Sunday, April 18, 2010

Forrest Gardening

You may have heard of permaculture....




There is a lot of stuff on youtube and the net, on it. It is really quite interesting how they harvest rainwater, and build up organic matter in the soil. This will be the secret to re-foresting the vast areas of the world, made into deserts through human activities in the past two millennium.
You are looking at an extremely large part of the American West, Greece, India, China, perhaps in Peru, under the Incas.
Did you know that North Africa was once the granary for Rome?
The process is simple, cut the trees, farm, when that is exhausted, put the sheep and goats out to finish the job. In a hundred years, you have rugged, desert-like, scrub country; and the inhabitants can no longer remember what it was like; perhaps can not even believe it...



The food forest is the way to go. it is less labor, park like, self-sustaining. I want to develop a replicable system of social organization that would install forest gardens in city parks around the world, tended by various groups and individuals. This will go with the installation of a sculpture park, featuring the big statue.
Of course, a properly landscaped edible garden will look as nice as any park. Some of the prettiest plants and trees are food crops also. I'll probably hire a landscape architect, until I get the hang of it.

I was going to make a book report on the three gardening books i read last year( Perennial Vegetables, Gardening When It Counts,and Four Season Gardening), give a summary of my own agricultural experience, and an update on the various methods I have been trying (including bio-char, the well known tierra prieta); but, you know, i am a lazy boy, and will have to do that later....

You know books do thrill me, and those three, each approaching gardening from a different angle, still keep me going reading, and re-reading. I hope you enjoy them , too.


These guys, and gleaning groups who feed the poor, even boy scouts in need of an eagle scout project, will probably be interested in my project. Of course, besides the gardens, grape arbors, etc., there will be plenty of other structures to build, and to decorate,,,,,maybe invite the local art class, the spray paint artists, import sand for sand sculptures.....really gets the imagination all fired up...







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