Hi Nice People,
I have recently been enjoying MoonShadow's thread entitled 'My PA food forest', pretty cool! And his greenhouse is awesome! I decided to join him. So, why practice permaculture? Permaculture strives to work WITH Mother Nature and not AGAINST her to get the best outcomes possible in our gardens to feed us and to create a healthier planet by nurturing and supporting our natural environment and enhancing our ecosystems for future generations.

Permaculture involves everything and is a very big topic! From water collection, retention and distribution to how we cultivate our crops, harvest, replenish the soil, deal with creatures and the elements and preserve our bounty. It involves stuff like composting, companion planting and using natural remedies to help us succeed. It's an adventure.

Why do I grow a food forest? Because I live in screaming hot high desert country in Arizona. The first few years I planted stuff in 'full sun' because the SCE... 'so called experts' said these plants needed full sun. I didn't realize that they weren't talking to me! Or anyone in a super hot climate. Then for several years I tried buying new seeds that originated in hot places like Iraq, Africa and Texas. That helped a bit but not nearly enough. My property has lots of big, old trees that in some spots form canopies of dappled sunlight and several years ago I began planting under them. The change was spectacular! Crops began to flourish! Greening the desert is life changing! And I realized I needed lots more trees and 3 years ago began adding lots of new fruit trees. A food forest was born.

I will start this conversation but please start new threads in this forum and tell us your stories, the good, the bad and the ugly so we can all get wiser. Tell us what has worked well for you or not so well or been a total failure. Next time I will tell you about my artichokes. I have been growing these magnificent creatures for 12 years now, from the very beginning. Happy gardening everyone.
Debbie

I'm looking forward to following your thread, Debbie! (I find it quite amazing that anyone who lives in that climate is able to garden at all -- but it certainly appears that you are more than up to the challenge. )

Great post, Debbie! Arizona must have such different demands than PA. Your FF is beautiful!

Debbie, your garden is incredible! Love the wall too!

I thank you each for your compliments and I consider it high praise coming from all of you. And I hope you will share your stories. Permaculture is not all about food forests. It is about creating a healthier and more sustainable planet and everyone can contribute. I tried to find a mentor when I got here and found no one. There were no old timers here willing to pass on their expertise so I had to start from scratch mostly on the internet.... talk about trials and tribulations and epic failures and heart palpitations! Oh my! But each of you can contribute the lessons you learned to help all of our future generations to adapt and succeed. And I thank you all.
Debbie

SedonaDebbie said:Permaculture is not all about food forests. It is about creating a healthier and more sustainable planet and everyone can contribute. I tried to find a mentor when I got here and found no one. There were no old timers here willing to pass on their expertise so I had to start from scratch mostly on the internet.... talk about trials and tribulations and epic failures and heart palpitations! Oh my! But each of you can contribute the lessons you learned to help all of our future generations to adapt and succeed. And I thank you all.
Debbie

Certainly true. I learned most of what I know (a drop in the bucket) from the University of YouTube and other sites.