Morning Doe Ranch - Level 2 Whole Site Design
Prepared for: Jane and John Doe
Site: Morning Doe Ranch
5270 Morning Doe Road
Nipomo, CA 93420
Site Visit Date(s): December 5th, 2018
Prepared by:
7th Generation Design
Casey Pfeifer | 805-680-2976 Wes Cooke | 805-234-6124 www.7thgenerationdesign.com
Level 2: Whole Site Design - Morning Doe Ranch
Table of Contents Context ...... 3 Site Work Up ...... 8 General Site Information ...... 8 Climate...... 9 Solar ...... 13 Topography ...... 17 Soil Data ...... 19 Land History ...... 23 Water...... 24 Context ...... 27 Passive Water Harvesting ...... 31 Active Water Harvesting ...... 52 Access...... 53 Roads ...... 53 Human/Animal Walking Paths ...... 56 Structures...... 61 Context ...... 61 Homes ...... 64 Shops/Sheds/Outbuildings ...... 64 Animal Enclosures ...... 65 Portable Structures ...... 65 Food and Forestry...... 67 Context ...... 67 Erosion Control ...... 68 Privacy Screens ...... 71 Agroforestry ...... 73 Orchard ...... 91 Market Gardens ...... 99 Shade Plantings ...... 111 Fencing ...... 116 Permanent Fencing ...... 116 1 7th Generation Design
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Semi-Permanent Fencing ...... 117 Temporary Fencing ...... 118 NRCS Fencing Grant Information ...... 120 Economy ...... 121 Nursery Establishment ...... 121 Enterprise Planning ...... 123 New Technology, New Money, New Economy ...... 124 Appendix A - Property Water Catchment Calculations...... 128 Appendix B - Proposed Earthworks Water Catchment Calculations ...... 129 Appendix C - Orchard Guilds ...... 130 Appendix D - Orchard Plantings ...... 133 Appendix E - Agroforestry Guilds ...... 136 Appendix F - Agroforestry Plantings ...... 140
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Context 7th Generation Design was invited by the Doe family to visit and conduct an assessment of the 15.53 acre Morning Doe Ranch located in Arroyo Grande, CA. Their new homestead currently has approximately 9,650 sq-ft of structures (including a main house, a shop, a barn, and a tiny home) and 27,800 sq-ft of hardscape and access roads.. The predominant land features include:
● Approximately 7.4 acres of fenced north-, west-, southwest, and southeast-facing pastures with annual grass and forb ground cover and minimal to non-existent tree canopy, ● Approximately 0.7 acres of steeply-sloped southeast-facing hillside (30-66% grade) with a mix of perennial shrubs, annual ground cover, and bare soil due to erosion, ● Approximately 0.3 acres of southeast-facing orchard with mixed varieties of fruit trees.
The Doe family has communicated their desire to create a living and working homestead that is a community gathering spot, thriving farm, artist retreat center, and natural capital resource base to support themselves and others. They have a desire to grow their knowledge and experience in homestead food production, animal husbandry, soil management, and ancestral arts. Desired future income-producing endeavors include market vegetables, flowers, tree crops, animal products (meat and eggs), workshops, vacation rentals, and artist-in-residency programs. They would like to develop and nurture relationships with artists, farmers, and other like-minded people who are working to live more sustainably and contribute to the community creatively.
It is the understanding of the 7th Generation Design team that there are currently communication challenges with some of the neighbors. Having good relationships with neighbors is one of the most valuable assets to have when developing a landscape in a way that requires a holistic approach to watershed scale planning. While complete participation by all residents within a given watershed is not necessary in order to create a healthy hydrological system, at least a basic understanding of the intended outcomes from earthworks and planting patterns is important for all members of the community to understand. The Doe family has also expressed an interest in potentially acquiring some of the adjacent properties to their current parcel, which all lie in the same watershed. This will provide a great opportunity to extend their regenerative efforts.
The Doe family homestead has tremendous potential to create a drought-proofed, abundant and beautiful sanctuary that will provide for this generation and those to come. The biggest opportunities identified include:
● Road improvements, the installation of swales, “boomerangs” (berms installed downslope of trees to capture and allow for the infiltration of surface runoff), and infiltration basins, and keyline plowing to distribute and infiltrate the large amount of water that is currently leaving the property during rain events, ● Contour plantings of climate-appropriate trees (edible, nitrogen-fixing, and shade) and shrubs on the northwest- and southwest-facing slopes to rehabilitate the soil health, shade out invasive and undesirable weeds, provide wildlife habitat, heating fuel, timber, and food for home and livestock,
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● Planting of mixed-height trees, shrubs, and ground cover on the steep southwest corner of the property between the gate/driveway and Huasna Road to mitigate erosion issues, ● Extension of the orchard into the southeast-facing bowl, ● Integration of chickens into the existing orchard areas and pasture areas to provide weed abatement, fertilization, pest management, and food for the home, ● Relocation of sheep and accompanying waste streams from the existing pens and outflow area on the steep southeast-facing hillside to the more gently sloped northwest- and southwest-facing pastures, and the integration of regenerative grazing strategies, ● Addition of fencing on the south side of the orchard bowl to eliminate year-round animal access to the steep and erosion-prone slope on the southeast corner of the property, ● Planting of vetiver grass on the the sloped southeast corner of the property to mitigate erosion and provide a food source for pastured animals, as well as amongst the orchard trees in boomerang patterns to increase moisture residence time in the soil and provide valuable mulch for soil enhancement, ● Siting and development of a compost system to redirect property waste streams into a valuable garden resource.
This report provides a description of the existing conditions that need to be understood and worked with and the recommended design elements in order to begin planning and ultimately bring such a vision to life
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Site Work Up
General Site Information Client(s): Jane and John Doe - Morning Doe Ranch
Address: 5270 Huasna Road, Nipomo, CA 93420
Parcel Number: XXX-XXX (listed as part of 4375 Huasna Road survey)
Area: 15.53 acres
Latitude: 36º08’18
Longitude: 120º30’23
Altitude: 420’
Proximity to Ocean: 8.5 miles
Figure 1-1 Satellite image of Morning Doe Ranch
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Figure 1-2 Parcel map of Morning Doe Ranch (Parcel 03)
Climate
Temperature Data The closest weather station to MDR with real-time weather data is the KCAARROY87, located approximately 0.5 miles away.
The closest weather station with historical data is at the San Luis Obispo Regional Airport (SBP), located 9 miles away from MDR. Annual temperature data for a typical meteorological year at the San Luis Obispo Regional Airport is shown in Figure 1-3. The coldest months of the year are December through February; the warmest months are July through September. The record low temperature is 27℉; the record high temperature is 107℉.
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Figure 1-3 Average monthly temperature data for San Luis Obispo Regional Airport
Chilling Hours Deciduous fruit trees, which lose their leaves in the fall and are dormant throughout the winter, need to accumulate a minimum number of hours below 45℉ during their dormancy in order to set fruit the following year. Knowing the approximate amount of chilling hours an area experiences throughout the cold season enables better selection of fruit trees that are likely to do well in that area.
In what is called the Below 45℉ Model, chilling hours are the total number of hours below 45℉ accumulated each year while the tree is dormant. SBP sees an average of 725 hours below 45℉. The chill hours for this site were calculated using 15 years of weather data for SBP, located 9 miles away from Morning Doe Ranch.
While SBP is located in a similar area geographically and topographically as Morning Doe Ranch, the chill hours may nonetheless vary. Chilling hours can vary significantly even across the same piece of land; low spots, frost pockets, slopes and wind tunnels or wind buffered areas will all experience different chill hours. The best way to know for a specific site, especially before undertaking any capital-intensive agroforestry project, is to install temperature data loggers on-site and record hourly data during a winter season. However, on cold days and nights valuable information can be gained simply by walking up and down slopes with some bare skin exposed so that you can sense where a thermocline - a thin but distinct layer in the atmosphere in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below - might persist. Often, the difference in 10 feet of vertical elevation will make the difference between a citrus tree thriving or dying. Knowing these invisible lines in the landscape will inform better decisions about which types of plants will do best where.
Figure 1-5 below presents the cumulative chill hours for the past 6 years of dormant seasons at San Luis Obispo Regional Airport, useful in comparing the range of chilling hours and trend in recent years.
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Figure 1-5 Six-year cumulative chilling hour data for San Luis Obispo County Airport
Average annual chilling hours at other nearby sites for comparison include:
● Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (14 miles): 287 ● Cuesta College (17): 447 ● Monarch Golf Course, Nipomo (8.5): 275
When it comes to fruit tree selection, making selections for staple tree crops with a chilling hours buffer is suggested. For this site, trees that require 300-600 chilling hours are recommended. While it can be fun to push the boundaries for select plantings, for your staple tree crops staying within this range will create the greatest chance for successful harvests year after year.
Precipitation Data
Annual Precipitation Total The annual average amount of rainfall recorded in Arroyo Grande is 19.44 inches. The record high annual total during that period was 54.53 inches in 1965; the record low total was 7.2 inches in 1897.
Annual Distribution of Precipitation There are an average of 42 rainy days (>.1 inch) per year. Typically 80% of total annual rainfall falls between December and March, making this a fairly brittle climate. There have been periods up to and occasionally exceeding 8 - 9 months with no significant rainfall.
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Rainfall Intensity and Recurrence Interval Table 1-1 below lists rainfall intensity and the recurrence interval for the San Luis Obispo area. This information is helpful in determining capacity for installed earthworks, drains, basins and other structures or design elements that will need to be able to move, absorb or withstand these expected volumes and intensities if they are to last across generations.
Earthworks design is typically informed by the 1,000-year recurrence interval event - a rainfall event of certain intensity that has a 0.1% probability of occurring on any given year. We use this information to size spillways, drains, catchment basins and overflows to ensure that the system can endure such an event without damage.
In this case, the table below shows the 1,000-year recurrence interval event to be 5.22 inches of rain in a 12-hour period, and 7.5 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
Table 1-1 Rainfall intensity and recurrence interval for Morning Doe Ranch
*PDS: precipitation data server; PF: precipitation frequency
Humidity Humidity is lowest in March (55.4% avg) and consistently above 90% for April through September, then dropping between 70-80% from October through December.
Fog Coastal fog banks exert a cooling effect throughout the Huasna valley when present. These fog banks are more frequent during spring and summer.
Climate Brittleness Brittleness gauges climate vulnerability to desertification. The brittleness scale is subjective and has no formula for calculation, but can be thought of as a continuum, ranging from a 1 - very humid 12 7th Generation Design
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with moisture distributed throughout the year (tropical rainforest) to a 10 - very arid with long dry periods(desert). We use brittleness to inform management decisions for a given property or bioregion.
Where any given climate falls on the brittleness scale is determined not so much by total rainfall, but rather by the distribution of precipitation and humidity throughout the year. This pattern determines the degree of brittleness. Very brittle environments typically have a long period of non- growth (often due to long periods without precipitation and low humidity) and can be very arid. Brittle environments also tend to accumulate more dead plant material as biological breakdown of carbon-based plant tissues by insects, microbes and fungi all but cease during the long dry season. This can have a negative effect on the health and resilience of the vegetation due to increased risk of catastrophic fire (due to built up fuel levels) and decreased light penetration to young growing tips (blocked by dead, standing vegetation).
The climate at Morning Doe Ranch tends towards being quite brittle. Long summer dry seasons and fairly short winter wet seasons predominate. There is a significant maritime influence on the property, which brings with it exposure to a fog cycle and some intermittent moisture through dew set.
Dramatically increasing the number of trees on property will have the greatest effect in moderating climate extremes and creating soil that can retain more moisture for longer. Use of ruminant grazing animals should be carefully planned and attentively managed to ensure they are benefiting the larger processes of soil creation and establishment of perennial cover across the property.
Solar Solar aspect describes the way that the sun moves across the sky at your location during the various seasons. Having an understanding of the sun’s seasonal path is critical for properly siting various elements in the property design, designing housing and other structures for passive heating/cooling, and situating solar panels.
Table 1-2 presents the solar aspect information for each season at the property site.
Table 1-2 Solar aspect information for Morning Doe Ranch Sunrise Sunset Season Change Sun Angle* Shadow Length** Location*** Location***
Winter Solstice 31.36o 1.64 118.46o 241.54o
Spring Equinox 54.87o .7 88.97o 271.28o
Summer Solstice 78.23o .21 60.19o 299.81o
Fall Equinox 55.28o .7 88.7o 271.06o * Sun angles measured when highest in sky (peak solar activity) a.k.a. azimuth. ** Shadow length expressed as multiple of object height, taken at peak solar activity
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*** Exact locations of sunrise/sunset on the horizon from SET’s Sunrise-Sunset Calendar - visit mooncalc.org to get similar data for lunar cycles.
There are approximately 286 days of sun per year in Arroyo Grande.
Wind Data The prevailing wind blows from North x Northwest to South x Southeast (down the Huasna Valley). Some warm offshore air movement (East x Northeast to West x Southwest), particularly during fall months. The following historical wind data was gathered at San Luis Obispo Regional Airport, 9 miles away.
● Average wind speed of 5 mph. ● Highest Sustained Wind Speed (since 2000) 43.8 mph ● Highest Wind Gust (since 2000): 52.6 mph
Spring winds: Typical spring days consist of cool and gusty North x Northwest winds throughout the day. Max gust ever recorded 107 mph.
Summer winds: Typical summer days consist of calm mornings and breezy North x Northwest winds in the afternoon. Max gust ever recorded 83 mph.
Fall winds: Typical fall days consist of calm or warm and breezy North x Northeast winds.. Max gust ever recorded 132 mph.
Winter winds: Typical winter days are South, West, or Northwest when seeing storm effects, and calm or light Northwest winds otherwise.
Potential fire zones: Fire risk is 270 degrees. Huasna Road provides the southern border of the property, and the farm located immediately south on the other side of Huasna Road is in active use and contains moist, low-growing vegetation (or none, in between plantings). Downhill neighbors to the west, north, and east and significant amounts of dry grass could mean rapid movement of fire towards main residence.
Climate Zones
USDA Hardiness Zone USDA Hardiness Zones gives an approximation of the lowest temperatures a site will experience in a given year. It is a helpful, if somewhat limited tool in determining what will survive (but not necessarily thrive) in an area. Hardiness zones can be determined for a given zip code at http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/. Microclimates and site specific characteristics will vary.
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The USDA Hardiness Zone for MDR is 9b. This zone is characterized by cold-season low temperatures that do not generally fall lower than 30-25ºF. Potted frost-tender plants would benefit from being moved indoors or somehow protected.
Figure 1-4 below presents a map of USDA hardiness zones for the general area.
Figure 1-4 USDA Hardiness Zones for Arroyo Grande
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Sunset Climate Zone(s) Sunset climate zones take into account length of growing season, timing and amount of rainfall, winter lows, summer highs, wind and humidity. They provide a more detailed climate description than the USDA model, helpful in selecting which plants will not only survive but thrive with local climate variability. List of maps and climate zone descriptions.
The Sunset Climate Zone(s) for Morning Doe Ranch are Zones 15 (Primary), 16 and 17.
Zone 15 (Primary): Zones 15 and 16 are areas of Central and Northern California that are influenced by marine air approximately 85 percent of the time and by inland air 15 percent of the time. Also worthy of note is that although Zone 16 is within the Northern California coastal climate area, its winters are milder because the areas in this zone are in thermal belts (see explanation below). The cold-winter areas that make up Zone 15 lie in cold-air basins, on hilltops above the thermal belts, or far enough north that plant performance dictates a Zone 15 designation. Many
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plants that are recommended for Zone 15 are not suggested for Zone 14 mainly because they require more moisture in the atmosphere, cooler summers, milder winters, or all three conditions present at the same time. On the other hand, Zone 15 still receives enough winter chilling to favor some of the coldwinter specialties, such as English bluebells, which are not recommended for Zones 16 and 17. Most of this zone gets a nagging afternoon wind in summer. Trees and dense shrubs planted on the windward side of a garden can disperse it, and a neighborhood full of trees can successfully keep it above the rooftops. Lows over a 20-year period ranged from 28 to 21°F (–2 to – 6°C), and record lows from 26 to 16°F (–3 to –9°C).
● Thermal belts typically occur on the midslopes of hill faces, where a layer of warmer air will often be sandwiched between a cool air sink at the valley bottom and colder air on the exposed hill tops. South facing slopes are generally warmer as they receive more solar radiation during the day.
Zone 16 (immediately adjacent to the North and East): This benign climate exists in patches and strips along the Coast Ranges from western Santa Barbara County north to northern Marin County. It’s one of Northern California’s finest horticultural climates. It consists of thermal belts (slopes from which cold air drains) in the coastal climate area, which is dominated by ocean weather about 85 percent of the time and by inland weather about 15 percent. Typical lows in Zone 16 over a 20- year period ranged from 32 to 19°F (0 to –7°C). The lowest recorded temperatures range from 25 to 18°F (–4 to –8°C). This zone gets more heat in summer than Zone 17, which is dominated by maritime air, and has warmer winters than Zone 15. That’s a happy combination for gardening. A summer afternoon wind is an integral part of this climate. Plant trees and shrubs on the windward side of your garden to help disperse it.
Zone 17 (immediately adjacent to the West): The climate in this zone features mild, wet, almost frostless winters and cool summers with frequent fog or wind. On most days and in most places, the fog tends to come in high and fast, creating a cooling and humidifying blanket between the sun and the earth, reducing the intensity of the light and sunshine. Some heat-loving plants (citrus, hibiscus, gardenia) don’t get enough heat to fruit or flower reliably. In a 20-year period, the lowest winter temperatures in Zone 17 ranged from 36 to 23°F (2 to –5°C). The lowest temperatures on record range from 30 to 20°F (–1 to –7°C). Of further interest in this heat-starved climate are the highs of summer, normally in the 60 to 75°F (16 to 24°C) range. The average highest temperature in Zone 17 is only 97°F (36°C). In all the other adjacent climate zones, average highest temperatures are in the 104 to 116°F (40 to 47°C) range.
Koppen Geiger Climate Classification The Koppen Geiger Climate Classification System is a widely used climate classification system, useful in tracking large scale climate changes over time. Helpful visualizations are available as .kmz files in Google Earth. Knowing your KGCC rating can be especially helpful in quickly finding climate analogues around the world as a starting place for researching biological systems, management practices and species that will have a high likelihood of success at your location. The Kopper Geiger Climate Classification System map, viewable by county, is available at http://koeppen-geiger.vu- wien.ac.at/. 16 7th Generation Design
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The Koppen Geiger Climate Classification for San Luis Obispo County is Csb.
● Csb: The C stands for warm temperate, the lower case s for precipitation mode of ‘summer dry’ and the lower case b for a temperature rating of ‘warm summer’. This is generally considered a Mediterranean climate.
Growing Season Late February - Early June. Growing season for climate adapted native plants typically occurs during and immediately following the rainy season (December through March) and tapers by the end of spring, entering some sort of stasis come the hot, dry months of summer. For non-native, food producing, or other plant varietals the growing season is quite long with Arroyo Grande’s average of 286 sunny days per year.
Topography Topography describes the variation in elevation across a landscape. Topographic maps use contour lines to show the shape of the earth's surface in addition to the geographic features included on typical maps, including roads, railroads, rivers, streams, lakes, buildings, built-up areas, boundaries, place or feature names, mountains, elevations, survey control points, vegetation types, and much more.
A contour line joins points of equal height. Contours make it possible to show the height and shape of mountains, depths of the ocean bottom, and steepness of slopes. Basically, contours are imaginary lines that join points of equal elevation on the surface of the land above or below a reference surface, usually mean sea level.
Figure 1-6 presents the high level topographical map for Morning Doe Ranch and the surrounding properties in the Tar Spring Creek Watershed.
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Figure 1-6 High-level topographical map of Morning Doe Ranch and surrounding properties
The MDR property is located on a toe slope of a larger hill. There is a crown located near the center of the property, on which all of the existing main structures are located. Significant slopes leading to the crown face northwest, southwest, and southeast. Figure 1-7 below shows the MDR property with .5 meter contours underlain with a colorized digital elevation model showing relative elevation change across the property.
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Figure 1-7 Topography of MDR, with 0.5m contour lines and a colorized digital elevation model showing relative elevation change across the property
Soil Data Fertile soil is the foundation for a healthy landscape. Soil data provides information for the landowner of what actions will be required to facilitate healthy development of the landscape. This information can be used to determine the best methods to organically build soil to optimal levels.
The soil texture classification triangle is shown in Figure 1-8, depicting the different proportions that occur between the three main particles that comprise soil: sand, silt, and clay. The percentages of each of these result in soil classifications such as “loam”, “sandy loam”, etc. 19 7th Generation Design
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Figure 1-8 Topographical Map for Morning Doe Ranch
Soil Condition Summary All of the predominant soil types present on-property and up-watershed contain significant amounts of clay and are prone to expansion and shrinkage with annual precipitation and soil hydration cycles.
There is plenty of clay content for creating on-site ponds (i.e. infiltration basins) and it looks to be very suitable for natural building projects involving the use of cob (clay, sand and straw), slip straw (compacted straw insulation covered in a clay slurry) and natural, earthen plasters.
The clay content, general high-erodibility of the soil types present and low-infiltration rates indicate that plant and tree roots will be among the most effective ways to infiltrate water. Care will need to be taken during wet periods with grazing animals to time their presence to allow the land to dry somewhat, so as to avoid the creation of impervious clay layers from heavy foot traffic in wet soil and physical damage on steeper slopes (>20%).
All NRCS soil layer data indicates that all soil types on the property and up-watershed are either fragile or moderately fragile, meaning they are quite susceptible to erosion, and loss of pore space via compaction. This information helps inform managed grazing plans and general land use patterning for the entire property to ensure that living soil is growing in quantity and quality through the attentive stewardship of the various being, elements and systems on site.
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The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) map for BFR is provided in Figure 1-11. Detailed descriptions of the soil classifications shown on the map follow.
Figure 1-9 NRCS Web Soil Survey Data for Morning Doe Ranch and surrounding areas
● On-Property o Chamise-channery Loam (115 on map) ▪ 9-15% slopes, very high run-off, low infiltration rate. ▪ pH 5.4, low wind-erosion susceptibility ▪ Parent Materials o Chamise: Composed of loamy alluvium derived from shale, typically 45-58” to paralithic bedrock, low capacity for infiltration (0.06 - 0.2” /hr) in most limiting layer, not considered prime agricultural soil, has moderate ability to store water. ▪ Hydrologic Soil Group: C ● Group C soils are sandy clay loam. They have low infiltration rates when thoroughly wetted and consist chiefly of soils with a layer that impedes downward movement of water and soils with moderately fine to fine structure. ▪ Landscape Capability Classification: 6e ● Class 6 soils have severe limitations that make them generally unsuited to cultivation and that limit their use mainly to pasture, range, forestland, or wildlife food and cover.
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● Subclass e is made up of soils for which the susceptibility to erosion is the dominant problem or hazard affecting their use. Erosion susceptibility and past erosion damage are the major soil factors that affect soils in this subclass. ● Off-Property (Up-Watershed - most of the East and West Watersheds that contain MDR) o Diablo-Lodo Complex (133 on Map) ▪ 15-50% slopes, high run-off, low infiltration rate. ▪ pH 7.5, moderate wind erosion susceptibility. ▪ Parent Materials ● Diablo: Composed of residuum from mudstone, sandstone and/or shale, typically 45-58” to paralithic bedrock, very low capacity for infiltration (0.00” /hr) in most limiting layer, not considered prime agricultural soils. o Hydrologic Soil Group: C ▪ Group C soils are sandy clay loam. They have low infiltration rates when thoroughly wetted and consist chiefly of soils with a layer that impedes downward movement of water and soils with moderately fine to fine structure. o Landscape Capability Classification: 6e ▪ Class 6 soils have severe limitations that make them generally unsuited to cultivation and that limit their use mainly to pasture, range, forestland, or wildlife food and cover. ▪ Subclass e is made up of soils for which the susceptibility to erosion is the dominant problem or hazard affecting their use. Erosion susceptibility and past erosion damage are the major soil factors that affect soils in this subclass. ● Lodo: Composed of sandstone and/or shale, typically 4-20” to lithic bedrock, very low capacity for infiltration (0.00” /hr) in most limiting layer, not considered prime agricultural soils. o Hydrologic Soil Group: D ▪ Group D soils are clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay or clay. This HSG has the highest runoff potential. They have very low infiltration rates when thoroughly wetted and consist chiefly of clay soils with a high swelling potential, soils with a permanent high water table, soils with a claypan or clay layer at or near the surface and shallow soils over nearly impervious material. o Landscape Capability Classification: 6e ▪ Class 6 soils have severe limitations that make them generally unsuited to cultivation and that limit their use mainly to pasture, range, forestland, or wildlife food and cover. ▪ Subclass e is made up of soils for which the susceptibility to erosion is the dominant problem or hazard affecting their use. Erosion susceptibility and past erosion damage are the major soil factors that affect soils in this subclass.
Infiltration Tests Infiltration tests were performed at several locations on property. The number of seconds were measured for 1 gallon of water to infiltrate into a 80.5 sq in area of soil, and that infiltration rate was extrapolated over the larger area this test site represented. The data gathered from these tests
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in summarized in Table 1-3, and was used in developing and sizing the earthworks plan for water infiltration.
Table 1-3 Infiltration test results for various locations at MDR Infiltration Rate Infiltration Infiltration Per Infiltration Per Time (gal/sq.ft./min) Rate (in/min) Acre Per Min Acre Per Hour Infiltration Elapsed Standing Standing (gal/acre/min) (gal/acre/hr) Test Location (sec) Water Water Standing Water Standing Water NW Pasture 3600 0.03 0.05 1,299 77,921 Driveway 120 0.89 1.43 38,960 2,337,630 Orchard 2100 0.05 0.08 2,226 133,579 SW Pasture 10800 0.01 0.02 433 25,974
Land History The Chumash are thought to have lived in the nearby Lopez valley for at least 2,000 years prior to the arrival of Spanish settlers and missionaries. There were at least four major villages within the Lopez Valley, including the Chmoli and Chojuale villages. In 1772, Mission San Luis Obispo was established. Canada del Trigo, now Lopez Canyon, supplied wheat to Mission San Luis Obispo. Soon after the mission's founding, the padres established a garden and plantation on the plain of Arroyo Grande Creek where they raised corn, beans, potatoes and other vegetables. In the early 1800’s, the first white settlers moved to the valley and began a dairy and plum orchard at the junction of Arroyo Grande and Lopez Creeks. Around 1899, over fourteen oil companies bored for oil in areas including Bore Porter Huasna Ranch, Phoenix Canyon, Records Ranch, Rosa Porter Ranch, Mrs. Flora Harloe Huasna Ranch, the upper valleys and in the town of Arroyo Grande.
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Water The water used on most properties for household and landscape is typically piped in from a municipal water company or pumped from a drilled well. While, for many landowners, the day-to- day consistency of these sources provide a convincing case for water security, others are quickly realizing the hard way that these water sources are not as secure as once thought. Landowners on a municipal water supply are subject to the pricing and whims of the utility, which is subject to the whims of the environment, electrical grid, and water supply. Well owners are also subject to the whims of the electrical grid (or solar/wind systems) – but additionally, in many areas owners are coming to find their flow rate dropping or even disappearing altogether as underground aquifers are depleted.
Additionally, conventional property development in the past century was geared towards moving rainwater away from structures and off-property as quickly as possible in an effort to prevent damage. While this seemed to work at first, unfortunately in the long-term this has resulted in major erosion issues (exacerbated by the clearcutting of land and overgrazing with cattle), landscape dehydration, and aquifer depletion.
These issues speak to the critical need for landowners to work with water and embrace its presence on-site rather than fight it by designing for and implementing rainwater harvesting strategies - to work towards regenerating the hydrological cycle on the landscape.
The Four R’s of Regenerative Hydrology The actions of regenerative hydrology can be expressed in terms of sound fiscal budget management. The 4 R’s of a water budget - receive, recharge, retain, and release - are equivalent to income, deposit, savings, and expense. Landowners should ensure that the water balance of local watersheds is in the blue and not in the red, that liquid assets continually produce a high-quality return on investment, and re-invest returns back into local watersheds to continue building principal.
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Figure 2-1 The water cycle
Receive = Income
Watersheds only receive water as snowfall, rainfall, dew condensation and fog precipitation. Annual precipitation is the only true source of income to re-supply a property’s water budget allowance. Everything else (drafting fossil aquifers, importing from other areas) is drawing down on principal.
Regenerative hydrology advocates the adaptive management of watershed lands to optimize rehydration by promoting land use patterns that enhance the receptive capacity of a watershed in times of excess and the retentive capacity in times of drought.
Recharge = Deposit
Recharge processes are critical for the landscape to annually refresh itself via the deposit slip called infiltration. The capacity to make water deposits depends on the watershed’s recharge potential. Precipitation received by the watershed must percolate and be absorbed, or else there is no replenishment of the water savings account.
Recharge potential and functions are impaired by the hardening and paving over of natural recharge areas, the disconnection of rivers from their floodplains, the deforestation of native vegetation, and the draining of wetlands.
To increase recharge, a landowner can:
● Limit impervious surfaces and the wholesale conversion of native vegetation. ● Implement stormwater pacification techniques designed to slow, spread, and sink water into earthen storage. ● Protect open space in known groundwater recharge areas. If site conditions are not conducive to recharge, then the landowner is wise to ensure proper bio-filtration of all 25 7th Generation Design
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surface waters prior to their discharge and deposit into rivers, wetlands, lakes, estuaries, and oceans. ● Most Importantly - Landowners can plant trees and establish perennial vegetation wherever bare soil exists. Trees are far and away the best producers of future rainfall, in addition to being the best protectors of soil from the impacts of rainfall as well as the most effective means by which to infiltrate precipitation into the soil and increase soil moisture to the benefit of all lifeforms. Trees and perennial vegetation are critical to increasing the recharge capacity of the landscape.
Retention = Savings
The retention of recharged precipitation is like a savings account asset that yields interest. The storage of water is often the most challenging aspect of water supply management. Regenerative hydrology strategies should appropriately slow water down, increasing the residence time of water storage in our watersheds. This will optimize the amount of water available for local expense by living processes.
A landowner is wise to avoid overdrafting of their local watersheds. To be in the blue, a healthy albeit challenging goal is to never extract out of storage (groundwater) in amounts greater than what is annually received and recharged. While this can go on for a while, eventually a penalty must be paid. In situations where this is currently occurring, landowners can take steps to mend the broken hydrological cycle to ensure that as much water as possible is being returned and put to highest use in the landscape before it leaves.
Release = Expenditure
Ideally, expenditure of water assets will go to further increase the reception, recharge and retention capacities (the first 3 R’s) of the watershed.
Water is released naturally to the ocean, land and atmosphere in a process known as the water cycle. Through seasonal snow and ice melts, groundwater springs and seeps, water is returned to creeks and rivers. Solar evaporation and the evapo-transpiration of plants help to form new clouds and feed the cycle anew. The infinite nature of this cycle is to continually flow and be in flux as the expense of one stage produces income for the next.
Common modern development practices (creating impervious surfaces, channelizing stormwater, etc.) tend to increase the rate and volume of storm water’s return to the ocean via excessive runoff and heightened flood discharges. This directly reduces the landscape’s ability to retain water and diminishes the amount of water available for later release during the dry season when it is most needed.
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Water Patterning Strategies for Regenerative Hydrology Slow, Spread, Sink, Grow
1. Slow The Water Down - By slowing the movement of water over a landscape, its erosive potential is reduced and infiltration is allowed to occur. Common methods for achieving this are increasing vegetative cover (grasses, trees, plants), installing earthworks (swales, catchment basins, net-and-pan, boomerangs, keyline plowing etc.) and limiting/reducing the use of hardscape and consequent concentrated run-off flows, and when possible using permeable surfaces. 2. Spread The Water Out - Part of slowing water down is to spread it over as much surface area as possible, and reduce any peaks in concentration. The more surface area the water can touch the greater the opportunity for it to sink in and be put to work in the landscape. Common methods for spreading water include those mentioned above as well as geological and biological flow spreaders (plants and/or rocks arranged to pacify and spread overland flows). 3. Sink The Water Into Soil - If Steps 1 and 2 have been designed well, this part will take care of itself. For this, an emphasis is placed on permeable surfaces where hardscape is necessary and encouraging vegetation where it is not (plant and tree roots are the best infiltration mechanisms we have). 4. Grow Biomass - Slowing water down, spreading it out, and encouraging infiltration into living soil creates the greatest amount of living edge possible for water to interact with. It is here that the landscape and its stewards reap the greatest rewards, as evaporation is reduced, solar energy conversion to biomass is maximized and life expression is steered towards abundance.
Rainwater harvesting falls into two major categories—passive water harvesting and active water harvesting. Very simply, passive water harvesting works by shaping the earth to slow the velocity of runoff, infiltrate it into the soil, and direct it to where it can be beneficially used by vegetation. Active water harvesting, in contrast, uses rain barrels, cisterns, and other types of containers to store rainwater for later distribution. The stored water can be used outdoors to irrigate vegetation or indoors for non-potable (toilet flushing, laundry washing) and potable (with appropriate filtration) uses. Both passive and active water harvesting systems can “extend” the rainfall season and maximize the use of water that falls on property. Passive systems are more cost effective than active systems per gallon harvested, but yield fewer options for water use.
Most landowners opt for a combination of active and passive water harvesting. Below is a summary of the rainwater calculations for the property, existing passive and active water harvesting systems in place, as well as recommendations of strategies to increase water harvesting capacity.
Context
Rainwater Harvesting Potential A watershed, also known as a drainage basin or catchment, is an area bounded by hills, ridges, and valleys where any rainfall and runoff leads to a single outlet. Watersheds can be as small as a 27 7th Generation Design
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footprint, the roof of a house, a small urban residential property, a broad-acre farm, or large enough to encompass all of the land that drains water into rivers that drain into the ocean (such as the portion of the San Luis Obispo watershed draining into San Luis Obispo Creek, ultimately draining into Avila Bay). It all depends on the outflow point; all of the land that drains water to the outflow point is the watershed for that outflow location.
Morning Doe Ranch is located on a toe slope of a larger hill. The property has 15.53 acres of catchment area comprised of structures, hardscape, and softscape - summarized in Table 2-1.
Table 2-1 Summary of catchment areas within MDR boundaries Area Catchment Name (sq. ft.) Surface Type House + Attached Garage 2,871 Roofs Shop 2,017 Roofs Barn 4,500 Roofs Tiny House 260 Roofs Pool Hardscape 2,145 Streets - Concrete Front Drive Hardscape 1,570 Streets - Concrete Road Surface Areas 24,100 Drives and Walks NW Pasture 270,072 Ag - Bare Packed Soil/Smooth Southwest Pasture 53,578 Ag - Bare Packed Soil/Smooth Existing Orchard 13,068 Ag - Bare Packed Soil/Smooth Orchard Expansion 20,908 Ag - Bare Packed Soil/Smooth
During an average rain year of 19.4 inches, the total volume of rainfall that lands within MDR property lines is 8.2 million gallons; the total volume that lands on structure roofs is 113,500 gallons. Detailed calculations are available on the Catchment and Runoff Calculation spreadsheet.
The property dips partially into two separate primary valleys totalling 275 acres, as shown in Figure 2-2. The east valley (dark blue in figure) is approximately 188 acres; there is no run-on from this catchment to the property. The west valley (light blue) is 87 acres; there is some run on onto MDR property. Nearly all run on is concentrated in the incised channels in the Northern Triangle beyond the NW Pasture and is unfortunately not immediately available to the rest of the property due to downcutting and loss of the floodplain.
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Figure 2-2 Primary watersheds affiliated with MDR
The two primary watersheds feed a larger main watershed down which Tar Springs Creeks flows, shown in Figure 2-3, to ultimately release water into Arroyo Grande Creek.
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Figure 2-3 Tar Springs Creek watershed
The Tar Spring Creek watershed soils are generally located on steep slopes, and are shallow, highly erosive, and have poor infiltration capacity (see Soils Data section in 1- Site Work Up). Significant clay content in the soil on property and in the surrounding hills impedes infiltration and is readily eroded once a water channel has incised and lost floodplain access (evident in the primary drainage on northern border of NW Pasture).
Aquifer Information about the aquifer underneath Morning Doe Ranch can be gathered from the following websites:
● Principal Aquifer Map of U.S. ● California Groundwater Basin Boundary Assessment Tool ● California Water Management Planning Tool
Wells An 200’ deep confined well is located on the adjacent property to the southeast, next to Huasna Road. The owner reports that the well is currently producing an average of 16 gpm, provided by an estimated 1 hp pump.
Municipal Water The property is not currently tied to any municipal water systems.
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Passive Water Harvesting Passive water harvesting works by shaping the earth to slow the velocity of runoff, infiltrate it into the soil, and direct it to where it can be beneficially used by vegetation. Passive water harvesting features include swales and berms, dry stream beds, infiltration basins, retention ponds, pumice wicks, French drains, and more. They are typically less expensive, simpler to build, lower maintenance, and longer lasting than active water harvesting systems.
Existing Conditions While 8.2 million gallons of water falls within property boundaries during an average rain year, even by optimistic estimate nearly 70% of that water leaves the property before it has a chance to infiltrate into the soil. This low infiltration rate is due to the high clay and low organic matter content of the soil, lack of biological infiltration (tree and perennial vegetation roots), and lack of landscape infiltration structures. High evaporative loss further limits available soil moisture due to wind exposure (trees and windbreaks) and soil surface temperature (lack of shade, soil cover).
Recommendations In order to improve water infiltration on-site, the following is recommended:
● Water/nutrient retention basins (“boomerangs”) should be installed around the existing orchard trees, and any future orchard trees (once established). These are berms built in the shape of a boomerang on the downhill side of a plant or tree. They efficiently harvest water from the larger surface area uphill of the tree due to their open shape. ● Swales should be installed in the NW Pasture, south pasture, above the market garden, and at the top and bottom of the orchard bowl. Swales are shallow trenches dug along the land’s contour, with a berm on the downhill side. These slow any surface runoff from the area uphill, spread it out along the length of the swale, and contain it long enough to allow for infiltration. ● Install rolling dips at key pickup points along driveway to redirect surface into the recommended NW and S pasture swale systems. ● The area of the driveway in front of the shop should be regraded so that water currently causing drain clogs and pooling near the door is redirected to flow naturally into the recommended upper orchard swale. ● The subsoil of the NW Pasture and south pastures should be ripped using a keyline plow in the keyline design pattern, which naturally redirects water that would normally flow into valley towards drier ridges. ● Infiltration basins should be installed at designated locations at the bottom of the NW Pasture, south pasture, and orchard bowl drainages. These provide “last chance” catchment and infiltration of any overflow from the swale and keyline system above. ● Zuni Bowls should be installed in two headcuts in the drainage gully on the NW property corner ● Install rain gutters on all structures on all structures and direct the outflow into designated areas in the landscape for retention and infiltration.
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Orchard Tree Water/Nutrient Retention Basins (“Boomerangs” ) The orchard at Morning Doe Ranch is on the upper half of a moderately-sloped, southeast-facing bowl, and contains a number of established, marginally productive fruit trees. A fence just below the lowest orchard row delineates the orchard from the bottom half of the southeast-facing bowl in the lower pasture zone. An expansion of the orchard into the bottom half of the bowl as well as additional plantings in the existing orchard is recommended and detailed in the Food and Forestry - Orchard Expansion section.
“Boomerangs” are berms built in the shape of a boomerang on the downhill side of a plant or tree, as shown in Figure 2-4. They efficiently harvest water from the larger surface area uphill of the tree due to their open shape. Boomerangs are well-suited to steeper sites, as they spread inbound sheet flows while offering the water an opportunity to infiltrate while reducing then potential for channelization and subsequent erosion. Using stones found on site, imported urbanite, or simply hand-dug earth the boomerangs can be constructed to create infiltration basins right around the tree’s root zone, as well as guiding any overflow of the basin into the next basin downhill. For installations on existing trees, any digging should occur outside of the tree’s current dripline so as to avoid disturbing or burying the bulk of existing feeder roots for the trees currently in place. For installations in future orchard areas, it is recommended that the berms be dug and installed prior to planting.
Figure 2-4 Boomerang earthworks pattern, from the Permaculture Designer’s Manual
It is recommended that the existing orchard and the orchard expansion zone be retrofitted with a “boomerang” earthworks pattern, as shown in Figure 2-5.
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Figure 2-5 Proposed “boomerangs” installation locations in existing orchard
Swales Swales are shallow trenches dug along the land’s contour, with a berm on the downhill side. These slow any surface runoff from the area uphill, spread it out along the length of the swale, and contain it long enough to allow for infiltration. The infiltrated water creates a “lens” of saturated subsoil just downslope of the swale, as illustrated in Figure 2-6, which provides water to plant roots long into the dry season. Swales are typically 1-3 feet deep and 1-4 feet or more across (actual capacity will depend on inbound catchments and infiltration rates of the subsoil), with the berm downslope roughly the same size and made from soil from the swale.
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Figure 2-6 Swales slow the flow of water, spread it out, and allow it to infiltrate into the soil
Critical in the design of swale systems are planned overflow points called level sill spillways. A level sill spillway is a broad, perfectly level part of the swale set below the height of the swale berm, as shown in Figure 2-7. The height of the level sill spillway from the bottom of the swale will determine the swale’s holding capacity. A swale will have a measurable holding capacity as well as a generally known infiltration rate. There will be rain events during a swale’s functional lifespan that exceed its capacity to infiltrate standing water as fast as new water is entering. When these events occur the swale will overflow. When installing a swale it must have a level sill spillway set below the maximum height swale berm. This distance is called the freeboard. It is generally wise to keep freeboard at 12” or greater. Level sill spillways are sized to have the water discharge as slowly as possible, ideally flowing gently downhill until it is picked up by yet another linked swale.
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Figure 2-7 Level sill spillways provide for the planned overflow of water without eroding the berm
Figure 2-8 through 2-11 illustrate the recommended swale installations throughout the MDR property. Additional detailed metrics and calculators are available in the MDR Water Catchment Calcs Google Spreadsheet.
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Figure 2-8 NW Pasture Swales and Spillways
The four swale system illustrated in Figure 2-8 for the NW Pasture has 1,961 linear feet of swale, a combined bankfull capacity of 44,125 gallons, and the potential to infiltrate 337 gallons per minute (or 20,220 gallons per hour) when full based on measured infiltration rates, a 12” bankfull depth and a 3’ width. These estimates do not include the addition of the pocket pond at the bottom of NWP - Bottom Swale. The spillway locations were chosen to maximize four season vehicle access throughout the pastures (see Access section for more details).
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Figure 2-9 SW Pasture and Market Garden swales and spillways
The three swale system illustrated in Figure 2-9 for the Market Garden and SW Pasture has 484 linear feet of swale, a combined bankfull capacity of 10,938 gallons, and the potential to infiltrate 337 gallons per minute (or 20,220 gallons per hour) when full based on measured infiltration rates, a 12” bankfull depth and a 3’ width. These estimates do not include the addition of the pocket pond at the bottom of SWP - Bottom Swale. The spillway locations were chosen to keep water on the property as long as possible while also keeping discharge off of the more fragile and steeper southeast facing slopes (the drains that cross main driveways are planned with Rolling Dips to facilitate higher speed vehicle traffic over the water harvesting structure - more on these in the following section Accessway Rolling Dip Installations).
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Figure 2-10 Detail of Market Garden swale and access pathways
The Market Garden swale is well sized to capture water from the main house roof and can be passively spilled through a rolling dip across the driveway and into the NW Pasture where the overflow will eventually be picked up by the NW Pasture - Upper Middle Swale. It integrates well with the planned contour market garden beds and creates a valuable line of infiltration above the market garden. The swale bottom can be used as an access pathway leading from the eastern edge of the market garden to the western entry to the greenhouse.
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Figure 2-11 Orchard swales and spillways
The two swale system illustrated in Figure 2-11 for the Orchard Bowl and potential Orchard Expansion area has 450 linear feet of swale (280’ upper, 170’ lower), a combined bankfull capacity of 10,158 gallons, and the potential to infiltrate 172 gallons per minute (or 10,311 gallons per hour) when full based on measured infiltration rates, a 12” bankfull depth and a 3’ width. These capacity and infiltration estimates do not include the Lower Orchard Pocket Pond. The Upper Orchard Swale should have several broad spillways to encourage very even discharge into the network of boomerang basins through the existing orchard. The Lower Orchard Swale spillway is on steeper ground and has a much higher likelihood of discharging water in greater volumes than the Upper Orchard Swale spillway. Given this, we recommend lightly armoring the rundown off the sill, with urbanite, stones or other geological material in addition to establishing mat-forming perennial vegetation and possible planting vetiver grass arranged in a flow-spreading formation. Water is patterned from the Lower Orchard Swale spillway to the low point in this valley where an existing culvert already transports water underneath Santa Manuela Road onto the neighboring property.
Catchments from the Shop Roof and the Southeastern Barn Roof will be patterned into the Upper Orchard Swale once gutters have been added. Additionally, it is recommended to regrade the area labeled “Grading Zone” to help improve the drainage situation in front of the shop door. More
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information on the recommended regrading can be found in Regrading Of Driveway Area In Front Of Shop.
Accessway Rolling Dip Installations The installation of driveway pickup points in the form of rolling dips is recommended to direct the driveway runoff currently leaving the property into the NWP and SWP swale systems. A rolling dip is a long, shallow depression in a road with a very slight elevation drop that crosses the road at a diagonal towards a desired lead-out point where water can be safely discharged from the road surface. The long shallow nature of the dip ensures that the road maintains comfortable high speed vehicle passability, while the slight grade from one side to the other ensures that the water exits the roadway without puddling or pooling, but moves slowly enough to prevent any erosion. The most thorough literature on the construction of rolling dips is the text “A Good Road Lies Easy on the Land” by Bill Zeedyk. A plan view of a rolling dip is shown in Figure 2-12.
Figure 2-12 Rolling dip design
There are four locations where rolling dips are recommended for installation:
1. At the top of the driveway, right below the leveled out homesite pad. This rolling dip should direct water across the driveway as it exits the Market Garden Swale and discharges into the NW Pasture and ultimately is captured by the NWP - Upper Middle Swale. 2. At the property entrance, just uphill of the existing main entrance gate. It should direct water through a geologically reinforced rundown off the driveway and down a perennially vegetated drain into the SWP - Top Swale. 3. At the crossing of the drain on the west end of the NWP - Lower Middle Swale and the NWP Perimeter Road. This installation will help maintain road integrity and increase the catchment and infiltration of the NWP swale system. 4. At the crossing of the drain on the west end of the NWP - Bottom Swale and the NWP Perimeter Road. This installation will help maintain road integrity and increase the catchment and infiltration of the NWP swale system.
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Rolling Dip - Market Garden Swale Drain The rolling dip illustrated in Figure 2-13 will redirect sheetflow coming off of the house pad and upper driveway as well as handle overflow discharge from the Market Garden Swale (which is capturing water from the House Roof). The dip will have a slightly depressed, wide-bottom lead out ditch that will ultimately discharge into NW Pasture. The run-off will once again be picked up by the NWP - Upper Middle Swale and work its way through that system. The existing grade of the driveway is already very amenable to rolling dip installation, and will require only a few inches of of change to effectively move the water.
Figure 2-13 Market garden swale spillway rolling dip
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Rolling Dip - Property Entrance The rolling dip illustrated in Figure 2-14 will redirect sheetflow coming off the edge of the NW Pasture and anything moving down the driveway towards the front gate into the SW Pasture and ultimately the SWP - Top Swale. The grade change will be set far enough back to be out of the gate’s opening radius. Again, only minimal grading will be needed to change the course of water here, a few inches change and no more.
Figure 2-14 Rolling dip at property entrance
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Rolling Dip - NWP Swale West Drain Intersection With NWP Perimeter Access Road The rolling dip illustrated in Figure 2-15 will extend the catchment of the NWP - Lower Middle Swale by providing drivable access over the drain on the west end of this swale. It is not recommended to drive on heavy, clay soils while they are wet as they are extremely susceptible to compaction and erosion. This earthwork will ensure that should any water become isolated on the Perimeter Access Road as it turns north and heads downhill it will soon be shunted off the roadway and into a swale before it can build up to an erosive volume and speed.
Figure 2-15 NW Pasture perimeter access road rolling dip draining into NWP Lower Middle Swale
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Rolling Dip - NWP Bottom Swale West Drain Intersection With NWP Perimeter Access Road This rolling dip will extend the catchment of the NWP - Bottom Swale by providing drivable access over the drain on the west end of this swale. It is not recommended to drive on heavy, clay soils while they are wet as they are extremely susceptible to compaction and erosion. This earthwork will ensure that should any water become isolated on the Perimeter Access Road it will soon be shunted off the roadway and into the swale before it can build up to an erosive volume and speed.
Figure 2-16 NW Pasture perimeter access road rolling dip draining into NWP Bottom Swale
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Regrading of Driveway Area in Front of Shop The area in front of the shop door should be regraded to improve the drainage situation and take pressure off of the current underground drain as shown in Figure 2-17. The grading should remove 1-6” of road base material in the “Material Removal Zone” as well as to create a 1.5% grade surface drain descending from the location of the existing shop door drain (which often clogs and backfloods) to the Upper Orchard Swale. This will take pressure off of the buried drain by directing water that would otherwise pool in front of the shop to continue towards the Upper Orchard Swale and infiltrate there. The road base material scraped from this zone should be deposited in the area marked as “Deposition Zone” to help elevate the Barn Road in the area where it is currently experiencing puddling and rutting. This new material should be graded at 2% running downhill so that the road sheds water into the Upper Orchard Swale instead of impounding it, causing the aforementioned puddling and rutting.
Figure 2-17 Regrading driveway in front of shop door to improve drainage
Keyline Plowing For Water Reticulation And Top Soil Formation Keyline Design focuses on improving water reticulation in soils and increasing the rate of top soil formation, which ultimately leads to more productive, resilient farms and drought proof landscapes. The larger topic of Keyline Planning is beyond the scope of this section, however the principles of Keyline Design have been employed throughout this design.
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Keyline Plowing is a key component of a Keyline Design. The Keyline Plow (a.k.a. the Yeoman’s Plow) is non-inversion sub-soil ripper (i.e. it does not turn over the soil as it rips lines through it at a pre-set depth). The specially shaped tines move through the soil much like a dolphin rides a wave, creating a pathway behind them for water to infiltrate deep into the soil quickly, helping it resist evaporation and making it available to plant roots in otherwise compacted soil. The plow is pulled from valley to ridge, parallel to the keyline (a contour line) which emanates from the keypoint (the point at which the slope in a valley goes from convex to concave - a transition from steeper to shallower slopes when moving downhill). This creates sub-soil channels where water can move ever so slowly from points of high-concentration (valleys) to point of low concentration (ridges), in so doing improving moisture distribution throughout the landscape and increasing the depth to which plant roots can penetrate.
Figure 2-18 Left: Keylines on the landscape, Right: the keypoint is located where a valley turns from convex to concave
Keyline plowing is typically used over the course of several years in concert with rotational managed grazing and seeding to de-compact abused soils. Figure 2-19 illustrates how the plowing pattern might shift over several years based on root penetration into the soil strata.
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Figure 2-19 Shifting keyline plowing pattern
The soils in the NW and SW Pastures at MDR both have very poor infiltration rates. They are composed of heavy clay and have little to no perennial vegetation. To help jump-start the decompaction process keyline plowing should be done in the interswale zones specified in Figures 2-20 and 2-21. Each interswale zone will have a line marked along which the plow should be pulled to ensure that the sub-soil lines are moving ever so slightly downhill. This will ensure that water is taken from the wetter valleys to the drier ridges.
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Figure 2-20 Proposed areas for keyline plowing in NW and S Pastures.
Infiltration Basins (“Pocket Ponds”) There are three locations where infiltration basins known as pocket ponds can be added to planned swale lines to increase water holding capacity. Each location serves as a last chance opportunity to slow, spread and sink water before it transits off property. These ephemeral basins will provide valuable seasonal habitat to many forms of wildlife, in addition to allowing for the growth and persistence of different vegetation communities. The persistence of water in these locations for slightly longer after the rainy season will also allow for biomass production on the edges of the basins that can be harvested as a fertility source and used elsewhere on property (compost feedstocks, cut forage for animals, firewood, craft materials etc).
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Each of these basins will be contiguous with one of the planned swale installations and will look like the swale got wider and deeper at their given locations. Species that appreciate or can tolerate higher levels of soil saturation (willows, alders, sycamores, elderberry etc) will do well planted just downslope of these basins and the soil water lense they create.
Should additional infiltration basins be desired there are two additional locations (NWP Upper Middle and NWP Lower Middle) where the topography and catchment is amenable to installation. These locations are drawn on the map filled with checkered blue. These basins, should they be installed, would decrease available pasture land. We recommend keeping the pasture and keylining the zone, and ultimately planting trees in place of the infiltration basins. The Pleeger family can decide which is of greater value to their vision for the property.
Figure 2-21 MDR proposed infiltration basins (solid blue is recommended, checkered blue shows additional options)
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Zuni Bowls For Headcut Repair The northern corner of the property contains two branching gullies, each of which contains a headcut that will continue to deepen and scour soil from that part of the property. A headcut is a quick drop in elevation, typically vertical, within a streamflow that has a plunge pool at the bottom created by the turbulence of high energy water.
When dry, headcuts can look like a small cliff ( a foot or two deep) or sometimes can be the size of an actual cliff (20+’ deep). The scouring action at the base of the drop caused by the high energy water continues to eat away at the uphill cliff face, until yet another overhanging segment collapses into the plunge pool. In this manner, headcuts move upstream (opposite the direction of streamflow), much like a zipper moving up through a landscape, and become larger and more destructive as they go, as shown in Figure 2-22.
Figure 2-22 Headcut Formation
Headcuts are very destructive erosion patterns, and will continue to deepen the stream bed, further incising the channel and thus concentrating water flows, increasing their velocity, and creating conditions for an additional, larger, and more destructive headcut to form downstream and begin moving upwards.
Though the headcuts currently appear to be just beyond property lines, Zuni Bowls should be installed in the two major headcuts in the gully on the NW corner of the property to help pacify seasonally heavy flows, eliminate the opportunity for further erosion, and ultimately assist in revegetation and moisture persistence in the gullies. Zuni bowls are armored plunge pools that create a pool of standing water in order to dissipate the erosive energy from fast moving water (still water being the most effective way to calm turbulent water). Zuni bowls check the uphill movement of an existing headcut, reduce the erosive potential of the water flow and help begin the vegetative 50 7th Generation Design
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restoration process in incised water channels with the ultimate goal of reconnecting them with their floodplain and rehydrating the landscape. A graphic showing Zuni bowl construction is shown in Figure 2-23.
Figure 2-22 Zuni Bowl construction
The location of the headcuts where Zuni Bowls are recommended at MDR are shown in Figure 2-23.
Figure 2-23 Locations recommended for Zuni Bowl installation
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A Zuni Bowl recently installed in an actively eroding gully in Carpinteria, CA is shown below.
Figure 2-24 Zuni Bowl Installation at Headcut Location in Carpinteria, CA
In the above installation, water was diverted out of the incised gully by a few strategically placed sandbags at the downstream edge of the plunge pool, into a 1.5% grade diversion drain and patterned through an orchard swale system to rehydrate the landscape. At MDR, the water would be allowed to continue down the current channel due to the current depth of the channel. Potential additional future vegetative and geological structures can be installed to induce meandering and elevate the stream bed back towards its floodplain, thereby spreading out the flow and decreasing erosion potential.
Active Water Harvesting Active water harvesting uses rain barrels, cisterns, and other types of containers to store rainwater for later distribution. The stored water can be used outdoors to irrigate vegetation or indoors for non-potable (toilet flushing, laundry washing) and potable (with extensive filtration and disinfection) uses. Active water harvesting systems can “extend” the rainfall season and maximize the use of collected water, but are also significantly more expensive than passive systems.
Existing Conditions The only water storage on-site is fed from the well - no rainwater storage systems exist. Most of the structures do not have rain gutters.
Recommendations Raingutters should be installed on the house, shop, and barn, though rather than store the water in a tank, they should be directed into the market garden, orchard, and NW Pasture swales as described in earlier swale section. To improve property and family resilience in the event of well pump failure or other event, an additional 5,000 gallon water storage tank could be installed next to the existing 5,000 gallon tank. This second tank could be also be plumbed to the raingutter on the NE side of the barn in order to capture the roof runoff during the rainy season.
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Access Access is simply how humans and animals get in and around a site. This is an important design feature as access can often be a limiting factor when selecting appropriate management strategies. Additionally, access routes present huge opportunities for passive water harvesting on-property. While access routes, especially roads, are costly to create or modify, a well-designed and placed access route can result in lower long-term maintenance costs, and efficient movement of people, animals, and materials around a property – while a poorly designed access route can lead to huge erosion issues, extensive maintenance costs (until the route ultimately becomes infeasible to maintain and access is lost), the sacrifice of water harvesting opportunities, and huge headaches in trying to move about the property.
Site topography and its’ resultant influence on the movement of water through and within the site is the primary influencer of access route placement. How water interacts with any access route, be it a hard top road or a deer trail, will determine the route’s long term stability and required level of maintenance. The following list summarizes the rules of thumb for good access design:
● Harmonize with the patterns of water already present in the landscape when planning, installing or remodeling access routes. This will always lead to better performance and lower maintenance costs. Good access at minimum maintains watershed function, and ideally improves it. ● Cross valleys, whenever possible, along dam/pond walls or following contour; traverse a landscape on contour as much as possible; and ascend and descend the landscape along ridge lines (these areas have the least potential to accumulate water in destructive volumes). ● Drain water from access routes as often as possible, and always at first chance and last chance locations. Erosive runoff water should be diverted from the access roads as shallow, non-erosive flow using rolling dips, crowning, cut-off drains, and water bars into passive water harvesting systems such as swales and retention basins. ● Maintain access routes regularly - A stitch in time saves nine.
For reporting purposes, access routes have been divided into two categories: roads and human/animal access paths.
Roads Roads refer to any access routes that are designed and built to accommodate vehicle use. Roads typically have a specially prepared surface to designed to sustain vehicle traffic during four- seasons- in urban and suburban areas with heavy vehicle traffic this surface is usually asphalt or concrete laid on a compacted base course, but most ranch and farm roads still utilize dirt and gravel road surfaces.
Existing Conditions The existing access roads leading directly to and around the property are illustrated in Figure 3-1. They are composed of a mix of various sizes of road base aggregate. The main access road onto the 53 7th Generation Design
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property leads up a gentle slope (4%) from paved Huasna Road to the crown of the hill that the house is situated on, and then continues along the crown northeast to the barn. The road appears to be in fair condition, and because the graveled roadways are largely located on or immediately adjacent to ridges they don’t have a lot of drainage issues to deal with. There are signs of erosion along the sloped entry from the gate to the house, and drainage was not properly planned for on the crown of the hill, resulting in pooling issues near the shop door as shown in Figure 3-2.
Figure 3-1 Existing access routes for Morning Doe Ranch
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Figure 3-2 Location of frequently clogged drain near shop door, resulting in water pooling
It is also evident from tracks in the pasture that vehicles are periodically driven from the main NW Pasture access gate (across the driveway from the shop) down to the NW corner of the pasture, with a turnaround at the bottom, and also around the perimeter of the pasture. The tracks from the gate to the NW corner closely follow the ridgeline, and the perimeter loop follows the fenceline.
Recommendations The following is recommended to improve road access on the property:
● Install a permanent access road in the NW pasture.
NW Pasture Access Road It is recommended that a permanent access road be installed in the NW pasture. The proposed road, illustrated in Figure 3-3, will lead from the existing driveway through the main NW pasture access gate (across the driveway from the shop) and continue down the ridge to the NW corner of the pasture, where it will tee and follow the perimeter fence back around to the NW Pasture main access gate, rejoining the road.
The road should be clearly demarcated in order to eliminate unnecessary vehicle passage on areas outside the road, and thus minimize soil compaction and degradation. If all-season access is desired, the road should be graded properly to enable immediate drainage and a 3-4” thick layer of road base laid along the access road. The vehicle access route will have to navigate swales and/or
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keyline plowing - where it does cross a swale, a culvert should be installed where the road crosses (4-season access) or the swale bottom and berm expanded to create a gentle rolling dip (access would be limited to dry season only for such an option).
Figure 3-3 Recommended NW Pasture access road
Human/Animal Walking Paths The paths described in this section are only built or recommended for human and animal walking access. They may be large enough to accomodate a wheelbarrow or handcart, though in many cases the terrain is too steep to permit this, especially on the East facing slopes of the property.
Existing Conditions There is a clearly defined access path behind the barn (along the north fence) to the NW Pasture access gate. There also is a clearly defined walking path from the barn down along the southeast property boundary fence that leads to the SE and SW Pastures. Aside from that, there are currently no clearly demarcated walking paths on property - most walking access is typically using the roads or through the pastures.
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The existing access paths are shown in Figure 3-4 and 3-5.
Figure 3-4 Existing human and animal walking paths
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Figure 3-5 Existing human and animal walking paths
Recommendations The following new walking paths, or modifications to existing walking paths, are recommended:
● Barn access to pastures ● Market garden paths
Barn Access Paths The existing path leading from the barn to the NW Pasture should be retained as shown in Figure 3- 5. However, modifications to the animal access from the barn to the SE and SW Pasture are recommended due to the erosion evident in the steep areas on the slopes of the Southeast Pasture. When accessing the Southwest pasture, it is recommended that the animals be taken from the barn along a path paralleling the east fenceline. A second, low fence (36-42” high) should be installed parallel to the east fenceline creating an access chute 4-5’ wide. The animals can be led out of their barn pens, down the ridge of the northeast slope, and into the access path leading to the SW Pasture. This will require the addition of permanent fencing as illustrated in the image below, and will free up the Orchard area to have the current fence separating the Existing Orchard and the
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Orchard Expansion Zone removed, enabling much easier access for harvesting and tending. Electric fencing can be run atop the orchard area, connecting with the hard fences, to create a seasonal enclosure when the orchard could benefit from some grazing.
Figure 3-6 Recommended animal access from barn to SW Pasture
Market Garden Walking Paths Walking paths are recommended for the market garden as shown in Figure 3-8. Access from both the front and rear of the house merge into an intersection just downhill from the existing coffee berry bush where they continue along an approximate east-west and north-south orientation along the perimeter and through the heart of the market garden, and also to the greenhouse, shadehouse, and shed. These larger artery pathways should be sized according to whatever type of garden cart/wheelbarrow will be used and be wide enough to allow enough space for 90: turns down the inter-bed pathways. This typically results in a minimum of 60” (5’) in width for the main artery pathways. Additional information about the market garden design is provided in the Market Garden section of the Food and Forest chapter.
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Figure 3-7 Market garden access paths
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Structures In a good design, homes, sheds, animal shelters, greenhouses, and other buildings are placed in relation to on-site water patterning and desired/necessary frequency of access. This interconnected, efficient approach to element placement saves large amounts of energy over the lifetime of the site. Siting a home for a view (for example, at the highest point on the property) is often not the best practice, as inefficiencies increase due to the reliance on mechanical sources to bring pressurized water to the site, comfort levels decrease due to higher wind speeds and greater temperature swings, and the cost of placing and maintaining a road up a slope is greatly increased.
Designing with a consideration for the entire site provides foresight that enables expansion to happen intentionally and consciously. When site patterns are examined, such as topography, natural water features, access, and environmental and human sectors, the ideal positions for the various design elements quickly reveal themselves. Even if a home or other structures were already present in less than ideal locations when the land was purchased, any future structures can be placed with these principles in mind.
Context The structures at MDR are shown in Figure 4-1. A summary of any applicable county/city building codes and restrictions, as well as an analysis of environmental and human sectors at the main residential sites on the property, is provided below.
Figure 4-1 Existing structures at Morning Doe Ranch
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Restrictions - Building Codes / Permits / Legal Barriers
Building Code Restrictions and Permits SLO County has especially stringent regulations on building. These codes should be thoroughly researched and taken into account when planning for the placement of additional structures on- property. The codes are available at the SLO County Planning and Building website.
Building permits information, forms, and submissions can be accessed at the SLO County Planning & Building website.
Septic Codes Septic systems/hookups are required at this site.
Zoning ordinances Morning Doe Ranch is zoned for agriculture.
Utility easements The following utility easements exist at Morning Doe Ranch:
● Electricity - Power lines follow Huasna Road to the house and neighboring properties.
Home-Owners Associations The property is not associated with any home-owners associations.
Sector Analysis A sector analysis examines the natural environmental factors that affect a site. The sector analysis and a brief written summary of the sectors affecting Morning Doe Ranch is provided below.
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Figure 4-2 Sector analysis of Morning Doe Ranch
● Solar Aspect & Access o Sun’s relationship to structure siting, orientation, construction, materials o Main house is oriented Northeast by Southwest lengthwise, good opportunities for roof top solar PV and/or solar thermal. ● Physical Access o Single access road comes down valley from the East, then turns Southwest and runs along the property border. ● Acoustic Privacy / Sensitivity o Airport 9 miles to the North, occasional sonic disturbance from low-flying aircraft. ● Visual Privacy / Exposure o Neighbors to the East are a visual eyesore. o Neighbors to the North, Northwest, West, South and East all have direct line of sight onto the land and to the main house. ● Wind o See Wind Data section. o Substantial windbreaks that can double as view screens are recommended to the East, South, and North. ● Fire o Fire could approach the property from the East, North and West. The Southern approach to the property is limited due to neighboring agricultural fields and Huasna Valley Road. However, across the valley to the South are large hills with intact oak forest, which if to experience wildfire, have the potential to scatter
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burning embers particularly in the event of backing winds. As such (and this is true for most areas in California) we presume fire danger at 360:. o Should the cost vs. risk analysis deem it worthwhile, we recommend a WEEDS (WindbornE Ember Dousing Sprinkler) system be installed along the eaves of the house. More information on this topica is available in Living With Fire - Part 3: Home Construction And Retrofitting For Fire Survival on the 7th Generation Design website. ● Security o Access to the property and the main house are via one single lane driveway paralleling Huasna Valley Road. The entire property is fenced, though the fence is designed primarily to keep animals in. o Visibility to lower lying areas of the property is excellent from the main house, easy to know when a vehicle is approaching.
Homes Homes for the purposes of this report are permanent structures intended to provide shelter and comfort for humans.
Existing Conditions There is a single-story home (2,871 sq-ft including carport) on the level pad at the crown of the property. The home is currently undergoing renovation, but the building envelope appears to be intact and in fair condition. Built onto the home is a covered carport. The rear of the home has a pool area. There are no rain gutters installed on the home.
Recommendations Rain gutters are recommended for the home, to direct roof catchment away from the house and into the infiltration elements proposed in this report. Further information about the house roof rainwater distribution can be found in the Water chapter.
Shops/Sheds/Outbuildings Shops and sheds are structures designed to provide either indoor working space or storage. They are typically located with the anticipation of long-term or permanent placement.
Existing Conditions There is a shop (2,017 sq-ft) on the north side of the house, with a fully enclosed interior work space and a covered open-air work space. The enclosed area is only accessible via a person-door; the open air areas have vehicle access.
The shop does not have rain gutters or any sort of roof rainwater catchment. Current roof drainage piles up against the foundation and contributes to seasonal puddling in front of the shop door.
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Recommendations Rain gutters are recommended for both the barn and shop, to direct roof catchment away from the structures and into the infiltration/drainage elements proposed in this report. Further information about the barn and shop roof rainwater distribution can be found in the Water chapter.
In the Market Garden a greenhouse and shadehouse are recommended for season extension, starting plants and hardening off plants as they are readied for full exposure to the elements. An additional shed is recommended near the proposed market garden area to house tools and other materials. More information can be found about these elements in the Market Garden section of the Food and Foresty chapter.
Animal Enclosures Animal enclosures are designed to provide shelter for animals, and may potentially also provide storage for feed. They can be either permanent, portable or temporary.
Existing Conditions There is a large single level barn (4,500 sq-ft) on the north side of the property, containing multiple pens along the perimeter for animals and a large open space in the center. The pens on the east side of the barn have direct gate access to the East Pasture grounds. The south side of the barn has vehicle access from the driveway.
A chicken coop (<100 sq. ft) was recently installed in the NW Pasture by the main access gate, with an enclosed outdoor run (chicken wire).
Neither the shop or chicken coop structure has rain gutters or any sort of roof rainwater catchment.
Recommendations Mobile chicken tractors and mobile pig shelters are recommended when integration of the livestock in the silvopasture system begins. Chicken tractors will have different design criteria depending on if the chickens are meat birds or egg layers. Mobile shade structures will also be of great benefit to animal health while the tree canopy is establishing for the next 3-5 years. Additional details on these elements is provided in the Agroforestry section of the Food and Forest chapter.
Portable Structures Portable structures are designed to be somewhat easily relocated. They can be used temporarily or semi-permanently in a location.
Existing Conditions The portable buildings currently on-site are summarized below:
● Three shipping containers used for storage ● Tiny home on wheels parked next to the barn (~260 sq. ft)
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Recommendations The Doe family has expressed a desire to have on-site lodging for vacationers, workshop attendees and other guests in the form of several wall-tents. The area recommended for this “cabin zone” is shown in Figure 4-3.
Figure 4-3 Sector analysis of Morning Doe Ranch
This area is recommended due to its grade (suitable for easily erecting elevated platforms for canvas wall tents or parking tiny homes), distance from the main house (affording the Doe family some visual privacy while hosting guests) and the good solar aspect (still gets some winter sun).
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Food and Forestry For most of human history, the landscape was covered with forests, and the food was found in these forests. Only with the advent of agriculture 11,000 years ago did farms begin replacing forests as a means to grow massive quantities of human food that could be stored. The number of farms exponentially increased, and the idea that food had to come from the linear, annually-tilled rows of a farm became prevalent. Only in relatively recent history in the U.S. has the hugely negative environmental impact of this industrial, tillage-based agriculture begun to be felt - in the form of topsoil loss, wildlife extinction, pollution, drought and other forms of ecosystem decline.
The awareness that forests are critical to regenerating the health of planet and creating a sustainable future is growing - as is the knowledge of how to design and plant forests that produce even greater yields of food on a per-acre basis than industrial farms, as well as fodder, fuel, and timber. In addition to these methods of integrating agriculture with forestry - known as agroforestry - sustainable methods of growing the annual vegetables that have become staples in the modern diet have been revived and refined.
This chapter presents the various vegetative elements that are presented with this design. This includes but is not limited to tree planting suggestions for climax, midstory and understory trees, as well as shrubs, bushes, herbs, groundcovers, vines, and market garden planning. There exist abundant possibilities for what can be grown on any piece of land. The process of whittling down the mountain of possibilities to readily implementable, maintainable and in some cases marketable vegetative elements will require intimate examination of the landowners’ values, desires and goals for their life on this property. The Minimum Holistic Goal created at the outset of this consultancy will serve as a valuable lens through which to evaluate the congruence of any and all elements within the landowners’ shared vision. Understandably, the 7GD team will have injected some personal biases into interpreting the landowners’ shared vision, and by no means are the elements detailed here the “best” or only way to proceed. Each element is a suggestion, a jumping off point, for future iterations, followed by many enjoyable years of tending and adjusting this landscape at it matures.
Context Morning Doe Ranch is located within an excellent climate for growing in general. It straddles the distinction between Sunset Zones 15 and 16, both of which are excellent growing climates subject to a predominating marine influence. The climate is on the brittle end of the Holistic Management brittleness scale, meaning that rainfall tends to be concentrated along a wet winter / dry summer timeline, during which the periods without any total or effective rainfall can be well over half the year. This brittleness is moderated somewhat why the the property’s coastal proximity at 8.5 miles as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean. The USDA Zone for this property is likely somewhere between 9a and 9b, though microclimates within the property borders and within the larger watershed in which it is located may nudge this one way or another. It is likely that the winter low temperature won’t drop below 20 degrees in the most extreme of years based on this zonation, and that some winters could experience mild lows as high as the 30’s. This opens up a great many
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possibilities for microclimate expansion and crop diversification based on the very survivable temperatures.
Erosion Control
Existing Conditions The steep southeast and east facing slopes below the house show erosion damage stemming from the persistent livestock presence. The areas identified as being particularly fragile and prone to continuing erosion issues are illustrated in Figure 5-1.
Figure 5-1 Existing steep, erosion-prone areas at MDR
Recommendations Plantings for erosion control are recommended in the following areas:
● In sections where there are actively eroding areas on the southeast and east-facing slopes below the house, Vetiver Grass should be planted on contour and in flow-spreading arcs. Vetiver’s fast growing and extensive root system will act as a “biological retaining wall” to secure the soil on the slope.
Biological Retaining Walls with Vetiver Grass Vetiver grass should be planted in strips on contour every 18” of vertical fall on the section of southeast-facing slope below the house that is suffering from significant erosion, as shown in Figure 5-2. This will protect the soil from wind and rain erosion, and promote revegetation of the area.
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Figure 5-2 Recommended Vetiver planting lines on steep southeast-facing slope below house at MDR
Vetiver grass is a sterile, non-running clumping perennial grass known for its incredibly deep root system. It has many qualities that make it an excellent candidate for erosion prevention and repair on steep, dry hillsides. Vetiver grass is native to India, though is now employed throughout the world as a biological remediator. Vetiver grass clumps can grow up to 2 feet in diameter and up to 6’ tall within their first growing season in Central CA, depending on water supply. Vetiver grass responds well to cutting once several or more feet in height, and produces tremendous amounts of biomass that is both an excellent soil builder and a nutrition source for livestock. It can be cut with a simple rice knife.
Vetiver grass is unique in its fantastic ability to handle sheet flow and sediment build up. Because the clump is so dense, it creates a backstop behind which sediment can build up. Instead of this killing the plant, vetiver is capable of rooting into this new build up even when buried through nodes on mature stems. In this way, over time vetiver ‘self-terraces’ creating level contour paths of sediment.
Once established for a full growing season, the plants are effectively drought and frost hardy due to their deep root system (which can grow up to 9-15’ deep depending on the soil type). Vetiver tolerates a wide range of soil types, from dense clay to steep volcanic hillsides to sandy, alkaline and acidic soils, as well as high levels of salt.
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For erosion control on moderate-steep slopes, vetiver grass slips are typically planted on contour in a narrow trench (3-6” wide), approximately one every 4-6 inches. When planted at this spacing and provided with establishment irrigation, the vetiver slips will grow into a solid wall of culms that acts as a ‘biological retaining wall’ - a self-repairing structure that gets stronger and more effective as it gets older instead of vice versa. Once the planting trench is dug, it is underlain with burlap (mainstream methods suggest using aviary wire to hold back ground vermin until plants are establish, but this is non-biodegradable and good success has been observed using burlap for the same purpose) and then filled with compost or rotted steer manure (1 cubic foot of rotted manure fills ~ 6’ of trench). The high nitrogen compost or manure helps the young slips to grow rapidly and set their roots.
Due to the severe grade of this slope, the standard method of installing vetiver on less severe slopes cannot be used (narrow trench filled with composted steer manure). Instead it is recommended to utilize burlap wrapped wattles (long burlap tubes seen on highway sides) staked and tied into the hill to create a temporary pocket with which to retain soil, and then to plant the vetiver slips at a 30º directly into the side of the hill. Vetiver grass exhibits strong gravitropism, and the roots will turn and grow straight down through the soil once in place. Ultimately this installation will build soil between the vetiver lines, enabling deep rooted CA native species to take root and thrive and ultimately take over for the vetiver grass in securing the hillside.
In drier climates with cold wet winters, some establishment irrigation is recommended during the first dry season to help the slips interweave and set deep roots. Each line of vetiver should have its own designated ¼” drip line with emitters spaced every 6”. These can be effectively run up to 50’ lengths. Each line can have its own ¼” valve to make seasonal shut off very simple.
Figure 5-3 Left: Vetiver grass contour strips cut to 18” high after first growing season. Right: 6’ tall vetiver grass anchoring natural stone pathway on a 65% grade slope of very fragile and formerly eroding fill soil.
Visit the 7th Generation Design Portfolio Page to see detailed before and after photos of a vetiver grass installation during the summer of 2017.
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Privacy Screens Privacy screens are plantings of trees/shrubs that serve to block either an unwanted view from a location or the unwanted viewing of a location. The same characteristics that define a good windbreak species (fast-growing, dense growth habit) also define a good privacy screen species.
Existing Conditions There are currently no significant privacy screen plantings at MDR.
Recommendations Privacy screen plantings are recommended in the following locations, also shown in Figure 5-4:
● North side of the proposed cabin zone in the NW Pasture, in between the north boundary fence and the gully. ● On the southeast-facing side of the property, below the house and orchard.
Figure 5-4 Proposed privacy screen planting zones.
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The Hybrid Poplar tree is recommended for these areas, due to their columnar shape and incredibly fast growth rate (up to 10’' per year). Trees should be planted on 6’ centers, which will result in them filling in quickly and a dense enough branch structure to provide some viewscreen functionality even during winter dormancy when the leaves have dropped. Irrigation will be required to ensure most rapid growth - a single 1/2" drip line should be placed along the length of the plantings with 1 gallon per hour emitters at the location of the tree basins. Due to the short lived nature of these trees (30-50 years), this screen is intended as a short term measure to gain some visual privacy while the slower-growing but longer-lasting windbreaks guilds detailed in the next section are grown in the same areas, which will ultimately also serve as privacy screens.
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Agroforestry Agroforestry is an intensive land management system that optimizes the benefits from the biological interactions created when trees and/or shrubs are deliberately combined with crops and/or livestock. The main types of agroforestry practices today in the North America include alley cropping, silvopasture, riparian buffers, windbreaks, and forest farming.
The benefits created by agroforestry practices are both economic and environmental. Agroforestry can increase farm profitability in several ways:
● the total output per unit area of tree/ crop/livestock combinations is greater than any single component alone, ● crops and livestock protected from the damaging effects of wind are more productive, and ● new products add to the financial diversity and flexibility of the farming enterprise.
There are four key characteristics of an agroforestry system that distinguish it from other farming or forestry practices. They are:
● Intentional: Combinations of trees, crops and/or animals are intentionally designed and managed as a whole unit, rather than as individual elements which may occur in close proximity but are controlled separately. ● Intensive: Agroforestry practices are intensively managed to maintain their productive and protective functions, and often involve annual operations such as cultivation, fertilization and irrigation. ● Interactive: Agroforestry management seeks to actively manipulate the biological and physical interactions between the tree, crop and animal components. The goal is to enhance the production of more than o•ne harvestable component at a time, while also providing conservation benefits such as non-point source water pollution control or wildlife habitat. ● Integrated: The tree, crop and/or animal components are structurally and functionally combined into a single, integrated management unit. Integration may be horizontal or vertical, and above- or below-ground. Such integration utilizes more of the productive capacity of the land and helps to balance economic production with resource conservation.
Existing Conditions There are no existing agroforestry elements at Morning Doe Ranch.
Recommendations The following agroforestry elements are recommended at Morning Doe Ranch:
● Windbreaks - Windbreaks are recommended along the majority of the boundary fences to alleviate the effect of winds on the pastures and areas near structures. Windbreaks are also recommended along most of the interior fences. ● Silvopasture in the NW and S Pastures - A silvopasture system with that will integrate trees for food, fuel, and fodder with livestock production is recommended for the NW and S Pastures.
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Windbreaks A windbreak is an arrangement of shrubs and trees that functions to slow winds in an area. High wind speeds can cause physical damage caused to crops and structures, raise cooling/heating needs in structures due to convection, increase an animal’s need to regulate body temperature (and thus food and water intake to supply that energy requirement), and cause undesirably large swings in soil moisture levels and temperature.
Windbreaks are ideally sited perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction, with a high enough density (trunks, leaves, and branches) to redirect 60-80% of the wind energy up and over the windbreak. The wind energy is reduced in an area downwind of the windbreak over a distance of up to 30 times the length of the tallest trees in the windbreak. The length of a windbreak should ideally be 10 times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreak. This is illustrated in Figure 5-5.
Figure 5-5 Effects of windbreaks on wind direction and speed
The recommended areas for windbreaks at MDR are illustrated in Figure 5-6:
Figure 5-6 Proposed windbreak plantings at MDR
Two separate windbreak recommendations are shown in the image above: a Native Habitat Windbreak, and a Fire Sector Windbreak.
Native Habitat Windbreak In this windbreak guild, native small and large native shrubs interplanted with slower-growing oaks are recommended. Not only will this serve the function of reducing wind effects in the area, it will also provide a dense privacy screen, beautiful backdrop, and native habitat for wildlife and pollinators. The genera of the shrubs recommended include Coyote Brush, Toyon, Lemonade Berry, Coffeeberry, Manzanita, and Ceanothus - there are many suitable native species within each, of varying size, growth habit, and growth rate. The climax tree recommended in the windbreak is Canyon Live Oak. The smallest shrubs (Coyote Brush, Toyon, Lemonade Berry) should be planted in staggered rows on the outer edges of the windbreak, with the taller shrubs (Coffeeberry, Manzanita, Ceanothus) and the Canyon Live Oak planted in the center. For areas along fencelines, California Wild Grape is recommended along the fenceline. An example of this guild patterning is shown in
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Figure 5-6. A great source for information and purchasing of these recommended plants is Las Pilitas Nursery, located in Santa Margarita.
Figure 5-6 Native habitat windbreak guild planting pattern
Coffeeberry Toyon Canyon Live Oak
Coyote Lemonad e Berry
Fire Sector Windbreak The Fire Sector Windbreak guild is composed of the same plants as the Native Habitat Windbreak, but excludes Coyote Brush, which is more flammable than the rest. One of the other shrubs in the guild should be substituted wherever a Coyote Brush is recommended in the Native Habitat Windbreak planting scheme shown in Figure 5-6.
Alternative Windbreak Species An abbreviated list of other native- and locally-adapted trees, shrubs, and vines that are commonly used for windbreaks in coastal Central California is provided in Table 5-1.
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Table 5-1 Native- and Locally-Adapted Trees, Shrubs and Vines for Coastal Central California Windbreaks
Trees Shrubs ● Peruvian Pepper ● Cape Honeysuckle ● Black Locust ● Opuntia ● Valley Oak ● Fruitland Silverberry ● Albizia lebek ● Japanese Pittosporum ● CA Cottonwood ● Hybrid Poplar ● Scotch Pine ● Jeffrey Pine ● Sester’s Dwarf Spruce ● Coulter Pine ● Eastern Red Cedar ● CA Sycamore ● Scotch Pine ● Honey Mesquite ● Mulberry ● Port Orford Cedar
The agroforestry plantings in the NW and S Pastures discussed in the next section will also serve additional windbreaks for the pasture interstitial areas, proposed cabin area, and homesite, further diffusing prevailing onshore and winter storm winds.
Silvopasture in the NW and S Pastures Silvopasture is a form of agroforestry that combines trees with forage and livestock production. The trees in a silvopasture system are typically managed for high-value tree crops or timber and, at the same time, provide shade, shelter and forage for livestock. The partial shade throughout a silvopasture helps to reduce stress on the animals from wind and sun, and in MDR’s case, will help extend ground forage availability later into the dry season by decreasing soil surface temperatures and thus evaporation.
Layout and Guilds The design of the silvopasture systems in the NW and S Pasture areas are illustrated in Figures 5-7 and 5-8. The pasture blocks have been sized based on water reticulation, access patterning, slope and solar access. These criteria will also be used to determine which agroforestry guilds will be applied to which pasture blocks.
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Figure 5-7 Silvopasture Block Layout for NW Pasture: NWP = NW Pasture, i = interstitial, # = pasture block ID
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Figure 5-8 Silvopasture Block Layout for SW Pasture: SWP = Southwest Pasture, i = interstitial, # = pasture block ID
The proposed guilds and plantings of trees and support species for all designated agroforestry planting zones at MDR are summarized in Table 5-2. Guilds have been formed with the idea of creating a year-round food source on-property for desired livestock species - sheep primarily, and pigs and other grazers as secondary considerations based on the Doe family’s wishes. Each guild is named for either it’s principal climax canopy or for it’s primary purpose for being in the landscape. Each guild can be broken down to a singular Guild Unit - the repeating unit and species assemblage that has been used to calculate costs and plant counts for applying the guild across the landscape at MDR. Additional detailed information on individual guild formation, cost projections, irrigation requirements and livestock palatability can be found in the MDR - Food And Forestry Calculator.
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Table 5-2 Proposed agroforestry guilds for MDR NW and S Pastures Guild Name Description, Spacing, Seasonal Yields and Management
Cold Season Thornless Honey Locust (THL) as long term overstory, which due to its high Tree Forage and thin canopy, creates a dapple light underneath that will still permit grass and other trees to grow beneath its canopy, while decreasing overall solar Recommended intensity. THL holds and drops carbohydrate-rich pods throughout the Planting Areas: winter, and the American Persimmons and Fuyu Persimmons (AP and FP) are NWPi1, NWPi2 an excellent carbohydrate rich food source that persist on the tree from November through February. Wickson Crabapple (WCA) ripens just before Thanksgiving in SoCal, and fruit stays on the trees through to January. Trees can be shaken to drop fruit when animals are let out of barn into nearby paddocks. Understory should seeded with Dwarf Koa (DK) to create low- growing forage (2-5’) of green material during the drier seasons, and the dappled shade from the trees should help the DK persist longer throughout the season. Additionally this guild should be undersown with a multi-species perennial-based cover crop for additional forage and groundcover - Great Basin Seeds Dryland Pasture Mix is recommended. Guild Unit = (1) THL, (2) AP, (1) FP, (1)WCA, (16) DK. Guild Unit Size = L 100’ x W 100’
Early Season Pakistani Mulberry (PM) is the keystone of this guild, supported by Moringa Fruit & Forage trees (MOR). PM sets fruit as early as April and drops continuously for the better part of several months during late spring / early summer. The leaves Recommended are also very palatable browse with good protein content. MOR is a highly Planting Areas: nutritious browse for the animals, excellent for cut forage, and can be NWPi5, SWPi2 maintained by coppice, pollard, or pseudo-coppice (leave one central leader for shade, allow suckering at the base for animals to graze off). Together these trees should provide a good boost of early season food for young animals and lactating mothers. Guild Unit = (1) PM, (2) MOR. Guild Unit Dimensions = L 40' x W 40'.
White Mulberry White mulberry (WMB) is keystone species of this guild, planted on 50' - FIB - Moringa centers from neighboring mulberries. Each WMB is underplanted with (2) Fruit & Browse False Indigo Bush (FIB) to provide nitrogen fixation to WMB rootzone as well (WM-FIB-MOR) as serve as highly palatable browse for grazing animals while mulberries are growing to maturity. (2) Moringa (MOR) are also planted bordering the WMB Recommended for additional nutrient dense browse for grazers that can be coppiced. WMB's Planting Areas: can also be maintained to have suckers at their base as they age via pseudo- NWPi3, NWPi6 coppice techniques (main trunk will be left in place, but suckering will be encouraged around the base). These coppiced suckers can be grazed several times each season without damaging the larger tree whose shade will improve moisture persistence later into the dry season. Guild should be undersown with a dryland adapted cover crop mix to further increase forage yields, especially while trees are young. Guild Unit = (1) WMB, (2) FIB, (2) MOR. Guild Unit Size = L 50' x W 50'.
Carob - Carob (CAR) and Mesquite (MQ) trees alternate in a dense planting ideal for
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Mesquite higher elevation sites that get minimal water - NWPi4 and SPWi1 primarily, and possibly extension to the Southern Steeps. Both trees yield high quality Recommended and carbohydrate rich pods - MQ early in summer and both in the Early to Planting Areas: Mid Fall when conditions are at their dryest. Both trees are capable of fixing NWPi4, South nitrogen and both have extremely deep root systems (Mesquite roots have Steep (SS), been found 175’ deep at pit mines).Understory can be grazed during pod-fall SWPi1 when other forages are not present in abundance, or pods can be collected and stored or processed for feed supplement. Guild Unit = (1) CAR, (1) MQ. Guilt Unit Size = L 70’ x W 40’
Fast The guild described in the Privacy Screen section. Hybrid poplars (HP) are Viewscreen / incredibly fast growing, columnar shaped deciduous trees. They are excellent Windbreak for providing rapid windbreak / viewscreen function in a short time. Trees can grow over 10' per year, and are relatively short lived (30- 50 years by Recommended most estimates). Irrigation will be required to ensure most rapid growth. This Planting Areas: guild can be installed with a single 1/2" drip line with 1 GPH emitters along East Fast its length at the location of the tree basins. Trees are typically planted on 6' Viewscreen centers for viewscreen purposes - this will help to retain some of the view (EFV) screen functionality when they lose their leaves during the off season. This screen is applied as a short term measure to gain some visual privacy while other, longer term evergreen windbreak/viewscreen/firebreak (Oaks, Lemonade Berry, Carob, Coffeeberry) guilds are grown on the Southeast and South Steeps. Guild Unit = (1) HP. Guild Unit Size = 6' on center single line viewscreen / windbreak planting.
Fast Track Soil Black Locust (BL), Mesquite (MQ) and Mimosa/Silk Tree (MIM) are planted Builder densely on 10' centers in a line running down the middle of the swale berm. The N-fixing, drought-hardy, seasonal inundation-tolerant native shrub False Recommended Indigo Bush (FIB) is planted two per tree (3 seeds per hole) on alternating Planting Areas: sides of the swale berm and encouraged to branch heavily with coppice All swale berms management. All three trees are N-fixing as is the FIB, and each repeating in NWP and segment of this guild will alternate their pattern - BL-MQ-MIM / MQ-BL-MIM SWP / BL-MIM-MQ. Trees will be allowed to compete, and ultimately 1 tree will be kept from each guild unit and allowed to grow as the climax overstory. This early competition will have helped the trees grow tall, and once the other two are removed this will leave ample light and space underneath the canopy of the climax tree for fruit tree plantings on either side. This fruit tree planting can begin at the 4-5 year mark, at which point ample fast carbon pathways will have been built in the soil from the repetitive coppicing, forage cutting for grazers and chop-n-drop pruning. Cover cropping for the first round after swale construction is to be done with Lab Lab and Cowpea, each seeded at approximately .5lb / 1000 sq ft densities. Guild Unit = (1) BL, (1) MQ, (1) MIM, (6) FIB, Lab Lab, Cowpea groundcovers first year. Potential for Sainfoin after that. Guild Unit Dimensions = L 40' x W 10'.
Chestnut Chestnut (CN) as long term overstory, black locusts (BL) planted adjacent at 6-8' off center as nurse trees, managed with coppice and eventual stumping Recommended once Chestnut is well established. Vetiver grass (VG) initially in place to
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Planting Areas: provide trunk windbreak, biological retaining wall on steep slope for building Northeast Steep up mulch and soil retention for chestnut feeder roots. Vetiver will also help to (NES) infiltrate water and improve site drainage and water retention in soil lens for longer term use. Vetiver will ultimately be shaded out by the Chestnut tree as it reaches mature size. Guild Unit = (1) European Chestnut, (2) BL, (30) VG slips planted 4" on center in 10' arc. Guild Unit Size = L 60' x W 60'
CA Black Southern California Black Walnut (or Northern California variant) as keystone Walnut climax tree. This guild can be interspersed/share the same aspects as the Chestnut guild in the Northern Steep and along the edges of the orchard bowl. Recommended (2) Black Locusts planted per Black Walnut to act as nurse trees, to be Planting Areas: managed as coppice and eventually stumped once walnut canopy overtakes Northeast Steep and shades them out. Nut fall on the slopes will naturally congregate at the (NES) bottom of the hill, making for easy harvest by humans or livestock (pigs). Guild Unit = (1) BW, (2) BL. Guild Unit Size = L 60' x W 60'.
Early Fall Chestnut (CN), Valley Oak (VO) and Black Walnut (BW) are climax canopy in Finishing this guild, each being roughly 60 - 80' on center from one another. This trio Forage will begin producing mast drop in September and continue dropping large quantities of nuts during the prime finishing window for hogs (up until Recommended Thanksgiving). The guild is rounded out by carbohydrate rich Kerr crabapple Planting Areas: (KCA) which also sets and matures fruit during from September to October, NWPi7, NWPi8, and the fruit can persist on the tree all the way until after Thanksgiving if so NWPi9, NWPi10 desired. Black Locust (BL), Pigeon Pea (PP) and False Indigo Bush (FIB) are planted as nurse/support species and maintained via coppice until climax trees take over to help build soil and provide nitrogen to the growing trees, as well as improve infiltration around their root zones. Guild Unit = (1) CN, 1 (VO), 1 (BW), (2) KCA, (3) FIB, (3) BL, (3) PP. Guild Unit Dimensions = L 140' x W 140'.
Dryland Dryland Pasture Mix (DPM) + Immigrant Forage Kochia (IFK) + SainFoin Pasture Mix + (SAIN) is an all purpose mix of perennial and annual forages designed to do Kochia + well in arid pastures with long dry seasons. DPM from Great Basin Seeds is Sainfoin denoted in 1# increments (1# recommended for broadcasting over ~2200 sqft = 5#/10,000 sqft). IFK recommended seeding at 1# per 10,000 sqft and Recommended SAIN at 3.5# per 10,000 sqft. DPM includes a mix of Intermediate Wheatgrass, Sowing Areas: Paiute Orchardgrass, Slender Wheatgrass, Hycrest Crested Wheatgrass, NWPi3, NWPi4, Smooth Bromegrass and Dahurian Wildrye. This mix is optimized to be grown NWPi6, NWPi7, on 10-13" of rainfall a year, which should cover the majority of mean average NWPi9, SWPi1, rainfall years at MDR. IFK is a perennial forage that will provide green SWPi2 material deep into the summer months (August and beyond) and can survive on 6" of rainfall a year. SAIN is a highly palatable, deep rooted legume forage crop that will help improve soil tilth in the pastures as it is rotationally grazed. Guild Unit Size (Seed Recommendations are based on 10,000 sqft area ~ 100' x 100' plot).
Alfalfa - Alfalfa - Ladak II is an improved, second generation variety of alfalfa capable Sainfoin of surviving on as little as 10" of rain per year. Alfalfa plants are high quality
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forage for nearly all grazing animals, excellent nutrition, perennial with a Recommended deep taproot and sunken crown to withstand low grazing damage by animals. Sowing Areas: Sainfoin is a perennial leguminous forage, that, while not as productive as NWPi1, NWPi2, alfalfa, does not cause bloat and can remedy bloat issues that can be NWPi5, NWPi8 experienced with alfalfa. Pasture mix can be hayed or grazed. Guild Unit = (1) lb of Ladak II Alfalfa, .4 lb Sainfoin. Seedings should not be mixed, but rather planted in parallel sections to one another to limit alfalfas competitiveness over the sainfoin. Guild Unit Size = 1000 sq ft.
Chicken Yard The Chicken Yard guild is built to suit the year-round needs of chickens. Recommended White, Pakistani, Red and Black Mulberries all provide ample fruit fall for the Planting Areas: chicken beginning in April (Pakistani) and going all the way through late Chicken Yard summer. Mesquite pods fall in later summer and early fall for additional (CHK) ground forage. California grapes grow on the East fenceline and the chicken yard itself, helping to create shade and diffuse windbreaks, improving habitat for the birds as well as feeding them with its prolific fruit in late summer. Persimmons and Wickson crabapples provide food from late Autumn all the way through winter, and the fruit stores well on the tree. Ladak II Alfalfa and Sainfoin are perennial legume ground forages for the chickens to eat. Elderberry can be planted wherever the chicken water spills/leaks/gets dumped to take up the extra moisture, while providing a nutrient rich superfood for the chickens when its fruit ripens (makes for amazing egg yolks). Guilt Unit Size = 6650 sq ft.
Native Habitat One of the two guilds discussed in the Windbreak section. The Native Habitat Windbreak / Windbreak is designed for application along property boundaries where long Privacy Screen term native habitat and evergreen windbreak / privacy screen is desired. Canyon Live Oak (and possibly Valley Oak along the Northern Property Recommended Border) is the guild keystone. Lemonadeberry, Coffeeberry, Manzanita, Planting Areas: Toyon, and CA Lilac all form dense, evergreen foliage replete with plenty of South seeds and fruits for wildlife food. Coyote Brush is added where more rapid Viewscreen view screening is desired, planted on 5' centers, and will ultimately be shaded (SVS), North out by the shrubs and trees, until which point it provides valuable shelter for Viewscreen / wildlife.California grape can be added anywhere the guild is placed along Windbreak fencelines or gullies, and it too will create a dense mat of vegetation providing (NVSWB), West shelter for many creatures and abundant,nutritious fruit. Guild Unit Size = L Viewscreen 40' x W 20' (Oaks will eventually spread to 40-60' canopies). (WVS), South Steep (SS), Southeast Steep (SES)
Infiltration The guild selected for the areas around the infiltration basins consists of Basin Edges plants that are tolerant of seasonal inundation, a wide range of soils including clay, and provide habitat and food for wildlife. Willow handles a wide range of Recommended soil conditions, and is great for low-lying seasonally wet areas. It provides Planting Areas: good cut fodder for pigs and goats, chickens and rabbits, and re-grows very Perimeters of quickly after cutting to the ground, vigorous suckering. Cuttings (as thick as a
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South, North thumb or thicker) should be taken from nearby riparian zones and live-staked and East (stuck directly in the soil) every 5' around the perimeter of the infiltration Infiltration basin, below maximum waterline and along non-berm waterlines. Elderberry Basins, berm of also tolerates seasonal inundation, and provides great forage for sheep. False Orchard Indigo is a fast-growing native plant that provides nitrogen fixation and Expansion excellent forage for livestock. California Wild Grape California grape is a Swale deciduous vine that will sprawl to make a shade the soil during the hotter months and climb anything it can find. Guild Unit = (6) Willow, (1) Elderberry, (2) False Indigo Bush, (1) CA Grape. Guild Unit Dimensions = L 30' x W 10'.
The image below illustrates the application of the above guilds to the different agroforestry blocks across the MDR property. Application area decisions were made to balance seasonal livestock rotation with forage/mast/fruit drop availability, ease of access, slope and site hydrology. These applications are not by any means fixed and can always be amended.
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Figure 5-9 Guild Applications for Morning Doe Ranch Agroforestry Blocks
Tree Establishment Establishing trees is challenging in brittle climates with long dry seasons. Healthy trees and well adapted trees that will have a long and productive life need to be established well (i.e. have a properly structured root system) or they will languish and never grow to their potential. Setting up irrigation for dense agroforestry plantings across broad acreage gets expensive quickly. However, applying some new technologies that harmonize with natural seed germination and tap root 84 7th Generation Design
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development processes while also doing everything possible to increase soil organic matter levels and moisture persistence will create an environment that spurs trees to grow to their full potential - neither coddled by climate and soil type inappropriate irrigation methods and schedules, nor starved for necessary moisture and nutrition required to establish well.
One of those new technologies is the Groasis Waterboxx, shown in Figure 5-10. The Waterboxx is essentially a water battery that is pre-charged with several gallons of water. The water is contained inside a covered container that sits around the tree seedling or tree seed. A wick from the internal reservoir leaches out some 50mL per day of water - not enough to make the tree lazy, just enough to create a water column of moisture directly beneath the soil upon which the Waterboxx sits. There is not enough water in this column for the tree to thrive, but there is enough to continually stimulate the taproot to continue growing deeper into the soil (a very desirable trait in drought- prone climates). The water reservoir also serves as a thermal mass that condenses warmer, moisture laden air on the Waterboxx’s surface, which refills the reservoir. These devices are meant to filled once and left for a year or longer, and they will continue to self-fill and maintain the water column training the young tree to develop a strong, deep root system.
Figure 5-10 Groasis Waterboxx
An animated walkthrough of how the Groasis Waterboxx works is available here.
Though the members of the 7GD team have not yet had the opportunity to personally test the Groasis Waterboxxes, after research and conversations with distributors, there are several benefits of utilizing them in an agroforestry system over conventional irrigation:
● If one fails or gets punctured by a wayward sheep, it affects only one tree, whereas if an irrigation supply line gets chewed by rodents, stepped on by a pig, or an emitter pops out at a single tree, the entire system’s performance is degraded if not completely shut down. Integrating animals into pasture with irrigation tubing is guaranteed to be a costly and time-intensive endeavor. ● Capitalizing on the far lower cost of seeds vs seedlings, the ability to plant two seeds in each Waterboxx increases the establishment success rate of each planting to 99%, versus 85%
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for planting just a single tree. This equates to more trees established in a shorter amount of time when looking at a 3+ year time horizon. ● They allow time for observation and adjustment. As an example, 200 Waterboxxes in rotation every year would allow for an annual review of how things went the year prior - and allow time and space for the incorporation of new knowledge and understanding of the landscape, new species that have popped up on the radar, and changes in future land use ideas and desires etc.
Though the Waterboxxes seem pricey, a quantity can be purchased that fits the landowner’s budget, used to start a block of trees, and then reused the following year for an entirely new block. This can continue year after year until the property is populated with the desired number of trees. As an example, if 2,000 trees are planned for establishment over a 10 year period, only 200 boxes are required. In this example, based on current Waterboxx pricing, the per tree establishment cost (irrigation, protection) at the end of that 10 year period comes to approximately $3.10 - approximately 75% less than the estimated per tree establishment cost if using conventional poly irrigation line and drip emitters.
Integrating Livestock into the Silvopasture System The Doe family has expressed a desire to pasture sheep, pigs and chickens on their property. All three are excellent candidates for a silvopasture system. However, without proper management, pigs can root and trample desired vegetation and make a moonscape of the pasture in a very short about of time, and sheep can overgraze the landscape and/or strip the bark off young trees, killing them. Proper management will be essential to the long-term success of the system.
Livestock should not be introduced while newly planted trees are without protection. Protecting young trees can come in many forms, and there are many makes and models of tree guards available that vary based on what they are protecting the tree from (protection from a cow versus a rabbit entails drastically different designs), how long they are meant to protect it, how much they cost and how much time they take to install. Below are links to several different styles of tree guards with varying applications.
● BEST OPTION: If using the Groasis Waterboxx, Groasis also manufactures its own tree guard called the Growsafe Telescoprotexx. This guard is unique in that it can be telescoped as the tree grows (new 18” sections can continue to be added on). It does not require stakes (saving cost and time) and can grow with the tree until the tree no longer needs protection. Additionally, these guards let in 100% of red and blue light (necessary for plant growth) and filters the rest of the light spectrum out, thus reducing light intensity and reducing evapotranspirative stress on the young tree by decreasing its temperature. Unlike many other tree guards that use ventilation to reduce temperature (which increases wind stress and evapotranspirative loss) the Telescoprotexx protects trees from wind, further increasing their success rates in harsh environments. ● BioBark - Biodegradable Tree Shelters. ● Tri-Cone Tree Guards - Not bio-degradable, despite the site name.
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Creative electric fencing can also be used to reduce the likelihood of young trees being damaged by livestock, however, electric fences do fail and animals do (will) escape, and are capable of doing immense damage to young trees in a very short period of time. The costs and risks of various management styles and tree establishment protocols will need to be weighed based on a variety of factors like cost of tree stock, rate of growth, palatability to various grazers, livestock demeanor, forage availability, frequency of monitoring by residents, etc.
Careful selection of the specific livestock breeds is also critical. Some breeds are able to utilize a wider range of forage and conditions, whereas others are not as willing to be as flexible. Often, farmers can have success “training” animals to be better browsers on a range of forage, if they are not accustomed to seeking it out.
Some pig breeds have much less of a rooting habit and more of of a foraging habit, making them better suited for a silvopasture system. Pig breeds that have been noted to integrate well into a silvopasture system include:
● Berkshire ● Tamworth ● Red Wattle ● Large Black ● Old Spot (Gloucestershire)
All of the above pigs species will root in the soil, but less so if they are allowed access to the paddock when ample fruit/nuts/pods have already fallen. Nose rings are recommended for pigs - one across the columella (the fleshy part between the nostrils) and another into the tip of the snout. Inserting he nose ring is best done immediately after weaning or as soon as you receive feeder pigs from the farm. The nose rings cause them discomfort when they try to root, and quickly teach them to graze instead.
Grazing Strategy and Cell Design Proper pasture rotation through the use of small, electro-fenced paddocks provides recovery periods for the grazed forage, minimizes soil compaction, and protects trees in a silvopasture system. Grazing recovery periods can only be achieved when well-designed livestock water supplies and cross fences are used.
Water Access Portable, lightweight water troughs are recommended to allow for simple paddock shifts when changing grazing cells. Placement of troughs within each grazing cell will be determined by terrain, proximity to water supply lines and forage density. When water is located close to the forage resource, the herd’s “social structure” is modified such that animals tend to water more frequently as individuals. This tends to keep the herd dispersed throughout the paddock and results in a greater portion of time spent grazing. Water requirements vary for the kind, size, age, and breed of livestock. The rule-of-thumb used by some livestock managers is one gallon of water per day per 100 pounds of body weight per animal. Water use also varies considerably depending upon the
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animal’s health, air temperature, water temperature, stage of lactation, and other environmental factors.
Figures 5-11 and 5-12 illustrated the proposed layouts for animal water lines in the Northwest and South Pastures.
Figure 5-11 NW Pasture water supply system
NWP Water Line System: The thick blue dotted lines in Figure 5-11 are the main branching supply lines, to be run on the downhill side of each swale berm. Wherever the main lines cross an access track they are either run through a culvert or a hard pipe to allow for driveover. The branches off of the main line paralleling the NW Pasture Ridge Road are then used to supply water to mobile animal troughs throughout the various pasture blocks. In the above instance three hypothetical grazing cells are served by a single valve inserted into the branching line. In this way animals will have water access anywhere they are to be grazed throughout the NW Pasture while keeping watering infrastructure to a minimum. These lines can also be another means of delivering water to the future cabin zone along the northern edge of the NW Pasture.
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Figure 5-12 SW Pasture water supply system
SWP Water Line System: Running off the spigot south of the Market Garden, the main line can be run through the fence and through a crossing pipe underneath potential vehicle access. It can then parallel the vehicle access path until its turns on the uphill side of SWP Top Swale and runs across the paddock. The green shaded areas outlined in black dotted lines represent three hypothetical grazing cells that might be utilized in this paddock and how this line can deliver water to all of them. When the SWPi2 paddock below the SWP Top Swale is grazed (more rarely due to its steepness) water can be run over the swale berm from the same valve that feeds SWPi1.
For the main lines and branching lines paralleling swale berms we recommend using flexible, UV resistant, bite-resistant and vehicle-proof HDPE water line. T’s and valves can be inserted into this type of line anywhere along its length that can feed a smaller diameter ¾” hose with a QuickConnect attachment to make paddock shifting the animals as efficient as possible. All branching lines should have valves on their ends to allow for line flushing to occur should that be necessary at some point. HDPE lines can be left on the surface, though most people do ultimately bury them. The arrangement of the lines in both the NWP and SWP has been suggested to
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deliberately eliminate the crossing of interswale areas with irrigation lines in order to make vehicle-based management more feasible (keyline plowing, mowing, haying etc.).
Fencing Paddock fencing, wherever possible, should be installed 3-5 feet from tree seedlings in order to minimize browsing damage from livestock while the system establishes. Polywire or polytape energized with a solar system and supported by fiberglass or rebar step-in posts is recommended for the mobile fencing used to create paddocks. This enhances the manager’s ability to provide optimum, forage recovery periods. A 5-wire system is sufficient for both pigs and sheep: one wire 4” off the ground, one wire 8” off the ground, one wire 16” off the ground, one wire 30” off the ground, and one wire 42” off the ground.
Shelter In the long term, the tree canopy will provide shelter for the animals in this system. In the early stages of the system however, shelter that can be rotated with the animals will be needed.
For the pigs and sheep, mobile shelters can be easily built, such as the one detailed here and shown in Figure 5-13. The best material to use for the shading in MDR’s climate will be hi-density shadecloth, ideally 80%, that will help to reduce light intensity but will allow for better air circulation unlike a tarp or canvas covering.
Figure 5-13 Mobile pig shelter
Livestock Grazing Practice The rotational grazing aspect of silvopasture is often the biggest hurdle for adopting the practice, especially by grazers who have been practicing continuous grazing (leaving animals in one large paddock) for some time. Regardless, it is the universal opinion of silvopasture advocates that animals should not be placed in tree-based systems if they will not be managed through rotational grazing.
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Orchard An orchard is an intentional planting of fruit- or nut-producing trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. While many commercial orchards are planted for a single variety of fruit in a linear grid-shape with no understory for ease of mechanical harvesting, this typically leaves the trees vulnerable to pests and disease (thus requiring expensive and potentially harmful chemical inputs), leaves the soil exposed (increasing water needs and fertilization needs), reduces the water harvesting and retention capacity of the area (increasing water needs), and minimizes the diversity of yields.
A resilient orchard is one with species diversity (akin to a real forest), where trees are planted on contour with a dense underplanting of support species. This underplanting of complementary support species, known as a “guild”, provides several functions:
● Living mulch shades the soil, protecting soil life and reducing evaporation, ● Shade for young tree trunks (protection from sun scald), ● Nutrients, in the form of decomposing biomass and varied root exudates capable of supporting a more diverse array of soil microbiota, ● Fertilizer, via nitrogen-fixing and dynamic accumulating plants, ● Insectary (pollinators and pest predators), ● Diverse mycorrhizal web that provides minerals, additional micronutrients and information exchange with surrounding trees and plants (fungi).
The layers of a guild are illustrated in Figure 5-14.
Figure 5-14 Fruit Tree Guild
There are two physically distinct plant profiles that will perform all of the above functions. Firstly, herbaceous/shrubby plants that grow vertically up to several feet and can be readily chopped and dropped at the foot of the tree, and second a creeping, low-growing, low-to-no water groundcover
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that will not compete with feeder roots from the tree (i.e. not a super aggressive or nutrient-hungry plant). At a bare minimum this function list will require at least two species of plants, and certainly more can be used.
Existing Conditions The orchard at Morning Doe Ranch is on the upper half of a moderately-sloped, southeast-facing bowl, and contains a number of established, marginally productive fruit trees including several varieties of citrus and stonefruit. A fence just below the lowest orchard row delineates the orchard from the lower pasture area in the bottom half of the southeast-facing bowl.
Recommendations ● Orchard Expansion: The orchard can be expanded into the current pasture area in the lower half of the southeast-facing bowl. The entire southeast facing bowl is prime growing area and the steeper, lower section would benefit greatly from perennial vegetative cover. ● Guild Plantings: Complementary support species should be planted under and in between each tree within the rows. Rows can still be kept open enough to allow for mechanical mowing if so desired. ● Increase Orchard Density: The current orchard trees look to be dwarf trees judging from their size. There is ample space to double the current density of fruit trees in the existing orchard area. Instead of using dwarf rootstocks however, it is recommended to plant full- size rootstock fruit trees and maintain them at a smaller size with consistent seasonal pruning. Full-size rootstocks are likely to perform much better over the long run than dwarf rootstocks in a brittle climate, as their roots will spread further and deeper and help them weather the long, annual dry season.
Orchard Expansion The Doe family has expressed interest in growing climate-appropriate varieties of mulberries, peach, apple, orange, grapefruit, kumquat, avocados, figs, walnut, persimmon, nectarine, and olives. Trees known to perform well in the Central Coast region are summarized in Table 5-3. Varietal selections have been informed by chilling hours (when relevant), soil tolerances, USDA zones and extensive anecdotal information from local or bioregional growers when available. Varieties were selected to provide a range of ripening windows to extend the harvest of the various fruit types. Additional information including information links, initial costing, sourcing links, mature sizing and detailed varietal specific descriptions can be found in the MDR - Food and Forestry Calculator - Orchard Support Species Table.
Table 5-3 Climate-appropriate species for orchard expansion at MDR Ripening Window Ripening Common Name Scientific Name Begin Window End Anna Apple Malus spp. Arkansas Black Apple Malus spp. 11/25 1/1 Lady Williams Apple Malus spp. 12/15 1/30
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Akane Apple Malus spp. 8/22 10/15 Dorsett Golden Apple Malus spp. 7/15 Fuji Apple Malus spp. 11/1 12/15 Gala Apple Malus spp. 7/1 Liberty Apple Malus spp. 11/15 Sierra Beauty Apple Malus spp. 10/25 Yellow Newton Pippin Apple Malus spp. 12/25 Calamondin Citrofortunella mitis Oroblanco Grapefruit Citrus grandis x Citrus paradisi 12/1 4/1 Mandarin Citrus reticulata Kumquat Fortunella sp. Mulberry - Pakistani Morus macroura 4/15 6/30 Arctic Supreme Peach Prunus persica 7/1 Babcock Peach Prunus persica 7/15 Suncrest Peach Prunus persica 7/25 Peachy Keen Peach Prunus persica 6/10 6/30 November 1 - Black Mission Fig Ficus carica August 1 - 15 15 Brown Turkey Fig Ficus carica Celestial Fig Ficus carica Italian Honey Fig Ficus carica Violette de Bordeax Fig Ficus carica November 1 - Kadota Fig Ficus carica August 1 - 15 15 November 1 - Excel FIg Ficus carica August 1 - 15 15 White Genoa Fig Ficus carica 8/10 11/5 English Walnut Juglans regia California Black Walnut Juglans nigra November 16 December 16 - Fuyu Persimmon Diospyros kaki L. - 30 31 Arctic Glo Nectarine Prunus persica nucipersica 7/1 7/30 Arctic Jay Nectarine Prunus persica nucipersica 7/1 7/25 Arctice Queen Nectarine Prunus persica nucipersica 8/10 Fantasia Nectarine Prunus persica nucipersica 8/1 Snow Queen Nectarine Prunus persica nucipersica 6/20 7/15 Arbosana Olive Olea europaea Frantoio Olive Olea europaea Koroneiki Olive Olea europaea Pendolino Olive Olea europaea Ziziphus ziziphus / spinacristi / Jujube jujuba Mulberry - Black Morus nigra Pineapple Guava Feijoa sellowiana White Sapote Casimiroa edulis 93 7th Generation Design
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September 1 - September 16 Pomegranate Punica granatum 15 - 30 Granny Smith Apple Malus spp. 11/15 Hass Avocado Persea americana 3/15 10/1 Lamb Hass Avocado Persea americana 7/20 10/15 Fuerte Avocado Persea americana Bacon Avocado Persea americana Navel Orange Moro Blood Orange Citrus x sinensis Autumn Royal Apricot Prunus armeniaca 9/1 9/30 Flora Gold Apricot Prunus armeniaca 6/5 6/22 Harcot Apricot Prunus armeniaca 6/15 Tilton Apricot Prunus armeniaca 7/5 7/25
The proposed Orchard Expansion should utilize contour to the advantage of the orchard tender. Not only will planting on contour improve solar access for the trees, it will improve water reticulation capacity within the orchard while allowing for denser plantings than would otherwise be possible. The proposed planting lines for the Orchard Expansion are labeled in the image below, with the following labeling:
● OEL = Orchard Expansion Line ● OL = Orchard Line (in existing orchard) ● South/East pertains to the predominant slope aspect where the line is located.
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Figure 5-15 Orchard expansion at MDR
A summarized list of fruit trees suited to each orchard expansion line is listed below. Additional information on each variety, sourcing, tree and preliminary irrigation costs can be found in the MDR - Food And Forestry Calculator - Orchard Support Species Spreadsheet.
Table 5-4 Summary of Recommended Fruit Tree Plantings For Orchard Expansion Orchard Expansion Line Recommended Plantings
OEL1S - (7) trees, Varietals: Lamb and Hass Avocados, Navel Orange, Oroblanco Grapefruit, Avo, Citrus Calamondin, Moro Blood Orange, Mandarin. Avos planted towards the valley center (west end of planting line), followed by Navel Orange, Oroblanco Grapefruit, Calamondin, 'Moro' Blood Orange and Mandarin. Planted on ~ 23-25' centers, recommend planting of Interstitial Fertility Guild in between. Avos and citrus will both benefit greatly from Vetiver Grass Boomerang plantings, avos while young, and citrus for most of their lifespan. Avos will eventually shade the vetiver out.
OEL1E - (6) trees, Varietals: Bacon and Fuerte Avocados, Navel Orange, Lisbon Lemon, Avo, Citrus Sweet Lemon, Lime. Planted on 20' centers, avocados towards the valley (north end
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of line), followed by Navel Orange, then remaining citrus out towards the ridges. Boomerange vetiver plantings for both avos and citrus will be very beneficial, avos will eventually shade out vetiver.
OEL2S - (7) trees, Varietals: Granny Smith, Fuji, Sierra Beauty, Lady Williams, Liberty, Long Yellow Newton Pippin. All ripen later in the season (October and beyond) and Season appreciate longer growing seasons. Planted on ~23' centers. Recommend planting Apples of Interstitial Fertility Guild between each apple, as well as Fruit Tree Understory Support for each tree. Boomerangs underneath each tree, ideally planted with vetiver on this Southerly solar aspect.
OEL2E - (5) trees on ~22' centers. All varietals are earlier bearing apple types, fruiting Early beginning in June and continuing through the summer until the end of Apples September/early October. Recommend planting of Interstitial Fertility Guild between each apple, as well as Fruit Tree Understory Support for each tree. Earthen boomerangs for water reticulation, no vetiver planting recommended.
OEL3S - (6) trees, Varietals: Suncrest and Babcock Peaches, Arctic Queen and Fantasia Later Nectarines, Black Mission and Italian Honey Figs. These varietals tend to fruit later Stonefruit, in the season (beginning Mid July and extending through the end of August, with Figs the figs continuing on later still). Recommend at least (3) interplantings of Interstitial Fertility Guild, understory plantings to help shade trunks and cover the ground, and boomerang installation, ideally planted with vetiver.
OEL3E - (6) trees, planted on ~ 18-20' centers. Varietals: Arctic Supreme and Peachy Keen Early Peaches, Snow Queen, Arctic Glo and Arctic Jay Nectarines, Flora Gold Apricot. Stonefruit Recommend minimum of (3) Interstitial Fertility Guild plants. All trees would benefit greatly from Fruit Tree Understory Support plants, as well as boomerang installation, no vetiver recommended.
OEL4S - (6) trees, Varietals: Suncrest and Babcock Peaches, Arctic Queen and Fantasia Later Nectarines, Autumn Royal Apricot. These varietals tend to fruit later in the season Stonefruit (beginning Mid July and extending through the end of August, Apricot through starting and continuing through September). Recommend at least (3) interplantings of Interstitial Fertility Guild, understory plantings to help shade trunks and cover the ground, and boomerang installation, ideally planted with vetiver.
OEL4E - (5) Trees, Varietals: Harcot and Tilton Apricots, Peachy Keen Peach, Pakistani Early Mulberry. Trees planted on ~20' centers, with mulberry towards the ridge. Stonefruit Recommend minimum (3) Interstitial Fertility Guild plantings. All trees will benefit + from Fruit Tree Understory Support Guild plantings. Boomerangs should be Mulberry installed, vetiver not required. Fruiting will begin with the Mulberries in later April through the middle of June, and the apricots and peaches should begin in sometime in June.
OEL5S - (5) trees, planted on ~19' centers. Varietals White Genoa, Excel, Kadota, Brown Figs Turkey, Celestial Figs. Recommend minimum of (3) Interstitial Fertility Guild plantings, boomerang installation with vetiver planting, and Understory support
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species planting.
OEL5E - (4) Trees, Varietals: Pakistani and Persian (Black) Mulberries, Peachy Keen Peach. Mulberrie Mulberries planted on 30' centers to allow for larger size, will need to be pruned to s + Peach be kept from shading out other trees. Peachy Keen Peach is very early, and should be planted towards the valley, mulberries towards the ridges. Recommend Interstitial Fertility Guild plantings between each tree, as well as boomerang installation, vetiver planting not required.
Guild Plantings A combination of both herbaceous/shrubby plants and creeping, low-growing groundcovers should be planted under and in between the trees within each row. Suggestions for guild species are:
● Herbaceous/Shrubby: Plants like Comfrey, Borage, Yarrow, Popcorn Senna and Siberian Pea Shrub are relatively well known plants that fulfill this functional profile. All produce significant biomass, are amenable to chop-and-drop maintenance strategy, and produce flowers to attract pollinators and beneficial insects. The Popcorn Senna and Siberian Pea Shrub can grow to be quite large and are both nitrogen-fixing (sequester nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil), whereas the others are more herbaceous, will not be as large, and are not nitrogen-fixing. Nitrogen-fixing shrubs like Leucaena, False Indigo Bush, and Pigeon Pea can also be grown very close to mature fruit trees, provided they are cut back each year. ● Groundcover: Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and Woolly Yarrow (Achillea tomentosa) are low- and slow-growing creepers that require low-to-no supplemental water and are well adapted to long, dry summers. The Woolly Yarrow might be best used on the shaded side of the tree or at the bottom of the basin, given that it can handle more moisture than the Creeping Thyme, which would just as well prefer being hot and dry. Additional possibilities include succulent groundcovers that will do well in a predominantly dry climate, on a slope with sharp drainage and intense sun, such as certain Dudleya varietals and Sun Rose (Aptenia spp.). ● Vetiver Grass: While not typically thought of as an orchard guild plant, vetiver grass is an excellent microclimate moderator and could serve a great many functions in the MDR Orchard. Planted on the downhill side of each tree atop or just below the suggested boomerangs, the vetiver grass will help to improve local water infiltration during precipitation events with its deep root system, will help to shade the trunk and understory of the tree, and will provide tremendous amounts of readily cut biomass for weed suppression and soil building right where it is needed most at the tree’s root zone.
A summarized list of recommended guild species for planting under the existing orchard trees (and future orchard trees, once established) is provided below. Additional details including sourcing and costing of plant material is available in MDR - Food And Forestry Calculator - Orchard Support Species Spreadsheet.
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Table 5-5 Summary of Recommended Orchard Support Guilds Orchard Guild Name Recommended Plantings
Boomerang Vetiver grass slips can be planted along the top of or just downhill of the crest of Support the boomerang earthworks recommended for both the existing and expansion Species areas of the orchard. Planting on 6" centers will create a dense hedge on the downhill side of the fruit tree, better enabling moisture retention, mulch retention, soil buildup and helping to prevent erosion and lengthen the effective lifespan of the boomerangs. The vetiver grass can be cut several times each season and will provide abundant, silicon rich mulch for suppressing weeds and covering/feeding the soil. Guild Unit = (20) Vetiver Slips. Guild Unit Dimensions = L 10' (approximate length of each boomerang.
Interstitial Black Locust (BL) can be managed through coppicing to keep it low and bushy. Fertility New suckering growth can be quite while green and put to soil contact around Guild neighboring fruit trees or amongst each row. False Indigo Bush (FIB) and Pigeon Pea (PP) are two additional N-fixing shrubs that can be managed by chop and drop to pulse nitrogen into the soil when it is most needed. Recommend timing the coppicing/chop and drop when lead buds on neighboring fruit trees begin to swell - this will create a root pruning of Rhizobium nodules from the BL, FIB and PP making stored nitrogen available to fruit trees. Guild Unit = (1) BL, (1) FIB, (1) PP. Guild Unit Dimensions = L 10' x W 5'.
Fruit Tree Comfrey planted on North/East side of the tree, Hot Lip Salvia (or other Salvia Understory spp.) planted to the West/South of the tree. Yarrow and Creeping Thymes planted Support within canopy line, ideally within 24" of trunk, Yarrow to the shadier aspect, Guild Thyme to the sunnier aspect. Comfrey's deep root system and prolific biomass will create a steady on-location source of fertilizer that can be chopped and dropped several times a season. Comfrey also flowers prolifically, a great attraction for pollinators of all sorts. Hot Lips Salvia loves heat, and should be planted on the sunniest side of the trunk, where it will do the most benefit in shading the trunk and soil with its low-growing (24-30") bushy form. Salvias exude volatile oils that are helpful for warding off pests, and are a favorite of many types of pollinating bees and hoverflies. Yarrow is another excellent dynamic accumulator, can be chopped and dropped or just left to grow in its carpet like pattern. Its umbelliferous flowers are a favorite of predatory wasps like the Trichogamid wasps that can help keep orchard pest populations in check. Creeping Thyme is an excellent culinary herb, loves heat, but can also handle consistent moisture (tree irrigation) - it is an excellent groundcover and competes well with undesired weeds. Numerous other plants could be substituted or rotated through this guild - Lavender, Culinary Sage, other Salvia varietals, Borage, Tansy, Lupine, Garlic Chives, Oreganos, etc. Guild Unit = (1) Comfrey, (2) Yarrow (or just spread cheap seed), (3) Creeping Thyme plugs (purchase in 16x16" flats, (1) Hot Lips Salvia (commonly carried at local garden centers). Guild Unit Dimension = L 6' x W 6'.
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Local Nurseries That Carry Fruit Trees
● Rameriz Nursery - Arroyo Grande, 10 acres, family-owned, fair-priced, can order fruit trees not in stock, no frills. ● Farm Supply - Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo, cooperative, fair-priced, can order fruit trees not in stock, no frills. ● Los Osos Valley Nursery - Los Osos area staple, locally-owned, fair-priced, can order fruit trees not in stock, no frills. ● Bay Laurel Garden Center - Atascadero, CA - large selection of bare root trees tested for Central Coast growing. ● Honey Badger Nursery - San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz - Dryland/Mediterranean agroforestry species and chestnut trees with air-pruned non-circling healthy tap roots.
Bioregional Nurseries That Carry Fruit Trees
● La Sumida Nursery - Santa Barbara CA, has many of the fruit trees recommended in this report. ● California Tropical Fruit Trees - North San Diego County , Vista, CA - wide range of tropical fruits trees, including many types of citrus. Recommend visiting nursery to pick out trees, they do offer delivery, though rates vary. 10 tree order minimum for delivery.
Market Gardens A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown using biointensive methods on a small area of land, typically between 1/4 acre to a few acres, distinguishes it from other types of farming. The small output typically requires selling through local fresh produce outlets such as on-farm stands, farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture subscriptions, restaurants and independent produce stores.
Existing Conditions There are currently no market gardens at Morning Doe Ranch.
Recommendations Based on the Doe family’s desire to grow and sell cut flowers and annual vegetables at a minimum of one farmers’ market per week, a future roadside farm stand, and to friends, family, and property guests, a 7,500 sq ft market garden, intensively managed, will provide ample space for current plans and future expansion.
Siting and Orientation The market garden is recommended in the gently sloped area just south of the main residence and pool area as shown in Figure 5-16.
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Figure 5-16 Proposed Market Garden footprint at MDR
The proposed market garden location has excellent solar access, primarily facing south but with southeasterly and southwesterly aspects as well. The terrain is gently sloping to the south at between an 8-12% grade (~5-7:). Native contour lines at this location run largely east to west, perfect for maximal solar energy capture and water retention. Due to the unobstructed solar access, large average number of sunny days per year in Arroyo Grande (285) and and influence of diurnal and seasonal wind patterns at this location, evaporative loss from the soil and leaf tissue due to the sun and wind will be a primary consideration in the recommended design and stewardship of this garden area.
Access And Bed Layout Most of the tools for human-power market gardening are based on 30” wide beds (a.k.a. ‘Single reach’ beds). With this bed width, it is possible to reach the entirety of the bed from one side, and to easily straddle the bed for harvesting/weeding/seeding.
To maximize productive capacity of the space, pathways as narrow as 18” can be installed- however, at this width movement will be greatly restricted when it comes to harvesting, bed turnover etc. Wider 36-42” pathways between the 30” wide beds will provide far greater convenience, allowing ample space for comfortable kneeling/sitting cross-legged between beds while weeding/seeding/transplanting/harvesting, provides enough space to maneuver a wheelbarrow or pull cart without damaging beds, and makes the experience of tending the garden overall more enjoyable.
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Given that this market garden isn’t anticipated to be a primary income source for the family, a good balance between ease of access and production is recommended by installing larger access “arteries” using 42” pathways and blocks of production beds spaced more closely with 18-30” pathways. This allows for access with harvest carts/wheelbarrows/buckets easily into the heart of the garden, while still dedicating as much space as possible to growing. This scenario is illustrated below, however this can and very likely will change based on the family’s desires and evolving experience.
The proposed market garden layout is illustrated in Figure 5-17.
Figure 5-17 Proposed Market Garden bed layout at MDR
The above bed layout accounts for contour (beds NOT to scale) to maximize water retention and solar access. Access from both the front and rear of the house merge into an intersection just downhill from the existing coffee berry bush where they continue along an approximate east-west and north-south orientation. These larger artery pathways should be sized according to whatever type of garden cart/wheelbarrow will be used and be wide enough to allow enough space for 90: turns down the inter-bed pathways. This typically results in a minimum of 60” (5’) in width for the main artery pathways and a comfortable 36-42” for the inter-bed pathways. Pathways can be made tighter depending on desired amount of production ground and equipment access needs.
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Bed Structure And Formation The native soil at MDR is a compact and heavy clay. Restoring a well-aerated structure to the soil will be critical in expanding the range of crops that will perform well in the market garden as well as reducing resource use. The first step in this process is the formation of the garden beds themselves.
While minimal to no-tillage is desirable, a one-time tilling before bed formation can save immense amounts of labor. This could be done by hand via the Jeavon’s bio-intensive double digging method, however in our experience it simply isn’t practical on such a scale and in dense, clay soil. If in- ground beds are desired, it is recommended that the area be tilled after the current standing vegetation is cut and removed. Once the ground has been tilled, the beds can then be formed quickly and easily by hand (if doing 30” wide beds) or with a bed former (typically 42” beds) pulled behind a tractor.
Once the area footprint to be cultivated is known, that data can be used to calculate bed surface area as well as pathway surface area, from which quantities (volume) of compost and mulch/other pathways materials required can be determined. When beginning from bare, compacted soil like that at the current market garden location, an initial application of a 6” layer of compost to all growing surfaces is ideal. This of course is the ideal and will have to be reconciled with the realities of the project budget. Pathways can be sheet mulched - soaked cardboard or newspaper lain down several layers thick with 6” of wood chips or other weed free mulch on top to prevent weeds from overtaking immediately.
Tools And Equipment A list of tools that the 7th Generation Design team has used and recommends for making the work of human-powered market gardening more efficient and joyful is provided below.
● Tilther - Powered by a cordless drill, this is the tractor that is used to tilth the top 2” of soil to create good soil consistency for direct seeding and plug transplanting. ● 30” Landscape Rake (cheaper ones can be found, the link is just an example) - ideally the exact width of the beds, this helps to make the forming and shaping process dead-simple following the turnover of a bed. ● Broadfork - for loosening compacted soils during bed turnover. A broadfork with reinforced metal tines is recommended for a guaranteed long life and no concerns about tines being bent by hidden rocks. Lehman’s Catalogue also sells a quality reinforced Broadfork. ● Quick Cut Greens Harvester - A huge timesaver if growing significant quantities of baby leaf salad greens. Also runs off of a cordless drill. Not necessary for home-scale greens production. ● Cordless Drill - Many brands are available and will suffice. ● Seedbed Roller - If the soil is friable enough, this is a rapid way to create a custom dibbled planting pattern in the beds. Simply by rolling this device across level beds with freshly prepared soil, the teeth will create divots at exactly the spacing required for the crop being planted. The 7th Generation Design team has thus far never been able to utilize this tool due to the heavy soils encountered at every project location. The soil at the MDR site may 102 7th Generation Design
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eventually accommodate this tool if compost is regularly applied between plantings during the first several years and root mass is left in the soil with each bed rotation. ● 18 Gal. Rubbermaid Totes - These are very durable, UV-resistant, easy to clean, stackable - basically great harvest totes for salad mix, and they happen to fit just perfectly in the 18” pathways between beds.
Supporting Elements The recommended supporting elements for the market garden are illustrated in Figure 5-18 and described in the following paragraphs.
Figure 5-18 Location of market garden supporting elements at MDR
Greenhouse A small greenhouse will be required for getting seeds started early in the season. These can potentially be cost-shared through the NRCS EQIP program if you meet producer requirements. See the Toolkit section on the 7th Gen website for more information on NRCS EQIP and other Funding Resources.
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If early-season starts are the primary function of the greenhouse then an appropriately-sized hobby greenhouse will likely be adequate. Knowing the size of the garden and square footage of cultivated beds can also help to determine what size greenhouse will best serve the market garden.
If in-ground crops are desired to be grown in the greenhouse during the shoulder-seasons and winter, commercial-style high tunnel greenhouse with roll up sides are recommended. The FarmTek Greenhouse Buyer’s Guide is a good place to become familiarized with the many options available.
Shadehouse Given the high degree of solar access at the market garden location, a shadehouse is recommended for the propagation of starts throughout the heat of summer. In the 7th Generation Design team’s experience, reducing evapotranspiration and light intensity is critical in keeping up with the weekly planting schedule for salad mix crops. A shadehouse will provide a more hospitable environment to fragile starts as they are grown up to plantable size. Different sections can even be covered with different densities of shadecloth to create a “hardening off” progression, allowing starts to get progressively more wind and sun exposure as they near their planting date.
The shadehouse would also make an excellent location to have an automated mist propagation bed for propagating perennial plants by cuttings.
The greenhouse (transparent light blue) and shadehouse (transparent dark green) have been illustrated in the design as 12’ wide and 36’ and 20’ feet long respectively. The recommended layout and sizing assumes that the existing coffeeberry bush will remain, however its removal would create additional options for placing these elements.
Tool Storage Tools are best stored as close as possible to their point of use to reduce the time involved in setting up and breaking down before/after a work session. Tools will naturally find their best homes, however it is important to plan space for them ahead of time - i.e. leave a cabinet in the greenhouse for pruners, widgers, seeding equipment and trays. A small tool shed for larger implements (rakes, hoes, tilthers, seeders etc.) will be necessary to properly care for the tools, however its location can be best determined during the establishment and use of the market garden. Initial suggestions include the West end of the Market Garden, somewhere near the propane tank, and at the top of the Market Garden immediately East of the existing coffee berry bush at the intersection of numerous access points. Aesthetics and view from the pool deck will also dictate shed placement.
Composting/Fertility Systems Given the planned presence of animals at MDR, there exists plenty of feedstock to produce high quality compost for the garden, orchards and other plantings. There are many ways to make compost, some requiring much more work than others, and all producing different types of outputs. Three methods (among many that exist) are outlined below that may be a good fit for the MDR market garden.
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● Home-scale Flow-Through Vermicomposting: There are many different methods of vermicomposting (composting with worms). Many of them involve multiple tiers of black plastic grates, some are just old bathtubs. One method the 7GD team members have experience maintaining and operating is a Flow-Through Vermicomposter (FTV). An FTV, once set up, never requires the operator to bait the worms to a different corner, and then excavate the material while trying to minimize worm loss. With an FTV system the operator instead only feeds the worm bed from the top, keeps the media moist, and collects worm casting as they fall out from the bottom.
This type of system, depending on size, can take 2-6 months to begin producing worm castings, but once it does the output is continuous as long as inputs are consistent and the worm population is stable. A table 8’ long and 3-4’ wide is recommended for this system. Should additional capacity in this regard be desired at a future date, it is straightforward to add an additional table.
This system is recommended for placement on the north side of the existing 3 old grape vines above the Market Garden, in hopes that the grapes can be trained up onto a trellis over the FTV, which will help to keep the worms shaded and moist during the summer months as well as provide a structure for the grapes to grow on. ● Johnson-Su BioReactor: This is a rather new composting method, but is worth mentioning because of it’s “do nothing” nature. Do nothing is a bit of a misnomer, however- once set up, this system can be let go for a year, the final product being the highest quality most fungi- rich worm castings the 7th Generation Design team has seen.
Linked here is a video with David Johnson discussing this system as well as a link to the BioReactor page on his website.
Essentially a 4’ diameter, 6’ tall wire mesh cage lined with shadecloth or weedmat is set upon a pallet. Seven 6.5’ tall 4” diameter PVC pipes are inserted before the cage is filled to created future aeration points. The cage is then filled with a mix of materials, the more diverse the better, following general Carbon:Nitrogen composting recommendations. If using animal manures that have been dried they need to be pre-hydrated. Once full, an automated sprinkler is placed on top of the pile, set to run 1-2 minutes per day to keep the entire pile hydrated. 24-48 hours after initial filling the pipes are removed, leaving air columns penetrating to the bottom of the cylinder, thus ensuring that no point in the entire system is more than 1’ from air (key to excellent thermophilic compost). The pile will go through the thermophilic stage remarkably fast (12-14 days) at which point it will cool and the fungal population will begin to surge.
The Johnson-Su BioReactor is worthy of note due to the extremely high quality of output and low time demands once set up. The final worm castings are of the same consistency as a clay
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slip, which means they can be blended into an aerobic compost tea, expanded, and applied as a fungal-rich nutrient spray over the entire MDR property. ● Standard Thermophilic Composting: While more labor intensive than either of the prior two options, this a tried and true method for producing compost - if you’re willing to work for it! The vetiver plantings around the perimeter of the Market Garden can be a primary carbon source for creating piles once allowed to dry in the sun. It can also serve as a nitrogen source if used while green. Piles should be constructed in layers of carbonaceous material and nitrogenous material and wetted as they are constructed. Minimal size is approximately 1 cubic yard (3’ tall x 3’ wide x 3’ deep) to allow the mass to get up to thermophilic temperatures. Tarping piles in between turnings can help abate moisture loss. If actively managed and kept well hydrated a pile can produce finished compost in 21-28 days depending on the feedstocks.
The FTV and Johnson-Su BioReactors are recommended along the northern border of the market garden to preserve the sunset view from the pool deck and provide for quick (i.e. non-burdensome) compost emptying runs from the kitchen. The old grape vines here could be trained onto and over a trellis that would sit over the FTV and JS BioReactors, providing them valuable shade and windbreak to help them maintain ideal temperature and moisture levels. The thermophilic compost piles are recommended in the southwestern corner of the market garden to allow room for flipping and to keep occasional off-putting smells from young piles away from the house and outdoor seating areas. This location may need to shift depending on a variety of factors.
Automated, Intelligent Irrigation System An automated, weather-sensing irrigation system is recommended to minimize (and ideally eliminate) time spent on repetitive tasks (like watering beds and starts). The system can be best designed once the following information is known:
● Number of different watering regimens required ○ i.e.) water amounts and application frequency are different for seedlings in the greenhouse compared with established crops in the garden ○ Currently Tally: 11 - recommend minimum 12 zone system with options to expand ▪ Greenhouse - In Ground Crops ▪ Greenhouse - Starts ▪ Shadehouse - Mist Propagation ▪ Shadehouse - Potted Plants ▪ Market Garden - Block 1 ▪ Market Garden - Block 2 ▪ Market Garden - Block 3 ▪ Flow-Through Vermicomposter ▪ Johnson Su BioReactors ▪ Herb Garden (not part of MG, but will be irrigated with same system) ▪ Perennial Perimeter ● Number of total beds in Market Garden
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● Supply water pressure ● Total length of all beds in Market Garden, broken down by block (to make sure ample water pressure is available to run whatever type of emitter is chosen). ● Degree of control required (Manual program adjustment at controller, WiFi, Bluetooth?)
Source water for the market garden irrigation system will likely come from the spigot located next to the propane tank as this will keep pipes, lines and hoses out of the high traffic zones around the edges of the house and away from vehicles. We suggest considering an off-grid irrigation controller and valve system to eliminate the need for running electricity to the timer and valve assembly. 7th Generation Design custom builds these Off-Grid Irrigation systems suited for Central Coast winter climates - more information is available at the 7th Gen YouTube channel.
Recommended Irrigation Emitter Comparisons
● Ein Dor - Low trajectory (wind resistant) mini-sprinklers with even spray pattern. Press-fit assembly, recommend mounting on 36” copper rods at appropriate spacing in market garden set up. Excellent for vegetable beds planted at biodynamic densities. No large droplets means no mud spray on leafy greens and clean produce when it is harvested. ● Tornado Misters - Emit a fine mist perfectly suited to tender nursery starts and cuttings. Excellent for mist propagation. Press-fit assembly, compatible with individual mister shut off valves for flexibility and anti-drip emitters. ● Microjet 180 emitters - Excellent for only spraying in a 180 degree arc, keeping one side dry but ensuring those awkward corners get coverage. Recommend mounting on 18-24” HDPE risers (available at most irrigation stores) to keep above low growing vegetation.
Annual/Perennial Integrations Perennial plants help to increase the stability, beauty and productivity of annual based market gardens. There are many benefits to integrating perennial plants into a market garden. Perennials continue to live after harvest, which means they continue producing root exudates and feeding soil life forms. Perennial plants can help to moderate micro-climates around them, making growing areas more hospitable to desired annual crops. They attract pollinators, ward off pests, provide habitat for pest predators (and sometimes the pests themselves, which is a good thing!) and generally access deeper soil strata than their annual counterparts (helpful in long dry season climates).
Below is a theoretical description of a multi-tiered perennial berry patch, that stacks up to 5 layers of production into the same space as 1 layer of production in a traditional market garden sense. While the yield from any one layer won’t be as great as if it had the whole space to itself, the aggregate yield from the entire layered system will be much greater than that of a monocrop.
● ‘Canopy’ Layer of cane berries (Blackberry, Raspberry, Marionberry etc.) that grow to 6+’ tall and need 2 lines of heavy gauge wire under tension to help maintain form, one at about 3’ tall and one at 5’ tall. These plantings are made in a single line right down the middle of a 30” bed.
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● ‘Subcanopy’ Layer of bushing berry crops (blueberry, currant, gooseberry, aronia, haskap etc.). These plants inhabit the 1-3’ tall range generally, or are kept there by seasonal pruning. The plantings are staggered slightly off the center-line in two separate rows, filling in gaps between the Cane berries. ● ‘Herbaceous’ Layer of edible and medicinal perennials like yarrow, comfrey, borage, poppy, sorrels and many more useful plants can inhabit this level amongst and underneath the subcanopy berry bushes to add further valuable yield to the system and grow fertility in place, attract beneficial insects, reduce evaporation from the soil surface etc. ● ‘Groundcover’ Layer of various running/creeping berries or other creeping plants like Elan Strawberry, CA Woodland Strawberry, Woolly Yarrow, Creeping Raspberry etc. Plants could be chose for maximized yield or for many other functions. ● Mycelial Layer - Deep mulching between the rows with at least a foot of wood chips would allow for the seeding of Stropharia mushrooms spawn, yielding a mycelial food product but also a powerful bee medicine (bee’s are known to feed off the myco-sap of mushroom stems) and creating the ‘internet’ that connects all neighboring beds to one another, which has tremendous benefits for improving plant communication, resource sharing between beds, pest protection and in-situ top soil production - after a year or two the woodchips will have broken down into high quality soil that can simply be scooped onto beds that need a fertility boost and new wood chips laid down to let the Stropharia continue to grow.
This type of system, while theoretical, could generate a great amount and diversity of value from the same bed space while also stretching the harvest window out much longer. It is included here to demonstrate the application of design principles should the Doe family have interest in exploring and creating such systems.
There are two key perennial integrations that can greatly benefit the health of the MDR Market Garden: perennial edges on annual beds and Vetiver hedging.
Perennial Edges On Annual Beds When market garden beds are installed on contour, the downhill side of the bed will be longer and taller than the uphill side. Planting perennial herbs along this downhill edge, as shown in Figure 5- 19, helps to maintain edge structure for in-ground beds, reduce weed pressure and decrease the rate at which the beds dried out in between irrigation cycles. Criteria for choosing plants to occupy this small but important niche include 1) perennial for this climate, 2) have the ability to bind loose soil (hairnet roots), 3) spread slowly but consistently, 4) are low growing so as not to impede bed- tending activities, 5) cut-and-come again (respond well to continual harvest/heading back) and 6) high-value for home or commercial use. Many of these plants also have potent oils that are volatile, and in some cases known for reducing pest pressure by confusing their olfactory senses. Additionally, their presence helps to feed soil microbiota in between croppings of the beds.
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Figure 5-19 Creating a perennial edge for raised beds on a slope
Main Crop Perenni al Edge
Path
Path
The best herbs for this function that the 7th Generation Design team have trialed thus far include:
● Chives ● Garlic Chives ● Oregano (low growing type) ● Parsley (Moss Leaf type) ● Creeping Thyme ● German Winter Thyme ● Winter Savory ● Munstead Lavender (tight, low growing lavender)
These herbs have proved to be a huge boon to garden health and have ultimately ended up accounting for approximately 10% of sales to chefs in one market garden - all from a crop that was planted once and then just harvested to maintain its shape.
Vetiver Hedging Planting of a vetiver grass hedge along the perimeter of the market garden is recommended for numerous reasons:
● Vetiver grass is an excellent form of biological erosion control. With foot traffic, bed turnover, and the effects of gravity over time, soil will migrate downhill in the market garden. The vetiver grass hedge will ensure this resource is not lost but instead put to productive use by retaining it and ultimately self-terracing to create a useful access path along the bottom of the market garden. ● Vetiver grass produces large quantities of biomass that can be cut easily with a rice knife. It is a “biological fountain pump” of carbon and silica, both excellent ingredients for making high quality compost. Vetiver grass also makes a high quality animal feed for horses, sheep, cows and pigs. More on its characteristics and homestead value can be found in the Steep Slope Erosion Control section. ● Vetiver grass will create a low-growing (4-6’ high) hedge of wavy grass that will help to moderate winds over the market garden, thereby reducing evaporative water loss at the soil and leaf level.
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● Vetiver grass mulch is incredibly nutritious for the soil, as well as being pleasant to walk on barefoot and excellent at suppressing weeds. ● The vetiver hedge will help to catch and knock down any overspray from Market Garden misters, sprinklers or drippers. Its 10-15’ deep root system is excellent at infiltrating water and creating a persistent moisture lens in the soil. ● Vetiver grass is sterile and non-running. It can only be propagated clonally, so it will not take over your garden - it will stay where planted and only spread if intentionally propagated.
Vetiver is a truly amazing plant and can survive on little to no irrigation even in a drought-prone climate like Central California. It is an excellent soil builder, mulch producer, climate moderator, erosion mitigator, water infiltrator and so much more. The image below details proposed location of vetiver strips to maximize windbreak and soil retention benefits as well as the resultant proposed access patterning.
Figure 5-20 Market Garden Vetiver hedge plantings at MDR
● Southeast Vetiver Strip: ~ 103’
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● Southwest Vetiver Strip: ~ 113’ ● Northwest Vetiver Strip: ~ 40’ ● Total Estimated Linear Feet of Vetiver Lines: ~245’
Soil Stewardship The true job of the market gardener is to grow healthy living soil. When the soil is healthy, the seeds sown in it will grow into healthy plants of the highest nutritional value. The following principles can be employed to create conditions for rapid soil formation and steadily increasing soil health.
● Soil is alive and needs to be fed. Soil microbiota that create a well structured and nutrient rich soil need to be fed in order to thrive. The primary way Nature does this is through trading root exudates (carbohydrate secretions from living roots) for bio-available nutrients in the soil profile. ○ Key Takeaway: Keep living roots in the soil as much as possible. Avoid long fallow periods between bed rotations if possible. Use cover crops if not actively cropping a bed. Make and use aerobic compost teas and nutrient amendments. ● Soil needs to breathe. Oxygen is critical for healthy root zones, as anaerobic soils are prone to disease. Through cover cropping, feeding the soil life, and addition of organic matter the soil structure will become more porous, enabling better air penetration to root zones and more effective infiltration and utilization of irrigation water. ○ Key Takeaway: Once beds are formed avoid soil compaction at all costs (especially with native heavy clay soils). Try to avoid stepping on the beds as much as possible to keep aeration channels open. ● Soil needs to be protected. Bare soil is dying soil. The UV light from the sun, evaporative and erosive effect of the wind and erosive impact of precipitation (whether rain or overhead irrigation) can remove valuable top soil and kill soil life quickly. ○ Key Takeaway: Keep the soil covered as much as possible, either with a living crop or with a tarp (if stale seed bedding). ● Soil needs to communicate. Plants are capable of communicating over great distances with one another through their root zones and mutualist soil mycelium. Another valuable reason for choosing a no-till garden is the promotion and expansion of intact mycelial webs that can run amongst a given bed and in between beds. Communication between plants helps with controlling pest outbreaks and nutrient delivery across mycelial networks. ○ Key Takeaway: Think of the entire garden as a living, sensate organism that needs to be able to communicate with all parts of itself. Use pathways as sponges to soak up overspray/rain and as information superhighways to allow for mycelial networks that span the entire garden.
Shade Plantings Species within shade plantings are typically fast-growing, umbrella-shaped trees specifically selected to provide shade for human occupants, animals, or structures underneath or nearby. This provides relief from sun exposure, more even lighting for gatherings/workshop/events,, and respite from hot weather. Deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in the fall and enter 111 7th Generation Design
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dormancy for the winter) are often desirable in shade plantings in a coastal California climate as, in addition to tempering the light and heat during warmer months when they are leafed out, they also allow light and radiant warmth from the sun into a space during the colder winter months.
Existing Conditions There are currently a few shade trees located near the house, including a large Valley Oak in the patio/pool area, and a large tree (unknown species) near the water tank. Otherwise, there are no specific shade plantings on site.
Recommendations Shade plantings are recommended in the following areas:
● Proposed Guest Cabin Area - Shade plantings are recommended for the guest cabin area proposed on the northern portion of the NW Pasture on the interior of the northwest fence (labeled as “Cabin Shade” in Figure 5-21). A mix of mostly deciduous tree is recommended in the immediate area and on the south and southwest borders of the proposed cabin area, in order to allow sunlight through during the colder winter months. A few evergreen trees are also recommended in the mix in order to provide shady gathering spots during those occasionally warm winter days, and also along the north fence as shown in Figure 5-22 to serve as a privacy screen and wind break (in addition to the windbreak and privacy screen plantings between the fence and gully).
Figure 5-21 Proposed area for shade plantings in cabin zone
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Figure 5-22 Proposed Cabin Area Shade Plantings
A list of excellent shade trees appropriate for this climate is provided in Table 5-6. They all serve numerous other functions in the landscape and have their own unique look and feel. There are many ways to go about bringing shade to the proposed tent zone, so instead of projecting a single style or placement, several options have been presented.
Table 5-6 Recommended Shade Tree Species Shade Tree Description Image
Tipuana Tipu a.k.a. Rosewood Tree
Fast-growing, heat-loving, nitrogen-fixing, semi-deciduous (short periods from late- winter to late-spring, often the coldest time of year in CA) tree that produces yellow flowers in spring and summer. Umbrella-like canopy casting a pleasant dappled shade spreading up to 40’ wide and 40’ tall. Common shade tree grown on streets and in parking lots in the Central Coast.
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Thornless Chilean Mesquite
Drought-hardy, fast-growing, semi-deciduous (loses most but not all leaves in the winter), nitrogen fixing tree that produces small greenish-yellow flowers from spring to summer. They typically grow to 30-40’ wide and 30-40’ tall with uniquely twisted trunks. Thorns up to 3” long are variably present.
Mimosa
The “Silk Tree” is a deciduous, fast-growing, 20- 25’ wide and 20-25’ tall, umbrella-shaped tree that is very drought tolerant once established, despite its tropical roots and vibe. Beautiful flowers that have an amazing fragrance that will perfume the surrounding air, this tree will literally hum with the vibration of bees and other insects throughout the flowering window.
Valley Oak
A native, deciduous tree that, while slow- growing, is very emblematic of place: a true legacy tree. Might be best planted with some friendly, faster-growing nurse trees that can provide shade until this tree ultimately takes their place for the long term. Productive mast tree, beautiful lobed leaves, high quality shade.
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Chinese Elm
Fast-growing, heat-loving, semi-deciduous tree up to 50’ wide and 50’ tall with beautiful, mottled bark. Casts amazing, even shade with its dark green foliage. A great climbing tree and also excellent for hanging hammocks.
Modesto Ash
Fast-growing, small, deciduous shade tree to 30’ x 30’. Best planted in association with other trees to maximize shade coverage. Produces stunning fall color in leaves, great summer shade.
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Fencing Fences serve several important functions, including confining and protecting animals and crop areas, providing visual barriers, and supporting trellised growing systems. There are three broad categories of fencing: permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary. Within these categories are dozens of different fencing options. The choice of fencing for any given area should be made based on what purpose it serves:
Permanent Fencing Permanent fences are typically used for boundary and subdivision fences on land that’s owned by the user—and whose usage is not likely to change. They are usually constructed of strong wood, steel or fiberglass posts that support high-tensile solid wires, woven wire, rope or wide tape—of which one or more strands are electrified. They are more reliable and durable than other options but more expensive to install. A professional installer is often needed.
Existing Conditions Morning Doe Ranch is entirely enclosed by wire livestock fencing supported by wooden posts. This fencing runs along the entire west, south and east boundaries of the property, the portion of the northern boundary between the northeast corner and the drainage that passes through the northeast corner of the property, and along the southern side of that drainage to the northwest corner.. Internal wire livestock fencing supported by wooden posts encloses the NW and S/E pastures. The existing permanent fencing at Morning Doe Ranch appears to be in good condition, and no opportunities for improvement or repair were identified.
Recommendations Additional permanent fencing is recommended in the following locations:
● NW and SW Pastures: depending on the degree to which the Doe family will be actively monitoring and moving animals throughout the various paddocks, one row of permanent internal fencing could be installed on each side of the Fast Soil Builder guild plantings along the swales in the NW and SW Pastures. There should be breaks in the lines of fencing where the main access road intersects the swale lines to allow for uninhibited vehicle access. Portable electric fencing can be run in between these permanent fences to create grazing cells. The alternative would be to not use permanent fencing in the pastures and entirely utilize portable electric fencing (more information in Temporary Fencing section below). ○ PROS: Permanent fencing creates easy attachment points for creating new grazing cells with electrified polytape, reduces number of interstitial posts that will have to be set, and creates additional growing space for vine crops along each swale edge. ○ CONS: Access across swale lines is restricted making maintenance and providing cut forage more time intensive; expensive ● Proposed East Lower Orchard: additional permanent fencing is recommended on the south side of the proposed orchard expansion, between the existing fences, to eliminate animal access to the very steep southeast corner of the property during periods of seasonal grazing in the orchard. 116 7th Generation Design
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To contain sheep and pigs, a combination of 48” woven wire fencing and high-tensile wire supported by 5” diameter wooden posts or metal t-posts (7’ minimum length for either) as shown in the image below is recommended for any permanent fencing applications at MDR. Two energized wires should be strung above the woven wire fencing, and a single energized wire 8” above ground level on the inside of the fence (the side the pigs are on). An energizer will only be utilized when the fence is being actively used to contain animals. In the NW and S Pastures, the fencing on the upslope side of the swales will eventually be removed once the plants have established above browsing height, and thus should be constructed with metal t-posts rather than wooden posts for ease of removal. The fencing on the downslope side of each swale planting line is permanent and can be constructing with wooden support posts if desired.
Figure 6-1 Sheep and pig fencing: 48” of woven mesh with two high tensile wires above and one low
Semi-Permanent Fencing Semi-permanent fences are typically used for applications that require seasonal or annual movement. They can also be a barrier that is assembled until a more permanent one is installed. This allows for testing of fence and gate locations to see what works best. The construction could consist of electrified net or multiple electrified strands under low tension, or possibly made of
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pallets or straw bales. These require more maintenance than permanent fences, but often reduce up-front costs to establish barriers.
Existing Conditions No semi-permanent fencing is currently in use.
Recommendations No semi-permanent fencing is recommended at this time.
Temporary Fencing Temporary fencing is typically used in applications that require daily or weekly movement. They should be quick to install and remove and eliminate the need for large end and corner posts, and the fence strands (whether single, multiple or a mesh/netting) must be only hand-tensioned. They must also be electrified properly.
Existing Conditions No temporary fencing is currently in use.
Recommendations Temporary fencing is suggested for use in the following areas:
● NW and S Pastures - temporary fencing is recommended for the cross fencing that will be used to create the cells used for rotational grazing in the agroforestry paddocks. Two lines of cross fencing will be installed between the permanent fencing bounding each pasture interstitial zone to create each grazing paddock. If permanent fencing is not installed in the pastures, portable electric fencing will be entirely used to form the boundaries of the grazing paddocks. ● Various locations - temporary fencing is recommended for areas where chickens will be seasonally grazed in the orchard, near the house, and other areas outside of the pasture paddocks. Mesh electric netting is recommending in areas where chickens will be temporarily pastured.
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For the cross fencing in the NW and S Pastures, energized polywire with step-in fiberglass or rebar posts is recommended. This type of fencing is preferred because of its effectiveness and ease of relocation.
Figure 6-2 Polywire temporary electric fencing
Figure 6-3 Polywire fence spacing
For the chickens, energized mesh netting with build-in posts is recommended, as shown in Figure 6-4.
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Figure 6-4 Energized mesh poultry netting
A note about electric fencing - weeds growing underneath the fencing can cause a short, rapidly draining the battery. Weeds growing underneath electric fencing should be manually cleared, or a flame weeder can also be used. An inexpensive fence tester should be used to make sure the fence is working properly.
NRCS Fencing Grant Information Federal cost-share funding is available for internal fencing improvements through the NRCS Environment Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Farmers or ranchers working to implement a Grazing Management Plan can submit their plan and apply for funding assistance with various types of fencing installation. For more information look up Code 110 - Grazing Management Plan.
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Economy This chapter explores additional elements and systems that can play a supportive role in the success of Morning Doe Ranch as it evolves into a rich, multi-layered eco-system of enterprises that serves the Doe family’s holistic vision and quality of life.
Nursery Establishment The task of planting out 15 acres at MDR is large, with thousands of trees required to create the system as currently designed. In addition to (or in place of) utilizing the previously mentioned Groasis Waterboxxes, propagating stock on-site is not only a low to no-cost way to create thousands of valuable plants, but can also become a micro-enterprise within itself by selling starts and seedlings to neighbors and the local community, ideally paying for itself and any new genetic diversity that might be bought in.
There are two systems that will be essential to propagating trees and plants in a cost effective manner. First is the tree nursery system centered around Air Pruning Pots and Air Pruning Beds, and second is the Automated Misting Bed system for propagation via cuttings and division.
Air Pruning Beds and Pioneer Pots An air pruning bed paired with RootMaker air-pruning pots is an excellent system for producing tree seedlings. Air pruned plants have healthy, non-circling fibrous root balls that are primed to do very well once planted in their permanent location, as opposed to plants grown in conventional pots that have a circling root. The root ball of a Sequoia tree grown in an air prune pot vs a conventional pot is shown in Figure 7-1.
Figure 7-1 Air pruned root ball vs conventionally potted root ball
An air pruning bed need be no deeper than 12” to allow for easy removal of seedlings when they are ready to be potted up. The sides of the bed can be made with 2x12” boards, and should be around 36” wide to allow for easy access to the whole bed. The bottom will be shadecloth laid over ¼” hardware cloth laid over concrete wire remesh, stapled on top of a table frame onto which the 121 7th Generation Design
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2x12” box is set. This will help to ensure that the mesh will not tear from its attachments when under load with wet soil.
Tree seeds can be planted as close as 1” apart depending on seed size. Some may need scarification or stratification prior to germination, but once this process is completed they can be set into the bed to a depth of about 3 times the width of the seed and lightly covered with soil or wood chip mulch. A mist based irrigation system can be used until sprouts emerge, at which point it may be beneficial to switch irrigation to ¼” drip lines with emitters every 6” laid at the soil surface or even beneath the mulch to help prevent any potential for molding from excessive moisture on the young stems and leaves.
A 12 - 18” high wire mesh cage should be set on top of the air pruning bed frame until seedlings have set several sets of true leaves and the trunk has hardened somewhat. Lots of critters love tender tree sprouts! This cage can be removed once they are tougher and less tasty.
Once the seedlings are ready to be potted up or planted out, they can be gently but firmly shaken out of the air pruning bed. For trees that go dormant this would be easiest to do when they have entered dormancy, but provided the soil medium is kept light they can be shaken out even when not dormant. The soil medium should be approximately 50% peat moss, 40% vermiculite and 10% sifted compost.
Below is a rack of RootMaker pots - specially designed air pruning pots that create the maximal density of active root tips while eliminating risk of circling roots. For more information on the science behind RootMaker air pruning pots, watch Root System Basics.
Figure 6-2 Rootmaker Pots
Automated Misting Bed For Propagation by Cuttings and Divisions Stem cutting refers to a process used during vegetative propagation whereby a piece of the plant’s stem is rooted into a growth medium such as moist soil. Consequently, the stem cutting will thrive and grow as a new plant, which is entirely independent of the mother plant - provided that the conditions are suitable. 122 7th Generation Design
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Stem cuttings produce fresh roots, and once this happens, the stem cuttings are no longer cuttings, but new, young plants. Because their genetics are the exact same as the parent plant in which they are taken, plants grown from stem cuttings are also called clones. The entire process is called cloning.
Taking cuttings is a commonly used method to propagate many woody plants, especially shrubs. Typically, stem cuttings of tree species are more difficult to root. The four main types of stem cuttings are herbaceous, softwood, semi-hardwood, and hardwood. These terms reflect the growth stage of the stock plant, which is one of the most important factors influencing whether or not cuttings will root. One of the other most important factor is maintaining high humidity around the cuttings.
The automated misting bed allows for mass propagation by cutting or root division of valuable plants without creating a concomitant linear increase in the amount of time needed to tend to them. Let the robots do the work!
This blog post and video walk through explain the concept and the nuts and bolts of this system. Essentially the goal is to create a consistently moist Goldilocks soil medium that is just right for encouraging young cutting to strike roots. Grow lights and bottom heat could be added to allow for off season and early season propagation.
Enterprise Planning Below are some of the different methods for visioning, planning and organizing enterprises that abide by the permaculture ethics; Care for the Earth, Care for People, Reinvestment Of Surplus Towards The First Two.
The Chaordic Stepping Stones Chaordic Stepping Stones is a cyclical planning process that helps create the minimal structure needed to complete a given task. Excess structure often retards innovation and contribution, overloads certain individuals/components, and stifles learning, while too little structure can lead to ineffective and uncoordinated action, overwhelm and frustration. Both too little and too much structure can mean the end of even the most well-intentioned project. There are 9 steps within the Chaordic Process, each with its own clear objective building upon that of the previous step.
Cynefin Management Model A helpful tool for conceptualizing the why and how of adopting different management styles for different contexts. Included in the link above are a few videos that do a great job of visually demonstrating the model with concise, clear narration. This is more of a high level tool, but it can be quickly employed to help grasp the nature of a given situation and which management approach, if adopted, will have the greatest likelihood of success.
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Holistic Management Holistic Management begins with a Minimum Holistic Goal and grows from there into an entire management discipline. This path can get very technical, or can be utilized at a conceptual level, whichever is appropriate to the situational context and people involved.
Memorandums of Understanding An excellent book about the people side of regenerative agriculture - Joel Salatin’s ‘Fields of Farmers’. In the book Joel details complete set ups for establishing Memorandums of Understanding with ‘vested entrepreneurs’ within the Polyface ecosystem. Joel’s process provides an excellent starting place for constructing working agreements that are clear, concise and win- win-win - for the owners, partners on the land, and of course the land itself.
New Technology, New Money, New Economy Morning Doe Ranch is being born during an era characterized by rapid change in all things. There are many emerging and already present protocols, technologies and trends that could prove incredibly valuable if employed appropriately within a developing ecosystem of regenerative enterprises such as the one beginning at MDR. This section provides a surface level introduction to a few of these protocols, platforms and technologies, enough to illustrate basic concepts and broad potentials, as well provides links for further learning should any of them be of interest.
Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies and their underlying distributed ledger technology (i.e. “blockchain”) are revolutionizing the world of money, finance, and commerce, from the local to the global scale. Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin (the most well known and largest), Bitcoin Cash (a fork of Bitcoin that is faster and cheaper to use), DASH (a relative of Bitcoin that is faster, cheaper and allows for true privacy and anonymity) and many others with different use cases represent a real-time, open- source experiment in allowing individuals to declare financial sovereignty from national currencies and take full control of their financial future.
Why mention cryptocurrencies as part of a permaculture system?
The old financial paradigm is crumbling beneath the weight of mal-incentives, centralization and money creation methods that quite literally create money out of thin air, vampirically drawing value from all of the current holders of that currency. National fiat currencies are opaque in their creation, centralized in their control and governance, and act as a wealth transfer mechanism from the many to the few. They are inflatable (lose value over time), non-fungible (certain units of the same nominal value may not be exchanged for other units of the same value - i.e. “dirty money”), censorable (rules set on how they can be accepted and for what), and backed only by debt (i.e. the unrealistic prospect of exponential growth, indebting future generations etc.).
Old-paradigm debt-backed national fiat currencies are antithetical to the permaculture ethics; care for the earth, care for people, and reinvestment of surplus back to the first two.
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Society is in the beginning phases of a global financial revolution that is not yet a decade old. Cryptocurrencies empower individuals to become their own sovereign banker. As an example comparison, the characteristics of DASH (stands for Digital Cash) alongside a Federal Reserve Note (the U.S. Dollar) are presented in Table 7-1.
Table 7-1 DASH (Digital Cash) vs. U.S. Federal Reserve Note
Characteristics U.S. Federal Reserve Note DASH - Digital Cash
Fixed currency NO - The Fed creates more dollars YES - only 18.9 million DASH will supply? whenever it wants by purchasing ever exist government-issued debt
Fungible? (every NO - physical bills are marked, YES - any unit of Dash is the same as unit is the same as traceable, can be tied to certain any other unit of DASH (cannot be every other unit) individuals, digital dollars are one of blacklisted) the most monitored currencies in the world
Transparent? NO - The Federal Reserve is a YES - entire financial eco-system is private bank unbeholden to on a public blockchain, anyone can oversight verify transactions occurred as they were meant to
Divisible? YES - down to 1/100th of a unit (a YES - DASH is divisible out to penny) 1/millionth of a unit, allowing for micro-transactions and access no matter the currency price
Secure? NO - the money in your bank YES - Only you control the private account does not technically belong keys to your DASH, far greater to you (see Cyprus bail ins), current security available through cold legislation has paved the way for storage, 2 Factor Authentication, future bail-ins hardware wallets and more.
Fast? NO - it still takes days to transfer YES - DASH supports InstantSend from bank to bank, or to wait for a functionality, block times are 2.5 check to clear minutes, avg. transaction time is 1.3 seconds
Store of Value? SORT OF - The dollar is the slowest YES - DASH is capped at 18.9 million falling currency currently of all DASH that will ever exist. It is a national fiat currencies, therefore it deflationary currency, over time it has the appearance of strength, but will appreciate in value instead of ultimately the purchasing power of depreciate. the dollar declines every year - this is by design, it has to function this 125 7th Generation Design
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way
Private? PARTIALLY - Only cash-based peer- YES - DASH is completely peer-to- to-peer transactions are private. peer (P2P), and gives the individual Digital dollar transactions are not user the choice of transacting private, heavily tracked, and rely transparently, privately, or upon 3rd parties that we are forced anonymously. to trust.
Anonymous? NO - forced trust of 3rd parties or YES - Transact securely across the P2P cash transactions prohibit globe with anyone in the world, anonymity neither individual has to know the other.
Cost of Fee For Use HIGH - transaction fees are high VERY LOW - Send $.10 or (3% credit cards, up to 10%+ for $10,000,000 worth of DASH across remittance, every movement is the planet in seconds for a few taxed) pennies.
In summary, cryptocurrencies have the potential to enable new types of commerce, quite literally the construction of “parallel economic eco-systems” that can exist amidst and interact with the current dominant paradigm, while also allowing for the creation of new economic models and new ways of relating to one another that are aligned with the permaculture ethics.
More Resources for Continued Learning ● Introduction to Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology ○ How Do Cryptocurrencies Work? - excellent YouTube video describing how blockchain technology works to create secure, trusted and distributed (decentralized) networks. ○ DASH School - hosted by Amanda B. Johnson, this video series breaks down how cryptocurrencies, and DASH in particular, work. There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies out there - the 7th Generation Design team believes DASH is one to watch (along with others) due to its focus on fast, inexpensive transactions (thereby not pricing out the rest of the world) with privacy and anonymity as options. It is also aiming directly at business adoption (POS systems, payment gateways, remittance systems etc.) and will be releasing a new interface soon called Evolution that will make interfacing with cryptocurrencies as simple and familiar as PayPal or Venmo - i.e. they are focusing on mass adoption. ▪ Dash.org - main website, wallet downloads, links to resources etc. ● Where Are We In The Larger Story? ○ Mike Maloney’s Hidden Secrets of Money - Excellent multi-part series on the history of money and debt and how modern society got where it is. ○ Peak Prosperity’s Crash Course - Chris Martenson’s Crash Course takes a very data- based look at the intersection of economy, energy and environment in the age of limits. This course does an excellent job illustrating where American society is in the 126 7th Generation Design
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narrative of debt-backed national fiat money, resource depletion and energy complexity. He advocates for the 8 Forms of Capital model as a needed change to the current financial paradigm. ● Up and Coming Projects and Platforms Worth Examining (these are still very YOUNG projects, but the 7GD team thinks they worth watching and getting into if someone is thinking about selling goods or services). ○ OpenBazaar - decentralized peer-to-peer web store platform that accepts bitcoin as payment and has no central servers and no fees.
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Appendix A - Property Water Catchment Calculations Direct Precipitatio High Run-Off Area Run-off n Totals Low Run-Off Estimate Catchment Name (sq. ft.) Coefficient (gal) Estimate (gal) (gal) House + Attached 2,871 Roofs 34,718 26,039 32,982 Garage Shop 2,017 Roofs 24,391 18,293 23,171 Barn 4,500 Roofs 54,417 40,813 51,696 Tiny House 260 Roofs 3,144 2,358 2,987 Streets - Pool Hardscape 2,145 25,939 20,751 24,642 Concrete Streets - Front Drive Hardscape 1,570 18,985 15,188 18,036 Concrete Road Surface Areas 24,100 Drives and Walks 291,433 218,575 247,718 270,07 Ag - Bare Packed NW Pasture 3,265,891 979,767 1,959,534 2 Soil/Smooth Ag - Bare Packed Southwest Pasture 53,578 647,901 194,370 388,741 Soil/Smooth Pasture - Heavy Existing Orchard 13,068 158,027 23,704 71,112 Soil Pasture - Heavy Orchard Expansion 20,908 252,833 37,925 113,775 Soil Totals: 4,777,680 1,577,783 2,934,395 *Total area of all catchments calculated is 58% of total property area
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Appendix B - Proposed Earthworks Water Catchment Calculations Bank Full Bank Full High Infiltration Volume Infiltration Rate Infiltration RC Medium Depth Volume At At Bank Of Rate of Inboun Designatio Length From Width Bank Full Full Earthwork/min Earthwork/hr d Flow Designation n (ft) Sill (ft) (ft) (cubic ft.) (gallons) (gallons) (gallons) (gal/hr) NWP - Top NW Pasture 462 1 3 1390 10,397 103 6,175 11,853 Swale NWP - Upper NW Pasture 761 1 3 2287 17,107 170 10,172 17,337 Middle Swale NWP - Lower NW Pasture 500 1 3 1504 11,250 111 6,683 18,323 Middle Swale NWP - Bottom NW Pasture 238 1 3 718 5,371 53 3,181 23,918 Swale SWP - Top SW Pasture 204 1 3 616 4,608 15 909 13,460 Swale SWP - Last Chance SW Pasture 167 1 3 505 3,777 12 744 13,141 Swale UOS Orchard 280 1 3 844 6,313 107 6,416 12,750 LOS Orchard 170 1 3 514 3,845 65 3,895 22,377 MG Swale SW Pasture 113 0.75 4 341 2,553 9 524 2,448 Totals: 2895 8719 65,220 645 38,699
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Appendix C - Orchard Guilds # ea. Membe Guild Unit Are r (GU) a GU Member Specie Guild Name Dimensions (ft2) Common Name s / GU Lengt Widt h (ft) h (ft) 0 Boomerang Support Species 10 1 10 Vetiver Grass 20 Total: 20 Interstitial Fertility Guild 10 5 50 Black Locust 1 False Indigo 1 Bush Pigeon Pea 1 Total: 3
Fruit Tree Understory Support 6 6 36 Comfrey 1
Yarrow 2 Thyme - 3 Creeping Hot Lips Salvia 1 Total: 7 OEL1S - Avo, Citrus 136 136 Hass Avocado 1 Lamb Hass 1 Avocado Navel Orange 1 Oroblanco 1 Grapefruit Calamondin 1 Moro Blood 1 Orange
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Mandarin 1 Total: 7 OEL1E - Avo, Citrus 96 96 Bacon Avocado 1 Fuerte Avocado 1 Navel Orange 1 Lisbon Lemon 1 Sweet Lemon 1 Lime 1 Total: 6 Granny Smith OEL2S - Long Season Apples 136 136 1 Apple
Lady Williams 2 Apple Fuji Apple 1 Liberty Apple 1 Yellow Newton 1 Pippin Apple Sierra Beauty 1 Apple Total: 7 OEL2E - Early Apples 88 88 Anna Apple 2 Akane Apple 1 Gala Apple 1 Dorsett Golden 1 Apple Total: 5
OEL3S - Later Stonefruit, Figs 125 125 Suncrest Peach 1
Babcock Peach 1 Arctice Queen 1 Nectarine
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Fantasia 1 Nectarine Black Mission Fig 1 Italian Honey Fig 1 Total: 6 Arctic Supreme OEL3E - Early Stonefruit 87 87 1 Peach Peachy Keen 1 Peach Snow Queen 1 Nectarine Arctic Glo 1 Nectarine Arctic Jay 1 Nectarine Flora Gold
Apricot Total: 5
OEL4S - Late Stone Fruit, Figs 112 112 Suncrest Peach 1
Babcock Peach 1 Arctice Queen 1 Nectarine Fantasia 1 Nectarine Autumn Royal 2 Apricot Total: 6 OEL4E - Early Stonefruit + 82 82 Harcot Apricot 1 Mulberry Tilton Apricot 1 Peachy Keen 1 Peach 132 7th Generation Design
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Mulberry - 2 Pakistani Total: 5 OEL5S - Figs 77 77 White Genoa Fig 1 Excel FIg 1 Kadota Fig 1 Brown Turkey Fig 1 Celestial Fig 1 Total: 5 OEL5E - Early Stonefruit, 77 77 Mulberry - Black 1 Mulberries
Mulberry - 2 Pakistani Peachy Keen 1 Peach Total: 4
Appendix D - Orchard Plantings Orchard Guild % Planting Acronym Guild Units / Area Specific Guild Notes Coverage Location Planting Boomerang Vetiver slips planted atop boomerang crests at 6" on center to create Orchard Line 1 OL1 100% Support 5 trunk shade, mulch source, moisture retention etc. Species Boomerang Vetiver slips planted atop boomerang crests at 6" on center to create Orchard Line 2 OL2 100% Support 6 trunk shade, mulch source, moisture retention etc. Species Boomerang Vetiver slips planted atop boomerang crests at 6" on center to create Orchard Line 3 OL3 100% Support 6 trunk shade, mulch source, moisture retention etc. Species Boomerang Vetiver slips planted atop boomerang crests at 6" on center to create Orchard Line 4 OL4 100% Support 6 trunk shade, mulch source, moisture retention etc. Species Orchard Line 1 OL1 100% Interstitial 4 One fertility guild planted in between each existing tree in the Existing 133 7th Generation Design
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Fertility Guild Orchard. Interstitial gaps can also be filled in with additional fruit trees, which, but try to have one fertility guild at least every 3rd tree (so all fruit trees shared a root zone edge with N-fixing trees). One fertility guild planted in between each existing tree in the Existing Interstitial Orchard. Interstitial gaps can also be filled in with additional fruit trees, Orchard Line 2 OL2 100% 5 Fertility Guild which, but try to have one fertility guild at least every 3rd tree (so all fruit trees shared a root zone edge with N-fixing trees). One fertility guild planted in between each existing tree in the Existing Interstitial Orchard. Interstitial gaps can also be filled in with additional fruit trees, Orchard Line 3 OL3 100% 5 Fertility Guild which, but try to have one fertility guild at least every 3rd tree (so all fruit trees shared a root zone edge with N-fixing trees). One fertility guild planted in between each existing tree in the Existing Interstitial Orchard. Interstitial gaps can also be filled in with additional fruit trees, Orchard Line 4 OL4 100% 5 Fertility Guild which, but try to have one fertility guild at least every 3rd tree (so all fruit trees shared a root zone edge with N-fixing trees). Fruit Tree Orchard Line 1 OL1 100% Understory 5 Support guild planted for each existing fruit tree. Support Fruit Tree Orchard Line 2 OL2 100% Understory 6 Support guild planted for each existing fruit tree. Support Fruit Tree Orchard Line 3 OL3 100% Understory 6 Support guild planted for each existing fruit tree. Support Fruit Tree Orchard Line 4 OL4 100% Understory 6 Support guild planted for each existing fruit tree. Support Orchard OEL1S - Avo, Expansion Line OEL1S 100% 1 Citrus 1 South Orchard OEL1E - Avo, Expansion Line OEL1E 100% 1 Citrus 1 East Orchard OEL2S - Long Expansion Line OEL2S 100% Season 1 2 South Apples Orchard OEL2E - Early OEL2E 100% Expansion Line Apples
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2 East
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Appendix E - Agroforestry Guilds # ea. Guild Unit GU Member Membe Area Guild Name (GU) Common r (ft2) Dimensions Name Specie s / GU Lengt Widt
h (ft) h (ft) 1000 Thornless Cold Season Tree Forage 100 100 1 0 Honey Locust American Cold Season Tree Forage 2 Persimmon Fuyu Cold Season Tree Forage 1 Persimmon Cold Season Tree Forage Dwarf Koa 16 Wickson Cold Season Tree Forage 1 Crabapple 21 White Mulberry - FIB - Moringa Browse & 50 50 2500 White Mulberry 1 Fruit White Mulberry - FIB - Moringa Browse & False Indigo 2 Fruit Bush White Mulberry - FIB - Moringa Browse & Moringa 2 Fruit 5 Carob - Mesquite 70 40 2800 Carob 1 Carob - Mesquite Mesquite 1 2
Fast Viewscreen / Windbreak 6 Hybrid Poplar 1
1 Fast Track Soil Builder 40 10 40 Black Locust 1
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Fast Track Soil Builder Mesquite 1 Persian Silk Fast Track Soil Builder 1 Tree (Mimosa) False Indigo Fast Track Soil Builder 18 Bush Fast Track Soil Builder Lab Lab 0.03 Fast Track Soil Builder Cowpea 0.06 21.09 European Chestnut 60 60 3600 1 Chestnut Chestnut Vetiver Grass 30 Chestnut Black Locust 2 33 Southern CA Black Walnut 60 60 3600 California 1 Black Walnut CA Black Walnut Black Locust 2 3 Pakistani Early Season Fruit & Forage 40 40 1600 1 Mulberry Early Season Fruit & Forage Moringa 2 3
1000 Dryland Dryland Pasture Mix + Kochia + Sainfoin 100 100 5 0 Pasture Mix
Immigrant Dryland Pasture Mix + Kochia + Sainfoin 1 Forage Kochia Dryland Pasture Mix + Kochia + Sainfoin Sainfoin 3.5 9.5 1960 Early Fall Finishing Forage 140 140 Kerr Crabapple 2 0 Southern Early Fall Finishing Forage California 1 Black Walnut 137 7th Generation Design
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False Indigo Early Fall Finishing Forage 3 Bush Early Fall Finishing Forage Valley Oak 1 European Early Fall Finishing Forage 1 Chestnut Early Fall Finishing Forage Black Locust 3 Early Fall Finishing Forage Pigeon Pea 3 14 Infiltration Basin Edges 30 10 30 Willow 6 Infiltration Basin Edges Elderberry 1 False Indigo Infiltration Basin Edges 2 Bush California Infiltration Basin Edges 1 grape 10 Alfalfa - Ladak Alfalfa - Sainfoin 1000 1 II Alfalfa - Sainfoin Sainfoin 0.4 1.4 Chicken Yard 6650 White Mulberry 1 Pakistani Chicken Yard 2 Mulberry Chicken Yard Red Mulberry 1 Chicken Yard Black Mulberry 1 Chicken Yard Mesquite 2 Fuyu Chicken Yard 2 Persimmon Chicken Yard Elderberry 2 Wickson Chicken Yard 2 Crabapple California Chicken Yard 3 grape Chicken Yard Sainfoin 2 Alfalfa - Ladak Chicken Yard 2 II 20 138 7th Generation Design
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Canyon Live Native Habitat Windbreak 40 20 40 1 Oak Lemonadeberr Native Habitat Windbreak 1 y Native Habitat Windbreak Coffeeberry 1 Native Habitat Windbreak Manzanita 1 Native Habitat Windbreak Toyon 1 Native Habitat Windbreak California Lilac 1 Native Habitat Windbreak Coyote Brush 8 California Native Habitat Windbreak 0.5 grape 14.5
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Appendix F - Agroforestry Plantings Agroforestry Acrony % Guild Units Planting Guild Area Specific Guild Notes m Coverage / Planting Zone Close to barn where animals may have cold season shelter, NW Pasture Cold Season Tree NWPi1 100% 4 easy to paddock shift them out into NWPi1 and NWPi2, and Interstitial 1 Forage have them pick up fallen fruit/pods. NW Pasture NWPi1 50% Alfalfa - Sainfoin 16 Interstitial 1 Close to barn where animals may have cold season shelter, NW Pasture Cold Season Tree NWPi2 100% 4 easy to paddock shift them out into NWPi1 and NWPi2, and Interstitial 2 Forage have them pick up fallen fruit/pods. NW Pasture NWPi2 50% Alfalfa - Sainfoin 17 Interstitial 2 White Mulberry - FIB - NW Pasture NWPi3 100% Moringa Browse & 13 Interstitial 3 Fruit NW Pasture Dryland Pasture Mix + NWPi3 100% 4 Pasture undercrop Interstitial 3 Kochia + Sainfoin NW Pasture NWPi4 100% Carob - Mesquite 5 Interstitial 4 NW Pasture Dryland Pasture Mix + NWPi4 100% 2 Interstitial 4 Kochia + Sainfoin NW Pasture Early Season Fruit & NWPi5 100% 10 Interstitial 5 Forage NW Pasture NWPi5 100% Alfalfa - Sainfoin 15 Interstitial 5 White Mulberry - FIB - NW Pasture NWPi6 100% Moringa Browse & 9 Interstitial 6 Fruit NW Pasture Dryland Pasture Mix + NWPi6 100% 3 Interstitial 6 Kochia + Sainfoin NW Pasture Early Fall Finishing NWPi7 100% 1 Interstitial 7 Forage NW Pasture Dryland Pasture Mix + NWPi7 100% Interstitial 7 Kochia + Sainfoin NW Pasture NWPi8 Early Fall Finishing 0 140 7th Generation Design
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Interstitial 8 Forage NW Pasture NWPi8 100% Alfalfa - Sainfoin 11 Interstitial 8 NW Pasture Early Fall Finishing NWPi9 100% 2 Interstitial 9 Forage NW Pasture Dryland Pasture Mix + NWPi9 100% 4 Interstitial 9 Kochia + Sainfoin NW Pasture Early Fall Finishing NWPi10 100% 1 Interstitial 10 Forage Half this zone in chestnut guilds, half in CA black walnut guilds. This slope is very steep, and shouldn't be grazed but annually to prevent degradation. The mixed nut yield on this Northeast slope can yield a solid month of forage for pigs should they be NES 50% Chestnut 4 Steep kept in the future. The sloping land will also make nut collection for home use easier as the nuts will tend to concentrate in pockets or roll downhill to the lower fenceline where they can mor expediently be picked up. Half this zone in chestnut guilds, half in CA black walnut guilds. This slope is very steep, and shouldn't be grazed but annually to prevent degradation. The mixed nut yield on this Northeast slope can yield a solid month of forage for pigs should they be NES 50% CA Black Walnut 4 Steep kept in the future. The sloping land will also make nut collection for home use easier as the nuts will tend to concentrate in pockets or roll downhill to the lower fenceline where they can mor expediently be picked up. Planted on the steeper slopes currently with spotty sagebrush vegetation. Boomerang earthworks to help establish. Top 30% Native Habitat of this zone (paralleling the fence heading NE x SW South Steep SS 70% 316 Windbreak separating it from the SWP will be Carob-Mesquite Guild for sheep forage when they are allowed in to do seasonal grazing. Planted on the ridge dropping down to property corner with South Steep SS 30% Carob - Mesquite 2 Santa Manuela Road, paralleling fence on South Steep side, provides season forage for annual grazer access to this zone. Southeast Native Habitat SES 70% 261 Steep Windbreak NWP Top NWPTS 100% Fast Track Soil Builder 13 Swale Berm B 141 7th Generation Design
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NWP Upper NWPUM Middle Swale 100% Fast Track Soil Builder 22 SB Berm NWP Lower NWPLM Middle Swale 100% Fast Track Soil Builder 14 SB Berm NWP Bottom NWPBS 100% Fast Track Soil Builder 7 Swale Berm B East Fast Fast Viewscreen / EFV 100% 100 Viewscreen Windbreak SWP Top SWPTSB 100% Fast Track Soil Builder 7 Swale Berm SWP Bottom SWPBS 100% Fast Track Soil Builder 5 Swale Berm B West Native Habitat WVS 100% 165 Viewscreen Windbreak Southwest Pasture SWPi1 100% Carob - Mesquite 12 Interstitial 1 Southwest Dryland Pasture Mix + Pasture SWPi1 100% 4 Kochia + Sainfoin Interstitial 1 Southwest Early Season Fruit & Pasture SWPi2 100% 10 Forage Interstitial 2 Southwest Dryland Pasture Mix + Pasture SWPi2 100% 2 Kochia + Sainfoin Interstitial 2 South Infiltration Infiltration Basin SIBP 100% 5 Basin Edges Perimeter North Infiltration Infiltration Basin NIBP 100% 5 Basin Edges Perimeter
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East Infiltration Infiltration Basin EIBP 100% 6 Basin Edges Perimeter Pen & Immediate surrounds planted in Mulberries, Persimmons, Mesquite, Elderberry (where watering happens), Crabapples, Moringa Vetiver hedge around pen Chickens CHK 100% Chicken Yard 1 perimeter/runs perimeters for low windbreak, easy cut mulch/bedding for pen. Consider "Chicken Tractor On Steroids" composting set up w/ chickens at this location. Southwest Native Habitat SWVS 100% 269 Viewscreen Windbreak Orchard Infiltration Basin Expansion OES 100% 121 Edges Swale North Native Habitat Viewscreen NVSWB 100% 512 Windbreak Windbreak
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