Permaculture Garden April 14, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Gardens, Permaculture , trackbackThe original idea of Mollison and Holmgren when they coined the term “permaculture” was the idea that it would be possible to garden and even farm commercially at least to some extent using perennial- and tree-crops that dont need the annual ritual of sowing seeds and raising seedlings. This has been practised for millenium in some parts of the world, particularly south-east Asia and some Pacific Islands as a traditional form of “forest gardening” whereby plants and trees with edible and useful crops were favored and encouraged over time, and replicated more recently in cool-temperate parts of the world starting with Robert Harts’ forest garden and brought up to date with David Jacke’s seminal Edible Forest Gardens
My strategy in Derryduff over the past six years has been to try to establish trees for timber and fruit first, with less emphases on the conventional vegetable garden. Beginners in gardening often put a lot of time and energy trying to grow more fussy things like carrots and lettuce, but never really get the easier perennials started. Right: trees, perennials, climbers, herbs and vegetables in the Zone1 garden at Derryduff
This spring after six years of tree-planting I can begin to see the results as I look across the land and see a scattering of blossom with the promise of fruit later.
Some of the trees with potential edible crops include:
-apples
-pears
-plums
-cherries
-cobnuts
-heartnuts
-walnuts
-sweet chestnuts
-bladdernuts
-amelanchier (left, in flower)
-phyllostachys bisettii bamboo
In addition to the trees and soft fruit I have also been establishing a range of perennial crops that have potential for good yields and require very little work once established. These plants include: -rhubarb -Jerusalem artichokes -Globe artichokes -perpetual spinach -”potato onions” (a large shallot or multiplier onion) -Babbington’s leeks -alpine strawberries -Indian Lilly cana indica
I also am trying climbers including kiwis, grape vines, thornless blackberries, and Japanese Wineberries.
One of the most interesting plants I have just put in is the curious climbing tuber from South America Machua tropaeolum tuberosum
which grows the size of a potato and can be quite productive.
Since this plant prefers to have its tubers in the shade and climbing vines reaching into the sun, it seemed a good idea to underplant it with another South American tuber, Occa oxalis tuberosa
Here, I have used my own bamboo canes to make a simple climbing support for the Machua; an alternative would be to try growing them with a third tuber, Jerusalem artichokes, that could provide a stalk for the Machua vines to climb, thus completing a perennial guild of the traditional “Three Sisters” (corn, climbing beans and squash).
Comments»
Very impressive, Graham. Thanks for sharing.