Hi all,
Newbie to the forums here, just thought I would share here a blog I am writing about our attempts to establish a forest garden in suburban Auckland, New Zealand. I will be updating it regularly, but here is the first post:
In my day job as a User Experience Designer, rapid prototyping has increasingly become the method of choice. When designing a digital experience, we typically create a set of assumptions, define a potential solution, and test it - instead of spending months or years researching every potential solution. We use what we learn to change and improve the experience, quickly iterating and refining with every version. It’s a great way to get momentum and minimise the risk. The more nimble and agile we are, the less likely we will spend a vast amount of time going down the wrong path. We build to learn.
Turns out, planting a food forest is not like that.
When we bought our quarter acre section seven years ago, it was mostly lawn with a few exotic palms. We knew we wanted to plant fruit trees and grow veggies, and this blank slate is what sold us on the spot. So much potential. Six hundred or so square meters of waterlogged West Auckland clay (once you take out the house and the deck), hardly any topsoil, a not particularly sunny exposition at the bottom of a little suburban valley, what was not to love?
More at
Growin' Blog
I've also recently written about some thoughts on how to create a positive impact our piece of land:
http://grow-in.tumblr.com/post/148581511982/positive-impact
Would love some feedback and ideas!
Cheers,
Romain
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