Final Design Project

By: Emily Ruggiero

Goals Articulation:

Design Concept:

The theme I have for my site is an Eco Friendly Consortium. The vision I see is of a space where crops are not only grown to benefit the hands who care for them, but to also nourish other crops, creating an interconnected web of resources able to withstand obstacles. Every aspect of the garden will serve multiple purposes ensuring that the garden follows a system of zero waste. To capture potential rain water and grey water that would have been otherwise lost, I will put water catchment systems and grey water trenches in place. In order to pool together community resources as well as create a friendly environment of people with similar interests and skills, the garden will serve as an outlet for neighbors and peers, one that will hopefully provide peace and relaxation, as well as a foundation for further knowledge into self-reliance.

Goals Articulation: 1.  Bring Community Together and Spread Knowledge as One

•  Observe and Interact (1)

•  Creatively use and Respond to Change (12)

•  Apply Self Regulation and Accept Feedback (4)

2.  Create a Zero Waste Environment Able to Sustain Itself •  Produce No Waste (6)

•  Catch and Store Energy (2)

•  Design From Patterns to Details (7)

3.  Integrate Resources to Establish a Regenerative System Able to Withstand an Uncontrollable Climate •  Integrate Rather Than Segregate (8)

•  Use and Value Resources (5)

•  Use and Value Diversity (10)

4.  Produce a Great Enough Yield to Provide for Both Myself and my Family •  Obtain a Yield (3)

5.  Foster Growth and Accept Mistakes Which Will aid in Deeper Understanding of Areas to Improve •  Use Edges and Value the Marginal (11)

•  Use Slow and Small Solutions (9)

Permaculture Principles in Action:

1.   Produce No Waste: “ The leftovers are remade in a miraculous dance that has endured for four billion years” •  Waste is an ambiguous term. We as a society believe that anything that no longer has a specific benefit to us is no

longer important, and therefore seen as waste. In reality, when something breaks down, or loses a specific purpose, it is still releasing energy into space. On my homestead, I will capitalize on resources previously seen as waste, and use them to build a regenerative system.

•  Examples of Producing No Waste on My Site:

1.  Installing a water catchment system to collect rain water runoff

2.  Placing several trenches on my site to purify grey water

3.  Balancing the needs and yields by taking advantage of every yield (Examples below)

•  Use dead crops as fertilizer (especially nitrogen fixing plants)

•  Portable chickens to turn over the land

4.  Using fallen trees in my woods to support a raised garden bed

5.  Take resources produced inside, outside, and resources produced outside, inside (Examples below)

•  Use food scraps as compost

•  Collect rabbit feces to fertilize gardens

“ Close links between the yields, surpluses of waste of each element- and the needs of another- mark a well organized system (Bane, p.33)”

Permaculture Principles in Action: 2.   Multiple Functions-

•  The idea of creating a system where every element serves several purposes has many overlapping features to the principle of producing no waste. In order to produce zero waste, we must ensure that each aspect of the garden serves multiple purposes. This applies as well to features already in place, such a structures from my house, or landscape outlined by rocks. For example… •  A chicken coop can double as a greenhouse and a structure to foster plant growth •  The walls of my house can serve as a border for protecting crops from outside

influences •  Ornamental grass on top of an herb spiral looks good aesthetically, can be used as

chop-and-drop fertilizer on herbs (nitrogen fixing), and can provide intermittent shade throughout the day

•  Creating a seating area will take advantage of the shady damp climate of my side yard, as well as serve as an area for relaxation and to bring people together; ultimately fostering knowledge

Permaculture Principles in Action:

3.   Redundancy

•  Not all systems are fallible. This means that when designing my site, I have to ensure that I do not put all of my eggs in one basket. To me, redundancy at the garden level means setting up many systems (of which mimic natural structures in the environment) guaranteeing that one failure or setback will not tear down the entire homestead. My homestead is composed of a variety of crops, from annuals to perennials, edible to aesthetic, miniature to extensive; one disease will not take down the entire site. Similarly, a vast array of crops ensures that resources lacking in one crop are fulfilled by another.

Site Analysis:

Challengesà

•  Small property size

•  Limited access to change (my parents own the property)

•  Extreme drain runoff leaving a swampy microclimate

•  Sandy soil

•  Currently segregated gardens

•  Limited full sun exposure

•  Areas of frost pockets

Site Analysis:

Strengthsà

•  Ample access to water

•  Close to a dwelling

•  Manageable property size

•  Multiple work areas

•  Access to the street

•  Shade provided by blankets of trees

What Will I Grow?

Type: Fruit: Vegetable: Grains: Proteins:

Annual: •  Tomatoes •  Cantaloupe

•  Sweet Potato •  Spinach •  Radish •  Carrots •  Eggplant •  Zucchini

•  Quinoa •  Oats

•  Chickpeas (bean) •  Cannellini (bean) •  Lentils (legume)

Perennial: •  Strawberries •  Blueberries

•  Kale (can be annually grown)

•  Garlic •  Asparagus •  Leeks

What Will I Grow?

Plants: •  Forget Me Not’s

•  Round-leaved Violet •  Sunflowers

•  Pennisetum Villosum (Top of the herb circle)

Circular Herb Garden: •  Heat Loving Herbs (south facing)-

•  Sage, Rosemary, Thyme •  Cooler Moist Less Sun Herbs (North facing)

•  Parsley, Chives, Mint •  East and West Facing partial sun/partial shade

herbs •  Basil. Tarragon, Bay

Site #3

Nutrient Cycling Greater Complexity = Higher Yield

•  Providing Fertility to the Land: (Through the use of Fertility Crops)à •  “ On a smallholding, at least 30% of the landscape

should be growing woody perennials and other permanent fertility crops (p.91).”

•  The Importance of Fertility Crops: •  “Other weedy species and herbs dynamically

accumulate, or draw up mineral nutrients selectively into their tissues. As they die and decompose, these pass into the topsoil for use by other plants (p.91).”

Integration and Connection

•  Integrating Crops and Connecting People to Produce a Supported System: •  Intercropping- “Companion planting or alternating

rows of different vegetables” •  Specifically on the Garden level- integrating perennial

fertility crops aid in the production of main crops •  Perennials- •  “Stabilize the soils self-fertilizing processes, prevent disturbance

and mine Banking and other deep soil layers for extra nutrients (p.207)”

•  Are a great resource of chop-and-drop mulch by using the nitrogen fixing properties released into the soil

Integration and Connection Continued.

•  How will I Include Integration and Connection in my Design? •  Alley Cropping: (Small scale intercropping) “Where rows of

productive trees of shrubs form alleys in which arable crops (grain or vegetables) are grown (p.206)” •  At Area #1 on my map, I have created a small scale version of

alley cropping by bordering the garden with a productive Amorpha Canescens bush whose nitrogen rich and aesthetic appeal will aid as mulch and fertile nutrient growth

•  The alleys will be filled with arable crops as suggested by Bane

•  These crops include- Kale, Garlic, Asparagus, Quinoa, and Oats

The Site:

Area 1:

Alley-Cropping

Area 2:

Area 4: Includes- •  Bench •  Leeks •  Forget-me-Nots •  Round Leaved

Violet

Why? All of these crops grow successfully in damp and dark climates, similar to the side yard microclimate