PERMACULTURE DESIGN PLAN
AGROFORESTRY
THE CLIENT
PEG
Biodynamic Farm and Nature Reserve
PEG is a biodynamic farm and nature sanctuary offering educational tours, camping, and farm to table meals. They are regenerating a degraded sugarcane plantation with holistic land management.
THE CHALLENGE
Multi-Purpose Food Forest
PEG wanted a design for a food forest that would provide produce and serve as an immersive experience for guests who visited the site’s farm to table restaurant. They also wanted to be able to grow a market garden for crops in the same area as the food forest was developing.
Patterns from Nature
The solution was to design a food forest based on the principles and techniques of Syntropic farming, an agroforestry system that mimics the development phases, functions and layers of a natural forest. The design of a syntropic agroforestry system involves the selection of specific species that grow and mature in different rates and layers. Each species is planted with consideration of their function, growing behavior and lifespan.
Among its many advantages this system allows us to obtain a yield from the very early stages of implementation. It has the potential to integrate annual and perennial vegetables, grasses, ground covers, root vegetables, shrubs, trees, vines, and livestock all in one wholistic system. If designed correctly the production and abundance of such systems greatly increases with time.
Client Involvement
We began with a client interview, understanding the requirements and goals of the client. We then communicated with the client different concepts for potential solutions. The client chose the Syntropic farming approach because of the motivation to stack functions in the early years from the food forest site as a market garden operation.
We then embarked on a site analysis process, walking the site and gathering data and information about potential locations for the proposed food forest, soil types, slopes, water retention, sun orientation and exposure, wind directions and accessibility for machinery.
Plan Mapping
After the specific site was selected we created a topographic map of the site using GIS drone technology. We selected around 60 plant species with consideration to growing conditions and client needs. Then we created a high detail level digital design plan, placing the different species on the topographic map with consideration to relative location and spacing based on the needs of each species. We then delivered the design to the client and guided the staff in an implementation plan.
