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PERMACULTURE

Reading “SEPP HOLZER’S PERMACULTURE”,

In the steep country south of Taihape lots of poplars and willows were planted for erosion control. Today the poplars are falling down with old age and making an untidy tangle of mess on the rather feeble pasture - feeble because not enough sunlight has been getting through because of the shade cast by the trees. Grant Baird, in the Kawhatau Valley, Mangaweka, grows peacherines, (you may have heard him talking on the Saturday morning farming session on National Radio) and is looking at growing pears as shelter, erosion control and stock fodder. He is getting Toby Schweikert of Greenhaus Nursery to graft the trees onto non-dwarfing rootstock. Most modern day pears are grafted onto dwarfing rootstocks like quince to keep the trees smaller. Pears tend to grow upright and will tolerate wet soils. The early varieties start fruiting just after Christmas and I have seen trees at Taumarunui laden with huge fruit in June. Timber can be used for cabinet and furniture making. Toby says nashi are also worth growing as they are bug and disease free.

I’ve got wild plums in profusion - their white flowers look like a snowfall in the spring, and in the summer they bring in wood pigeons, and generally provide fodder for other birds and the sheep and cattle. We don’t have pigs. The fruit is rather tasteless and small but makes a good chilli plum sauce. Those three - pears, nashi and plums are happening, but what about increasing the palette with chestnuts and acorns for pigs, figs galore for birds and people, walnuts for people, rooks and rats. All three spread the nuts to grow trees for timber.

Then there are apples and crab apples for birds, appearance and jelly. Manuka is currently being planted for honey production - I could not go down this route having spent considerable time in my younger days cutting it down with a big, heavy scrub bar. The said cleared land was planted in pine trees, now ready for harvest, which after all expenses are taken out, except for re-fencing , would give a return, estimated just before Christmas of $1 per tonne. A conventional 7 wire battened fence is currently costing $20 plus per metre, erected, and loggers seem to like flattening fences. I gather pine tree prices have lifted a bit since Christmas but basically it’s a waste of time growing them for money. Alright for short term shelter.

The joys of reading - I have just read that in England magnolias have been used to shelter oaks. One would not expect magnolias to be that tough but there is an old tree just south of Norsewood in an incredibly windy spot, all by itself in the middle of a paddock. The house and garden have long since gone but this lonely tree is magnificent when in flower in the early spring and seems quite unruffled by the roaring gales. The Chinese have herbal uses for magnolia bark and flower buds, plus use the trees for timber, and eat petals, dipped in batter and deep fried. We have tended to regard it as a rather delicate but very beautiful flowering tree.

A lateral thinking farmer at Matawai, north of Gisborne on the way to Opotiki is planting up his various sets of stock yards with orange trees - something to eat while on the job, or if he is passing by. Gooseberries used to almost be a weed here, but have died out, as have Cape Gooseberries, and various currants.

In the book world the market has been flooded with various self-sufficiency books, many of them written by people who have been doing it for about nine months and who have got their information off the internet. There is now a slight change into foraging for ‘wild’ food - fish, seaweed, ‘weeds’, nuts, fruit, various animals and birds - anything that can be harvested without man’s intervention. The New Zealand classic was Gwen Skinner’s “SIMPLY LIVING” but that is now out of print. Coming in April is “ FIND IT, EAT IT . COOKING FORAGED FOODS GATHERED AROUND NEW ZEALAND” a 176 page paperback by Michael Daly. $40.00.

There are several English books: -

“WILD FOOD”by Roger Phillips, $55.00,

“WILD FOOD” by Ray Mears, $55.00,

“FOOD FOR FREE” by Richard Mabey, $42.00, plus we have a new one from America
“HUNT, GATHER, COOK . FINDING THE FORGOTTEN FEAST” a 324 page hardback by Hank Shaw, $50.00.

A lavish, new 40th anniversary edition of Richard Mabey’s “FOOD FOR FREE” a 464 page hardback is due in April. This book was first published 40 years ago and covers 200 types of food that can be gathered or picked in the wild, $82.00. Also in paperback at $42.00.

If you have a little bit of land you can do some of your own growing. Dig up the lawn and plant a forest garden - fruiting trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, mushrooms and vegetables, plus some chooks or ducks.

English books on the subject include “FOREST GARDENING” by Robert A de J Hart, $45.00,

“HOW TO MAKE A FOREST GARDEN”, $70.00, by Patrick Whitefield,

“PERMACULTURE IN A NUTSHELL”, $25.00, also by Patrick Whitefield, and

“THE WOODLAND WAY - A PERMACULTURE APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE WOODLAND MANAGEMENT” by Ben Law, $80.00.

From Australia we have “AN INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE”, $120.00, by Bill Mollison, and

“PERMACULTURE: A DESIGNERS MANUAL”, $325.00, also by Bill Mollison.

Then there’s Rosemary Morrow’s “EARTH USERS GUIDE TO PERMACULTURE”, $45.00,

and Linda Woodrow’s “PERMACULTURE HOME GARDEN“, $47.00.

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Peter and Diane Arthur
Touchwood Books
24th January 2012.