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  • From: Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] food forest productivity
  • Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:48:00 -0700 (PDT)


Antonio,
 
The following applies to a complete diet in a Mediterranean climate.  If you
are only wanting what is usually (in the US) referred to as "produce," then
the area would be much smaller.  Chestnuts are often treated as a vegetable,
but most nuts and legumes are treated as grains, which are the staple of most
people's diets.  Since grain is so important as food and grain cultivation
takes up so much space and is so unsustainable, we should be trying to grow
these, or substitutes for these, as well as fruits and vegetables.  On the
other hand, fruits and vegetables require more fossil fuel for shipping, due
to their weight, lose more vitamins in transport, and cost more, so it is
probably a good idea to start with these.
 
My friend was growing enough food for himself and his small son on 4000
square feet, following the recommendations of John Jeavons, in northern
California. He spent a lot of time weeding, due to the sunlight that was
being wasted by the short annual plants he was growing. We speculated that
yields would be higher if food trees and other perennials were integrated
into the garden, requiring less space to feed the same number of people.

The amount of food a given area is able to produce is dependent on many
factors: the fertility of the soil, the amount of irrigation water available,
the climate (particularly the length of the growing season for the intended
crops), the species mix, the amount of work put into it, and the willingness
or ability of the people eating from the garden to eat what is produced. You
also need to determine whether you are measuring yield in pounds of food,
calories, or dollars. If you take average production numbers for orchard
monocultures of the species you are interested in as your baseline, this will
give you a yield below that of any food forest you could design. Many nut
trees can produce at levels similar to grain crops. I haven't done much
research on it, but I feel confident that most fruit trees outcompete most
annual vegetables. Root crops are pretty much the only ones that trees have a
hard time comparing to, with potatoes being the miracle crop
(and these can even produce in the shade of a food forest). Root crops
substantially reduce the area required to grow food for a specified number of
people. These can be grown in the margins and open spots within food forests,
if necessary.

So, if you included a diverse number of species that could produce a rounded
diet, I would guess that 4000 square feet per person is probably a good place
to start as an estimate. However, on a small scale, it might be difficult to
grow enough species to produce a rounded diet, just because of the size of
most trees. I would love to hear of any results that you come up with.

Rain



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Subject: Re: [permaculture] food forest productivity
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On approximately a 1/3 acre plot we currently have 102 food bearing trees,
the majority fruit, but two avocados, 1 almond, 1 macadamia,?and finanally?a
leucania producing high protein seeds.? We also have scarlet runner beans,
chayote, berries, artichokes, edible cannas, and on and on..? We are
beginning to have significant surpluses that are being traded with other
members of the community we live for food we don't grow ourselves.? Community
trading networks plus backyard food forests or home-scale agriculture can
provide huge quantities of food and help make a town or small city food
independent.




Larry Saltzman



-----Original Message-----
From: Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:48 am
Subject: [permaculture] food forest productivity




Antonio,
?
The following applies to a complete diet in a Mediterranean climate.? If you
are
only wanting what is usually (in the US) referred to as "produce," then the
area
would be much smaller.? Chestnuts are often treated as a vegetable, but most
nuts and legumes are treated as grains, which are the staple of most people's
diets.? Since grain is so important as food and grain cultivation takes up so
much space and is so unsustainable, we should be trying to grow these, or
substitutes for these, as well as fruits and vegetables.? On the other hand,
fruits and vegetables require more fossil fuel for shipping, due to their
weight, lose more vitamins in transport, and cost more, so it is probably a
good
idea to start with these.
?
My friend was growing enough food for himself and his small son on 4000 square
feet, following the recommendations of John Jeavons, in northern California.
He
spent a lot of time weeding, due to the sunlight that was being wasted by the
short annual plants he was growing. We speculated that yields would be higher
if
food trees and other perennials were integrated into the garden, requiring
less
space to feed the same number of people.

The amount of food a given area is able to produce is dependent on many
factors:
the fertility of the soil, the amount of irrigation water available, the
climate
(particularly the length of the growing season for the intended crops), the
species mix, the amount of work put into it, and the willingness or ability of
the people eating from the garden to eat what is produced. You also need to
determine whether you are measuring yield in pounds of food, calories, or
dollars. If you take average production numbers for orchard monocultures of
the
species you are interested in as your baseline, this will give you a yield
below
that of any food forest you could design. Many nut trees can produce at levels
similar to grain crops. I haven't done much research on it, but I feel
confident
that most fruit trees outcompete most annual vegetabl
es. Root crops are pretty
much the only ones that trees have a hard time comparing to, with potatoes
being
the miracle crop
(and these can even produce in the shade of a food forest). Root crops
substantially reduce the area required to grow food for a specified number of
people.?These can be grown in the margins and open spots within food forests,
if
necessary.

So, if you included a diverse number of species that could produce a rounded
diet, I would guess that 4000 square feet per person is probably a good place
to
start as an estimate. However, on a small scale, it might be difficult to grow
enough species to produce a rounded diet, just because of the size of most
trees. I would love to hear of any results that you come up with.

Rain



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