Paw Paw Lou
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- Edible windbreak planted with Hazelnuts, Elderberry, Quince and Blueberry.
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- Elderberry Bush!!!
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- Baby Hazelnut
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- Perennial Border planted with Coreopsis, Daisy and Purple Cone Flower.
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- Currants are the cutest plants.
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- Future winner of “Best Plum” awards!
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- Late Spring 2010
Somebody told me about your project and I had to see it with my own eyes. You asked for comments and you probably don’t want mine but I’ll offer it anyway.
So called “permaculture” is for people who don’t know any better.
I think if you actually desire food for people – and not for bugs,squirrels or city rodents, you could have put that ground to a much better use. There is a reason that traditional agricultural methods still feeds most of the world.
You have enough ground there, for about 15 chickens, 2 dairy goats and a few rabbits. For that amount of ground could feed a least two families for a year if you’d ditch the dogmatism and use common sense.
At one time in this country people kept chickens, rabbits & goats in urban areas. In fact there are people in NYC who still manage to keep small livestock – mostly 3rd World immigrants.
Good luck with your projects. I think you’re going to need it. I hope you folks prove me wrong.
A comment and a quick couple of questions in response to Granny.
Permaculture typically integrates livestock into systems as essential nutrient cyclers and food producers. As for your comments about bugs and squirrels, livestock comes with its own health/sanitary/smell issues. The “food forest” might be considered a zone 3 area that doesn’t require frequent visits, which would change dramatically with the addition of domesticated animals.
My questions are 1) Where is the feed for the livestock is coming from and who is managing that level of care? (this is where zones come in), and 2) Why couldn’t the space be used for both plants and livestock (manure=fertilizers, canopy=shade, excess=feed)?
Troy -
The quick & dirty :
Chickens will manage quite well from table scraps that might go to the compost pile/bin. Chicken & goat manure goes into compost.
Rabbit manure doesn’t even need to be composted first. Apply straight from the bunny’s butt. Bunnies kept in basements and in backyards saved Holland from starvation during WWI.
As for day to day animal care – well surely the residents of Hazelwood have enough table scraps, stale bread, lunchmeat and fridge food that is past it’s prime, to feed chickens, rabbits and even a couple of goats.
I mean after all, how do you think goats, chickens & rabbits managed before ConAgra & Purina?
In fact I say that 10 chickens are easier to care for than a single neurotic house cat….and I’m sure Hazelwood has more than a few of those :-)
I’m also sure that the some of the residents of Hazelwood would be more than happy to feed and water small livestock. In fact I dare say you may have to keep a sign up sheet and a schedule to prevent over feeding.
After all that’s part of what community is about. It’s a basic Benedictine rule.
(those folks who saved Europe from starvation after the fall of Rome)
I don’t take exception that plants and livestock benefit from one another. They most certainly do.
What I take issue with is the misuse of such a small piece of ground in a location were land is very dear; and the philosophy that Nature can be perfected and that food comes to Man without a tremendous effort and intense labor.
Such a notion to my way of thinking is very childish and naive.
If the point of the exercise is to grow food for humans – then use the space at hand to it’s best advantage and grow some food.
They way that that is done one such a small piece of ground is by using generations of agrarian common sense and skills that suit the particular environment.
Good Luck to you all :-)
Thanks for suggesting the use of chickens or other livestock for the food forest. I recently heard that pigs are quiet adept at digging up Japanese knotweed roots and would love to have a few piggies in with the fruit trees!
Unfortunately, the residents of Hazelwood aren’t as keen on livestock as one would think. In fact, one woman who was raising chickens on a community vegetable garden in Hazelwood was treated quite poorly by the neighbors who shared the block of the garden. She was given such a hard time that she ended up removing the chicken coop from the garden and raising them in her back yard (a different location from the garden)! She had honey bees as well… and they didn’t like those either!
You are right, gardening is hard work! Just ask any of the volunteers who come out to help with the gardens. People from all over the city (including residents of Hazelwood) help with the gardens. In fact, before all of these fruit trees were planted the area was just another vacant lot where people would dump trash. A business owner nearby, who helps keep an eye on the fruit trees, said that before all of the volunteers started coming around regularly, the ally behind the lot was a common place for people to hang out… and do illegal activities… Anyways, him and the other neighbors of the site are very excited to have fruit growing on the property.