Darrell's site is definitely an example of a market garden developed
through the permaculture design process. I've been there a couple times,
and was impressed both times. Darrell also tells good stories, and thinks
deeply, and has a great library.
Food forests in my experience are a fun, enjoyable, and exciting way of
producing food. They have a lot of potential to gain productivity with
strange species and assemblies (and I hope some of us are working to
improve that for temperate climes especially), but yes, I have a couple
food forests and still live on annual agriculture. I butchered a gigantic
25# Boston Marrow winter squash the other day, and realized that just my
squash yield alone provided more food to me than my food forest this entire
year (if I don't count the alliums, and the subtropical fruits that are in
a greenhouse, or the mushrooms, it was an epic shroom year). It was a
horrible fruit and spring perennials year, or I should say a nothing year.
Nothing, not even the ever reliable gooseberries. Wicked cold and record
late heavy snow and frost really put relying on spring flowering perennials
in context. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Diversity is king. The
exciting food forest yield this year was *Stachys affinis* tubers though.
Yum!
I can't wait to break out the broadfork and loosen the soil in my annual
garden this spring. Tillage. Gasp!
Jason
--
PO Box 4355
Boulder, CO 80306
720-496-9744
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