Permaculture in canada

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself Here' started by TrevorR, Aug 2, 2017.

  1. TrevorR

    TrevorR New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2017
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Gender:
    Male
    Climate:
    Canada, Ontario, zone 5a
    hello from Ontario canada. My name. Is Trevor. I am a grower of produce and meat. Currently I sell to restaurants and at farmers markets. I have just opened a store on my farm as well. I have been at the farm for 3 years or so now. I bought the farm off of my parents who have resided at the location since 98. I have 100 acres and my parents live next to me on a 100 acres. The farm was a 200 acre parcel so there is no fences between us.
    I grew up in the country with parents who both came from the farm, so we always had a garden and raised chickens and sometimes had ducks, quail, geese. In 2000 they started a herd of sheep that I inherited when I bought the farm and helped maintain when I still lived at home as a kid. (I'm 33 now).
    I started out gardening the same method as my dad did for years until I read Elliote colemans organic grower book which changed everything. I now have a 5' rototiller. Everything is laid out in 5' sections for my crops. This year I have been trying raised beds using a bedshaper on my rototiller, no till beds and I've been growing a section in high rotation 30" beds like Curtis stone does. The way I see it is I am trying anything and everything to find the right rhythm to growing no working with nature.
    Now to the big reason I joined this forum. I have a 5 acre piece of land by my house that has been sheep pasture since 2000. I want to turn it into a thriving food forest garden with a schedule of the rest of my lifetime. Currently it is thin on topsoil, full of weeds and drys out quick without rain.
    I want to plan ans make it right as I want to plan long term. I am going to start on the members systems with my new food forest plan.
    I don't plan on ever moving. I want to make my whole farm a thriving system. My 100 acres is 6 acres near the house, including my proposed food forest, a twenty acre bushlot and the rest is field crops. I have the fields rented to an organic farmer who is currently growing sorghum for his pig operation. I would love lots of input to my operation. I want food secutity, water security, abundance and lots of learning and loving my land
     
  2. mischief

    mischief Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2009
    Messages:
    1,665
    Likes Received:
    94
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Gender:
    Female
    Occupation:
    s/e
    Location:
    South Waikato New ZeLeand
    Climate:
    Cool mountain
    Hi TrevorR, welcome to the forum. I thought I had already replied to your post and was quite surprised to see it wasnt here. Not too sure what happened there.
    I am looking forward to seeing progress with your food forest in the members system.
    Sounds like you have things well planned so far!!
     
  3. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2006
    Messages:
    3,046
    Likes Received:
    200
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E Washington, USA
    Climate:
    Semi-Arid Shrub Steppe (BsK)
    Hi Trevor and welcome, with thin soils, soil building will be one of your priorities and those weeds you mention can be part of the process if chopped/dropped while green before they go to seed. Cut, they will act as a mulch to slow the drying of your soil and also will break down into organic matter to build topsoil. Thick cover cropping/green manure crops will also work. If you have access to sheep (or pig) manure, it will work wonders on your soil building.
    Building your soil using organic materials and manures covered with mulches will greatly help retain moisture. Looking forward to following your progress!
     
  4. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2013
    Messages:
    1,791
    Likes Received:
    148
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Occupation:
    gardening, reading, etc
    Location:
    near St. Charles, MI, USoA
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    -15C-35C, 10cm rain/mo, clay, full sun, K-G Dfa=x=Dfb
    any free organic materials you can harvest and put on that field
    to encourage worms will help start getting it loosened up.

    perhaps some deep ripping with a shank like they do for the
    Yeomans Keyline system will help too.

    you don't speak about contours and such so hard to say if that
    would help for water holding too.

    the land near the house should be the spaces you'd want for
    veggies and then the fruit trees would go further away, but
    likely you will need to protect those trees from deer, etc. browsing
    until they get tall enough to go without.

    pretty much everything here that is not fenced is going to be
    eaten by deer, rabbits and ...

    i have not tilled any gardens here with a rotor-tiller in many years
    but i do hand dig some gardens when they need to be amended
    or renovated. i don't mind the work and would rather not have the
    noise, besides i like to say hi to my worm friends. :)
     

Share This Page

-->