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Abraham Palma wrote:I highly reccomend watching the permaculture videos of the Oregon State University, by Andrew Millison.
It shows very clearly where and how to catch water, where to place roads, where to place the house. Here he explains earthworks too. It does not go into the specifics, so this is just a preview of the possibilities.
Another very good source about rainwater cathcment is 'Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and beyond', by Brad Lancaster. If you plan to do some farming, then take a look at the FAO's guide on water catchment for farming.
Short, if you only have rainfall then you have to store every drop of it. The best place is the soil itself, and you have to protect it from evotranspiration, using trees, shrubs and cover crops. It takes some years to achive this, though. Earthworks can help slowing down runoff water so it soaks in. The second best place is in a big pond, placed in the highest humid place, so you can irrigate by gravity. Then, it is useful to catch clean water from your rooftop in big tanks, for personal use and watering the pots (for your seedlings, basically).
You can use a well if there's underground water, but be careful. Underground water is salty when the water level is low. Earthworks can be used to increase water infiltration up in the hills so your well might recharge.
You can use gray water. This is the water you have used at home which is not contaminated or has poo. There are a number of soaps and cleaners that do not contaminate (potash soap for doing the dishes, for example), and there are plants that naturally filter grease from the gray water, such as vetiver, so you can safely use it for watering. Even your washing machine can water your plants!
Once you are done with your earthworks and have a solid plan for water catchment, you can start learning about food forests. 'Gaia's Garden', by Toby Hemenway is the most comprehensible and detailed I've read so far.
Once you know what a food forest is about, you can start looking for plants. Plants must be adapted to your climate and your microclimates. Ours is a coastal mediterranean climate. Rain is strong in spring and automn, and summers are very harsh with high temperatures and draugh. Altitude is important, the higher you go, the cooler the temperature. This means looking for native mediterranean plants that are draugh tolerant, or anuals that yield before midsummer. I don't think you will experience frosts, but in this case you have to look for frost tolerant plants.
You can go to pfaf.org for a database on plants, sorted by their needs. Here it also shows their ecological functions. In order to build a good food forest you have to include plants for all the ecological functions it needs. Dont' plant them yet.
Plants that we are currently using in our garden: Plums, figs, olives, almonds, carobs, that's the major crops. Also jujube, blackberry, grenates, bay, loquats, quince, grapes, pinons, oranges, lemons, custard apple, ... We also have some wild brooms, thyme, rosemary, lavanda, a variety of thistles, asparagus, wild garlics, ... that were there before us.
If you want to eat from what you grow, you will need also a market garden where you can grow potatoes, carrots, parsnip, beans, and other crops that fill the stomach, in addition to fresh vegetables.
Learn how to make a good compost (aerobic and fungal dominated). You can start composting now. The compost is a microbial community you are adding to the soil so plants can use for eating. There are many variations (worms, bokashi, hot compost, Johnson-su), but as long as your compost is aerobic it cannot be bad; it must smell nicely.
Then you can learn about management. How can you manage your farm as if it were a natural ecosystem? The most inspiring film for me was 'The Biggest Little Farm'. But I found 'Sepp Holzer's Permaculture' as much inspiring.
You can watch any Elaine Ingham presentation on soil health to learn about how plants really get their food.
If you have time, you can dig how Jeff Lawton, Paul Wheaton, Ernst Göstch, and others manage their farms. But beware their climate is different than ours. Even in Greening the Desert project in Jordania I think they have access to tap water, and they have many visits and workers, so your mileage may vary.
Too many things to learn? Well, now it comes the most critical one: Observation. After you have learned about things above, now be ready to throw everything to the bin. Watch your property before doing anything permanent. You may plant here and there, you may dig or plow in a little corner, whatever you do watch the changes. The usual advice is to observe your land for at least a complete year. Of course, you can study it if you already have the data, but you won't have your microclimates covered. How can any database know that a corner around your house is specially humid? Or that birds love to hang near that other tree?
Be realistic about your resources: how much you can do alone, how much you can pay to others, how you can increase your income to pay for more work. Then get a clue on how much work it will take any of the projects, or the time that managament will need.
A Diego Footer's advice on gardening: "Do what you enjoy doing". Meaning, if you dislike composting, don't do it, just buy compost from another guy who loves composting and makes great compost. This way you can expend more time doing what you like, which probably will give you a better yield too. This follows the same advice from Göstch: "Ecosystems major force is Love, all the elements in an ecosystem do what they do for the pleasure of doing it." He believes our place in Nature is as seed spreaders.
Abraham Palma wrote:Hi, Jacine,
I'm from Málaga, Spain. Permaculture is a method for designing things. Here in permies, the focus is on homesteading, farming/gardening and appropriate technology, but permaculture can be used pretty much in every aspect of life.
What do you want that piece of land to be? A natural forest? A farm? Your living house surrounded by food forest gardens?
If you want to start with something, start with water:
- Find your water sources (rainfall, rivers, wells, pipelines) and learn about them (price, availability, quality)
- See where you can capture and store more water. Do you have the resources for making some earthworks?
- Make sure you have at least three sources of water.