Permaculture Food Forest: How We've Created A Shade-Producing Microclimate (Vlog)
Hello! Welcome to our Homestead, Mountain Jewel. The sun has been full on lately and the heat is kicked up past 90 most days! Many of our plants that are in full sun start to wilt because of it and we humans hop from shade spot to shade spot during the hottest parts of the day!
Under the shade of the grape and persimmon during the heat of the day.
During these times, I noticed a specific plant community that not only doesn't wilt, but has some great stacked functions going on. Funny part is, we didn't even plant some key aspects of this, but that doesn't stop them from all getting along together well ;)
Mugwort, what a looker!
In this video, I walk you through this plant community and talk about some of the aspects of the plants therein.
Aronia in flower a few weeks back. Berries have set now.
The plants featured are:
- Dogwood
- Persimmon
- Wild Grape
- Asparagus
- Aronia
- Mint
- Raspberry
- Mugwort
- Paw Paw
- Clover
I talk a bit about each and discuss ways they contribute to our lives and the whole.
Microclimates like this one demonstrated are available for all of us to create with a little know-how and creativity and they greatly benefit their members. Through mulching, we retain moisture and build soil over time adding to the health of the plants. The shade also alleviates the sun's pressure and this area requires less maintenance. On a hot day, the body can feel where the "cool" spaces are and I talk a little bit about this, too.
Clover ground cover
Over time, we hope to share more niches on our homestead and walk you through some of their key components. Hopefully this will give you a better grasp on Permaculture and how you can replicate some of these communities in your neck of the woods. Feel free to ask questions.
Thanks for watching!
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Awesome!
Can I just come be your new best friend? 😂
I feel like I want to sit and learn everything from you!
hahah! aww thanks! sure! thanks for the smile <3
Nature has this whole thing down. I'm so thrilled to be connecting with people that understand that letting nature do what it does is so much more productive and less work than clearing, planting in rows, and really trying to tame nature and then being dumbfounded when they don't get the expected results. Ooh, I just get excited when I think about being just a couple years away from having a home on a piece of land where I can experience and observe a little more of that. 😄
great comment @powellx5! completely true.
Heating up here. California is entering the long dry summer. Hills are "golden" which is dry grass. Almost a monoculture. All the diversity is around vernal ponds and seasonal streams. Choosing a homestead here would take some care. I envy the variety of plants you cultivate
yes. i have special love for california and recognize that it's not the most resilient ecosystem to live in given our climage shifts. still beautiful tho! land prices are too high for us and aforementioned climate shifts (and high populations and pop density) caused us not to consider it.
STOPYou are such a role model for more and more people to embrace the land and nature. The best basic design is God's original design. We just need to cooperate. Thanks @mountainjewel for your various posts.
It always makes me feel good when I find people practising permaculture and sharing their work.
Those are beautiful, I can't wait to have a mountain jewel of my own.