Burt Davidson

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since Nov 15, 2015
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Recent posts by Burt Davidson

Thank you for this suggestion, Tyler. I'm definitely going to dedicate some time to researching how to do this. I imagine it shouldn't be too hard to incorporate animals into a system with biointensive gardening.

Thanks again.
Hi all,

I hope this post finds everyone having a wonderful day! As someone who recently passed a PDC but who has almost no practical experience with gardening, etc., I need some advice. I'm close to buying a property, but I want to resolve some last-minute doubts before I make the purchase.

The Property (as-is)

The property is ~ four acres (16000 sq. meters) in southern Minas Gerais (Brazil). It has 300 sq. meters of ponds, roughly 250 sq. meters of structures, 600 sq. meters of orchard (to be turned into food forest), and about 1500 sq. meters of wooded land with a mix of native trees and fruit trees (around 2-3 springs that feed the ponds). The rest is used as pasture land for three horses, and I'd say that about 1000 sq. meters of that is best left to zone 5 forest due to slope. So, I'd say about 3 acres (12000 sq. meters) is left for me to work with.

What I need from this property

My goal is to feed 12 people off this property. (I don't have 12 people to live there immediately, but it isn't out of the question that we could have that soon.) Either way, I realize that it is generally considered a stretch to make 4 acres that productive. But I also know that using greenhouses, aquaponics, etc., people have found ways to make small properties very productive -- productive enough to make a good living selling surplus. I'm hoping some combination of strategies can make this property productive enough to feed 12.

My questions

I'm having a hard time finding any helpful data on how many pounds/kilos of veggies I should expect to grow per year, per sq. meter of greenhouse. I'd like to use a combination of raised beds & aquaponics in it, but I'm open to doing it any way that will maximize productivity at a reasonable (i.e., low) cost in terms of $ and labor. So it is hard for me to figure out how big the greenhouse needs to be.

(1) How big do you think the greenhouse should be? And what strategies do you think I should pursue to maximize productivity? (Obviously, we won't be growing all of our food in a greenhouse. I'd like most to come from food forests around the property. But we'll be eating a lot of things like cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and other annual veggies, and I'd like to maximize productivity somehow -- and, so far as I can tell, a greenhouse is the way to go to accomplish this.)

(2) Am I trying to do the impossible on this piece of land?

Thanks!
Howdy all. This is my first post, and I'm looking forward to being a participant on this forum. I completed my PDC earlier this year, and I'm pretty excited about buying a property to design and develop.

That said, I have a question about a property that I'd like to buy.

Background

The property has a history of being water rich. Historically, it has had two or three "seep" springs that produce enough water year-round to keep three decent-sized ponds full despite less-than-ideal catchment and a lot of direct sun (in Brazil). Over the past 5-10 years, however, these springs are becoming less and less productive. This diminishing-spring trend isn't uncommon in the region I'm in. Most people think the reduced rain totals (and in some cases drought) are responsible for this trend. But a few have noticed that springs drying up seems to be corresponding to the increase in eucalyptus farming. (Massive Eucalpytus monoculture.)

Either way, the property I'm considering sits adjacent to a large Eucalyptus farm, and the springs are about 75 m from the property line where the Eucalpytus begin. (***EDIT: I deleted the comment about the difference in elevation between the Eucalpytus farm and the springs -- it was inaccurate. The bulk of the farm is several meters higher than the springs in elevation, but the closest trees are about even with the springs in elevation.)

My questions

An ideal place to put a swale on this property is (roughly) somewhere between 20-35 meters uphill from the springs. My questions:

(1) Is this distance between the springs and the swale acceptable? Basically, is it close enough to benefit the springs rather than (somehow?) harm them? Is a different distance between them and the swale better? If so, why?

(2) Is the Eucalyptus farm close enough to the springs to be responsible for their reduced productivity? If so, even if I were to swale this area, would I be fighting a losing battle?

(3) Is a swale even the best way to deal with this situation? The prior owner has already planted trees around and uphill from the spring in an effort to protect it. Is that the right strategy? Should that be used in conjunction with a swale? Etc.

I look forward to hearing what all of you have to say. I've been lurking here for a while, and I admire you folks.

Cheers!
9 years ago