Bought land, now what ?

[eco4560]

In my experience comfrey is best for root cuttings. But I suspect my climate is much warmer than yours so you might have more luck.

Seed balls are a great idea actually.....

[Pakanohida]

I tried something this year but I do not know the result yet. I made seed balls with about thirty different species of plants. I threw them in early April, but later I could not find anything. I'll see later in the year if somewhat successfully emerged.

My buckwheat and crimson clover are only now starting to come up. Coos Bay County, OR has had a 15 degree drop over 3 days, and snow was predicted down to 4000' on Tuesday, have faith.

[Ionel]

I just remembered about seedballs this morning.
Please keep us updated on how yours are doing.

I also threw some seeds on a piece of land, that was previously worked by hand with a spade, back in middle of april.
I can't see anything except the usual suspects. Will wait some more.

[Dzionik]

Only patience:-), but something will grow, I hope. I threw a lot of seeds of artichokes and asparagus, and that will be visible next year. You can follow my experiments on the WPN. Seeds are cheap, so be generous with them. And timing is crucial.

[chook-in-eire]

Ionel, what type of soil does your land have (perhaps you can find a soil map for your area) and do you have more detail on the existing vegetation (species)?
Whether (sown) herbaceous plants have a chance of competing with grasses has much to do with the nutrient status of the soil (generally grasses are more competitive on nutrient-richer soils which is why grassland that is heavily fertilized with either mineral N fertilizer and/or slurry tends to be very species-poor) and the existing vegetation would give clues in that regard.
I have had some success broadcasting white clover into existing pasture of medium fertility. However, when I tried to broadcast a herb and flower mix on adjacent ground (same soil) that had had chickens on it for a good while and was quite rich I had no luck whatsoever. Grasses and nettles just took over, even though I had strimmed them down as a mulch cover, and there was no sign of any of the plants I sowed.
IMHO it's impossible to say that broadcasting seed into existing vegetation does or does not work. It depends on the soil, its nutrient status, the existing vegetation, the climate/weather, the timing etc.
I'm also wondering what your aim is? You don't say what your plan is for the 6.4 ha. What do you ultimately want to produce on the land? Have you considered zoning? You might be better off finding your Zone 1 first and concentrate fertility-raising work on that area because 6.4 ha without machinery and livestock is a huge area to work.
My 2 cents.

[Ionel]

My aim for now is to grow "something" on this land while i do the planning and calculations because that might take 1-2 years (or more ...).
The land allready grows grasses and some wild shrubs.
So if i can improve the soil, while i plan, by means of simple seed dispersion then i'm for it.
I don't know the soil type but will rent an excavator soon to see the soil profile as deep as the machine can get.

PS
And yeah, white clover is on the top of the list.

[Ludi]

I regret not having a complete plan for our land when we began to develop it, but I didn't know about permaculture. It would be easier to figure out proper placement of each element before anything gets built, much harder to plan around existing structures. So from my own experience I would second those who advise a long period of observation, and during that period of observation, begin roughing out some plans which can be developed into a total plan for the landscape by the end of that year. Then you can start actually installing earthworks and trees. If there's already a house, design a dense garden around that, where you can plant dwarf fruit trees and have some annual food plants immediately, without compromising the largescale plan through hasty planting. It took me a long time to realise starting right by the house is a good idea.

[chook-in-eire]

The land allready grows grasses and some wild shrubs.

What kind of grasses and wild shrubs (species)? What I was trying to say in the earlier post is that the vegetation you find on site will tell you much more precisely what your ground conditions are then any digging of deep holes. And it can guide your planning, your future land use. The composition and development of plant communities in nature is by no means random but a fairly precise expression of the site conditions (soil type, soil humidity, acidity, nutrient status, light conditions, overall climate, microclimate, groundwater level and so on, and also of course former management, if any). So if you can learn to read your existing vegetation, you'll get all sorts of clues as to what you can produce in the future. After all, in permaculture (in the 'permanent agriculture' sense) we are trying to emulate natural ecosystems (e.g. in forest gardens), but to emulate them we must understand them first.
If, for example, your existing vegetation 'tells' you that you are dealing with dry calcareous conditions your options for future plantings will be very much different to those open to you if you are dealing with wet acidic conditions for example. Knowing what you are dealing with can save you expensive (both in time and money) mistakes.
To give you an example: a neighbour once asked me to advise him on apple trees. I told him what varieties I would buy for his site and where I would plant them - on his higher, slightly sloping, drier (a relative term in Ireland) bit of ground with good mineral soil. He said, oh, but that's where my wife wants to build a tennis court. He spent hundreds on the trees and planted them on peaty soil with a high groundwater level in a frost pocket. Of course they did not thrive and many died. Total waste of time and money. He would have been much better off planting highbush blueberries on that site.

Of course with the aid of water management, shelter, mulching, N-fixers etc. you can improve on what you have but not every N-fixing trees can grow in any condition, so I think it's absolutely essential to understand the existing conditions in order to implement a good design.

[Unmutual]

I'll echo what Ludi said. Start at the house if you must start something. Even my back yard(180 square feet), which I've been living with for 25 years, could have still done with a good plan. As it stands, I'll be moving some trees around and completely redoing my veggie bed...again, and seeing where I can store water in the soil.

[eco4560]

In my PDC we were taught Water - Access - Structures as the order to tackle first. At least plan your water solutions first, so that you don't build you house in the place that would be the ideal spot for your dam, but find out too late for example!