Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Land Use on Coho Acreage

[John Sechrest (sechrest]

To put a little bit of experience on the topic, we have over the last 3
years been on an effort to eliminate all of the grass. We have a three tier
system: Fruit Trees, Berry Bushes and ground cover all replacing what might
have been a normal yard.

We have apples, pears, peaches, cherries , plums, filberts and almonds as
trees. This is the tall level. We have currants, blueberries, raspberries,
blackberries as the second tier.
We have sage, cranberries, wintergreen, strawberries, mint as the ground
cover layer.

We have just identified a sunny spot for Rhubarb and Artichokes.  These are
all of the perenials in the front , in about 800 sq ft.  We have the
annuals in the back where it is sunnier and easier to manage.

I suspect that Don was suggesting that Annual crops do not grow well in the
shade of trees.  But dwarf fruit trees to not create a lot of shade.

It is totally possible to create an edible landscape and have a mixture of
food and beauty.

The hard part is managing expectations of what a yard is supposed to look
like.



On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 10:52 PM, Jerry McIntire
<jerry.mcintire [at] gmail.com>wrote:

>
> Don, et al,
>
> Trees can be food crops, and other perennials can be significant food
> crops. They require much less work than annuals. A good design can provide
> food for people, wildlife habitat, and look attractive. See your friendly
> neighborhood permaculture designer.
>
> Jerry McIntire
> Stone's Throw Ecovillage
> Viroqua, Wisconsin
> www.stonesthrowcommunity.wordpress.com
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>
>
>


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John Sechrest          .
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