Sunday Reading - PermaCulture

After I finished with the bee hive in the outlying yards yesterday I had two new apple trees to get into the ground.

Planting trees is always more work than you ever think it will be. Even after putting in a dozen or so around the place in the last couple of years I always amaze myself at how far I under estimate the time and effort needed as I casually state "I have to plant those two new trees this afternoon".

Heh.

I had planned on putting in at least six or eight new trees this Summer in my recently reclaimed, plowed and tilled area and then hauling in enough wood chips to put a ground cover down. However having my truck sit in the shop for weeks and all the other work that built up killed that endeavor this Spring and then about the time I was ready all the local nurseries were sold out of trees.

Then the powerline crews showed up and I had more wood chips being dumped than I could possibly keep up with especially with the big tractor being used for baling hay down on the parents place. No front loading bucket and a pile of wood chips over 7 foot tall is not something a small 8N Ford tractor handles real well. I tried.

So the little orchard I had planned is now on hold until next Spring. I figure if things slide so far down hill that trees are not available then I will use the area for something else so all will not be lost but there is just no way I am going to get that pile of chips spread out and moved in time to plant this Fall.

Yet I wasn't going to let the recent re-stock of fruit trees around the area go to waste. Last weekend all the local garden places got shipments of the trees in and although it meant paying full price I gobbled up two new ones to fill the space left open by the death of my best tree last Summer.

This is part of my version of PermaCulture. Now before some one get's on here and plays ignorant thinking permaculture means discriminating against annuals, perennials, yadda yadda. Let me tell you none of that makes a damned bit of difference.

Permaculture means something you don't have to replant yourself each year and can be counted on to produce something even if you are not around to mess with it. Drought and natural disasters don't count. If the plant(s) reseed themselves to achieve this end result than they count as permaculture in my book the same as if it is a tree and lives for decades.

That patch of Sunflowers on the side of the hayfield I have allowed to grow for years is permaculture as far as I am concerned.

With uncertain times looming ahead of us permaculture is important because you just never know if you are going to be  available all the time to tend your garden. If you need to temporarily bug out or evacuate you can rest reasonably assured you can come back and still have something producing. Not that anything is going to survive deliberate human destruction of course.

Each year I make it a point to add a few more plantings to the Small-Hold that have at least the potential to become a permanent food source for us. From Asparagus to Walnuts there are all types of permaculture that can be planted.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!