permaculture

[Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>]

We could probably do a modified mini-chinampa system here in Indiana 
with our poor draining clay soils (or anywhere with similar soils and 
36+ inches of rain) and we could keep them filled with overflow from our 
rainwater tanks and some greywater. Anyplace wet or boggy could be 
suitable. People should DO these! They work great. Be sure to design for 
flood periods.

The Bullock brothers on Orcas Island in Washington state have had annual 
chinampa development parties (the Bog Toss) in their wetlands for a 
number of years. Seems like we reported on it in a back issue. I'll 
track it down. They might have more about it at their website.

I did a design which incorporated them in a wetland area in Sebastopol, 
CA. The client so far hasn't gotten around to it.

Scott Horton has a powerpoint presentation on chinampas with photos he 
took in Mex. For more info on similar techniques googlesearch "waruwaru" 
(sometimes waru waru). Dan Hemenway is installing chinampas in Fla. 
though I haven't heard his results.

I got 70,000 hits at Google for chinampas

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=chinampas&btnG=Google+Search 
<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=chinampas&btnG=Google+Search>

Keith

Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
> A friend who spent time in Germany during the 1970's says that around 
> Mannheeim
> there were large gardens on farms that were constructed like the Chinampas 
> gardens in
> Central & South America. These consisted of very tall raised beds with ditches filled with water between them. They were 
> able to achieve good production of potatoes and the like, probably cabbage, herbs, etc.
>
> Anyone know more about this and chinampas gardening in general? Like is it 
> adaptable to farming and gardening in the USA
> and functional and efficient enough in water conservation to include in a site plan when implementing a permaculture 
> systems design.
>
>   

--
Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
also Association for Regenerative Culture
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) It's a 
small world after oil.
http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington
also Bloomington Permaculture Guild