[PERMACULTURE DESIGN EXERCISE]
Veronica Hill
Permaculture Course Design Project
Veronica Hill
Prepared By:
Midwest Permaculture PDC Course #41
June 28, 2013
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Veronica Hill
Assessment of Property
8901 Ransom Rd. Mt. Vernon OH
Full Climatic Information is available on-line:
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Long/Lat. -40 degrees 22’ 12” N
82 degrees 35’ 45” W
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Elevation Above Sea Level – avg. 1360 ft
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Rainfall – avg.
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Dominant Wind Directions are from the West-South/West: All data available here:
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Wind Rose: Jackson/Reynolds, MI, airport
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Veronica Hill
Sun Aspects
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Topography: 2 foot lines
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Veronica Hill
Soil: Predominately BnB, some CdC2 and CdB, meaning silt-loam throughout.
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Veronica Hill
BnB:
CdC2:
CdB:
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Vision for Property
Agricultural education and some meat harvest sales. Cattle, sheep, chickens and possibly hogs. A vision
of a food forest to feed animals and the Hill family, marked by contour swales throughout pasture. Mob
grazing throughout pasture. Cereal crop rotation between linear food forest rows.
Key Challenges
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Ensure livestock are easily watered
Ensure livestock have appropriate shade
The property owners also work with cereals, which require less shade
Strong westerly winds
Size of land
Timeline
First 1-2 years:
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Get the hedges started, and install one-two swale and pond systems as an experimental
plot.
Plant boundary fence, which will take 5-10 years to mature growth
Plant Korean Nut Pine, which takes 10-15 years to mature growth
Learn and experiment with root stock and grafting; find a mentor in the area that can
assist with gathering trees on site.
Years 3-5:
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Install rest of swale and pond system on landscape.
Linear food forest plants can also be planted
Continue to add perennial vegetable to garden
As time goes on, continue to observe, plant, and harvest from the system.
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Veronica Hill
Early Design Strategies
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Access water for livestock
Capture water and fertility high on landscape
Build soil fertility and organic matter
Capture the sun
Attract pollinators
Design access
Easy maintenance and harvest
Budget
Design for public amenities and use
Aesthetics
Slow and steady solutions
Minimize wildlife pressure
Maximize for small livestock and poultry
Minimization of fossil fuels
Design for seasonal changes
Maximize design for sequential harvest
Consider neighboring runoff
Biodiversity in market crops
Conscious of woodlots
Support existing orchard
Design for wind support
The Permaculture Design
(Recommended Techniques and Specific Design Solutions)
 Water:
o Swale design on contour with hugelkultur;
o connecting ponds for the purpose of water retention
o dryland saturation and livestock hydration
o Emphasis on holding water high on the landscape, and for the purpose of food forest
growth.
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Veronica Hill
o Keyline in the south west corner, where steep slopes reside
 Access/Circulation: Fine with current access, but do require gateways between
pastures. Cattle with move around food forest linear design, with 3-4 entryways between
pastures.
 Vegetation and Wildlife: Mob grazing to promote natural grassland, planting of food
forest for animal feed, human consumption, and possible sales. Encourage natural wildlife,
but also need more observation to design for a diversion crop (possibly Maximillian
Sunflower).
 Microclimate: Creating cooler microclimates in shaded areas to cool animals, and provide
shade for crops such as canola. Ponds also provide housing to new species and aquaculture
(arrow root, cattail, water lilies, amphibians, fish, insects).
 Buildings and Infrastructure: Natural hedging on North edge using Korean Nut Pine;
natural edging also along west edge requires more filling to keep animals in. This west edge
also serves as a wind break. This will be Osage Orange and Black Locust.
Design solution to challenge of watering in the fields is resolved by ponds that have pump
sources to troughs. These will be gravity fed whenever possible.
 Zones of Use: Frequency of travel to zones 3-4 (food forests and pasture) to maintain
grazing and to harvest. Edible trees are planted on the margin to increase productivity in
zone 4. Zone 5 forests still exist on east and south areas of property. Zones 1 and 2 merge in
the orchard nearest the home.
 Soil Fertility and Management: Mob grazing provides an opportunity to increase and
protect soil fertility: cattle take in longer grasses, sheep follow and eat grass into the
ground, hogs root the soil, and chickens follow with scratching. This way, the manure
replenishes soil and gives old seeds an opportunity to germinate. This method prevents
over-grazing. The food forest plantings and water retention in the form of swales and ponds
also replenishes the soil. Crop rotation will continue in a Modified Norfolk Rotation system.
Also want to propagate Comfrey on a half-acre plot to add nutrients and mulch.
 Aesthetics/Experience of Place: Currently the Hill’s land is solely pasture, and
livestock are managed with electric netting. Over time, with this design, natural vegetation
will replace fencing and boundary fence will be significantly enhanced. Machinery will also
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Veronica Hill
be replaced with animal tillage, providing the aesthetics of a farm on the European
countryside.
Ideas for various food forest layers:
ZONES 1-2:
Currently carries: Peaches, grapes, raspberries, apples, elderberry, blueberry, diverse native understory,
day lilly, some annuals, perennial herbs, canola, Jerusalem artichoke, gooseberries, currants, Russian
sage, yarrow, among others.
To consider: Goomies, Medlar (semi-dwarf), Cherry, Comfrey, Paw Paw, Asian Pear, Plum, Maximillian
Sunflower possibly on border.
Linear Food Forests ZONE 3-4:
Canopy: Apple, Cherry, Crabapple, Hazelnut (runners), Kentucky Coffee Tree, Paw Paw, Pear, Plum,
Linden (coppiced), Osage Orange, Black Locust (Coppiced)…
Shrub Layer: Blackberry, Currant, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Siberian Pea Shrub, elderberry…
Herbaceous Layer: Arugula, Chamomile, Chives, Comfrey, Stinging nettle, Dill, Fennel, Canola, Ground
Plumb Milk Vetch (Endangered), lemon balm…
Ground Cover between rows: Already carries great diversity, but would like to add plantain and chicory.
Korean Nut Pine on northern edge zone
ZONE 5:
Natural Forest-mushroom potential?
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Veronica Hill
Cross Section Example of a Linear Food Forest
with Hugelkultured Swale
Many other species of plants might be included.
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Closing – Conclusions
“For what is the use of a house…
if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
~ Henry David Thoreau
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Veronica Hill
References
“(Woodchips) make an attractive, stable road base that holds soil in place and compacts into the
ground to make a firm driving surface. Creation of a wood-chip driveway is a permanent work in
progress because this organic surface biodegrades over time and needs new chips added
periodically.” http://homeguides.sfgate.com/create-wood-chip-driveway-32638.html
Quick List of Useful Permaculture Plants
Temperate Climate, North American, Midwestern Species
Common Name
Scientific Name
Uses
Beech
Fagus grandifolia
Nuts
Butternut
Juglans cinerea
Nuts
Shagbark Hickory
Carya ovata
Nuts
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
Syrup
White Oak
Quercus alba
Nuts
American Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana
Fruit
Apple
Malus pumila
Fruit, flowers
Cherry
Prunus spp.
Fruit, flowers
Cornelian Cherry
Cornus mas
Fruit
Crabapple
Malus spp.
Fruit, flowers
Hazelnut
Corylus spp.
Nuts
Kentucky Coffee Tree
Gymnocladus dioica
N-fixer
Paw Paw
Asimina triloba
Fruit, flowers
Pear
Pyrus communis
Fruit, flowers
Plum
Prunus domestica
Fruit, flowers
Serviceberry
Amelanchier spp.
Fruit, flowers
Witch Hazel
Hamamelis virginiana
Medicinal, flowers
Blackberry
Rubus occidentalis
Fruit, flowers
Currant
Ribes sativum
Fruit
Canopy
Understory
Shrub Layer
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Elderberry
Sambucas nigra
Fruit, flowers
False indigo
Baptisia australis
N-fixer
Gooseberry
Ribes uva-crispa
Fruit
Raspberry
Rubus idaeus
Fruit, flowers
Rose
Rosa spp.
Medicinal, flowers
Siberian Pea Shrub
Caragana arborescens
N-fixer, flowers
Arugula
Eruca vesicaria
Edible
Chamomile
Chamaemelum nobile
Tea, flowers
Chives
Allium schoenoprasum
Edible
Comfrey
Symphytum uplandicum
Medicinal, mulch
Cornsalad
Valerianella locusta
Edible
Dill
Anethum graveolens
Edible, insectary
Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare
Edible, insectary
Garlic
Allium sativum
Edible
Kale
Brassica oleracea
Edible
Lemon balm
Melissa officinalis
Tea
Lettuce
Latuca sativa
Edible
Lovage
Levisticum officinale
Edible
Mint
Mentha spp.
Edible
New Zealand Spinach
Tetragonia expansa
Edible
Onion
Allium cepa
Edible
Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
Edible
Rhubarb
Rheum rhabarbarum
Edible
Salad burnet
Sanguisorba minor
Edible
Sorrel
Rumex scutatus
Edible
Spinach
Spinacea oleracea
Edible
Stinging Nettle
Urtica dioica
Edible, mulch
Strawberry
Fragaria spp.
Fruit, flowers
Nasturtium
Tropaeolum minus
Edible flowers
Violet
Viola spp.
Edible flowers
Veronica Hill
Herbaceous layer
Flowering Ground Covers
Vines
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Grape
Vitis vinifera
Fruit
Hardy Kiwi
Actinidia arguta
Fruit, flowers
Hops
Humulus lupulus
Medicinal
Scarlet Runner Bean
Phaseolus coccineus
Edible, N-fixer, flowers
Wisteria
Wisteria floribunda
N-fixer, flowers
Veronica Hill
Leaving the planet in better condition than we found it.
Midwest Permaculture
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