Help me permaculture my backyard

Ok guys; try and not laugh at my photo editing skills.






My backyard is kind of contour; higher in the back I recently acquired two chickens that I want to house outside; there's a 7by20 foot run on the right side of my house that I can fence in as shown. I'm trying to do this sort of setup...I've had success with a small herb and vegetable garden at this property, but want to blow it up into a permaculture paradise. Thinking of housing a pump and filter in that shed and having the water recirculate through the beds, or having some kind of hydraulic pump that waters the whole garden and it drains back into the rentention ponds. Throw some bees in there with the chickens...add some fruit trees and I think it will be great! Live in sub tropics..have a lot of options...can anyone give some input on design? Please excuse my 2 minute mspaint job.

Back yard dimensions are maybe 40x60 and the sun rises from the bottom right corner to the top left corner of the picture.

Larger pictures:

original

crappy paint sketch

I think I'm planning on using the dirt I excavate from the ponds and mixing it with some nice manure and compost and raising the perimeter significantly. Considering using the reclaimed pavers for raised bed borders....

Make a living fence so that the chicken can eat fruits and bugs off it.
Cover the the fence by the chicken area with vines/grape. More food and privacy.
Some kids will throw stuff at chickens and the neighbor might have a bad day and complain about your chicken.

I like the bridge.
If only the grill could be this.
https://permies.com/t/17504/solar/Solar-Powered-BBQ-Grill

It's actually an...outdoor fireplace. Got it for free from the neighbor...who moved out rather quickly. Will definitely line all the walls with some sort of edible vine. Anyone have a nice link toward aquaculture and/or pond creation?

ok, i made a layout..dug out approx. 1/3 of the pond(s)...as of right now I'm trying to figure out how to best incorporate the chicken manure into the system as well as a passive irrigation to water the beds. thoughts? thinking of housing pumps and filters in greenhouse/shed that will be built in the future as well as under the waterfall if I build it up. Prolly will put the beehive in the back corner on top of the raised area for waterfall....

oh yeah..donating that fireplace to sister and prolly building a sweet fire pit like this:

http://cloud.playerattack.com/media/title/7257/2011-11-10/Tavern.jpg


LOL

If you have raised bed then you are going to need more water due to increase drainage.
However if you were able to to build hugelkultur bed. then the spongy wood bottom would
hold water for the roots to get to.

You could also use the greenhouse and chicken waste to run a worm composting bin to feed chicken or fish.

In the summer you could also use the chicken waste to feed algae to feed tilapia.
The nitrogen waste from the fromthe fish could also be used by the greenhouse plant, while also aerating/leaning the pond.

i know very little about the sub tropics..my gardens are in Michigan..

my best advice would be to make a list of the food you enjoy and buy and can grow in your area.

then plan around the trees...put your trees in with some proper canopy spacing..largest to the north and shortest to the south..if you can bring in forest soil to put in the holes...and bury some bits of wood around them

then begin to plant dynamic accumulators and nitrogen fixers around the trees..and a few insectary plants (herbs are great for that). stick in some of your favorite annual plants if you plan to grow some, but look for perennials that you enjoy eating first.

you might want a fruiting hedge around the property, like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, etc..and interplant with some perennials or annuals that you enjoy eating.

feed the soil !!..mulch...water well first year esp