Permaculture for Farmers v3: Crops, Patterns, Polycultures

Permaculture for Farmers Ecological Production by Design

Benneth G. Phelps, Mosaic FarmEthan C. Roland, AppleSeed Permaculture

Terra GenesisInternational

ApiosInstitute

Permaculture for Farmers

Permaculture Design

• Definition - Ethics - Principles

The Permaculture Pie

perennial vegetables

coppice woodcrafts & biomass

composting & compost tea

biochar/terra preta

apiculture

aquaculture

edible forest gardening

mycoscaping

bioremediation

earthworks

keyline

natural building green architecture

management-intensive grazing

alternativecurrencies

food forestry

• ]

Design Tools

• Zones of Use

• Sector Analysis

• Keyline Design

Zones of Use

Camp

Zone 1

Zone 2

Zone 1

Zone 3

Zone 2

Zone 1

Zone 3Zone 4

Zone 2

Zone 1

Sector Analysis

Sector Thinking: Windbreaks

Sector Thinking: Windbreaks

Zone 1

Keyline Design

Keyline: Catch and Store Energy

Source: Permaculture: A Designers Manual

Catch+store

Yobarnie

Keyline Plow

Carbon Farmers of America

Keyline DesignSunday 1:00pm - Campus Center 804-08

Permaculture for Farmers

Crop Design Process

Crop Design Process

Key Concepts

" A geographic group of site-level ecosystems." -Bailey, 1998

"The growing of more than species or crop in the same

space at the same time"

-Jacke & Toensmeier, 2005

Main Crops

• Annuals

• Perennials

• Berries

• Orchard fruits

• Nuts

• Animals (fish, fowl, ruminants)

• Fungi

(Starting and Managing a CSA with Permaculture Principles, Sunday 8:00am Campus center 803)

Perennial Vegetables

• Permaculture Principle: Least effort for large effect• Plants w/ a 3-3000+ year lifespan• Not destroyed by harvesting•

LOW MAINTENANCE• Only plant once• Years of harvests• No digging or tilling• Resist pests, weeds, drought• Extend harvest season• Excellent yield/time

Slide: Eric Toensmeier

Perennial Vegetables

Nettle

Urtica dioica

Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis

Rhubarb

Rheum x cultorum

French sorrel

Rumex acetosa

Some (More) Common Perennial Vegetables

Slide: Eric Toensmeier

Sea Kale

(Crambe maritima)

Multiplier Onion (Allium cepa-aggregatum)

• Shallot, walking onion, chive, garlic chives

Skirret (Sium sisarum)

Climbing Spinach (Hablitzia tamnoides)

Climbing Spinach (Hablitzia tamnoides)

Go see Jonathan @ Food Forest Farm Tent!

Berries

Currants(Ribes spp.)

Juneberry(Amelanchier spp.)

Orchard Fruits

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

Mulberry – Morus spp.

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Pears (Pyrus spp.)

Nuts

Chestnut

Pine Nut

Hazelnut(Corylus spp.)

Hazelnut(Corylus spp.)

Animals

Pigs

Pigs

Chickens

Fungi

Winecap Strophaia

Shitake

Oyster

Support Crops

Types

• Trees

• Shrubs

• Groundcovers

Functions

• Biomass

• Accumulators

• Insectaries

Trees

Black & Honey Locust

Grey & Italian Alder

Grey & Italian Alder

Willow

Shrubs

Pea Shrub

Seaberry(Hippophae rhamnoides)

Goumi

Groundcovers

Trefoil(s)

Comfrey(s)

Comfrey(s)

Insectaries

Landscape Pattern:

Production Polyculture

Species

• Plants, animals, fungi

Vegetable Block:

Salad Hedge

Species

• Fresh eating: Linden, mulberry, sassafrass; saltbush, carolina silverbell

• Cooked: Goji, fragrant spring tree, pea shrub

Vegetable Block:

Salad Hedge

Vegetable Block:

Salad Hedge

Orchard/Forest Garden:

Uncommon Fruit Orchard

Pawpaw

Asian Pear

Hazelnut

Orchard/Forest Garden:

Uncommon Fruit Orchard

Comfrey, chive, sorrel, anise hyssop, and chicory groundcover

Alley Cropping:

Fruit trees & annuals

MOFGA Fairgrounds, Unity, ME

• Apples, plums, pears

• Pea shrub, grass, clover

• Sweet peppers, kale

Alley Cropping:

Fruit trees & annuals

Windbreak:

Nut Pines

Windbreak:

Nut Pines & Fruit

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Agroforestry:

Pancake Polyculture

Sugar Maple

BlackWalnut

Birch

Oak

Chestnut

Understory Fruits:

Black raspberry,Red currant,

Black currant

Pawpaw

Agroforestry:

Kazakh Mimic

Agroforestry:

Kazakh Mimic

Prairie Mimic:

The Land Institute

Species

• Wild Senna

• Illinois bundleflower

• Hybrid sorghum

• Maximilian sunflower

• Leymus racemosus

• Tripsacum dactyloides

Silvopasture:

Red Pine, Cows, Grass

Silvopasture:

Pigs & Nuts

Species

• Heritage-breed pigs

• Pasture grass & legume mix

• Black walnut, butternut, heartnut, chestnut, hickory, northern pecan, oak

Polyface Farm

Silvopasture:

Pigs & Nuts

Rotational Grazing:

Animal Tractors

Polyface Farm

Rotational Grazing:

Animal Tractors

Rotational Grazing:

Animal Tractors

Stone Barns Center

CH_CS_fish1

Photo: Ethan Roland

Cascade SystemsWadenswil Agriculture Research Station, Switzerland

Aquaculture:

Tilapia / Tropics

Tilapia

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CH_CS_waterflow

Photo: Ethan Roland

CH_CS_parsley

Photo: Ethan Roland

ParsleyTomatoes

Aquaponics

CH_CS_papaya

CH_CS_banana

• Vegetable Blocks

• Berry Blocks

• Orchard / Forest Garden

• Alley cropping

• Agroforestry

• Windbreaks

• Prarie mimic

• Silvopasture

• Rotational Grazing

• Aquaculture

• Salad Hedge

• Mini-thickets

• Uncommon orchard

• Fruit trees & animals

• Pancake polyculture

• Korean nut pine

• Land Institute

• Pigs & nuts

• Animal tractor

• Tilapia/tropics

Production Polyculture

Landscape Pattern

Permaculture for Farmers

Eco-Ag Design Tool

Next Steps

• Permaculture Track @ NOFA-SC

• Northeastern Permaculture Wiki:

• www.nepc.wikispaces.com

• Permaculture Design Course

• Consulting w/ Benneth & Ethan

Questions?

Benneth G. Phelps, Mosaic FarmEthan C. Roland, AppleSeed Permaculture

Permaculture for Farmers Ecological Production by Design

Benneth G. Phelps, Mosaic FarmEthan C. Roland, AppleSeed Permaculture

RegenerativeDesign Group

ApiosInstitute