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Begining a Permaculture food forest from scratch

 
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hi,
I have a land in my home town in Turkey and planning to turn it into a Permaculture food forest. Land is 1.1 acre, 2400-3000 h sunlight per year it has 7-13% slope, facing North , yearly average rainfall is 795mm (31inches), winter temp 5-10 C, spring temp 10-20c, summer 20-23c and autumn 10-20c seems like perfect Mediterranean USDA zone 7-8. There is some forestation around the land and there have been sheep naturally grazing over it for years. My plan to begin food forest is Contour swales  covered with straw with hagelkultur edges before winter and, plant Comfrey, dandelion, Daikon Radish, clover, beneficial flowers and perennials towards the spring.
I Havent got the soil tested yet.

I am not sure when to add Fruit trees should it be in the first year with other plants or wait for next year to plant them?

Wondering if i need a well for watering?

Is there any other plans that helps with mulching or soil quality?

Any suggestions or tips are greatly appreciated

Thank you
 
pollinator
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Location: Kansas
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What is the water distribution? Long, hot, dry summer? Or does most of the rain come in the summer? Current water retention? If you dig down in the driest part of the year, how far down is the soil still damp?

If the soil remains even slightly damp, with 31 inches of rain I wouldn't be concerned about a well as long as you can keep the water on the land. You may need to focus on trees and varieties that deal well with periodic drought, but you get plenty of water. I get less than half of the water you get, but under deep woodchip mulch I can grow many crop annuals without supplemental water in a desert summer (30-40c, 85-105f). This also depends on the water holding capacity of your soil. Mine is almost straight sand, so with any amount of water retention you can probably do better. Dry gardening is a learning curve, so if you don't have the time or the inclination you may want to go for the well anyway. However, I would suggest that you not make the well a long term part of your plan. You don't want your whole project to die if something interferes with your well.

Soil clay? Sand? Loam? Your soil is going to largely determine what you can do and in what order. If you need to do a lot of soil remediation your herbals and annuals are probably going to go in first, as they will have the easiest time adjusting.  If you're planning to seed the trees in place, that also makes a difference as the plants won't have to adjust to your conditions. Or rather, only those that can deal with those conditions will survive their first year.

Earthworks, water, soil remediation. After that depends on your goals.
 
pollinator
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My opinion on planting trees is that earlier is better, assuming that:

1) The trees are inexpensive, along with any ammendments or supplies used to support and protect them in their early years.

2) One's time and labor involved in planting them is quick or inexpensive, opportunity-cost wise.

Worst case: The trees die, setting us back a few € and a couple hours if labor.  We accept the feedback of their death, and then try something a little different the following year.

Best case: The trees survive, despite less-than ideal surroundings or care.  They are resilient, and make the world a better place, bringing us closer to our goals.
 
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