permaculture

[Marjory <forestgarden@gvtc.com>]

Hi,

thank you so much for your thoughtful reply.  we are lucky enough to 
have 75 acres to care take, and i am well aware that without some form 
of agriculture, it cannot support even one human alone.  on the other 
hand, with a well and careful management, i believe we can support about 
10 humans, while increasing the vitality of the overall area. 

thank you again.

marjory






negiliblek wrote:
> Hello Marjory,
>
> I can't answer the acres/human question but hunter/gatherer is something I've 
> tried twice for a about a week each try. So, while I can't speak to 
> wintering, I can give a feel of it and hope it doesn't just sound like 
> rambling.
>
> In a desert similar to the Sonoran (banna yucca, agave, cane fruit cholla, 
> prickly pear, juniper berries, velvet mesquite, pinon pine, wild onion, and 
> indain potato, and four wing salt bush), a single individual could eat well 
> enough.  WITH THE FOLLOWING CONSIDERATIONS:
>
> -the amount of food varies greatly with location. A three mile difference in 
> location could mean the difference between life and death This means you'd 
> have to roam; leaving a good area to regenerate for a season in desert 
> locations (maybe 60 days in higher rain/foliage growth rate areas like the 
> Pacific NW)
>
> -when things ripen at a given location is also paramount (I've found mesquite 
> pods ready to eat at 2,000 feet but still green less than a mile away at 
> 3,000 feet. Pinon puts off a good crop every 4 years)
>
> -and hope you're not vegetarian if you don't do some food preservation for 
> the winter -even in the desert, the nutrients of the plants are sucked back 
> in to the roots
>
> -As Larry pointed out, you must also be a caretaker or else you'll ruin your 
> habitat even if you roam. This means thinning out the weaker stock when you 
> eat, removing a plant if too many are grouped together in one spot (happens 
> often as bear and elk scat sprout many species in a very small diameter). 
> When you eat, swallow a few of your uncooked mesquite beans/prickly pear 
> seeds/cane fruit cholla seeds and take care where you shit -you're planting 
> next season's food. It might not hurt to build small compost piles in 
> micro-habitats your wild foods like.
>
> -Places that have been cattle grazed are truly places to starve to death 
> unless you like beef.
>
> -mono culture farming are also death lands as the ditches and roadsides are 
> full of pesticides, insectisides, and other physical trash.
>
> As a farmer, you can look at each acre and see how plentiful your crops are and even calculate the number of people you can feed that season. 
>
> In wild foraging where a body must roam, the crop isn't easily seen and 
> varies greatly from place to place, such calculation requires years of 
> experience that is only good for a very specific location with in a given 
> area like the Sonoran.
>
> If you have land and are wondering how many wild foragers it will support, 
> begin to learn every single wild plant on your land,if it's edible, and how 
> to prepare it. Then you'll know which ones you'll want to encourage a lot and 
> how many plants it'll take you of the variety you've chosen to feed a given 
> number of people.
>
> I've told you everything I know -I'll go back to sleep now :)
>
>
>
>       
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