Resources specific to starting high desert permaculture

Hello to all.  I am new to the forum.  I am a long time time fan of sustainable living and permaculture falls right in there. I just bought 15 acres in central western New Mexico.  I believe that it will be zone 5b. The winter lows are -10 to -15 degrees, with lots of nights below freezing. Rainfall is estimated between 10 and 13 inches a year, most of which comes from monsoon rains.  The property has great potential for swales.  I am curious about what kind of pioneer trees and understory might survive the cold and drought.
   I have been milling around in the permaculture world for a while and see quite a bit of good info for the dry climates, but when I research different species I always seem to get shut down by the cold hardiness of plants. We have pinions and junipers, but I am looking for some fast growing “ chop and drop” growth.  
  Has anyone run across a good reference where this kind of climate specific info can be found?  
   It is beautiful there and I am excited to get started on this journey. I know that permaculture isn’t a fast process and want to get it started.

I would go drive or bike around different areas in the late summer and fall and identify plants and collect seeds of things that already grow there.

If ordering seeds, I'd go to https://sheffields.com/ and use the advanced search for your zone and check the box for drought tolerance, etc.

For specifics of growing info, pick up a copy of the Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation by Dirr and Heuser.

You're not Thomas Outlaw Freeze are you? If so this is your homie Abe from college.

You are probably correct about the late summer exploration.  We just purchased the property in December and have spent a week camping out there.  It doesn’t seem as though there are a broad range of plants out there, but there again, it was December and January.  By then I am sure that the animal population has gnawed down most of the really good stuff.  Seemed like there was some sparse grass, very little cactus, pinion pines and juniper.  We are going out to build phase one of our house in August, so maybe the monsoons will have started greening things up a bit.  
    I haven’t seen the monsoon rains yet.  I am curious to see how much water flows through the property in a good rain.  Living in central Texas, i am used to large amounts of rain in a very short time, then it stops and the ground is dry and cracking in 2 weeks.  My area in Texas was cotton farmed to oblivion.  I have been working on rehabilitating the property, but the population boom here is crazy.  I have a highway in my backyard, soon an overpass as well.  Got to get away!
    Thanks for the link.  I tried to open it on my phone and didn’t see any filter options available, to be able to select drought or cold resistant.  I will try again later in my laptop, maybe their mobile version doesn’t have those filters available.   It looks like the honey locust tree is a common theme throughout this and other forums and videos. Beyond that, it is hard to tell what will stand the cold extremes and the arid climate.
     I am afraid that I am not the Freeze that you are referring to.  My people are all from Michigan and Indiana.
Thanks for the reply and information!

It'll be tough, but entirely possible.  You are on the right track with honey locust, but it may need more water than can be provided. Be prepared for high mortality - the survivors will have to have the right genetics for your area. Here's some additional options. For nitrogen fixers, the best pioneer would be Russian Olive (12 in required annual precipitation), but that is not sold online due to its invasiveness so you will have to gather seed. It also has the benefit of surviving salty and alkaline soils. The next best is siberian pea shrub, but you won't get much shade out of it though it is widely available through the New Mexico Forestry seedling program and online vendors. Then, there is New Mexico locust (9 in), though it is thorny, small and inedible. It is at coloradohardyplants.com and the New Mexico Seedling program. The toughest nitrogen fixer I have used is curl leaf mahogany aka desert mahogany (10 in). I planted this in Nov in dry hard dirt with no mulch or shade, and there was no snow until Jan. This spring they are coming back, at about 70% survival.

Beyond nitrogen fixers, pinyon is a great tree and your best option. You could also fill it out with 4-wing saltbush which grows in salty alkaline areas, and feeds browsing animals, sage (which is a nitro fixer as well), and New Mexico privet/olive.

That sounds like a good start and at least some affirmation in some of the plants that I have been considering.        
I believe that the shape of my property will lend itself to swales on contour. The hope is that I can start with one smallish swale and be able to nurse the pioneer trees along.   I do already have an abundance of Pinion and Juniper trees.  Maybe I need to look at trying to design swale with the existing trees built in.  It might make more sense than trying to start pioneer trees.  As wonderful as the idea is to do swales on contour, there is the thought in the back of my mind that reminds me of farmers plowing the land to grow crops.  It isn’t natural but obviously it is a step in rehabilitation of uninhabited land.   My land is fairly well forested, except for the valley where I would like to do swales.  That valley has me puzzled. There are few trees in it, it is sparse grass and cacti.  Looking at it you would almost expect that it gets too much water flowing through it, sort of like a barren gulley. That being said, there is zero sign of any visible erosion.  And that takes me back to the idea of swales and using the natural lay of the land for harvesting rainwater in swales.  Guess time will tell!
Thanks for the information!

when I research different species I always seem to get shut down by the cold hardiness of plants.

I would suggest looking at native plants that already grow in your area.

Also, look at some established gardens to see what is being grown.

Check out the local farmers market and ask if they are growing that local.

Here are some seed resources for New Mexico:

The group has worked hard to help keep alive or even revive and share seeds from multiple tribes, both in the SW USA and also Northern Mexico, and if you can get in touch with some of the folks there, they might have some more ideas of some groups or even some individuals who might have some of the knowledge you are looking for, you know?

Their contact info can be found here: https://www.nativeseeds.org/pages/contact-native-seeds

From this post: https://permies.com/t/163462/Cherokee-heirloom-crops-Trail-Tears#1281585

This company is one I had read about:

https://plantsofthesouthwest.com/

Here is a post that mentions it:

https://permies.com/t/166548/favorite-planted-year#1307704

Just popping in to say I wish you the best luck. I'm high desert in Wyoming, most of our water 11 inches average, is snow. Gets to -20 though I'm also zone 5.

I think you should just buy a ton of different things, plant them all and see what likes your area. That's what I've had to do. Loads of failure but a few successes.

T. Freeze, if your valley isn't growing anything, that means there is a severe problem with erosion and the velocity of water. Areas that get high runoff can ironically end up dryer, due to the water stripping off the soil, removing vegetation and cutting into the ground thus exposing more surface area to evaporation. And, that is exactly why you need swales to stop the erosion. I know it feels like plowing, but keep in mind that you only do it once and then never again. You replant the area as soon as you cut it. It's like surgery to fix a tumor. Yes it's stressful but necessary. If there are trees in the way then use a large (like huge) metal tooth rake to make small little berms of stones and sticks. This way you don't cut roots and can still slow the water. Those giant rocks would make perfect contour dams above ground without breaking ground.

Another reason that that valley does not grow anything is that the soil may be thin.

I have an area I call my rock meadow.  I have tried putting wildflower seeds out every October by the 1000s. Only one or two usually come up, so I finally realize the soil is just too thin to support anything..

I'm south of you, so the zone is milder, but it's also hotter, longer. I've been putting together of list of plants and trees that fit Geoff Lawton's basic guidelines for the first permaculture pioneers.  In deserts, he has said that using succulents to trap moisture is a good first step. We are using prickly pear.  I believe the Eastern Prickly Pear is the one for your region, zone 4.  Here is an article about it: https://practicalselfreliance.com/cold-hardy-cactus/

Prickly pear are so easy to get going, just stick a pad in the ground and give it a little water through the summer.  Here, we have to protect them from peccary (javelina), but they might not have predators in your area other than extremely desperate rabbits?

Then the fastest growing, lowest water use, most tolerant legume I could find after poring through many New Mexico extension service lists is black locust.  I found lists that had black locusts surviving with as low as 15 inches of water/year - whereas honey locust requires a lot more, most lists said 30 inches per year.

My next layer fast growing legume tree won't work for your region (it's Leuceana retusa, Golden Leadball tree, zone 8 minimum), so I suggest looking into my third level legume, False Indigo, Amorpha fruticosa.  Many plants are called indigo, so be sure to look by the latin name.

False indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) is hardy to zone 4 (some sites say zone 2), a legume, and likes speckled shade.  It grows wild here in the canyons of the Chihuahua Mountains.  It can tolerate long periods of drought once established.  This is an understory legume.

Fruitwood Nursery online sells affordable seedlings if you wanted to try a few. I've bought a lot from Fruitwood and find them a great permaculture resource. https://fruitwoodnursery.com/starter-plugs-seedlings-and-rooted-cuttings/nut-and-leguminous-trees-in-starter-plugs/leguminous-trees-in-starter-plugs/false-indigo-bush-amorpha-fructicosa-seedling-plug-detail

For your curiosity sake - I am also growing Purple Locust (possibly a black locust hybrid with bristly locust), Redbud (a slow growing nitro fixer, but with lovely edible pods and I think hardy in your area), and more that are only for us here in zone 8a, like Palo Verdes, Albiza ("mimosa"), and Mesquites.

And one more resource - if you can, visit the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute.  https://crmpi.org/  My husband and I did some years ago, and got a tour from Jerome, the founder.  They have figured out how to do high cold desert permaculture very effectively.  Here is their nursery list - https://crmpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EdibleLandscapeNurseryatCRMPI_29Jan2018.pdf

If a plant is on that list, you can likely grow it in your area, too.   You may be at a drier site, but what works for them you can figure out how to apply in your area.  Look at the list and scroll down to "nitrogen fixers".  You'll see they sell Black Locust, Buffaloberry, Indigobush (I'm thinking this is Amorpha, but you might ask), Mountain Mahogany, Silverberry, Siberian Pea, and Speckled Alder.  Some of those might be considered "invasive" in your region, just check first and decide what makes sense.

Some great points about black locust:

- The bark is toxic so mammals are less likely to eat it.  In my area, without cages and tree tubes, everything will be eaten by rabbits, peccary or deer. That said, I still use protection on the little locusts.  This is a great advantage.  Here where I am in the desert, some of our trees have to have trunk protection their whole lives, or rabbits will ring them.  This is extremely inconvenient and expensive to maintain!  So we try to plant trees that don't need this level of care, like those with toxic bark.

- The leaves are good animal forage, except for horses.  Though many places in the US (extension services and such) will claim they are poisonous, that's not totally accurate.  The bark is toxic, and that's the beauty of the plant when you are trying to get it to grow in a desert.  If you look online you will find numerous studies done on the value of black locust as forage for livestock. Lots of studies on using black locust in goat silvopasture.

-This is a tree that, to quote Paul Wheaton, "Plays well with others".  That's exactly what you want for your first level permaculture tree, a tree that other plants grow well around.  It's even been studied as a partner plant for aiding the growth of black walnut in orchards.  I have an experiment going with this right now, and my Arizona black walnuts do look better for the first time in three years.

- You can get seed for free in almost any desert town - check the trees around parking lots.  Once I started paying attention to them, I look for trees with zero irrigation and collect seeds from those.  Read up on how to start seeds as they can be a little tricky to stratify. Try different methods and see what works.

Here are some links to help explain what I've said above:

Cornell article on the many uses of Black Locust including silvopasture
https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2018/01/black-locust/

Forage value of deciduous trees in Mediterranean goat silvopasture
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226378644_Forage_value_of_Mediterranean_deciduous_woody_fodder_species_and_its_implication_to_management_of_silvo-pastoral_system_for_goats


Documented indigenous American uses: http://naeb.brit.org/uses/species/3406/

Bark is toxic to horses and some other animals.  Leaves used as forage for other livestock, especially sheep, goats, and rabbits.

Where to buy live Black Locust saplings very inexpensively in large amounts, Cold Stream Farm:
https://www.coldstreamfarm.net/product/black-locust-robinia-pseudoacacia/

A nursery to buy small amounts of black locust saplings affordably, Spencer Creek Nursery, a wonderful permaculture nursery out of Eugene, Oregon. (Also good friends of mine, for full disclosure!)  I have other plants from them and they are doing very well:
https://spencercreeknursery.com/product/black-locust/

Skyler Weber wrote:T. Freeze, if your valley isn't growing anything, that means there is a severe problem with erosion and the velocity of water. Areas that get high runoff can ironically end up dryer, due to the water stripping off the soil, removing vegetation and cutting into the ground thus exposing more surface area to evaporation. And, that is exactly why you need swales to stop the erosion. I know it feels like plowing, but keep in mind that you only do it once and then never again. You replant the area as soon as you cut it. It's like surgery to fix a tumor. Yes it's stressful but necessary. If there are trees in the way then use a large (like huge) metal tooth rake to make small little berms of stones and sticks. This way you don't cut roots and can still slow the water. Those giant rocks would make perfect contour dams above ground without breaking ground.

  I do question what is going on with that low spot.  It does have native grasses growing in it.  There are a few older,large trees.  Most of the property is fairly thick with trees.  I did dig a couple holes in that valley area to see what kind of soil was down there.  Compared to my soil here in Central Texas, it looked great.  Not real dark , but soft, easy to get a shovel into.  I would say it has some organic matter in it.  The looser top soil was about 8” thick with about 16” of clay underneath it.  After the clay there is a layer of crumbly caliche.  I had wondered if there might be a salinity problem because it is lower? That probably doesn’t make sense either, as it obviously would get a good amount of water run through it.  It isn’t a barren valley, it is a grassland area. Why it has so few trees is the mystery.  
Thanks!

How was the land used before you purchased it?

Maybe whoever owned the land ran goatsor sheep on it and the goats/sheep clean all the vegetation off.

I honestly don’t know and I never thought of that.  There are some large cattle ranches out there.  I would not be surprised if it had been used for grazing.  Now the only thing grazing is elk, deer, rabbits, ground squirrels and pack rats.  It is in the middle of nowhere, 90 miles to the nearest Walmart. 3 miles from the continental divide.

Skyler Weber wrote:For nitrogen fixers, the best pioneer would be Russian Olive (12 in required annual precipitation), but that is not sold online due to its invasiveness so you will have to gather seed.

Please don't plant invasive species.  There's a reason you can't buy Russian Olive -- because it is harmful to native ecosystems.  Find something that will become a healthy and helpful part of the ecosystem.  

Thank you!!!

Laura

Laura, welcome to the forum.

I know nothing about Russian Olives so can you explain why it is harmful?

What is something that would be a helpful part of an ecosystem?

Hi Anne.  Thanks for the conversation

Here's a PDF of the usda report on controlling Russian Olive:   https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5410126.pdf

Like most invasives, it chokes out native plants -- it is also extremely hard to remove once it's established.  It will resprout  from it's root after being cut down

Interestingly, it also seems to change the nutrient balance of streams that it grows near. Here's a 2021 study showing that Russian olive planted near streams is associated with increased invasive carp in the river.  (They hypothesize that it is the increased nitrogen in the run off from the trees that allow carp to replace fish that had been adapted to lower nutrient levels
 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.3789

I would recommend that someone wanting to make their little spot of the world a better, healthier place, should find a native tree/shrub, or if that isn't workable, a nonnative that won't cause damage

I hope this helps -- I'm happy to chat more if you'd like

Laura

Teperary beans love the initial monsoon rains and then the dry conditions afterwards. Some of the desert buckwheats are invasive but do well in dry conditions and are very short season from planting to harvest.

Well Laura I disagree with you about the Russian Olive (RO). There are many pro's of the RO and on the whole they benefit the environment. You just mentioned one of the effects being that they pump nitrogen into the environment which results in more fish, more plants, more forage, more insects, and more animals. I can say that most of the black bears in our area depend on RO for their fruit every year. Around this time of year bear scat is almost exclusively filled with RO seeds. Without that we would have far less bear. It is also eaten by insects and birds. Cottonwood and willow are the trees being outcompeted, but they are add far less benefit to the environment, but shade and are far thirstier trees.

Secondly, RO can go where cottonwoods and willows cannot leading to a near doubling of forest areas in dry areas. RO are trees unmatched in their ability to reforest and afforest areas that would otherwise be degraded grasslands or bare soil