After reading Vincent Walsh's article in Fruitful Futures: Imagining Pomona, I decided to undertake more research into the topic of agroforestry. Through this, I came across the related concepts of permaculture and forest gardening. This post is a collection of some of the key information and resources that I have come across.
Useful definitions
Agroforestry: "A land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has varied benefits, including increased biodiversity and reduced erosion."
Forest Gardening: "A low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans."
Intercropping: "A multiple cropping practice involving growing two or more crops in proximity. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilised by a single crop."
Market Garden: “The relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under one acre (0.4 ha) to a few acres, or sometimes in greenhouses distinguishes it from other types of farming. Such a farm on a larger scale is sometimes called a truck farm.”
Natural Farming: "An ecological farming approach which avoids manufactured inputs and equipment. Claimed to prevent water pollution, biodiversity loss and soil erosion, whilst providing ample amounts of food."
Permaculture: "A set of design principles centred on whole systems thinking, simulating, or directly utilising the patterns and resilient features observed in natural ecosystems.
Useful sources
Core tenets of permaculture
There are a number of principles which define and dictate what a permaculture system is. First and foremost, there are the 3 core tenets of permaculture:
Care for the earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish.
Care for the people: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence
Fair share: By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles. This includes returning waste back into the system to recycle into usefulness. The third ethic is referred to as Fair Share, which reflects that each of us should take no more than what we need before we reinvest the surplus.
Additionally, it would be personally important to me to adopt the fourth principle of vegan permaculture as well:
Animal care: using free-living animals, not domesticated animals, to create a balanced ecosystem. Soil fertility is maintained by using green manures, cover crops, and composts.
12 design principles of permaculture
The 12 design principles embody what is central to the core tenets, but expand on them in more practical detail:
Observe and interact: By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
Catch and store energy: By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.
Obtain a yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.
Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.
Use and value renewable resources and services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources.
Produce no waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.
Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.
Integrate rather than segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.
Use small and slow solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.
Use and value diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
Use edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.
Creatively use and respond to change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.
Permaculture layers
Moving into yet more specific, practical information of how to set-up a permaculture system, we come to the ideas of layers and zones. These two ideas demonstrate how a permaculture system is set out vertically and horizontally. The layers show how a permaculture system creates a whole ecosystem from in the soil to the tree tops above:
Canopy: tallest trees, not saturating the area
Understory: trees that flourish in dappled light under the canopy
Shrub: diverse layer of woody perennials of limited height e.g. most berry bushes
Herbaceous: plants that die back to the ground every winter
Soil surface/groundcover: grow very close to ground, grow densely to fill bare patches of soil. Cover crops here retain soil and lessen erosion and add nutrients like nitrogen back to the soil
Rhizosphere: root layers within the soil. Soil, organisms living in it, root crops like potatoes, fungi, insects, worms etc.
Vertical: climbers and vines, such as runner beans.
Aquatic: wetland plants, if bodies of water are nearby.
Mycelial: fungi and their mycelia.
Permaculture layers
Permaculture zones
Finally, we have the permaculture zones, which dictate how a system should be set out in plan view. They radiate out from the main buildings/human-occupied space, starting with things which require the most human interaction and attention, to the least:
Zone 0: The sustainably built piece of infrastructure/more permanent buildings
Zone 1: Salad crops, herb plants, soft fruit, greenhouse elements, some composting, possibly raised beds
Zone 2: Perennial plants which require less frequent maintenance apart from some pruning and weeding. Orchards, sweet potatoes, currant bushes etc. Larger composting bins and beehives (not in vegan version though).
Zone 3: Main crops for domestic and/or trade purposes. Once established, need minimal maintenance only, probably once per week.
Zone 4: semi-wild. Forage (but not with domesticated animals if vegan). Production of timber for construction.
Zone 5: wilderness area. No human intervention, just observation of natural ecosystems and cycles.
Permaculture zones
Reflection:
After researching more into agroforestry, permaculture and related concepts, it seems to me that this would perfectly chime with my ideas of wanting nature and people to be central to the proposal on Pomona Island. Urban food production would mean that local people could attain fresh, environmentally friendly food, and make the island a site for the coming together of people in celebration of food. Using permaculture principles would mean that this could occur whilst still respecting the wild nature on the site, as this is embedded in the zone system; the zone 5 'wilderness area.' Finally, the idea of building materials production in zone 4 seems to be something of great potential for the site, as it could allow for the site to be expanded with materials that are from the island itself, in a closed-loop, environmentally sustainable way.
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