Christine Waugh

Thanks folks!

Lots of great ideas here, I'm headed up to the property this coming weekend and will try and get some photos of what I'm working with.

I was wondering a bit about swales. Our soil depth is fairly shallow across this region, with bedrock not far under the surface. Add in the fact that clay doesn't drain well, and a hilly landscape... I'm not well educated on the subject, but it seems like large scale swale systems might cause instability in the hill sides.

We will be contracting some earth work to extend an old logging road, but my gut is telling me to play it safe with brush dams or hugels  and/or small swale structures off contour to slow any run off. The land stays pretty damp through till summer and only fully dries out in patches of sun (except in major drought, 2016 for instance)  We've got plenty of jewelweed and ferns through the forest.

There is a river running through the property, and it may be possible to slow the flow of that down with some logs thrown in as makeshift dams. No one downstream but the ocean, so it shouldn't be a problem. I will be installing a rain barrel to capture rainwater from the roof of the structure I'm in the process of building, it should be able to capture enough to water a small garden through any dry spells. Generally though we get plenty of rain.

Thanks again for all your input!

Hello forum!

I'm a longtime gardener, but new to permaculture. I've been trawling the forums for information on shifting food bearing species into a woodland, but haven't come up with much.

First some background information; I've recently joined a land-share in Nova Scotia (Canada) Zone 5, we have over 30 acres of woodland, most of that was clearcut about 20 years ago and contains lots of spruce trees. The spruce beetle has shown up, and we are working on felling the affected trees. This activity is opening up large segments of the property and I hope to be able to replace some of those trees with food bearing species.  

There are feral apple trees on the property, and raspberry / elderberry in places also. My first thought was to buy some bulk tree seeds and just see what grows in place, figuring that the decomposing spruce roots and increased light would help create opportunity for new trees & shrubs. I haven't thought much about ground covers, and vines... but maybe that can come later.

I'm in the process of building a dwelling on the property and a few others are headed that way as well, putting in some food bearing perennials for the long term is a very welcome thought.  My goal is to be able to live full-time on the property within 10 years, so this has a bit of lead time.

This property has clay soil, been alternately forest and agricultural land in the last 100 years, and has good access to water. Any advice or experiences you may have would be very helpful.  

Hello from the other Coast! Thanks for taking the time to write these posts, very inspiring.

I just wanted to ask if you had considered planting potatoes in seaweed? Its fairly common in coastal Maritime communities to plant sets in a pile of seaweed instead of underground. Some folks rinse the salt off, others don't bother. But if you have access to loose seaweed off the beach, it might save you some digging.
http://www.seaweed.ie/uses_general/fertilisers.php

Excited to see your project continue!