One person Permaculture projects.

Good morning. I have a small Permaculture property and I’m interested in projects made for one. I’ve planted trees, and perennial food crops. I’ve dug swales and hugelcultures. Now I’m stuck between cutting trees for space and working on an herbicide ridding energy company right of way. I’m already growing mushrooms in the forest. I feel like I am missing something however. I am not opposed to hardwork but I have no equipment which slows things down a good bit. Thank you in advance.

Hi Scott.

Sounds like you're doing your level best. We'd need more information from you to be at all helpful, though. What are your aspirations? What are your specific obstacles? Are there any issues on-property that you need to contend with in the immediate term?

Especially if there's a slope to any part of your property, I would make sure that, in addition to swales, you look to having sediment and windblown debris-catching structures and plantings. It's been shown that there's a corresponding 10% drop in the loss of topsoil in situations where pollinator habitat and/or occasional controlled grazing area form a barrier between plowed fields and the property boundary or a watercourse.

I like the idea of placing fallen tree limbs on-contour as I walk a property, essentially laying sediment and organic matter traps. I think of them as slow swales. The sediment, organic matter, and loose topsoil that then gather behind the fallen limb dams will encourage pioneer species to grow there, where perhaps otherwise they couldn't have. These plants will trap more sediment and organic matter, and will increase water infiltration into the soil.

Insofar as projects are concerned, have you considered honey bees? If collecting honey isn't your cup of tea, you could undertake projects to increase habitat and food for solitary bees, other non-honey bees and pollinators.

If you don't yet have one, an open, oxygenated water source would be a great idea, and if you had room for even a bathtub-sized pond buried somewhere (two at opposite corners of the property, top and bottom, would actually be best), that would support a myriad of aquatic predatory insects, chief among them dragonflies, that prey on insects that prey on humans. Water sources will promote pollinator life across the board.

Again, it is hard to say what you should look at. We hardly know what you want to do in the long run.

Pictures are always nice. Let us know how it goes, and good luck.

-CK

Most of my permaculture projects are "one person."  My one-person projects:

Kitchen garden

Food forest (small and rudimentary at this point)

Aquaponics with edible water plants (and soon to add Bluegill)

Red wiggler bin

Black Soldier Fly bin

Hummingbird garden

Pollinator habitat display garden

Low- or no-irrigation experimental garden

Anaerobic wet compost barrels

Cool (slow) aerobic compost heaps

One-rock dam creek repair

Tyler Ludens wrote:Most of my permaculture projects are "one person."  

Same here.  I find that there is usually a way to accomplish what I want to by myself.  Extra help and especially heavy equipment can be an enormous benefit, but are rarely absolutely necessary.  One of the great things about permaculture (and most other things in life) is that there is more than one way to accomplish most things.  Using Chris' "traps" of fallen tree limbs is far easier than digging swales or building hugelculture mounds, and accomplishes the same thing, just to a lesser degree.  Many things are like this.

In answer to the OP, if I were facing the choice you are, I would work on the right of way.  Keeping them from spraying poison on your land is far more important than creating extra space in my mind.  You can always work on the extra space, but removing poison from your land is far more involved.

Considering the emphasis put upon the human-scale nature of ideal permacultural planning (some think otherwise, as I do, sometimes, but it is in the Big Black Book), I think most projects to be had should be able to be approached on a one-person level.

-CK

I really appreciate all the replies and it’s given me a lot to consider. There are three creeks on the property. One of which would be a great pond. Short of chunking rocks on the low end it’s a project I’m not going to tackle without a tractor. A pond is way up there on my bucket list though! I like the idea of arranging limbs on contour. Most of my limbs other than pine go in Hugelkultur beds. This idea is a great use for pine however!
As far as the right of way.... I did manage to keep them off with their herbicides for a couple of years. Went through all of the proper channels and have it squared away. The problem is none of the guys spraying can speak English and I have to be out there when they come over the hill. It’s an exhausting process. This season I grew sunhemp on it as bioremediation. That stuff is incredible! I threw it on the hard packed clay and shoveled compost on top. Started harvesting yesterday for some rope making experiments.
If any of you want to see what I have going on my Instagram page is Stiller_Permaculture. If you guys happen to see an unused resource in any of the pictures please let me know! Once again, you guys are great ! Thank you

It sounds like you are doing alot already

Soil
1) Swales
2) Carbon/biochar/woodchip/strawbale
3) Soil Life/Mushroom Slurries/Worm Tea
4) Mineral/Rockdust/Sea90
5) Cover Crop/Dutch Clover+Herbs

Food
A) Vegetable Garden
B) Herb Garden
C) Mushroom "Garden" (Wine Cap, Oyster, etc, etc)
D) Berries
E) Fruit Tree
F) Nut (Instead of picking and eating famine/war time grass seeds, I prefer nut seed)

Animals
1) Honey Bee Hive
2) Chicken/Eggs
3) Fish Pond
4) Milk/Meat from Goat/Sheep...pasture

Outdoor Kitchen
* Solar Dehydrator
* Rocket Stove
* Rocket Stove-Oven
* Rocket Stove-Grill
* Haybox Slow Cooker
* Canning Station
* Solar Cooker (check out GoSun esp their new Fusion model)
* Outdoor seating/living room and such is a really nice idea you can make it look very nice

Infrastructure
* Greywater system
* Better Sewer System that filters out nitrogen and phosphates
* Solar Electric
* Water Procurement and Filter System

Greenhouse
* Hoop House
* Lean to

Scott Stiller wrote:The problem is none of the guys spraying can speak English and I have to be out there when they come over the hill.

Can you put up "Do not spray" signs in their language(s)?

Here’s the weird thing Tyler, the signs are from them. After my acres of right of way were approved as a no spray zone they sent me signs.

There is probably no explanation as to why they sent you those signs.

I am assuming that the workers speak Spanish and if that is the case, make so of your own signs: And make a lot to put every 50 ft and at entrances.

Zona de no Rociado is No Spray Zone according to Google.


Here are some examples you can make or buy:


This would be:  Dar a Las Abejas una Oportunidad; No Pestacida; No Herbacida