Bazman's food forest over 9 years

Discussion in 'Members' Systems' started by bazman, Jun 28, 2012.

  1. Sandman

    Sandman Junior Member

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    Thanks for posting this. As someone with a 1 year old food forest, I would like to know what your main lessons learned are.
     
  2. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    Watch and learn from the site before you start. Learn how sun, water, wind, frost effects you site.
    Draw a plan or guide, but feel free to change it as you go.
    Write down the technical names and position of the trees you plant.
    Don't let your chooks roam everywhere.
    Grow the type of stuff you will eat.
    Three strikes and your out. If it does not grow on your site, don't grow it.
    If a fruit tree just creates issues, with the likes of fruit flies, chop it out.
    Look at what local legume trees/bushes you can access (local weeds) and grow them for chop and drop in your forest. I also grow tobacco weed in my gardens as a chop and drop.
    Start the project at the closet part to your house and work out from that point.
    Add some cool design and interesting areas, so you and everyone else enjoys the space and well as enjoys it's produce.
    Find local biomass sources, I use chipped mulch, slashed grass, local felled trees for log edging. Offer to clean up local properties so you can take all the biomass as drop and drop for your site.
    Be careful of introducing aggressive rooted weeds. I have a weed called white root which is a total pain in my vegi gardens.
    I often throw seed direct into my garden beds between my fruit trees.
    I use 6 black plastic compost bins which I move around my gardens to help build up sites.
    Never use manures without composting.
    If you remove a weed you need to plant something in it's place.
    Mix up your mulches, I might apply a woody mulch in one spot then hay the next.
    Enjoy your time in your gardens, I send some time in your garden every day and love it.
    The best fertiliser is the gardeners shadow.
     
  3. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    I love it!
     
  4. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    I wish I could take credit for that one. But I totally agree with it.

    'The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow.' Masanobu Fukuoka
     
  5. Sandman

    Sandman Junior Member

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    Thanks, thats a very good list of lessons learned, and I think we're doing just about all here, as well. We aren't growing annuals, so not as concerned about weeds. Rather than removing them, we just cut em off at the ground and drop em as mulch. Our sandy soil doesn't support many shallow rooted plants anyway, as evidenced by the look of the surrounding natural forest which is very open with deep pine straw. Actually, this year we do plan to put cowpea seeds in the ground all over the food forest, mainly to fix nitrogen and build biomass. Our perennial N fixers include native coral bean, native clovers, goumi berry, and mimosa trees, which I will coppice and eventually remove when they are no longer needed. Hopefully this second year will be the only year that we need to augment with cowpeas. Please tell me more about mixing up your mulch. Is that to create more diversity in the soil life? To prevent pests from getting out of hand?
     
  6. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    I like to mix up my mulches so I get different types of nutrient and biology. I also find that woody mulches can create water proof layers when repeatedly applied so by mixing up the mulches the soil biology will break down the organic matter to get to the new changed mulches like the thick stemmed grassy mulches I take from my fire break. (setaria grass) I always leave it on the ground after slashing for a few weeks before picking up so it drops it's seeds.

    I do have a lot of lawn clippings too, while some is composted some I just put in little neat single catcher load piles around the garden, this way the grass breaks/composts down without to many weeds, If the pile is dry I will add a bit of water to the pile to help it break down. I don't put it in the same spot either.

    Another trick is to put lawn clippings in a pile next to you compost bin so you can add it in thinner layers as you add kitchen waste, animal manures and biochar.
     
  7. CATCH

    CATCH Junior Member

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