Five Permaculture Tips for a More Sustainable Organic Farm
June 13, 2013 | Food Freedom News
Hanging garden beds inside greenhouse
By Lindsay McNamara
Mother Earth News
Nestled deep in the sticks of Schoharie County in upstate New York, lays Raven Crest Botanicals,
a 250-acre sanctuary of an organic farm. Over 80 herbs are grown at
Raven Crest for a variety of teas, tinctures, elixirs and skin care
products. Susanna Raeven, owner of Raven Crest Botanicals, strives to
bring “non-toxic, safe and effective, hand-made herbal products, made in
small batches with love and intent” to her clients to “help them find
balance in their lives with the generous support of the plant kingdom.”
Raven Crest teas, elixirs and tinctures are derived from Mother Earth
without harming her, made well for Susanna’s supporters to be well.
Ms.Raeven uses a variety of permaculture methods to ensure that each and
every one of her products is natural, organic, and pesticide and
fertilizer free.
Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer, the “Father
of Permaculture,” describes the farming method as an environment where
all elements within a system interact with each other; plants and
animals working together in harmony. Holzer outlined major themes of
permaculture:
Multi-functionality: every element fulfills multiple functions and every function is performed by multiple elements
Use energy practically and efficiently, work with renewables
Use natural resources
Intensive systems in a small area
Utilize and shape natural processes and cycles
Support and use edge effects (creating highly productive small-scale structures)
Diversity instead of monoculture
Keeping the themes of Sepp Holzer in mind, below are five
permaculture tips for a more sustainable farm, as used by Susanna Raeven
at Raven Crest Botanicals:
Sheet mulching in progress
1. Try Sheet Mulching
“If you don’t have good soil, you got nothing,” Susanna Raeven said.
Sheet mulching establishes a great foundation for planting by using
different layers of inorganic and organic materials to help the soil
build itself. Start with slashed vegetation, and then add a layer of
cardboard, a thin layer of manure, a foot of straw, compost, and end
with mulch. Organic fertilizer can be added too.
At Raven Crest Botanicals, Ms.Raeven uses Espoma plant-tone, blood
meal/dried blood, bone meal, azomite, rock phosphate, and lime for soil
amendments. For added trace minerals, kelp or seaweed works well too.
The inorganic cardboard brings the carbon and the manure brings the
nitrogen into the system, which are both needed for high quality soil.
The key to excellent soil is a healthy ecosystem of microorganisms
working the land, and sheet mulching is a way to provide good habitat
for them.
2. Build Permaculture Guilds
Permaculture is based on utilizing and shaping natural processes,
like those seen in forests. One way to mimic nature is to build a “food
forest.” Similar to a natural forest system, food crops and other
plants that provide for human needs can be planted together to create
multiple layers of vegetation and a diverse environment.
A good start for a long-term food forest is a permaculture guild. A
guild is a grouping of plants, animals, insects and other natural
elements that work together to survive, grow symbiotically and help one
another reach their fullest potential.
At Raven Crest Botanicals, sheet mulching was laid around fruit trees
to provide the ground work for other herbs and flowers to be grouped
together around the tree, and eventually establish a permaculture guild,
when the soil is ready to be planted in.
Typically, monoculture grass and fruit tree root structures lie at a
similar depth in the soil, thus creating competition for resources like
nutrients and water. By planting herbs and flowers in a guild instead of
planting grass, the competition for resources is eliminated and the
plants can grow together symbiotically.
To build a strong permaculture guild, companion planting can be used
to facilitate the smaller symbiotic relationships that contribute to the
functionality of the system as a whole community. Planting different
crops that compliment each other can also help with pest control,
pollination and increase productivity. Tarragon and eggplant can be
planted as companions. A common example of companion planting is the Three Sisters:
corn, beans and squash. The stalk from the corn serves as a trellis for
the beans to climb, as the beans fix nitrogen to benefit the corn.
Squash vines act as “living mulch,” shading emerging weeds and
preventing moisture in the soil from evaporating.
Reference the companion planting guide put together by MOTHER EARTH NEWS here.
3. Rethink Your Gardening Space
To save money on soil and to reduce water use, consider building a
Hugelkultur raised garden bed. A permaculture concept, a Hugelkultur is
simply a raised garden bed filled with wood. At Raven Crest Botanicals,
trees, branches and stumps were used to build a raised bed. Then,
perennial herbs were planted to keep the soil in place. (See lead photo)
The rotting wood contains high levels of organic material, nutrients
and air pockets for the roots of the plants in the bed. With time, the
soil becomes rich and loaded with helpful microorganisms. As the wood
shrinks, it makes more air pockets; allowing for a little bit of self
tilling. The wood also helps keep excess nutrients in the soil, not leak
into the groundwater, acting as a self-fertilizer. The water held in
the tree stumps and branches allows for very little irrigation. Only a
foot or so of soil is needed on top of the rotting wood, so Hugelkultur
cuts down on soil costs too.
Another interesting way to completely eliminate soil expenses is to
try straw bale gardening. No need for a big plot of land or soil, straw
bales allow for gardening on roof tops, in parking lots, and high
density urban areas. The bales are moveable too! To start planting in
straw bales, simply add a lot of heavy nitrogen and organic fertilizer
for one week, to help aid the decomposition process. Then, spend another
week watering the bale. The straw bale will get very hot inside, but
once the temperature comes down to 100 degrees, it is time to start
planting seedlings. Straw bale gardening makes for an easier harvest
too, since roots don’t have to be dug out.
For more information about straw bale gardening, read this article in the New York Times.
4. Go Solar!
Part of the vision of permaculture is to use energy efficiently and
work with renewables. At Raven Crest Botanicals, a solar powered
irrigation system waters the herbs and flowers with the water from the
pond on the farm. Also at Raven Crest is a passive solar,
earth-sheltered greenhouse. The greenhouse was built using the plans
from The Earth-Sheltered Greenhouse by Mike Oehler, a book featured on Mother Earth News.
The Raven Crest greenhouse is insulated by the Earth and has a cold
sink to give cold air a space to settle away from the tender seedlings.
The oil-filled pistons of the temperature-sensitive automatic vents
allow the greenhouse to regulate its own temperature. The oil in the
pistons contracts in the cold (closing the vents) and expands in the
heat (opening the vents). There are also ten 55 gallon water drums to
help regulate the temperature in the greenhouse.
The hanging beds naturally keep mice away and serve as drying shelves
when all of the herbs and flowers have been moved out of the
greenhouse, hardened and planted. Although Ms.Raeven has a solar drier
to dry her herbs for teas, elixirs and tinctures, the added space from
her greenhouse gives her a better chance to dry all her herbs at their
peak when they are the most medicinal.
5. Grow the Organic Farming Community – Host a WWOOFer
Susanna Raeven describes her farm as a “single woman operation.” In
order to grow her small business and reach more clients, she needs help
planting and harvesting her herbs and tending her farm. Because of this,
Susanna has become a part of the WWOOF program as a “host farm.”
Worldwide Opportunities in Organic Farming
(WWOOF) is an “effort to link visitors with organic farmers, promote an
educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of
ecological farming practices.” The program connects people who would
like to learn more about the organic movement, permaculture and
sustainable agriculture, with farmers who want to share their knowledge.
No money is exchanged between host farms and “WWOOFers,” just room and
board for the volunteers (and amazing food if you are lucky!).
WWOOF is a great way to cultivate the movement for organic, healthy
foods and to engage the younger generation in permaculture, farming and
the environment. WWOOF creates an atmosphere of trust and respect, with
emphasis placed on the value of hard work and integrity. The program
shows that living off the land is a way to eat well, be well and wash
your spirit clean.
For more information Raven Crest Botanicals, visit www.RavenCrestBotanicals.com. Susanna also offers flexible CSA packages at an affordable price that can be shipped throughout the United States.