Relevant Permaculture Principles
All permaculture principles inform all aspect of the permaculture design and operations—these more so than others.
By taking the time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.
Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
Our emergent insights
Since purchasing the land in late 2023, we have started to observe the land and climate, and slowly build an understanding and insight into what goes on here.
It is foggy often in the morning, particularly in the valleys and the lower-lying areas of the property. This could be due to the property's unique microclimate and the fact that it is surrounded by forests, which can contribute to the formation of morning fog. The fog usually dissipates as the sun rises and the temperature increases.
The breeze is very cold coming over the hill, especially in the early mornings and late evenings.
We have lots of wombats, a couple of wallabies, at least one fox, Nesting Bower Birds, Wedge Tailed Eagles.
We have lots of blackberries throughout the property - on the paddock, through the forests - even under very thick cover of shade.
We have lots of Ragwort across all the paddocks and edges of the forests - tends to not do so well in heavy shade.
It’s steep land that has not been used as a farm for 40 years. The fact that the property is not used as a farm could be due to the fact that it is located in a steep and hilly area, which could make it difficult to access and use for farming.
The Western forest is recovering from clearing in the early 20th century and has been self regenerating for at least the last 50 years.
In the last 20 years self seeding acacias have established themselves on the edges of the paddock - reducing paddock size by 25% to 50% - these trees are very densely populated and tall and thin. In older sections the acacias are dying off and eucalypts are self seeding.
Intuitively the long paddock which is northwest facing on a slope would make a good place for a food forest / fruit and nut grove, as the slope could provide good drainage and the northwest facing aspect could provide good sunlight exposure.
The region successfully grows apples, and there are a couple of organic vegetable farms nearby too, seemingly doing well. The Organic Vegetable farm uses poly tunnels extensively.
The grass in the paddock has a heavy cover of cats ear and other broadleaf weeds. Other areas of the paddocks have been overgrown with bracken and blackberries, and these catch the ragwort seeds - the soil in these areas seems darker.
The soil appears to have a high amount of clay in it, but also feels gritty and has a rich brown color in some areas and a deep red color in other areas.