> The discussion hasn't got very far into designing a forest garden yet,
> mostly we are dealing with the after effects of logging.
Point well taken.
> Eric, if you have time to describe your plans for this old apple
> orchard i would love to hear them. Actual results or experiences
> would be even better.
I'm starting with the past history of the land. It gets a bit tedious
perhaps, and it's a longer than necessary post. So, some of you may want
to skip to the later parts about what we've done and our future plans : )
Prior to purchase in summer of 1993:
Once upon a time, probably up to about 1875-85, this land was a mixed
forest of oaks, bay, madrone, and possibly douglas fir, with a semi-open
understory of berries, ferns and other small plants. These two acres had
been a productive apple orchard (gravenstine, golden delicious and rome
beauty) for decades; some of the existing trees have very large hollow
trunks, although there is a good mix of ages. The previous owners had not
sprayed since the late 70's. Every year in the late winter the trees were
pruned, sometimes well, sometimes not (in my judgement) and the prunnings
burned on location. At least once a year, sometimes two, in the late
spring / early summer the ground was disked by small wheel tractor. In
late summer / early fall the apples were picked and either sold for eating
or for processing into apple sauce. There was never any irrigation because
of moist, but well drained, sandy soil; and no fertilizing that I'm aware
of in talking to the previous owners. Some other fruit and non-fruit trees
and shrubs were planted, though not many. The few Monterey Pines they
planted almost 20 years ago are very large now. A mixture of grasses and
"weeds", mostly non-native I'm sure, cover the ground between disking.
Summer 1993 - spring 1996:
We bought the property, but still lived two hours away, only visiting
occasionally. Consistent with local practices, we made an arrangement with
local people to prune, disk and pick. They did the work and kept the money
from the apples they got (not much, $500 to $1,000 a year for organic
apples). We were glad to have it looked after. I didn't intend to make
apples my career. Instead, we were planning to replace / fill in the apple
trees with other kinds of fruit for home use and possibly to sell. I
didn't know what I would do with 10 tons of apples a year : )
Summer 1994, we moved to within 20 minutes of the property and began to
design our house. Fall 1995, I changed our arrangement with the
orchardists; I asked them not to disk, but to mow instead and to not burn
the prunnings. I felt this would be nicer to the soil. We also planted
some other kinds of fruit (see below).
Spring 1996 to present:
I began to spend time with a Permaculture teacher who lived nearby. Summer
1996, I took my first Permaculture Course. Although I was already heading
in the direction of food self-sufficiency and low input farming, the
Permaculture perspectives, ideas, and tools, changed my thinking about how
to use the property. The pond was no, longer just for aesthetics, but now
also for growing water loving food plants. The garage roof could be used
to catch winter rain for keep the pond full during the summer drought. The
orchard could be a food forest and/or have food/mulch
intercropping/underplanting. The landscaping could have many perennial
crops intermixed. Etc. I stopped our arrangement with the orchardists,
because we were beginning to plant non-orchard trees and plants and didn't
want to risk their damage. I decided to prune as needed, no burning, no
disking or mowing (although a "kind" neighbor did mow some of our property
last summer!), some thinning, and only enough picking to keep us and all of
our friends and family well stocked. We put in a small pond and a septic
system and a driveway for the future house. Very little was actually done
other than some plant propagation and a few experiments to see what could
naturalize, surviving the ravenous gophers, summer drought and consistent
neglect. Spring 1997, we moved onto the property into a travel trailer in
the spring of 1997 as we began to build our house. Summer 1997, I took my
second Pc Course and continue to work on the design our property. Building
had dominated our time so that we have still done little with the land.
What I have done and how it worked out:
WATER
The pond is beautiful; full of life. It is lined because of our sandy
soil, and the liner was covered with soil. The animals (fish, frogs, bugs,
and terrestrial visitors of all kinds) seem to have found a balance with
the plants (some ornamental, some edible, some to prevent evaporation, most
doing at least two of those). I still need to increase the diversity,
especially edibles, but so far, so good. Perhaps another smaller pond,
and, possibly, a greywater system at some point in the future. We have not
yet put on gutters, or finished the garage siding for that matter, so as
yet have not set up roof catchment. For now, we are content to add a
little water once a week to the pond during the late summer. Deep rooted
plants (often perennials) are able to get to the relatively shallow water
table and/or get enough from the moist sandy soil 12 to 18 inches down
during the summer. I'm hoping with better mulch, wind breaks and light
shade to be able to limit the need for watering. Roof catchment may
provide what is needed beyond that.
PLANTS
We have planted plum, loquat, boysenberry, gooseberry, rosemary, oregano,
thyme, willow, some ornamentals and some native plants; all of which are
doing well with very little attention. I am trying to find the useful
species that will "naturalize" or at least flourish under neglect. We have
planted cherry (all of which died at the graft; old timers say the area
used to be a cherry growing area but experienced some kind of "blight".
Recently, I have successfully grafted a Japanese flowering cherry onto the
sprouting root stock.), apricot (having similar problems) and persimmon
(too early to tell). I have many other trees, shrubs, herbs and
ornamentals that I have been propagating. They have done okay, but are not
all able to withstand the gopher attacks. We have done very little
gardening, and have had limited success probably because our soil and
gophers are malnourished : )
SOIL
The soil is slowly recovering, since we stopped disking. It has better
texture and has marginally more humus. The apple trees, grasses and weeds
do their parts, but I feel I need to do more. Perhaps cover crops or
massive areas of mulch. I have been trying to avoid inputs from off site,
but I may not continue that. I have been keeping a eye out for good mulch
plants (no-maintanence, lush growth, non-invasive, easy to harvest, etc.),
but no luck so far. I have dug swales and temporary holding ponds to catch
most of the rains we get each winter, and they are working very well.
Originally designed to prevent erosion on the disturbed soil (tractor work
for the pond, septic, driveway and house), they now help to evenly
distribute the rains, preventing collection (leading to erosion) and loss
to the next property. Once in awhile I putter around fixing and adding
swales as needed. Gopher holes and silt and the only "problems".
ANIMALS
Though we are talking about adopting, currently we "have" no animals,
unless you count the, now mammoth, goldfish that some friends let go in our
pond or the, now multitudinous, mosquito fish we put in the pond. All
others are free to come and go as they please (the fish are too, but I
recognize their predicament : ). The neighbors cats and local raptors help
with the gophers and mice. We also have a wide range of visitors -
countless bug and bird species (including great blue herons (just now!) and
egrets in the pond), at least 4 amphibian species, at least 3 reptiles, and
many mammals large and small.
FUTURE PLANS
Forest Garden - I'd like to see one corner of our property evolve into a
food forest / forest garden. I imagine a semi- dense, multi-layered
combination of native and non-native plants chosen for their usefulness to
us, the soil, or the wildlife. I am growing chestnuts (still too young to
plant out) and oaks mainly to provide bulk food. I'll let the apple trees
in that area fend for themselves, and I'll add a plum that is naturalized
to the area. Many berries (some of which are already volunteering) will go
in the understory. I haven't completed my research into other understory
plants, but have many in mind. Many herbs seem to do well here, but I
don't have enough shady areas to test out how they will do under the trees.
Intensive garden and orchard - We will have some more managed areas near
the house for vegetables (etc.) that can't tough it out on their own. And
to give the area around the house more sun, we'll keep the front (south) of
the house in shorter growth plants. The slowly growing variety of fruit
trees are also staying closer to the house; many more trees need to be
bought / propagated and planted.
Pond - I already mentioned that the pond could use some more edible
varieties. We don't see animal food in there (yet?) as we are vegetarian.
Well, I'm sure that's more than enough for now. Sorry it got so long.
I'll let any interested parties pick up on topics for further discussion.
Live, Love, Learn, Laugh!
Eric:
