Permaculture, Regrarians, etc. 2017

[Amiga]

Based on this definition, my entire property and life qualifies as permaculture! Yay! I thought it was more about the word "permanent," as in not replanting, etc., and setting up companion planting to mimic the wild. I'm probably combining hugelculture with permaculture, though, since I was doing the reading for both around the same time.

The above definition simply describes the way my grandparents lived and how I strive to live. Joel Salatin does this successfully for a living and writes and lectures and teaches worldwide.

Permaculture is reclaiming the ways in which humans lived as part of the living systems that support life. Permanent, as in you can keep living this way for about as long as one can imagine - as opposed to the use it up and crash system.

 

[Denim Deb]

Food, fuel, medicine, fiber. Some basic needs.

Coppice and pollard are two methods for yielding fuel. Rather than cutting down huge trees with (nonexistent) chainsaws, my ancestors cut four inch saplings a few inches above the soil, or at breast height.

The former is coppice, the latter is pollard.

Then they let the branches grow to the size needed, for baskets, handles, posts, polls, or firewood....

There were entire groves of these coppiced trees. The word copse comes from this practice. And the old song, Down By The Sally Gardens refers to the Sally, or coppiced willow,that is so useful.

Coppicing helps trees stay young, in a way. There are ancient coppiced trees alive today.

Gonna also mention pleaching, another practice of my ancestors. It is a skill of bending branches and tying them together so that the branches form a living bond, even sharing water and nutrients, even between separate shrubs or trees.

But I digress...

Amiga, I've been trying to find info on coppicing trees to find out which trees this works the best with. I haven't found much info on it, except for stuff from the UK. It doesn't seem to be done much in the States. But for someone that wants to heat w/wood and doesn't have the access to acres of woods, this can be a good way to go.

 

[lcertuche]

I always thought about planting some blueberries under pine trees too and maybe some strawberries as a living mulch for both. Once while in a Florida park I saw huge blueberry bushes growing at the edge of pines. They were loaded down with fruit and so yummy.

 

[freemotion]

I want some real live edible blueberries! I've had these bushes for probably 5 years and have harvested about 6 blueberries, ugh!

Do you get flowers? I had this issue with all the fruit on my property and finally figured out they weren't getting pollinated. I started hand pollinating with an artist brush and started getting fruit on my property. Now I have bee hives. Now I check the flowers for pollinators because many things bloom here when it's too cold for the bees to fly. So I check just in case and can always pull out my paint brush if I don't see any pollinating going on.

 

[Mini Horses]

Good info. I like the thread. Thanks for starting. One day I may have some input....

 

[baymule]

Obviously blueberries don't like you!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Very interesting topic!
(We signed papers on this house almost a year ago, but really have only been implementing some of our ideas since late spring.)
I could not have told you what it was called, but we have been trying to set up our place with many of these ideas. We have chickens for meat and eggs (and bug control), and also for the poo in the compost. We use wood chips and straw for the laying boxes in the coops to be added to the compost and eventually into the garden. We're planning rabbits next so I can add to the meat, but also so the poo fertilizes the garden, which in turn will produce food for us and also the chickens and rabbits. Eventually we want to add fish, and add the fish water to the garden, eat the meat, etc, etc. We're also planning on adding bees to help pollinate the fruit trees, bushes, and garden.
Right now we have walnut and pecan trees, fruit trees (apple, pear, fig, peach, lime, and olive with cherry, more apple, and plums planned), fruit bushes (blueberry and blackberry (plan on raspberry and strawberry), grape vines (right now muscadine and scuppernong but others planned) an herb garden: oregano, basil, and mint, parsley, dill (lavender and thyme and garlic going in the garden in the spring)
I've always tilled gardens but am soooo interested in other ways of doing things especially when it means less work, fewer weeds, and better production. My DH found a place close that raises hundreds of rabbits, and found a truckload of poo is very cheap. We plan on adding at least one truckload soon.
I've been interested in companion planting for many years, but wasn't able to have a garden for the last 10 years, and haven't had a chance yet to really try it out. (I have had many years of gardening experience but it's been a while now, and DH has had almost none). I am in northern Alabama, and should be able to do both a spring and a fall garden most years here, plus a greenhouse.
We're attempting to add as many flowering plants to the property as possibly and already have white clover growing in the lawn to attract pollinators. My goal is to have the biggest variety as possible that I can get (for the least amount of money) that will come back year after year on its own. I'm already working with a neighbor who would like some of her flowers thinned. I'll do the work, and in exchange, she is giving me some 4 O'Clocks, Cana Lilies, Amaryllis, and Trumpet flowers. I'm hoping to trade labor or plants with ladies in the church and maybe some other neighbors to add to the variety.
Flowers that I know are already on the property include: a tulip bush, Camillia, azalea, canna lilies, roses, a few day and tiger lilies, some asian lilies, wisteria, magnolia, and cyprus and honeysuckle vines. There's a lot of stuff here that I still have to identify, especially the weeds. It's been over 10 years since I lived in the south, and this is a slightly different area than where I lived before, so I am constantly learning. (Oh, how I wish I could have met and learned from the people who originally set up this property!! Already I can see that they have saved me years worth of time and effort!)
We're doing our best to avoid all chemical weed or pest control (although I did use some for the wasps in the back shed. There were at least 20 nests where I wanted to put all my garden stuff).
We save rainwater for watering plants.
I'm thinking about getting a wood chipper. Does anyone know if chipped pecan wood and oak can go directly into a garden? Pecan trees love to drop branches. Right now I burn them (and put the ashes in by the chickens dust bath area) but if I could chop them and use them a different way, I'd be interested.
I just don't seem to be able to read enough, fast enough and to be able to implement things as fast as I'd like...
Oh and I am seeing a lot of mushrooms in the garden area and yard. Does anyone know which ones are beneficial and which ones would be harmful? @Britesea, I saw an old post where you were thinking of growing mushrooms. Did you eventually try that? Anyone else?
Also, does anyone have pictures of some of the beneficial weeds and plants they have in their yards?
I'm sooo looking forward to this thread continuing!!

 

[baymule]

If you put wood chips directly on the garden, they will rob nitrogen as they break down. You can do it, but mix up some chicken poop tea. Use fresh chicken poop in a 5 gallon bucket, fill with water and let sit a couple of days. Scoop some "tea" up, dilute with water and spray on garden. This will put nitrogen on the garden without burning it with fresh chicken poop.

We have piles and piles of wood chips that are composting. Last year, in cold weather, steam rose from the piles. The chips have the fungal threads running through them. We will be putting them on the garden and on the bare dirt I call "pastures" LOL

 

[Amiga]

Turning in soon.

 

[rodeogirl]

@rodeogirl, didn't you say you were interested in permaculture too?

Ya I did thanks for letting me know