Can you be a Light in my journey of Natural Farming?

[bliss]

:?: Dear friends,
I have an uncultivated dry farmland - 2.5 Acres. I want to start my journey of farming thru Natural farming methods.
Can u please guide me in this journey? What should I do first , next so on...

[Richard on Maui]

Very broad question.
First of all, I would figure out where my water was coming from. What is the annual rainfall in your area?
What is the topography like? Flat, hilly? You can start to observe the landscape and think about potential ways to catch rainfall and stop it from running off, making it penetrate the soil. Any buildings or roads should be designed to catch rain and store it where it can be used.
Reading everything by Mollison and Holmgren, & the Yeomans Keyline stuff, and doing a PDC would be good.

[Tezza]

My suggestion to learn about natural farming methods...

Would be to buy the book "Natural Gardening and Farming in Australia"
written by Jeffrey Hodges....

This book is absolutly brilliant,Words cannot decribe what you could get in the way of insperation,clarity,and down to earth good sence...

Before you even do your first shovel full of work i urge you to read it....

Its a real easy read,no hard to pronounce words,heck even i understood it..

I dont read many books more then once but this book deserved 3 full reads...


Tezza

Ps "An Intro To Permaculture" was my first gardening book i bought dealing with Pemaculture

[Cornonthecob]

If you can, don't do anything but observe and listen for 12 months....watch the wind, rain, sun/shade, animals, watch what grows there already.

Spend that time planning.....a little more planning....and just to make sure, plan a bit more.

Be your own light....but let others show you were to shine your light.

:)

[Tezza]

although i totally agree with Corny and richard,sometimes i think to wait is to waste...and hurry is no better my book suggestion suggests what ive already mentioned.....In these days last winters rain will have absolutly no baring on this years rainfal........so far far less than half of last years :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Sit out on your block sit and meditate,think,think again.see where the sun rises sets the hot parts from cool parts,the wet bit from the dry bits....

To take it easy is one thing..to do it today can be a better thing...

So many possibiltys.Chooks,fish,animals can be used early on,but my suggestion at this time of year would be to get some trees up and growing firstly,fruit and or natives,mixed with decidious,start collecting waste from tips ,lawn clippings,spoilt hay the list is endless..

Keep visiting in here will help u immensly too

Tezza

my reason for some haste is that its the best time to plant from now on for most things up till xmas and the hot weather starts again

[barely run]

All the above is the proper advice...BUT....if I start over somewhere else I'm just going to put in an aquaponics as per Joel's set-up.
Cathy

[Jez]

Yep, good point Cathy.

Planting self sustaining mulch sources and green manure crops is another thing you can do upon arrival IMO...if you end up wanting the area for something else then at worst you've ended up with some of your own mulch and improved the soil in general. Shame to waste a year's worth of water with nothing at all done IMO.

If you're pretty certain from local concensus which way the prevailing strong winds come from, wind and fire breaks are another thing you can start on fairly soon after arrival.

Depends on what sort of headstart you have and the size of your property, but while making a lot of observations in the first year (and thereafter) is very good advice, IMO you can still get a few things done to help you along the journey.

[gnoll110]

I agree with getting self sustaining mulch sources and green manure crops going. Same goes with an aquaponics system too.

I would add getting chooks to that too.

Reason? All 4 get carbon and/or nitrogen cycling going!


Planting self sustaining mulch sources and green manure crops is another thing you can do upon arrival IMO...if you end up wanting the area for something else then at worst you've ended up with some of your own mulch and improved the soil in general.

One extra note, a few things require low levels of some nutrients.

An example is Malting Barley (It won't malt if there is to much nitrogen).

So if you do have anying specific planned. Start learning about its requiement too.


Gnoll110

[Paul Cereghino]

All good thoughts...

Know and remember exactly why your are doing what you are doing where you are doing it, and be honest when you are guessing, and exactly what you are guessing, so you can look later and see how wise or foolish you were. Write it all down if that helps.

Make sure you can identify the species that are growing on your site, and get to know them personally, from seed to root, season to season, how they make a living, and why they are there. Strong native and naturalized plant ID skills are vital. The wildlings will be with you long after you start manipulating the system.

Dig holes... deep holes. Know your soils, their depth and their variation, their density and texture, their color and what that means. Compare to available survey data.

If and when the rain storms come get bundled up and walk around outside and watch hard. Set up a rain gauge. Dig holes after rains.

Talk to locals who work the land. Don't care if they know squat about permaculture. Talk and listen and find out who knows what about your new place. Not just us in the virtual world... people you can show stuff to and be show, who can teach you about the meaning of a smell.

Make a scale base map and start to record your observations. Develop a journal system that works for you to capture questions and thoughts.

Double check if there are any serious noxious weed problems that you should have on your radar... that is about the only thing that could hurt by doing nothing.

Congratulations...