Eric wrote:
>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.
This sounds like an interesting base to build on. Lots of room to
experiment and mature trees to use. The absence of mature trees is
a problem with us impatient types who want a forest garden quickly.
>The pond is beautiful; full of life. It is lined because of our sandy
>soil, and the liner was covered with soil.
I've got a leaky pond and someone suggested that animals will turn
the sandy soil into muck and seal the pond. They suggested cows but
we don't have cows and i'm thinking geese or ducks. We will probably
give it a try next year. Ponds are great, even our small pond is a
good places to be on a summer day.
>I still need to increase the diversity,
>especially edibles, but so far, so good.
I tried some native food crops in our wet areas and they did not
get enough light. Indian potatoes and others grew but did not
produce much. The local salmon berries came in and gave us lots
of berries instead. When you got lemons, make lemonade.
>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.
If you can grow loquats then finding a wide range of useful
plants should be easy. The catalogs that push marginal
plants in this area may have some hardy stuff. Have you seen
the Oregon Exotics catalog. Or the One Green World. An
inexpensive source is Hartmann's. Email
[EMAIL PROTECTED] for a free catalog.
>I have dug swales and temporary holding ponds to catch
>most of the rains we get each winter, and they are working very well.
I wonder if the opposite state (a non swale) is ever talked about
in Permaculture. Ponds and drain channels are possible in wet areas
but that is different. Probably mounds would be the answer and i
do remember seeing something like that somewhere.
>I am growing chestnuts (still too young to
>plant out) and oaks mainly to provide bulk food.
I've been told that the growth rate for hybrid nut trees make
it possible to get nuts and not wait for 20 years. We planted
about 15 chestnuts and about 50 walnut trees and i've been watching
to see how the hybrids did. So far the type soil and amount of competition
has been the dominant factor. We tried various weed blocking techniques
for seedlings and they all worked, but now i'm just cutting the nearby
grass and using it as mulch.
Most of the fun is in the doing
not in the completion.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
