I have been a big advocate of permaculture for quite a while now. Every time I mention Permaculture someone has to ask me what I mean by that term. I didn't invent the term by any means but started seeing it used several years ago when gardeners and organic farmers/homesteaders began mentioning it when referring to fruit bearing perennials grown to give many years of production. Basically I always took it as mostly referring to trees and berries but could also include things like Asparagus and other self seeding plants as well.
Basically anything you could plant and not have to continuously replant and would eventually produce food.
Since reading about it some years ago I have been attempting to incorporate Permaculture into the food production of the Small-Hold as much as possible. From my Plum tree hedge idea to various nut trees (Hickory and Walnut so far) assorted fruits (including the PAw-Paw!!) etc. etc.
Anyway I came across this article this evening and it has some merit and good information.
Growing Fruit in a Nuthouse: Designing our orchards for economic collapse and Climate Destabilization
Not sure I readily agree with everything the author has to say on the subject. I am certainly not a believer in the whole global warming/climate change religion but there is still some damned good advice and information in the article so I can put up with a little global warming jebberish.
One interesting point I found was the author claiming fruit trees grown from seed are more hardy, easier to care for etc. I have long been of the impression that the trouble with growing fruit trees, especially Apple but others as well, from seed is that you stand a high chance of getting barren or undesirable fruit from them. Especially with the more cross breeding tolerant varieties and that grafting was necessary for most fruit trees. Apparently this is not the case because I have begun seeing many articles that recommend growing fruit trees from seed and have even had local contact with a few people who do just that.
Anyway like I said the article is well worth reading if you have plans or are already growing your own orchard or fruit trees.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
I have grown peach trees from seed for years and have had no problem, they hold true but then they were at my great grandparents and have reseeded so any that did not have long since left the gene pool. Probably the same with apples if you get ones that have come from seed several times. Wild turnips have no problem reseeding and are a weed.
ReplyDeleteWhen you plant a tree from seed, if you don't like the fruit that shows up you can graft on something you DO like, and then you reap the benefits of the rootstock never being transplanted.
ReplyDeleteWith fruit trees most are grafted to a dwarf rootstock simply because, for example, a 40 ft apple tree is not commercially viable, they are far too hard to pick and take up an enourmous amount of room. This applies to virtually all fruit trees. However careful pruning and or pollarding has the same results. Pollarding in particular bit it works on a lot longer time frame than most commercial farms can sustain.
ReplyDeleteA few good reasons to pollard though are, you encourage healthy growth, you rid the treeof diseased branches, you produce forage food in the form of leaves for livestock, fire wood comes from the branches.
Incidentally you might like www.permaculture.co.uk. Permaculture does not necessarily mean avoiding annuals but working them into yor plan as a whole.
ReplyDeleteYou might also like The Biochar Solution by Albert Bates.