Dear Reader
In the previous blog, I described the main activity of the Climate Change Permaculture project: a Permaculture Incubator Project (PIP). So, your next question might logically be: what are the plots going to look like?
In 2020, we bought a 56-acre farm from a young Amish couple. The land can be subdivided thusly: 30 acres are leased to a local farmer. Last year, he grew corn. We plan to take 10 of those acres out of production and donate them to CCPP.
Twenty-four acres are wild—the southern part of the 24 is grass. The northern part is Autumn Olive—what many consider to be an invasive species.
Formerly, I really hated Autumn Olive. However, I learned that it is a nitrogen-fixing species, so I am trying to make peace with it. I would eventually like to convert the 24-acres into a hard wood forest.
Joshua Mayer, Flickr)
That leaves just 2 acres for Russon Family Farms. On those 2 acres, we are creating a permaganic farm and documenting the process on a Face Book page (see the URL below).
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Farm/Russon-Family-Farms-112139423870210/
If you want to see what the PIP, 2-acre plots might look like, in the future, take a look at the Russon Family Farms, 2-acre plot, right now. Will they be EXACTLY the same? Probably not. But this gives you an idea of the possibilities.
One thing that you will seen in the Face Book albums, that we are probably not going to do anymore, is ploughing. That’s because I have come to learn that when you plough, much of the carbon that is sequestered in the soil escapes. We are going to convert to no till farming.
In the video below, Charles Dowding shares his no till techniques—he calls it no dig. I love watching this guy’s videos. Very relaxing. He is like the Mr Rogers of gardening.
Enjoy.