Lesson 1.5 NINE LAYERS – choose plants for gardening

  

FOOD FOREST COURSE

AGRO-ECONOMY Lesson 1.5 

NINE LAYERS – choose plants for gardening

If you’ve ever wandered back roads in a developing, tropical country, you know that many of the locals grow much of their own food. You might also have noticed that their food gardens aren’t comprised entirely of small annual vegetables planted in straight rows like ours are. They are typically wild-looking plantings of edible trees, shrubs, vines, and ground covers all mingling effortlessly together, as if Mother Nature had planted the garden according to her own design. These are literally forests of food.

Forest gardening

has been the standard for millennia in many tropical regions, but it’s possible in more temperate climes as well. Cultivating an Edible Landscape. Food forests have also figured prominently in the permaculture movement, an approach to designing agricultural systems that mimic natural ecosystems.

Why Food Forests?

Food forests are like the ultimate organic garden. Does a forest need tilling, weeding, fertilizer, or irrigation? Nope. And that’s the goal.

Because they’re mostly perennial crops, there’s no need to till. Not tilling preserves the natural soil structure, preventing the loss of topsoil and allowing all the little microbes and soil critters to do their jobs, cycling nutrients and maintaining fertility. The deep roots of trees and shrubs make them much more drought tolerant than annual vegetables, and they shade the smaller plants below, keeping everything lush and moist in a self-maintaining — in other words, a highly sustainable — system.

CHOOSE PLANTS

The first step in establishing a food forest is to choose your plants. The largest plants will reach into the sun, so most common fruiting trees and shrubs are fair game. The smaller plants generally need to be more shade tolerant, as they will be in the under story. But you can leave sunny patches here and there — like little forest clearings — to accommodate species that need more light (though see Step 3 for a trick to make the most of the available sunlight).

Winter is the ideal time to get started, because most edible trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants can be purchased and planted while dormant, which is better for the plants — and for your bank account. That’s because at this time of year they are sold in “bare root” form — meaning without soil or a pot — which gives the roots a more natural structure and costs less for nurseries to produce. Bare root plants are typically ordered in January or February, for planting in early March, or as soon as the ground thaws in your area. Naturally, you’ll want to stick with species that are well-adapted to your region.

Text from the roots, Elisabeth Ferkonia (Aus.) PDC studied with Bill Mollison.

 

MORE INFOS: Be more successful with our company as consultant in AGRO-ECONOMY.  We reach 4 times more yields, click on the blog: https://atlas-development.blogspot.com

Join in on 150 lessons FOOD FOREST COURSE AGROFORESTRY you can easy start now. Click on https://food-forest-course.blogspot.com THE STANDARD you find there forever.

Find the 250 lessons, the basics of ORGANIC FARMING COURSE in fb on FAIREC forever.https:// www.facebook.com/FAIREC-Atlas-Developement-SARL-654505228040366/

Save daily 50 % water, energy, and fertilizer with us. Use also 2-wheel tractors for easy and better farming. See 70 lessons of best SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION for crops and trees Use our best T-Tape, click on the blog https://smart-farming-solutions.blogspot.com

#organicfarmer #organic #organicfarmingpractices #organicfarming #organicfarm #foodforest #syntropic #agroecology #syntropicfarming #agroeconomy #introductiontopermaculture #permacultureprinciples #creativethinking #permaculturehomesteading #regenerativefuture

KOZI YA MSITU WA CHAKULA

KILIMO-UCHUMI Somo la 1.5

TAFU TISA - chagua mimea kwa ajili ya bustani

Ikiwa umewahi kutangatanga katika nchi inayoendelea, ya kitropiki, unajua kwamba wenyeji wengi hulima chakula chao wenyewe. Huenda pia umegundua kuwa bustani zao za chakula hazijumuishi mboga ndogo za kila mwaka zilizopandwa kwa mistari iliyonyooka kama yetu. Kwa kawaida ni upanzi unaoonekana mwitu wa miti inayoweza kuliwa, vichaka, mizabibu, na vifuniko vya ardhini vyote vikichanganyika pamoja bila juhudi, kana kwamba Mama Asili alikuwa amepanda bustani kulingana na muundo wake mwenyewe. Hizi ni misitu halisi ya chakula.

Utunzaji wa misitu

imekuwa kiwango cha milenia katika maeneo mengi ya kitropiki, lakini inawezekana katika hali ya hewa ya joto zaidi pia. Kukuza Mazingira ya Kuliwa. Misitu ya chakula pia imejitokeza sana katika harakati za kilimo cha kudumu, mbinu ya kubuni mifumo ya kilimo inayoiga mifumo ya asilia.

Kwa nini Misitu ya Chakula?

Misitu ya chakula ni kama bustani ya kikaboni ya mwisho. Je, msitu unahitaji kulima, palizi, mbolea, au umwagiliaji? Hapana. Na hilo ndio lengo.

Kwa sababu ni mazao ya kudumu, hakuna haja ya kulima. Kutolima huhifadhi muundo wa asili wa udongo, kuzuia upotevu wa udongo wa juu na kuruhusu vijiumbe vidogo vidogo na wachunguzi wa udongo kufanya kazi zao, kuendesha baisikeli virutubisho na kudumisha rutuba. Mizizi ya kina ya miti na vichaka huwafanya kuwa wa kustahimili ukame zaidi kuliko mboga za kila mwaka, na huweka kivuli mimea ndogo chini, kuweka kila kitu kikiwa na unyevu katika kujitegemea - kwa maneno mengine, mfumo wa kudumu sana.

CHAGUA MIMEA

Hatua ya kwanza katika kuanzisha msitu wa chakula ni kuchagua mimea yako. Mimea kubwa zaidi itafikia jua, kwa hivyo miti ya kawaida ya matunda na vichaka ni mchezo mzuri. Mimea ndogo kwa ujumla inahitaji kustahimili kivuli zaidi, kwani itakuwa katika hadithi. Lakini unaweza kuacha sehemu zenye jua hapa na pale - kama vile misitu midogo midogo iliyosafishwa - ili kushughulikia spishi zinazohitaji mwanga zaidi (ingawa angalia Hatua ya 3 kwa hila ya kutumia vyema mwanga wa jua unaopatikana).

Majira ya baridi ndio wakati mwafaka wa kuanza, kwa sababu miti mingi inayoweza kuliwa, vichaka, mizabibu na mimea ya mimea inaweza kununuliwa na kupandwa ikiwa imetulia, ambayo ni bora kwa mimea - na kwa akaunti yako ya benki. Hiyo ni kwa sababu wakati huu wa mwaka huuzwa kwa fomu ya "mizizi tupu" - maana bila udongo au sufuria - ambayo inatoa mizizi muundo wa asili zaidi na gharama ndogo kwa vitalu kuzalisha. Mimea isiyo na mizizi kawaida huagizwa mnamo Januari au Februari, kwa kupanda mapema Machi, au mara tu ardhi inapoyeyuka katika eneo lako. Kwa kawaida, utataka kushikamana na spishi ambazo zimezoea eneo lako.

Maandishi kutoka kwa mizizi, Elisabeth Ferkonia (Aus.) PDC alisoma na Bill Mollison.