permaculture

[Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>]

The vegetation types around my place sound significantly different from a lot 
of the areas I've heard described from the Mediterranean.  Here, the main 
vegetation types are grassland or oak savannah, with patches of Douglas-fir 
forest, mixed evergreen forest, and deciduous oak forest.  None of the forest 
has much understory.  There are also patches of chaparral (maquis, matorral, 
mato, or brushland) on southwest-facing slopes, usually with serpentine rock. 
 Trees and shrubs establish themselves in the grassland very slowly, unlike 
what I have heard from Europe.  This occurs mostly on the forest edge, or in 
little patches.  Individual trees get established mainly where others have 
fallen, providing some shade, organic matter, and protection from deer.  Deer 
are one of the main factors restricting the establishment of trees and shrubs 
(and less important in Europe?), but the intensely hot, dry Summers seem to 
be the main factor.  An ecologist
 told me that voles are actually the main killers of seedlings.  (Voles are 
definitely the basis of the predator food chain.)
 
This area (like most of California and beyond) was burned regularly by Native 
Americans for thousands of years, and grazing sustained the open landscape 
after that until only 15-20 years ago, so that could partially explain the 
difference.  Douglas-fir and madrone are definitely spreading in places.  But 
I'm certainly not seeing the establishment of shrubs like you'd expect if 
there weren't other factors involved.  When I checked out the climate of the 
are that Jean Pain lived in (Provence), I found that it rained more there 
than here.  I wonder if that it true of other sites I've read about?  It's 
hard to find climate data for some of these rural areas.  We get about 35 
inches (900 mm) of rain, with only about 2.34 inches (58 mm) from May through 
September.  The hottest month is July, with the average high being 91F (33C).
 
Rain



>From rafter@liberationecology.org  Thu Mar 19 08:45:53 2009
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Subject: [permaculture] Landscaping With Fruit
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Hello friends,

Lee Reich's new book, Landscaping With Fruit is out now. It's  
informative, it's gorgeous, and it's cheap - and I'm happy to say it  
includes a  of one of my designs (co-designed with friend and  
colleague Ethan Roland) as the example of a Permaculture landscape!

For those of you who don't know, Lee Reich is a great friend to  
innovative fruit growers. His books on pruning and uncommon fruits  
have been seminal reference books since publication. This book stands  
out for its wealth of sample design concepts, as well as its very  
useful profiles of over 40 fruiting species (mostly cool/temperate &  
low-maintenance) for the edible landscape. For many of us, the fact  
that he includes data on yields for almost all of these species is a  
reason for celebration!

Needless to say I'm happy to have my work featured, but even were that  
not the case, I think I'd be very pleased with this latest offering  
from Reich. If you're thinking of picking it up, please consider  
helping support the author by getting it through his website at 
www.leereich.com 
. (And no, I'm not getting a percentage!)

Hope this finds you well.

Best,
Rafter


rafter t. sass
The Liberation Ecology Project
liberationecology.org
518-567-7407
skype: raughter



LANDSCAPING WITH FRUIT (Storey Publishing, 2009)

A book to rethink landscaping and fruit growing. Use certain temperate  
zone fruit trees, vines, shrubs, and groundcovers to beautify the  
landscape and, at the same time, provide tasty fruits for eating. The  
focus here is on so-called dessert fruits, delectable fruits that can  
be enjoyed right off the plants. Most people don't expect to need to— 
and don't have to—perform detailed annual pruning or pest control on  
their landscape plants. Fruit suggested in this book are those that  
can be held to these same low-maintenance standards. Learn how to  
optimize growing conditions and reap bountiful harvests while enjoying  
your scenery.



rafter t. sass
The Liberation Ecology Project
liberationecology.org
518-567-7407
skype: raughter




rafter t. sass
The Liberation Ecology Project
liberationecology.org
518-567-7407
skype: raughter