

George,

We have a somewhat similar site in western Maine. We piled what  
little topsoil we had into raised beds on contour, utilized south and  
east facing microclimates and lots of coldframes and rowcover.  Piled  
a lot of rocks too. Lime, compost, heavy mulches and covercrops have  
sweetened up the soil, worms have come, and the crops have improved  
yearly. We plant lots of cold hardy greens and root crops which  
extends the season for food harvesting well beyond frost free dates.  
We also rely on some fish-based fertilizer for heavy feeding crops.  
We could do more with storing water, but we have a reliable well, so  
it's not our top priority.

Good luck with it.


Scott Vlaun
Moose Pond Arts+Ecology
Design Solutions for a Sustainable Future

35 Moose Pond Road
Otisfield, Maine 04270
207-739-2409 Studio
207-890-4099 Cell


On Dec 15, 2005, at 12:52 PM, sustain_ability@123mail.org wrote:

> Hello!
>
> I have a very short growing season (late May to early August, on a  
> wing
> and a prayer and no early June frost), acidic soil that's rocky (i.e.
> rocks with soil interspersed) enough that trees topple over, ample but
> not abundant sunlight, enough water (but need the spring melt).
>
> I would need to lengthen the growing season but only if the
> soil/hydroponic/aquaponic or similar food production systems'  
> fertility
> could be replenished with waste products (compost, manure).
>
> This implies some sort of sheltered environment (hoophouse, hothouse,
> greenhouse, lean-to, raised bed combined with removable shade
> cloth/clear plastic/heat insulating material/etc.).
>
> I would also consider a tree garden to take advantage of enhanced
> sunlight and also not to cut down forest in order to farm. The terrain
> is very uneven. The property was used as a homestead over 50 years ago
> with small grazing animals and very limited gardening (also  
> exploiting a
> southern facing mini-slope or parcel of land of about one acre).
>
> This is an immense challenge for a pro, let alone a newbie. I have  
> most
> recently tried a balcony garden in the city last summer, to the great
> delight of the squirrels.
>
> Thanks in advance.
> George (Laurentians, Canada)
> -- A huge part of the illusion surrounding the cheap oil era is  
> that the only alternative to modernity is the stone age.
>
> http://www.mogiljansky.tk/ (please ignore the yahoo email address)
> sustain_ability@123mail.org
>
> --
> http://www.fastmail.fm - A no graphics, no pop-ups email service
>
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