Permaculture is the idea of creating a self sustaining ecosystem with no human inputs (work) that produces a bounty for the landowner. This bounty could be in fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, firewood, fish, or all of the above. Many property owners are interested in creating a permaculture to efficiently and sustainably use their land.
A lot of people get caught up in individual aspects like swaling and food forestry yet lose sight of the big picture. Permaculture can be created on any size piece of land. The biggest, hardest part of permaculture is deciding what you want to do with the land and never losing that ideal.
I think when people move to Florida they usually don't know what they are getting into. Traditional northern gardens where you plant your strawberries and pumpkins in the spring and harvest in the fall simply do not exist here. The bright sun and high humidity bakes most vegetable plants, so gardening for food must be creatively timed around the seasons.
A much better approach is to plant perennial food-producing plants that tolerate the conditions in your area along with supportive plants, like for example nitrogen-fixing legumes. Sweet potatoes and prickly pear cactus are two great examples.
Native plants that benefit your ecosystem should be encouraged, not removed. These plants are already well-adapted to the sand and heat. Non-natives that provide no fodder, nitrogen-fixing, edible food, fencing, or firewood should be coppiced and mulched as the caretaker implements his or her permaculture.
One of the hardest, if not the hardest, parts of starting a permaculture is identifying the plants you already have before jumping to replace them. There are many great plant identifying websites out there, but many do not have pictures or have misleading information about the care of the plants listed. A lot of the commenters on these websites do nothing but complain about how invasive some native plant is. Those people should go live in the city surrounded by buildings and grass, because they won't be happy with anything else. Nay-sayers abound in our lives, just listen to them, smile, and nod, then go do what you want to do anyway. And research your plants; if it's invasive but beneficial, please invade!
On where to get plants... a complicated question. I have had tremendous luck with the plants from the Spring Hill Garden Club. The plants they offer for sale are disease-free and well-rooted without being rootbound. When you buy from Home Depot and Lowe's it's dicey, plants are usually expensive and rootbound, but the year guarantee kinda offsets that. I have had a lot of annuals die out quickly. Another great place is the USF Botanical Garden spring and fall sales. Vendors from all over West Florida bring an amazing variety of plants. The very best way to get plants is to propagate your own from healthy plants, but this is a skill which takes some practice. What better time to start than now?
As far as I know, there are no permaculture homesteads in West Florida. There are several CSA's in every county, and these are all polycultures and should be supported. Homosassa Springs State Park grows much of the feed for their animals on-site in the form of duckweed. It's a fun place to take the family in the cooler times of year to see the manatees.
There was a family that was working on a true permaculture homestead in Dade City, but their blog says that last year they were forced to sell their property. I suspect one or both were laid-off. The young man, errr, I guess he must be about my age, did a great deal of research into good plants for the area for food forestry and aquaculture. I'll put up a link.
Personally, I am doing a good deal of work on my suburban lot and looking to purchase 10 acres in Citrus county, or maybe Sumter or around anywhere I suppose, for camping and permaculture and hunting. I have had tremendous success with peppers and tomatoes here in Spring Hill, and we are building rabbit pens in the back to continue that success. Here in Spring Hill it is forbidden to have fowl even though it is a bird sanctuary.
Research. Listen. Figure out your own Big Picture, work slowly toward it. Don't get distracted into the little things or by nay-sayers.
Withalacoochee Permaculture
Creeping Beggarweed, pros and cons
(Desmodium lineatum/Desmodium incanum)
This beautiful little plant is much vilified by gardeners and mothers alike. An open mind is helpful when dealing with native plants, they were here first and aren't available at garden centers.
- Beggar's Tick is a nitrogen-fixing legume. The natural bacteria that congregates around the roots of the plant fix atmospheric nitrogen and turn the nitrogen into a plant soluble form. When the plant dies the bacteria and plant roots decay and release nutrition.
- Beggar's Tick loves growing in very poor soil and bare sand. Disbelieve the plant profile on Dave's Garden, which seems to be the same for every plant in existence. Beggar's Tick thrives in an acidic soil with low moisture and is a perennial
- Beggar's Tick has amazing flowers. This little plant has bi-colored leaves and in late spring or early summer will shoot up a little stalk with almost orchid-like pink/purple flowers.
- Beggar's Tick's taproot and diminutive size make it ideal for a small rock garden. The taproot will burrow into the rocky area, aerating. When the plant dies the organic matter will be left to improve the rocky area.
- Beggar's Tick has evolved a unique method of spreading its seeds. It can't be a coincidence that they are frequently found near sidewalks and roadways.
Cherry Laurel, Prunus carolinian
This beautiful evergreen native has a terrible reputation due to its prolific seeding and runners. The seeds germinate readily even in poor soil, which makes it simple to transplant the tiny trees into more desirable locations.
The full tree itself is what I would consider a small tree or shrub, but can possibly get as high as 40 ft, though rarely does so when grown out in the open in full sun. The tree grows very well in sand and is very drought tolerant.
Every winter visiting robins from the north invade my trees to eat the big black berries (about the size of blueberries.) It is well documented that the leaves, stems, and seeds of cherry laurels are high in cyanide, which is toxic to all mammals, but very little information is available about whether the de-seeded fruit is edible or not. Birds eat it, but their metabolism might be able to handle some cyanide while ours cannot. I did taste a fruit, and it was sweet, but I was too scared to eat it!
A great place to use this tree in a landscape is anywhere that you might enjoy seeing birds, such as outside a patio or kitchen window. It grows quickly so is good for fast shade around your home. It makes a great big hedge which will widen and thicken over time, due to the runners.I will keep looking for more information about the fruit being toxic. IFAS says that "the fruit is suitable for human consumption" and that squirrels eat it. I have never squirrels eating it, but that doesn't mean that they won't.
Supposedly a green dye can be made from the leaves, and a dark gray to green dye can be made from the fruit.
Croatian Fruit Spirits
"The recipe that I use is one that has been in my family dating back close to 200 yrs. (of course there have been slight modifications over the years...we now use boughten yeasts instead of wild yeasts and we buy tomato paste instead of making it). This recipe is for a 5 gallon mash. I take 20lbs. of the biggest stickiest grapes we can pick, and I freeze them.(it is easier to de-stem them when they are frozen). Then I pull them off of their stems and put them in a 3 gallon stockpot and add enough water to cover the grapes a few inches. Then I bring them to a boil and mash them with a potato masher untill ALL the grapes are mashed pretty good. Then I add 5 lbs. of white granulated sugar and a 6oz can of tomato paste and stir until it is disolved. Next, I pour it all into a 6 or 7 gallon bucket and fill it to 5 gallons with cold water, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon and cover it. When the temp is down to about 78-80 degrees F is when I get my yeast started. I have used baker's yeast and it works fine, but lately I have been using Red Star's champagne yeast.(very similar to ec-1118). I take 3-5, 5gram packets and put them in a pitcher that is 1/2 full of the mash from the bucket. I stir it well, and leave it sit over night. The next morning, I skim off whatever is floating off the top of the bucket and discard it. Then I SLOWLY pour the yeast pitcher into the mash stirring it gently. Then I cover it with a couple layers of plastic wrap and a rubber band (I poke some holes in the plastic with a pin). Every morning, I skim whatever is floating off the top and stir vigorously, and stir again 3-5 times a day. After about 3 days of this, I slowly pour the contents into a new bucket. The grape seeds will be on the bottom of the bucket (I save them and plant them later) you can discard them. Top the bucket with water to 5 gallons, cover it again. I will stir it vigorously 3-5 times a day until it stops fermenting. (usually about 2 weeks) when it is done fermenting, it is still a thick juice that contains alcohol, and does not resemble wine at all. NOW it is ready to run. We have always run in a pot-still. 1st run. FAST, collect everything until the distillate coming out is about 20-25%abv. 2nd run. SLOW, discard the first 150ml. we collect in 250ml increments, and add them together to taste. we stop collecting at about 30%abv. The finished product has a little bit of a grape aroma and after flavor. We usually age it in natural uncharred oak, and sometimes we add about a half cup of raisins to age it with.
This is how we have made ALL of our fruit spirits for as long as anyone can remember. Although, when we make our heritage slivovitz, we use wild yeast only, and NO sugar, and we also use a bit more fruit. This is the traditional Croatian method of making Slivovitz that my family and others have used for around 200 years."
Prickly Pear, Opuntia vulgaris
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| Newly planted rooted leaf pad. |
The prickly pear cactus is an amazing little survivor. It is a true cactus and is grown all over the world in dry climates for the leaves and fruit. It has naturalized itself to the scrub forests of West Florida and is as good as native. Ever so slowly it can grow with no care on your part whatsoever.
Spreading prickly pear (Opuntia humufusa), has many, if not all of the same good qualities as the more common prickly pear, but is a native of the pine forests here in Florida. It is a low-growing perennial, bane of hikers not watching their footing. It rarely gets even half a meter in height, and is able to reproduce vegetatively when leaf pads that become detached from the parent root themselves.
The leaf pads can be eaten by people once the spines are removed. Typically the young pads are selected for human consumption before the spines harden. It is usually sliced into strips and cooked as you would a green bean.
Later, the leaf pads can be used as cattle forage if the spines are burned away or otherwise removed. This has helped farmers in Mexico when lack of rainfall browns the fields. The leaf pads are quite high in moisture which will also help sustain cattle. Prickly pear can be used to create a natural hedge which will keep cattle fenced, as they do not wander through the thick spiny pads.
The little red fruits can be eaten raw after skinning and are usually served chilled. Many cultures worldwide distill prickly pear fruit juice into a liquor. The juice can also be used to ferment into a wine, known as colonche.
The process for making colonche has changed very little over the centuries. The fruit is harvested, peeled, crushed, the juice collected and boiled for two or three hours. Then the juice is allowed to ferment for several days. Sometimes other colonche is added as a starter. After primary fermentation it can be served.
In Mexico the cactus are raised as a fodder for an insect known as cochineals, which create a natural red dye that has some trade value.
Four Ways to Preserve Prickly Pear Pads
How to Grow Grass in Just Sand in Florida
Many people just love that green carpet that only grass provides. Perhaps the area where you live requires grass only on the easement as mine does. Perhaps you already have grass but want to fill in a bare patch.
Just plain sand is very white. Not pure white like beach sand, but a bright grayish white. If your sand is darker then you're in luck, it means you have some organic matter in your sand which will help it retain moisture.
The first step is to prep the area. The goal here is to get some organic matter into that soil as best you can. Getting some mulch from the municipal drop site or even buying some mulch to throw down would be great. Toss the mulch in a thin layer over the entire area. Let the weather break down this mulch as you do your research into what type of grass you desire.
The extension service here in West Florida would recommend Zoysia or Bahia grass for this area. Both need watering to be green during the dry season. If you had only a smaller patch to fill it, it might be cheaper to dig up clumps from a more vigorous area of the yard and use that as a homemade sod plug. Florida has at least half a dozen kinds of grass that are native but unavailable at the store.
Broadcast your seed evenly throughout the area. Then water, water, water. Seeds don't use fertilizer and it could kill them.
Watering is by far the most critical factor in the success of grasses in Florida. It might be worthwhile to start your seeds in the beginning of the rainy season, though they can also be started in the spring and summer as well. Seeds will have to be watered every day, then tapering off to every other day to twice a week, then weekly.
South West Florida Water Management District has recently lifted the ban on watering lawns, but be prepared for them to reinstate the ban at any time. They advocate perennials and groundcovers to save on groundwater pumping, which causes sinkholes. The restrictions do usually allow residents to handwater or use sprinklers once a week.
Pull weeds as you see them, you will gain nothing by letting them go to seed. Play in the new grass!
Composting in Place
Traditional gardeners in the more temperate climates north of us frequently create compost piles, which not only cleans up the garden area but also concentrates all that microbial activity in one spot to rapidly decompose plant matter. I can say that I have not really seen a compost pile here ever, because organic matter breaks down so quickly it kind of seems pointless. We get to practice what northern gardeners cannot, composting in place.
Any waste plant matter an be used to create compost, which people around here frequently call mulch. The two terms are used almost interchangeably because even the big woody store-bought mulch will break down within one rainy season to produce the humusy compost that northerners recognize. That humus becomes washed into the sand, providing nutrition for even more beneficial microorgnisms like worms.
Most cleared land here in west Florida quickly loses its topsoil. Many a new homeowner has been perturbed by the ide that the builders laid sod down on straight sand and they now need to constantly water and fertilize in order to grow the easiest of plants, grass. In the time between the land was cleared and the builders finished they house was all the rain and wind needed to remove that layer of humus from that property. In the older neighborhoods where grass has been cultured for years, simply lift the roots and see for yourself. The grass will pull out easily if the ground is dry and you will find the bare, pale sand.
Small particles break down more easily. This is why cedar mulch decays faster than pine bark nuggets. If you want the soil to quickly make compost then chopping, slicing, and shredding are your friends. That being said, I did throw last year's pumpkins outside and in a month all that was left was a thin, waxy, papery shell. Coffee grounds will be invisible after one good rain. Orange peels and vegetable remains also disappear quickly as long as they are cut into small pieces.
Leaves break down fairly quickly, but you may be better served by using them as an easy mulch. In the fall sometimes I rake under the oak tree in the front yard to get up some of the leaves so the place looks good. Once the trash barrel is full its placed out on the curb on yard waste collection day. From there the leaves and twigs are taken to a municipal collection site, what I like to call, The Dump. All yard waste is collected, shredded, then placed into huge piles for people to collect for their gardens. The mulch is part humus and part small sticks. It will blow away in the wind if you let it. Bring that home and put at least a two or three inch layer underneath every plant. It will block weeds and give all the benefits of mulch, while releasing humus into your soil. And its free.
Another item I compost in place is all the waste from the parrot cages. The mulch from the dump lines the cages, and every week I go in and scrub the bars and collect the droppings and food bits. Used mulch is then placed directly on the plants. It is said that bird waste should never be placed directly on plants because of the high ammonium concentration burning the plants roots. However, I have never experienced that. Perhaps it is because the pooped-up mulch is exposed to the sun and elements before the ammonias ever reach the roots. It does seem wise to forego putting bird waste in containers for plants.
Someone might ask me what I would do with dog doo, and here it is... Flush it. Collect it up frequently and flush it down the toilet if you have many dogs on a small piece of property. It would be the safest way to remove any pathogens or medications if that applies to you. Another thing I might try if I had one or two dogs is to collect it into a pile away from the house and mix the waste with mulch or shredded leaves. Allow to decompose and spread onto plant beds that you will not be eating the leaves from, like the obligatory hibiscus or crepe myrtle every house seems to have. Make sure it is well buried with even more mulch to keep flies and smell down. If you did that twice a year you would have no problems. Another thing might be to try spraying the doo into the grass while its still fresh. I would probably not do that since it would be so much work.
We compost in place coffee grounds, contents from tea bags, banana peels, egg shells, fruit skins or cores, vegetable pieces, pineapple rind and cores, and more. Stale bread or leftover meat gets run through the birds or cats.
Century Plant, Agave americana
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| Hasn't been watered in ten years. |
This large succulent is extremely drought tolerant and can handle full sun. It could be a good plant for a sandy ridgeline where other plants fail to thrive due to low moisture conditions. It has no animal habitat, and nothing seems to thrive on it.
It is said to bloom only once in its long life, which can be longer than 30 years. After blooming it will produce pups which can be separated and replanted elsewhere. Very slow growing.
The nectar can be harvested to make a white, fermented alcoholic drink called pulque, and a singly distilled liquor called mezcal, not to be confused with tequila which is made from blue agave. When the century plant matures enough to produce a flower (about 12 years), the flower is cut off and sap is collected to ferment into pulque. A single plant can continue producing sap for up to a year. Mezcal production requires the agave heart to be harvested, roasted, pulled, boiled, fermented, then distilled. Both drinks are largely both produced and consumed within Mexico.
The leaves can be harvested to make thatching for shelters. Some people harvest the leaves for fibers. Century plant produces pita hemp, while another agave makes the more well-known sisal. Leaves are frequently used in Mexico to make barbeque by lining the roasting pits.
Legumes for the Sandy Landscape
Legumes are normal looking plants that have a special kind of bacteria around the roots which are very good at chemically fixing the free-floating nitrogen in the environment. This symbiosis provides nitrogen in form the plant can absorb. Many farmers innoculate legume seeds with beneficial bacteria to be assured off the nitrogen fixation properties, and frequently use legumes as a rotation/cover/forage plants.
Permaculturists use larger legumes for coppicing, a technique of top pruning a bush or tree to promote root die-back. The premise is that if you greatly reduce the photosynthesis capability of the top off the plant then the roots will die down as well as the plant struggles to remain alive. The dead roots and nitrogen fixing bacteria die off, releasing that nitrogen gathered from the environment. Most leguminous plants are survivors, and coppicing properly done rarely kills the plant. Nature naturally coppices here frequently as storms come through and reshape our forests.
There are plenty of native and non-native legumes that can be incorporated into the landscape. Following are a few.
Shy leaf (Aeschynomene viscidula), Leadplant (Amorpha fruticosa), Gray nicker (Caesalpinia crista), Partridge pea (Cassia chamaecrista), Bahama cassia (Cassia chapmanii), Sensitive plant (Cassia nictitans), Coffee senna (Cassia occidentalis), Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), Rattlebox (Crotalaria pallida), Dalea (Dalea carnea), Globe headed prairie clover (Dalea feayi), Summer farewell (Dalea pinnata), White prairie clover (Dalea pinnata var. adenopoda), Beggar's tick (Desmodium lineatum), Coral bean (Erythrina herbacea), Florida milk pea (Galactia floridana), White milk pea (Galactia elliottii), Sky-blue lupine (Lupinus diffusus), Sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis), Lady lupine (Lupinus villosus), Wild tamarind (Lysiloma bahamense), White sweet clover (Melilotus alba), Sour sweet clover (Melilotus indica), Blackbead (Pithecellobium keyense), Cat claw (Pithecellobium unguis-cati), Necklace pod (Sophora tomentosa), Southern pencil flower (Stylosanthes hamata), Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), White clover (Trifolium repens), Vetch (Vicia acutifolia)
Some more native legumes : (Rhyncosia reniformis), (Petalostemon pinnatum), (Lespedeza augustifolia).
Some data from Your Florida Backyard
What is a scrubland?
A Scrubland (pronounced scrub - land) is an area of forest that experiences periodic drought. This type of biodome usually has short trees, bushes, and herbs, without the larger animals that wetter lands can produce. Spring Hill is part of a much larger scrubland forest that covers the west coast of Florida from Pasco County through northern Citrus. Though the area was once dotted with lowlands and lakes, a great deal of urban development and groundwater pumping has changed the landscape to sandy grasslands and thick palmetto forests. The area is an ever changing reminder that humans love change.
It is a food desert. There are no food production operations near US highway 19, the oldest and most well-known thoroughfare. West of the highway is floodzone with thick forests nd murky sawgrass beaches. East of the highway are houses as far as the eye can see, beyond that lie cattle pastures and privately owned preserve land, some of which are limestone mines.
It is my wish to investigate, research, plan, culture, cultivate, propagate, and teach growing and foraging practices that can turn this food desert into a bastion of edible and useful plants. Possibly even one plant at a time.
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