Perennial Polyculture Prevails over Peak Oil

23 Comments on "Perennial Polyculture Prevails over Peak Oil"

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 8:50 am 



Perennial polyculture is one of the principles I am using on my farm. The other is Permaculture.
I have decided to plant an olive grove and build a perennial polyculture of useful plants around them in a permaculture way, and leave a four acre prairie clearing for the horses in the middle. All the edges between ecosystems are maximized by creating highly irregular shapes to increase biological diversity and ecosystem health. Native plants are being given their areas.

I am having the builders build a pond, and berms and swales, moving a lot of soil and stones around using heavy machinery. By the time They are done moving soil around, every drop of water that falls on my land will stay there, and be put to good use.

My neighbour owns a brand new small commercial olive oil press and has planted olives on his land, and they are doing great. He will assist me in this because he wants all the neighboring farms to plant small olive groves to reach a critical mass to make commercial olive oil. My agronomist cousin thinks the soil and precipitation are very good for this. I might someday make money of it in the far away future.

Any suggestions and advice on the farm are always welcome. I have no idea what I am doing. All my knowledge is theoretical, luckily I have good advisors down there. I have agronomists, economists, vets, civil engineers, constructors, and arquitects I trust 100% working on this project.

Davy on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 9:22 am 



Juan, dwarf fruit trees, nut trees, and grapes would be a good addition depending on water supply. A cool underground cellar for food storage and preservation maybe. What about goats for brush control? I would recommend a hand pump like this for well water:

http://bisonpumps.com/deep-well-hand-pump/

Just brain farting. I am sure you thought of these things.

Northwest Resident on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 9:51 am 



JuanP — You are the man! If only I could muster an army of agronomists, economists, vets, civil engineers, constructors, and architects to work on my project. Holy crap! I hope you have internet connection at that doomstead you’re constructing because I want pictures and weekly progress reports!!

Davy — I need to get a hand pump for my new 2000 gallon rain capture water tank. I checked out that bisonpumps link — looks like top of the line hand pumps. But I don’t need a “deep well” pump. Any recommendations for “shallow wells”? I need my hand pump to have an input and output fitting for standard garden hose. If you know of a good one to recommend, that would be great.

I was thinking about planting fruit trees, nut trees and grapes — I actually do have a few grape plants going and already got a “few grapes” from them before the birds swooped in. But as it turns out, I am surrounded by vineyards, walnut and hazelnut orchards and a few apple orchards — walking/biking distance to any of them. Blackberries are growing everywhere on their own. So I figured, heck with it, I’ll just forage if it comes down to that…

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 9:58 am 



Davy, Thank you very much for that hand pump link. I need a hand pump and have neglected my search for one. That one looks amazing. I will research it further.

I am adding fruit and nut trees and grape vines as part of my edible perennial forest idea, as many varieties as possible.

Average rainfall in the last 15 years was 1,354 mm, but it is uneven with a bad three year drought in there. I have a stable aquifer underground at around 60 ft.

Goats have been introduced to the county by my friends, and all the cattle ranchers in the area make jokes about them, apparently. Does anyone know why cattle ranchers might disapprove of goats?

I hear there is a new cattle ranching system for bigger farms like yours that uses cattle, sheep, and goats in that order on a small pasture for a little while with the animals packed closer than in the traditional way. Then the pasture is let rest for a longer time than usual and the grasses grow very strong and tall with very strong and deep roots. After that the cattle are sent back in and the cycle starts again. Fire can also be used as part of the process.

The thing is down there many people still do things the premodern way.

penury on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:02 am 



Percentage wise-Approx how many of the 300 million plus Americans could currently actually do this? And if all of them began tomorrow what is the time span needed to make3 the transition? Economically what percent of the 90 per cent of the population could afford to do any of this? I love Utopian dreams, but we should realize that the ones who can afford it are a minority and the ones who feel it is necessary are a minority of that minority. My bet is that the majority of the commentators on this site are not in the lower income classes and fail to understand what poverty means.

Davy on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:02 am 



NR, all I have researched is the deep pump so can’t help you there.

I hear you on foraging. I have walnuts, pecans, and blackberries in abundance. I also have lots of plants for salads like Pokeberry. There is watercress in our spring. There are acorns I could gather too but they require significant preparations because of their tannins. There are many other plants I have just not had time to find. I will find time when I am hungry for a salad and can’t get my salad from the store.

Northwest Resident on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:11 am 



Davy — Happy foraging. Wish I could be there to gather a load of pecans with you!

Davy on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:12 am 



Juan, around here cattle farmers are embracing MIG farming:

http://extension.missouri.edu/mcdonald/documents/4h/The%20Art%20and%20Science%20of%20Management%20-%20intensive%20Grazing.pdf

I went to a school recently and am now on the short list for cost share on well pumps and interior fencing through a MIG program. They also help with pasture improvements with lime and fertilizer.

Goats are being embraced here too for brush and weed control. They are nice to run with or behind the cattle. They tend to eat the weeds the cattle don’t eat. This prevents the weeds from out competing the good grasses and forbes because the weeds are not being grazed. Some farmers around here are specializing in goats for milk, cheese, and meat. The Muslims are buying goat meat like crazy. The milk and cheese has grown in popularity. Goats are easy to handle and tough as pine knots.

Nony on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:18 am 



Veggies from the garden taste better.

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:22 am 



NWR, I wish I lived in a place like yours, Miami really sucks in that sense, it is an ugly concrete jungle. Only the water makes it possible for me to enjoy my life here. Many of the things you mentioned also grow in Uruguay.

Uruguay is very cold for most of the year, but no snow. Only one decent beach month, January, and frost for six months, so growing food there is similar to MO and your place.

I have always invested in other people, since I was a child. All these people are glad to help me back because I never asked for help in my life. They are family and excellent friends.

This doesn’t come out of nowhere. I have tutored them through rough school patches when I was young, loaned them money when they needed it, gifted their children generously, employed them or helped them get jobs when jobless, and housed them when they were bankrupt and homeless.

I have always believed that it takes a village to make it, and have invested in my friends because I wasn’t lucky with my family. I am building the village now, after waiting all my life. And some of my friends and family are in and enjoying it.

Even if I never get to live there, I like knowing these things happened, and I am improving a little corner of the world. The land is mostly overgrazed and eroded because it has a small hill where I am building the house, but now water and soil will no longer wash out when it rains. Stopping erosion and retaining all my rain water are my first priority.

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:30 am 



Davy, My friend is very happy with his goats, and one of his sons now calls himself a goat herder for fun when people ask him what he does for a living. The Uruguayan goats go mostly to Muslim buyers, too. He sends the cattle first to eat the best grass, then the sheep, and last the goats to eat whatever is left. The goats pick the place clean, and don’t leave any scraps behind.

J-Gav on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:34 am 



Good for you JuanP. If they’d used berms and swales for water retention instead of planning a stupid $10 million dam in Sivens, France, the passive-activist kid killed by a police offensive grande recently would still be alive.

J-Gav on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:38 am 



I meant ‘grenade’ of course, one of a type used in both world wars, in fact … What are police doing blowing big holes in kids’ chests for passively protesting a dam, anyway?

Northwest Residetn on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:48 am 



JuanP — I lived the Southern California lifestyle for many years — surfing, roasting on the beach while checking out the babes behind my dark sunglasses, bicycle riding miles and miles up and down the beach with my friends, scuba diving both off boats and going in through the surf. I imagine that part of it isn’t much different than where you live. Problem was, and still is, places like that attract massive numbers of people and the heat is enjoyable when you want it, but working and living in that heat just doesn’t suit me at all. Places like that always end up dirty, overcrowded and totally unsustainable. When I go to SoCal to visit my old haunts, it all looks dirty, smoggy and just plain “yuchy” to me, especially compared to where I live now. So, I know what you mean. I hope you will make it to that patch of land you are developing back in your homeland, so you can be with friends and family and get back to nature, and have a place to ride out the storm.

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 10:49 am 



JGav, It is crazy how police are getting so aggressive and militarized all over the world. It’s scary, too.

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 11:30 am 



Davy, thanks for that link. Interesting file. That 1777 quote made me smile. We are rediscovering today what probably has been understood by a selected few for millenia.

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 11:52 am 



NWR, I’ve always been into maps. One of my Miami maps is used as a Foraging Map. Whenever I am moving around I am always looking for things to add to it.

I use colored drypen dots, symbols, and circles to mark foraging spots and use different colors and symbols for different things. A cluster of green dots means coconuts, a purple stick means yucca, and a yellow half moon means bananas or plantains. A green circle for an avocado tree and an orange one for a mango tree.

I consider this a fun no cost survival exercise. It trains you to become more aware of your surroundings. My wife and I have turned it into a competitive game and try to beat each other at finding new stuff. It’s fun.

Northwest Residetn on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 11:59 am 



JuanP — I agree. Maps are cool! I really like the Google satellite “maps” — pictures of the landscape actually. I have a number of those in different resolution printed out that show where orchards, vineyards, creeks, rivers and higher elevations are around my area, concentrating on about a three mile radius around where I live.

Hey, for some reason one of my comments that I responded to you with got sucked into the “awaiting moderation” status. Why, I have no idea, as that comment contains no insults, cuss words or put-downs. Maybe that’s why it went to moderation when all of my harsher comments never get moderated. I can’t figure it out… 🙂

Northwest Resident on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 12:02 pm 



JuanP — I have two responses to your comments that are awaiting moderation because I misspelled “Resident” as “Residetn” — very strange out this site decides to moderate comments based on misspellings like that. I tried copying/pasting one of those comments with the correct “Northwest” spelling, but I got the “you already said that” response. I guess you’ll have to wait for the moderator(s) to wake up and release my comments. But yeah — maps are cool!

Davy on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 12:22 pm 



Foraging Map- great idea Juan. I am going to start mine. Might be good to have a map with neighbors with skills too.

JuanP on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 1:06 pm 



NWR, I read them all. The air is much better here in Miami beach. The trade winds blow from the ESE here most of the year, all the way from the Sahara and the Sahel desserts in North Africa. With oceanfront windows and balcony on a 20 floor, I get plenty of fresh ocean breeze in my home.

Across the bay, in Miami, pollution is visible on bad days though, but the wind blows it away from the beach. The rest is like LA, except CA is gorgeous.

I use Google satellite maps almost daily to plan my packrafting and fishing trips. It is so cool to have all this high tech available for free. Weather forecasts on the phone are cool, too. My wife’s iPhone works as a compass, too. It is very accurate.

Northwest Resident on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 1:27 pm 



JuanP — Yeah, SoCal is a dust and smog trap because of the geography. The Santa Ana mountain range traps all that bad air, and that was even true back before white man showed up. I read that the native Indians used to call it “the valley of smoke”. When I was in the Navy flying Search and Rescue Helicopter (SAR) with the Marines at the El Toro Marine Corps base, we used to fly around all the time. Even at 500 feet you couldn’t see the ground due to the heavy smog/dust cover.

Check out this Google map — it shows the area where I live. You might find it interesting — I know I do! Trust me, the air is MUCH cleaner here!

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.291732,-122.976747,25863m/data=!3m1!1e3

farmboy on Sat, 8th Nov 2014 6:05 pm 



JuanP If you`ve got connections in Uruguay what is keeping you from moving down there?

Having lived in Paraguay I`m afraid that the gringos will be the first targets when TSHTF so I feel safer in southwest MI.

Btw I had this lady buy a significant amount of my pasture raised lamb, at my farmers market stand today. And after talking a bit more she asked about my accent. I mentioned living in Paraguay and here she had grown up in Uruguay. And sure enough; she also has her mate every day. I do too, but right now its terere.