permaculture

[Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>]

Permaculture principles applied to row crop agriculture has been a 
conundrum for me.  Permaculture intentionally focuses on perennial 
systems, but most temperate foods are provided by annual agriculture 
methods.  Too much complexity can be a barrier to efficient application 
of clean cultivation methods.  Permanent mulch methods have many 
weaknesses (cold spring soil, slugs).  I've focused more on the 
placement of row crops and relationships to neighboring systems 
(chicken, crop, compost cycles), rather than what I do in the garden itself.

By contrast Fukuoka rough tilled, dumped mixed seeds, and developed 
through much trial and error self-designing vegetable forage systems in 
his orchards.  A huge leap for the control freak in all of us. (Fukuoka 
said something about the rewards nature offers those embrace commitment 
and risk...)  I once met a man with a big plot in a guerilla garden in 
Seattle who did a similar things.. he smiled a lot and talked about the 
animals he shared his food with.  diffuse self-seeding systems where 
gardeners provide a low level of disturbance and seed dispersal are a 
really interesting angle to work on and a way to use up surplus seed.  
See The Natural Way of farming for some pretty mystical concepts about 
patterns in complex polycultures of annuals and biennials.

- Use spent garden as chicken forage (alignment of chicken and clean 
cultivation systems).
- Oats as cover crop dies down in winter leaving a mulch for the next year
- Typhon is a winter cover crop you can eat.  Lots more for mild winter 
folks.
- Look for veg varieties that hold over underground.
- Consider undersowing into standing crops -- plant crimson clover under 
crops tin late summer.  By the time you picking the last, - you fall 
cover crop is well established. (Elliot Coleman - The New Organic Grower).
- Favor some weeds... chickweed, purslane, are high vitamin perennial 
edibles that are nice to have in the seed bank.
- By all means if you have wet winters get living things in your garden 
over winter to avoid leaching of nitrogen!

In general those seeking advice might also introduce their location, 
rainfall patterns, soils, winter cold (USDA zone), latitude and any 
salient microclimate (slope, aspect, frost pocket).

Thats what pops out of my bag of tricks,  curious about how others 
approach annual crops in dry summer, wet winter, maritime temperate 
climates.

Paul Cereghino
Olympia, WA




Lisa Rollens wrote:

> Kathy,  the only thing I can think of that is really worthwhile is planting 
> a cover crop.  It holds the nutrients all winter so they don't leach away 
> and makes good growth in the spring that you can till in for organic matter 
> and nitrogen.  I planted wheat and hairy vetch this year.  Hairy vetch is 
> supposed to be particularly good to plant tomatoes in next spring. 
> Unfortunately, it's probably too late to plant now...the seedlings, if they 
> sprout on some of our warm days won't be big enough to make it thru the 
> winter.  I would encourage you to plan for green manure crops in the future. 
> I am and will.  In the past haven't really had the opportunity.  Down here, 
> in the Ozarks, with so much drought, sometimes they sprout early enough and 
> sometimes they don't.  This year it worked!  I don't know when you start 
> gardening, but you could plant clover on the snow and let it grow for quite 
> a while before you till it in to plant warm season crops.  Just some 
> ideas....Lisa
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Kathy Evans" <evansdk@earthlink.net>
> To: "jedd" <jedd@progsoc.org>; "permaculture" 
> <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 2:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] putting the garden to bed
>
>
>  
>
> > Jedd, I usually pull up the annuals, sometimes putting them in the 
> > compost,
> > sometimes leaving them where they are, and put away the "stuff"....stakes
> > and cages. Sometimes I spread some of whatever I have lying around, 
> > chopped
> > up leaves and/or straw and even compost if I'm very ambitious, but I often
> > don't get to that until Feb. or March. I've read many different theories
> > about leaving or not leaving the dead stuff where it is. I don't turn over
> > the soil or anything.  Thanks, Kathy
> >
> > Kathy Evans
> > evansdk@earthlink.net
> >
> >
> >
> >    
> >
> > > [Original Message]
> > > From: jedd <jedd@progsoc.org>
> > > To: <evansdk@earthlink.net>; permaculture 
> > > <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > > Date: 11/3/2006 4:08:52 AM
> > > Subject: Re: [permaculture] putting the garden to bed
> > >
> > > On Thursday 02 November 2006 11:49 pm, Kathy Evans wrote:
> > > ] ... permacultury way that might be different from what I usually do?
> > >
> > > What do you usually do?
> > >
> > > Jedd.
> > >      
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