Christian Stoehr

I see what you mean and I am not trying to imply that, I am just trying to give some of the facts of the property so people can make informed comments. I read a lot about not disturbing the soil also, so coming in and bulldozing swales that might not be needed in this case is what I am trying to avoid. I am open to all views thats why I posted it here.
I actually like the ideas of swales and will most likely do them to the right side of the picture all the way down the side yard. Its mainly that area with the contour falling off in two directions at once that I am not sure how to address.

I am wondering what thoughts you guys might have regarding doing swales, or just regular compost beds on paper for the attached pictured scene.
I painted the green arrows to show the elevation change. Its less then 2 feet, and there seems to be no standing water problem. Its just a very strange grade to be able to build swales on contour. I would have to get something in to move the earth around which I am trying to avoid. I am also in MI where we have plenty of rain, and have a well, so I am not sure how much the swales would benefit.
If I just do regular beds, cover the grass with paper and add 6"+ of compost on top and mulch in between beds, would you worry about the top of all the beds being level or just go with the grade. The brown line shows the alignment I wanted to put the beds in. I was thinking of 10+ rows that way.
I`d like to keep them facing the same way so I can eventually add a portable hoop house easily. South is in the top right corner.

Thanks for any thoughts,
Christian

Thanks, I ordered 250 rooted sticks today that are 4-6' long. I`ll probably cut the roots of to be able to just plant them by pushing them into the ground with 1' spacing
Then I ordered 500 cheaper 1-2' sticks that I will use two per foot in between for a diamond pattern. This should make the bottom gaps small enough to keep the chickens in for now and eventually with some girth growth the rabbits out also.

I`ll upload some pictures once I have it finished. Probably will pick them up in late April.

So I`ve been thinking about 250' of fencing for deer, visual blockage of road and chickens. After some searching I stuble across the UK fascination with Willow fedges. They grow out of 2' or 6' cuttings that are anywhere from $.30 - $1.50 per un-rooted cutting.
They also seem super easy to plant and grow extremely quick. I am thinking of growing them with 1' spacing into a diamond pattern and starting with 6' cuttings, that plant 1' deep.
The only nursery in Michigan that I found it http://www.hramornursery.com/ they sell a hybrid Salix.

1. Does anyone have any experience with doing this. My main questions are if the 1' spacing is good, or if I should go closer. I am worried about the final thickness of the stems in 5 years. I can`t find any reference on that.

2. I heard about some people making container gardens out of these two, by growing a wall the shape of the grow bed and filling it up with dirt. My question there is, will the willow sides start grafting new roots into the bed and competing with the vegetables ?
The picture I found shows the start of it. Not sure what the results were. I found it on arignagardener.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/fedges-and-permaculture-beds/

Sorry about my area, I forgot to put it in my signature and it was my first post. I am in Oakland Township, MI Zone 5b.

@Zach, one of my concern was the same with birds eating them if they are not covered up. But I guess I could still do individual areas of netting.

@Ben, thanks for the 4-5 year age warning, I`ll mark them but will take good notes with everything I plant. How do you propagate them, do you just plant a few runners from each in the ground, and eventually cut the cord and pull out the older mother plant for composting.
I guess wild strawberries don`t have as many runners, so maybe using the larger variety I ordered might make more sense, so I don`t have to keep buying new plants.

Hi,
I am just learning and after planning my whole garden for 2015 ( my first year) I found out about polyculture. So now I am trying to rethink each plant one at a time.
I have ordered 5 apple trees out of a total of 12 fruit trees, and was told Wild Strawberry is one of the guild members.
My question now is since I ordered 3 regular strawberry varieties (Seascape, Honeoye, and Jewel) a total of 75 plants. Is it better for me to plant 6-8 of them around each tree, or keep them in there own grow bed (all 75) where I can easily use row covers to protect them.
Then I would still seed wild strawberries under the trees. I imagine those might get steeped on when harvesting or pruning the apples.
The other guild members I am adding btw are: Daffodils, Wild Blue Indigo, Comfrey, Chicory
Any thoughts or experience is appreciated.

Christian