Hi everybody...I am a recent member of this forum, writing from south of France. I hope I will be able to express in an understandable english...
All this stuff of rocks, walls and ponds reminds me of the « peach-walls » of Montreuil, a city near Paris.The principle was to grow peach trees in front of lime-painted walls. The peach trees were grown in « espaliers » (I think it's the same word in english. It means tying branches to a wooden frame).
All these fruits were more precocious using this way...and were sold to rich people, to the king and his family and courtiers, favorites...
Two points are also interesting in this case :
Why lime ? Because there were gypsum quarries in the town...so easy to get lime.
There was a waste in a market in the neighborhood : small pieces of rags (pieces of destroyed clothes) These rags were used to tie the branches.
So, we have here different permaculture principles and way of thinking : no waste, creativity, use sun energy, design...
Well...that's all for today. So happy to have reached this forum. I have already read a lot of messages and that makes me excited to move on. Salut à tous.
The link to the (french) explanation of the history of these peach-trees walls
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murs_%C3%A0_p%C3%AAches