Preston LaFarge

If you you said yes, check out Tampa Bay Gardens and give us some likes www.facebook.com/tampabaygardens It is a small non profit that works with refugees to cultivate small gardens. They can eat or sell the produce. We have had a lot of trials and tribulation but we are committed to our farmers. We hope to have a lot of fun events planned for the next year.
The garden is a really cool space. We have a lot of fruit trees and other perennials. As well as more traditional row cops.
The garden has a lot of interesting characteristics that only permaculture can appreciate.

That is interesting.

I have a lot of the plastic blue ones on my craigslist. They hover around 10 to 20 dollars each, which can add up for large scale application but they are an option for naturally higher areas on the property. At least for starting some warm season crops. We can plant winter greens and such pretty much any time between now and summer.

I like the tire idea but I am concerned about the potential chemical problem. Can you typically get them for free? If I can get them for free they might convince me.

Is there any special considerations with the different tires? Like styles or brands to avoid? I am still hesitant to adopt them.

Dan

I like the idea though. I was also considering using 55gal drums cut in half. Or thirds. Or vertically.

Since the soil is like 99% sand, soil integrity is my biggest concern.

I think chinampas worked because they were layered and the dredged soil was mostly silt and clay. So combined with layers of organic matter they formed pretty dense soil.

Our soil is beach sand with some organic matter in the form of silt/pond muck and humus. So the sand is pretty coarse and when wet melts.

We could brace with wood or some thing ridged but large scale application is out of the question. The area is too large and it is difficult to organize labor parties.

The other option is to wait for the area to dry out and build the raised hills and plant vetiver grass around the base of the hills. But we can not wait for the area to dry out

Cool book!

We actually do not deal with salt water but sandy soils and water infiltration are there.

Currently we are not using the cattails, but we seriously have a lot. Like an acre or more.

But they are a pain to harvest in any large quantity. It is also not worth it to sell them. And our community members do not want to eat them. If I got some waders I could probably do it though. For mulch purposes. Or for soil amending.

Andrew

Yes there will need to be earth works for sure. Im thinking really wide beds above the ground level. Maybe 2 or 3 feet above. I just hope they do not melt. They will be difficult to mulch by hand. We have tones of cattails but they are a pain to harvest.

Do you know where I can find info on vegetable growing in SEA? I have tired finding stuff but it is mostly rice information.

Yeah you probably could have year round water.

Tyler I have looked into hugelkulture. It is a strong option for me. But sourcing enough wood will be difficult. So will be sourcing the labor.

But I want to explore it. Maybe an experimental bed.

Andrew I have also looked at chinampas.

So I am farm manager of a small farm in Tampa Florida. The greater county area is a big flood plain and very close to sea level. This combined with heavy seasonal rains makes the area marshy and inundated with water.

The farm its self has some interesting hydrology. The area in the album is on a slight hill side. So there is a lot of run off. Here is the album http://imgur.com/a/bRbW8

I was thinking the area could be terraced with vetiver on contour. This would reduce runoff and could provide biomass for mulching.

But the area bellow the hill is slightly bellow level and so it experiences standing water. We made hills for planting but they melt away.

Here is the album for the low area http://imgur.com/a/NHUqV

Should we make the hills wider and taller? Possible plant vetivir around the edges of the enlarged hills to hold it together?

What does permaculture have to say about low land flood plain farming? Besides rice cultivation and adapted perennials.