Can I grow fruit trees in clay soil in the understory of oak/hickory forest?fruit yield drops dramatically when light levels drop. Clay soil can be modified over time, but light is the finite supply of energy on the site, the majority of energy may be captured by your overstory of oak and hickory. There is a limit to primary (i.e. plant) productivity in a system, you can boost it some over time with soil fertility, by trapping nutrients and water in the system... but in genearal the number of leaves and fruit that can be grown in a given patch of sun is finite -- in a more mature system I'd start looking for how to build food web complexity, niches for secondary products by recycling or concentrating wastes to create yields other than fruit, or start thinking about creating a disturbance (removing canopy) that creates new sun niches.
It's easy for me to be overwhelmed trying to understand and apply permaculture and not sure how to just begin in a small way.Inventory all your waste from garden and house, inventory everything you buy into your home, and look for matches and substitutes. Assess your energy demand for house heat, warm water, cooking, and look at efficiencies system by system. In general I am finding that the object of design/restoration is not the land, but rather ourselves.
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