Permaculture Enthusiasts

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For those involved in or interested in permaculture.

What kind of things do you hope to achieve?

What kind of things have you achieved?

Successes?

Failures?

Works in progress?

 

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For those not entirely familiar, this Wiki article is a fairly decent summary:

Permaculture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

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This is what first got my wife and me interested:

Back to Eden Film - Watch Back to Eden Film Organic Gardening Documentary for Free

 

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My wife recently completed the Permaculture Design Course from Geoff Lawton. After we get a few years of applying it to our own land, she plans to do some designing and consulting to help spread these methods.

 

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The first thing I am doing is soil building. I have 18 or so inches of sand on the hill and nice Oklahoma red clay below the crest of the hill. Below the clay is a sandstone base.

So far I have mowed the brush with a hog and filled a draw with drought droppings. Tons of dead trees. I covered that with several yards of horse stall cleanings.

I haul in compost from a city compost yard. My cost is hauling if I load it. They will also load mulch (same as the compost not processed) for free. I stock pile and let the rain water it for a year at which time it is really compost. This is screened to separate the trash. Mowing keeps the weeds down and adds organic matter to the soil. I mow either fall or spring to allow the tall grass to reseed. I grow wheat. That also cuts weed growth.

Have been thinking about hugelkultur and am tending more to compost filled swales. This traps and holds water better than the clay.

My garden is half sand and half compost. This holds water and drains better. I garden in 3-4 ft wide rows with isles 18 inches deep in wood chips.

Hilled my taters with fine leaf mold. Did not have to dig. Just pulled em. Eight pounds of seed produced 100 pounds of taters.

Plant flowers in the veggie garden to help rest soil and attract pollinators and adds pleasing beauty.

I do have large compost heaps. Need turning right now. Do it with a FEL. Still take a couple hours.

Nice to see something like this here at CF. I read and participate in a couple forums about the subject and homesteading.