food forest location with polluted soil and erosion issues, looking for suggestions

Right off the bat, I am not sure if this is the right place for this post, but because it deals with where I want to have a food forest, I hope it is.

*Farm is located in Nova Scotia*
My partner purchased this farm property over 5 years ago, but we didn't live here full time until 2019.  At this point, I was beginning to get interested in food forest systems and began to explore the larger area of forest that is in the South West end of the property, but also spans the entire West end of the property.  this span is over 800m of overgrown forest edge  This is where the headache began.  
I went for a walk in the spring when it was pretty bare, and counted over 30 various piles of garbage along the back 300m (ish) of woods edge.  This edge of the woods is also at the top of a slope going down into the woodlot towards a brook.  These piles varied in sizes from one pile having multiple chest freezers, old washers, silage plastic and various scraps to piles filled with household garbage, including an old real estate sign with the previous owners name on it (clearly not out garbage).  We were aware of one pile near the back of the property as its in plain sight, and I'll be honest, older farms tend have a bit of a pile somewhere so that one we accepted.  I won't go into details but the previous owner did end up hiring someone to clean up the majority of the mess they left.
The guy who came to asses refused to let the previous owner 'take care of it' as he knew it would not be properly taken care of.  On the day of garbage removal,  I counted over 5 quad axel dump truck loads and 3 double axel dump truck loads leaving the property of garbage.  And that only was from a span of about 300m.  They got the bulk of it but there is some they couldn't get...the issue is that some of it has made its way under tree roots, and if we remove it, we feel we are creating more of a problem than a solution.   We have erosion issues and its a bit of a mess... we are at a bit of a loss as to how to approach this.

We have looked into hiring someone, but the issue is that there are very few folks who take a permaculture approach in the area, we found one and meet virtually but she was hesitant to help as we are on the other side of the province.   She was only hesitant as the cost of additional KMs travelled outside their work zone adds up fast, and quickly becomes rather expensive.

What I am wondering is, what is the best way to approach this?  I would like to get a food forest in place however, I would like to do what I can to mitigate erosion, while improving soil quality and also, if possible, not disturb the forest.  There is a lot of standing and fallen dead wood and plenty of mushrooms growing everywhere.  Its an area that I would like to leave mostly untouched, but I feel there is some work to be done first.

I have attached a few photos.  The back/top of the slope is East, and the slope runs down towards the West.  Since having the garbage removed, we can already feel that the Earth is breathing better, there is so much new growth and it feels more peaceful.  However, the erosion is still happening and I would like to have some remediation to the soil before trying to consume anything grown on this area of land.  

Any suggestions or help is appreciated.  
Thanks for your time
Lizz

Do you own the field? If so then diverting the water away so that it flows down a path you make for it and line with stones to stop erosion would be the easiest way. Otherwise if it were where I am I would thin the trees which would allow more undergrowth and help hold things together, but without sorting out the water first anything you do is going to be a sticking plaster.

For the rubbish I would move it, having a few roots disturbed won't do anything to the tree, I would pick a side and just start removing everything you find. keep going and eventually you will get to the other end.

Personally, this is how I would approach this situation...

I would remove the garbage I can, and trim away any plastic or other things that have been integrated into the landscape. I wouldn't dig it all up. Plastic is relatively stable in the environment (it takes 100's of years to break down), and I would be more concerned with things like oil, paint, and other liquids that may have been dumped. The stuff that has already leaked out is there and, well, there isn't all that much you can do about it. Any that is still on the surface in containers or drums I would certainly remove.

In areas where you know that have liquid contamination, I would plant fast growing shrubs that can bioaccumulate the toxins, and I would then heavily prune them every couple of years and remove the plant material off site. You can also use deep rooting bioaccumulating plants like comfrey, Canadian thistle, native tobacco, etc and do the same thing with them. These plants may or may not grow in the location depending on how much light they get. If it's in a forest then they may not do so well, but along the lower edge they may do quite well.

Poplars are fast growing and suck a lot of water out of the ground. They are a good candidate for bioremediation like this where contaminated soil might be an issue.

My biggest concern would be the erosion. Where is that water coming from, what is the quality (is it agricultural runoff?), why there specifically etc.
The water might need to be slowed down and spread out along contour, or it could be a natural water course that is trying to re establish itself. Many older farms just bulldozed the landscape to eliminate things like streams. In other farms, streams silt up and clog over time from deposition caused by runoff from the fields. And that silt might have all sorts of chemical residue in it. For example, agent orange was widely used in Canada as a defoliant by the hydro companies well into the 1980's. Chances are many farmers were using it too.

Anyway, I would  look very closely at the landscape and figure out what situation is going on there before I apply a suitable remedy.

Downhill of all this, I would certainly take a water sample. More than one. I'd dig a hole and take a sample from the ground water, and I'd take a surface water sample. I would also take a sample of the water entering the system at that erosion feature. I would send them to a lab for testing - looking specifically for industrial / agricultural contamination.  You may actually be pleasantly surprised.

Only thing I can really add is the hillside would do with some native ferns, grasses & bushes to hold it together. It does seem like some ferns & grasses are already there in the one pic. It will take time for it all to set in right, though, so whatever erosion happens until then, you may just have to roll with it.

If you have access to wood chips, inoculating them with mushroom such as Oyster mushrooms that are known for breaking down and sequestering nasty stuff, and then putting them in clumps to spread might be of some help.

While it is we have pollution problems, it remains we have been and are being trained to see anything and everything under the sun as earth ending.  However, not one person will sign an affidavit or declaration stating they will accept responsibility for costs of relying on their version of what will end earth in the course of supporting a bond reimbursing those who relied on their information.

In the end, we can do damage, but earth can also overcome that and much more [of our ignorance and stupidity]. Too, we have simple, not just complex, tools at our disposal.  Things like charcoal, for example.


You can create charcoal by the tons, if you want, then throw it all about the areas you know or believe contaminated.

Farmers use charcoal regularly when fields get contaminated by too much fertilizer and so on.

Then there is zeolite, if applicable. In a health food store, a simple bottle can cost sixty dollars. Elsewhere, it goes for around one hundred a ton.  Look into it too.

Liz, you certainly have a few jobs to undertake.
If I was doing the tasks I would break them into portions that can be dealt with easily;
- Identify what thing may be taken by others, IE steel to a scrap bloke.
- Have a trailer dedicated to rubbish and leave it near a pile and slowly fill and then remove that load to a tip
- Think about using rocks to fill erosion holes and collect them in the rubbish trailer when possible. Even a few at a time
- The previous suggestions about diverting water above erosion spots has merit.
- If you hire somebody get a local, in my experience you dont need to have a permie help.
 there are so few for a start and if you set down the rules from the start and work with them it will work out.