Stephanie Cheney

I just want to start something once we move considering how many years it takes for trees to start producing.  However we're prepared to start small and grow through the years. The part nearest the house, garden and barn are cleared so I can start some plantings there. What is a PDC? We'll have lots to do with the maple trees to tap, the chickens and ducks, etc so the orchard will not be our only project to tackle.

Hi Sat Atma,  

Must be so nice to be in the Mediterranean! You get to grow things we can only dream of growing here in 5B Ontario Canada (olives!!)

Thank you for the book suggestions. I'll add them to my Amazon cart for future purchases. I too am concerned about the acidity of the soil die to the cedars. We have no other place to put the orchard/food forest so I'm looking at ways to make it work.  I have more reading and research to do. We plan on renting an excavator for a weekend to remove the stumps and do swales and other work we need. Glad you're able to get someone to come in to do that for you.

How is it like in a community like yours? Do you rent a place? Or you own a piece of the land? What happens if not everyone is on the same page with how things are done? Who sets the rules?

Your water plans seem ambitious. I hope you find the right solution your needs. Unfortunately I'm not experienced or have enough knowledge to offer suggestions on this subject.

Here's to a great future food forest!

Steph

R.Han : Sorry for the late response. No of course I would not clear cut the entire area for the orchard/food forest. I agree with you that some trees need to stay. But I still feel bad for cutting some just to plant others.  Cedars grow so close together and we have very little areas to create this closer to the house. I would say the orchard would be in zone 2/3 from the house.  We also have low/wet boggy areas near the future food forest that we will need to manage. My biggest worry is the soil being too acidic due to the cedars that are growing there. I don't want to kill the trees I plant. I'm looking for inexpensive organic soil amendments to help the new trees.  Would you happen to have any suggestions? Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions!

Yes! A food forest is what im looking to grow. Thank you very much for the suggestion. I added the 2 volumes to my amazing cart for my next book purchases. The book I'm currently reading does discuss "clarifying your vision, values and resources" on paper and I am currently working on that as we speak. So the "why" I want to do this is definitely included in this exercise.  Our new property (as of July 20th) will be in zone 5b (Ontario). I feel bad to have a need to clear a good amount of cedar trees to make room for the food forest/orchard but we can build and expand the fencing on the property with that wood.

My husband and I just bought a mostly wooded property (hobby farm) and are very excited to start our dream of being more self-sufficient by building an organic permaculture fruit orchard.  We appreciate all methods and especially Stefan Sobkowiak's method, but tweaked to fit our vision and property. We are looking for an accountability partner we can share ideas and concepts with and/or an experienced mentor who can guide us through the process of designing, building and maintaining an orchard and provide us with some wise lessons learned.

I am currently following the free online university lessons by Dr. Will Hooker and reading the book "Building your Permaculture Property to Design and Develop Land" by Rob Avis, Michelle Avis and Takota Coen.  We have successfully grown 2000 sq foot of vegetable gardens in summer 2020. This year we start our new life on this amazing property.

Hoping to start the work in July/Aug. We just want to do this right, the first time.