The Evolution: Phases 1-4

Here are the drawings from the slideshow on the Implementation Plan page. The original drawing used a photo of our property downloaded from Google maps and imported into Inkscape. We outlined the buildings and filled in details of vegetation and gardens. Each layer represents a different 3-year phase and what we accomplished (or hope to in future tense). Some of the text is a bit hard to read. I am hoping to figure out how to better save the graphics and size them for the web without compromising readability, but it has been a bit of a learning curve – so if someone out there has tips on how best to do that, they’d be much appreciated! (the person and the suggestions!)

Historical Perspective

It was fun to find out we could access historical photos through Google Earth and see recent changes. The resolution has improved!

Next steps were to create a drawing of the gardens with an overlay on the Google photo, so everything would be in the right place. Interesting to find out that the barn did not allign perfectly with the house — they are slightly askew. I think of our gardens as “rooms” – overlapping areas that slightly differ in light, water, and soil and the types of plants that would want to live there. It is easier to visualize the phases with these rooms defined.


Phase 1 – Permaculture Awareness; Initial Investment in a Food Forest

Barbolian Fields - Phase 1

 

 

Primary Activities:

Rainwater catchment system

Small pond, spiral bed, keyhole and raised beds, furrows in beds to catch water

Wildlife corridor planting

Vermiculture

Sheetmulching of orchard

Plant purchases: uncommon fruits, perennials, canopy layer shrubs and trees

Willows, windbreaks


 

Phase-2 – Building the Systems – Bees, Polyculture Gardens, Education

Phase 2

Primary Activities:

Bees & Hives

Small ponds, spiral gardens, living wall, patterns, polycultures

More native plants and perennials; grains

Scything of mulch

Vermiculture

Holistic orchard care

Seed harvest; harvesting uncommon fruits


 

Phase-3 – Reducing the Footprint; Capturing energy; Optimizing Zones; Building Self-Sufficiency

Phase 3 Barbolian Fields

Primary Activities:

Solar panels for electricity & hot water

Solar room attached to house

Outdoor cooking areas; rocket stoves

Greywater re-use system; rainwater catchment

Zone 1 gardens / gathering areas (challenge: dealing with quackgrass!)

Greenhouse & aquaponics; catch & route rainwater; coldframes

Mushroom culture

Hugel beds, windbreaks, green manures, medicinal plants, bee plants, wildlife / native plants

Workshops & outreach


 

Phase-4 – Reaching Out; Adding Small Livestock; Evolving with Succession

Phase 4 Barbolian FieldsPrimary Activities:

Gazebo in far field with rocket mass heater

Small livestock (chickens, ducks, rabbits)

Morning solar room on house

Household rocket mass heater

Grow livestock feed; fine-tune guilds

Workshops; e-books


 

The Whole Picture, Phases 1-4, 2009 – 2020

All garden phases

 


Thanks for visiting!

 

 

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