Broadscale Permaculture:Broadscale Permaculture:

A Partnership with NatureA Partnership with Nature

Problems of Modern Agriculture:•Commodity Cropping (of EVERYthing!)•Shrinking Rural Populations

(less labor, machine dependence, fewer farmers, weak communities, lack of support services, demoralization, suicide).

•High-cost, peaking, toxic industrial inputs & fossil fuels•Huge Monocultures•Narrow genetic base•Bare soil cultivation, erosion•War mentality, nature as enemy•Resource depletion, habitat destruction, mineral loss, genetic / water / air / soil pollution, climate weirding, global poverty, increased food insecurity & hunger, & unsafe, nutrient-poor food

Monsantocultures?

100 Million New Farmers?It is both possible & necessary to stop the harm of industrial ag.We can choose to change what we grow & eat & how we do it. This is a call for more participation in the food system, for millions of new farmers & hundreds of millions of new cooks in the US & worldwide.We have no choice but to radically alter our food system, to end its dependency on fossil fuels & to bring food security to the table as a central issue of our times.

Perennial polyculture Annual monoculturePlants live for years, little re-seeding is needed. Time & money spent on soil prep is minimal with higher returns to the farmer.

Plants die each year, must be totally re-seeded, & require an environment that requires costly time, machinery, & fuel.

Perennial polyculture Annual monocultureRoots grow to many depths & live all year. Efficiently use water & nutrients, need little to no irrigation.

Roots start growth from seed after much precipitation is lost, & die in less than half a year, wasting resources.

Perennial polyculture Annual monocultureContinual plant mass above ground & dense roots below shelter & hold soil.

Bare ground much of the year & roots are dead or relatively small, allowing erosion.

Perennial polyculture Annual monocultureSoils increase & high natural fertility is sustained. With little to no fertilizer added & little natural fertility removed, water remains clean.

Soil is lost faster than it can be replaced, & fertility falls. Much fertilizer goes unused, running off or leaching to pollute surface, groundwater & ocean.

Perennial polyculture Annual monocultureWorms, fungi, & organisms that make soil healthy & beneficial to plants are undisturbed.

Tillage & chemicals repeatedly violate soil life and structure.

Perennial polyculture Annual monocultureThe isolating effect of mixed diverse species thwarts pests & disease, reducing pesticides & herbicides & the threat to wildlife & human health.

Crops unvaried by species or genetics are ripe for epidemics. Biocides raise costs, pollute land & water, expose farmers & citizens & build resistance in pests & pathogens.

CAFOs

Transition to Ecological Agriculture1. Improve efficiency:

• Eliminate toxic inputs• Rotational grazing• Build soils to increase &

hold carbon, water & nutrients

2. Substitution: Organic inputs New cultivation practices Integrated Pest Mgmt. Polyculture MANY 10 A (+/-) Farms

3. Redesign the system:

Change spatial & energy relations of elements for connections & exchange.

Make problem solving an inherent component.

Mimic successful ecosystems with diversity, wildness, stored reserves.

?!?

Supports for transition: 1. Empowerment of farmers:

• They are not alone (community building• Help & info available from peers• Validate what they’ve done, seen, learned• Advise cautiously (no easy formulas)• Encourage self-help, exchanges, mutual support• Work with small groups• Provide continuity

Encourage change at the margins:Conservation money to support tree crops, timber,wetlands, aquaculture, green manures, silvipasture.

3. New markets:• Public spaces, farmers’

markets, local processors• Product development:

1. Niche markets (macrobiotic, diabetic, vegetarian, organic, ethnic, gourmet, heirlooms, Slow Food, etc.

2. Value added (preserves, dried food, seeds, etc

3. Business incubators (shared support services, research, offices, etc).

4. Flexible manufacturing networks & cooperation.

4. Rural redevelopment

Multiple occupanciesExtra livelihoods on large propertiesPlanned rural communities

Added labor forceIncreased local marketSupport for new infrastructure

Where the Organic Farms Are

Zone 3: Main Cash Crops:

-Self-foraging Animals-Water in Dams & Swales, Irrigation Ditches-Large-scale Aquaculture-Multiple Livings, Diverse Crops-Alley Cropping, Silvipasture-Intercropping-Commercial Orchards-Intensive Rotations

Zone 4: Pasture & Range

-Agroforestry: Woodlot, Coppice, Forest Gardens, Wild Gathering-Windbreaks-Wetland & Stream Restoration-Windmills

Zone 5: Wilderness

-Protect, Exclude, Restore-Wildlife Corridors & Habitat-Wildcrafting-Common Resources-Genetic Storehouse-Reserves Against Catastrophe

Practical Procedures in Property Design:Review client needs, resources, limits (finances, time…)Note places for:

Access (& other Earthworks)Home & building sitesWater supply, purification, irrigationEnergy SystemsForest, Crops & Animal Placement

Prioritize:Fire ControlAccessErosion Prevention

Train / Educate ClientReassess, Manage, Staging

Assess Local Restrictions / ResourcesRegulations, Education, Botanical Preserves,Supplies

Identify Niche potentials

Design Aims (over a 3-6 year period)-Reduce the need to earn (conserve food / energy costs).-Repair / conserve degraded landscapes, soils, species at risk-Sustainable product for short-, medium-, & long-term-Unique & essential service / product for region-Right livelihood in services / goods-Sound & safe legal status-Harmonious & productive, non-toxic landscape-A cooperative & information-rich part of regional society

Jacke’s Scale of Permanence in DesignClimateLandformWaterRoads, Access, CirculationVegetation & Wildlife MicroclimateBuildings / InfrastructureZones of UseSoil FertilityAesthetics

Mollisonian Design Strategies:Walk entire site & mark all possible dam sitesMark contour lines for swales / infiltrationReserve steep slopes / narrow valleys for forestsPlan economical access roads (dams, ridges, contours)

Forest & Tree Establishment:•Hilltops / ridges – Drought hardy trees (stone pine, hickory, oak, chestnut)

•Above swales – Mulch trees (paulownia, locusts, alder)

•Below swales – Productive trees (chestnut, pecan, walnut, pear, apple, fig, stonefruit…)

•Dam walls – Grasses, clumping bamboos, pumpkins…)

•Dam aprons – Trees attractive to birds / bees (tulip poplar, catalpa, sourwood, basswood, dogwood…)

•Bottom lands – Pecan, hazelnut, black walnut, willow, basswood, cottonwood, butternut, alder

Clump & Guild Plantings: Interplant pioneer & “weed” species (e.g. elderberry, edible dogwood, serviceberry, brambles, comfrey, asparagus, onions, horseradish, etc.)

A mutually beneficial arrangement of animals amidst tree crops.Deep-rooted crops (trees, legumes)ensure nutrient cycling / soil building.Key Factors

-Protect trees during establishment-Nitrogen fixers, fodder, mast, fruits for livestock-Scattered open pattern of planting

Women in agriculture 1950Women in agriculture recently

Zone 5: Wildlife & Wilderness - Support & Restoration

WaterFoodShelter

WaterSurface > 50 sq ft18”+ depthShallowsInoculate PlantsSnailsCrustaceansFish

Food- Feeders – Winter / Summer / Dry, seeds, suet- Food patch – sorghum, buckwheat, sunflower, echinacea…- Butterfly forage – alliums, composites, brassicas, umbels- Meadows – mixed ann. & peren. for forage, mow or graze- Mast crops – beech, hickory, oak, etc.

Shelter- Woodland corridors / hedges- Snags / dead trees- Brush piles- Bird / bat houses

RenaissancePolyculturePatterns for AbundanceDesign /Consulting