Edibles and Animals: Permaculture Design for an Abundant Landscape
Squash, borage, sunflowers, amaranth & Scarlet Runner beans in the summer garden. Wonder-Flora
Diversity is vital to resilienceMonocultures are inherently more at risk from both pests and diseases which can quickly infest rows of identical plants. Losses for farmers and the farmland are devastating. Conventional farms are sprayed and fumigated, severely impacting soil life and compromising future plant health. In the home garden we can choose a diversity of resistant plant species and open pollinated, locally adapted vegetables grown from seed. Flowering plants sustain pollinators and insect predator species.The goal of Wonder-Flora Landscape Designs is to Integrate a variety of plants into a community so that each plant is thriving and able to fully express itself in leaf, flower and fruit.
Quality food like these luscious strawberries are easier than maintaining the perfect lawn.
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Land use systems that produce a yield are enormously satisfying. Even if it were not so much fun, you can feel good about growing your own food to avoid the destructive practices of conventional farming: tillage, pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and burning fossil fuels. Growing food at home allows the opportunity to create closed loop systems onsite: composting plant and animal wastes and retaining rainwater for irrigation. Just as important as these structural systems are the practices of the grower, grounded in the wisdom of traditions and always informed by observations of the site: soil type and health, how the plants are growing, disease and pest pressure and natural defenses including predatory insects.
Pollinators are essential to the production of many fruits.
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Flowers and edible plants are woven together in an exuberant tapestry. Wonder-Flora
Keeping Animals: Integrated Permaculture Systems
Our experience with keeping chickens, rabbits, ducks and goats within urban and rural gardens combines these approaches:
Deep litter system utilizes straw, wood chips or other high carbon material as a surface layer to cover manure. This keeps the animals high and dry during the winter, reduces odors and fly populations and provides great material to build hot compost piles. Rotational grazing allows animals to feed on cover crops for a few days at a time in a fenced area. Chickens are tillers of the soil, cleaning up slug eggs, while ducks offer thorough slug control. Managed free-ranging allows animals to choose the foods they need to stay healthy while getting the exercise and sunshine they need. Adequate fencing and thoughtful planning protects your plants from damage and animals from predators. Wonder-Flora has over two decades of experience designing systems that integrate animals with plants in both urban and rural settings. |