Cory,

Have you experimented with raised beds? Like Sepp?
How big is you yard?
My 5c worth is to hire a mini-digger for the weekend, dig big trenches and bury all the organic matter you can get your hands on -logs especially.
This I reckon will cure your issues with moisture retention and fertility.
Here's Sepp's thoughts.

Cheers,
Niels

My Bookmarks:
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Marsha!!! I should have guessed you would be on a list like this!
Wow, I am going to be getting the best info here...

Yes, I moved to Florida, had friends out here and needed a vacation
from LA. I don't know how permanent it is yet but we'll see.

By the way, my 16 year old son did the permaculture course and now
wants to stretch his wings and apprentice somewhere really different
than LA. Do you have apprenticeship programs there? I would love to
come and see what you are doing too (I'll email you more on this).

We have seriously sandy soil here, I mean like beach sand. I'm not
used to that at all - the nutrients just soak right down through the
sand (and the water does too). We're trying a cardboard glie type
sheet mulching with seaweed to see if that will work. Right now my
yard is a polyculture of "weeds" - Spanish nettle, sorrel and chicory
:-) The landlord was going rip it out and put in lawn, yikes. Nothing
much else will grow in the soil, but it makes great salad, all edible.

I've seen part of that DVD (I think it's the same one), it really is
amazing. I love that shot of him walking in snow up to his hips
practically to pick lemons!

I'm going to pass this info on to our volunteer group
(createclearwater. com). We're just starting, most are just learning,
but I'm trying to get more of them trained as permaculturists and into
all the possibilities.

Cory

--- In polyculturepeople@ yahoogroups. com, Marsha Hanzi <mhanzi@...> wrote:
>
> Cory!
>  
> You´re in Florida now?
>  
> I would recommend  Chris Evan´s system- it worked great for us. I
think you will find it in the archives of this list. Basically he
plants out seedlings of longer-season crops (cabbage, peppers, etc.),
beans at every half foot, throws out seeds of salad greens calculated
to occupy the space and then fills the cracks up with quickies like
coriander, fenugreek.  The key is to keep harvesting, making way for
the next generation. It worked great for us with a twist: adding
adzuki beans to the mix, they make tiny little umbrellas which protect
the new seedlings from our tropical sun.
>  
> I will be getting big into polycultures this year ( with the rains
in May).  Will keep this list posted of the new combinations.
>  
> One that worked especially well last year: amaranth, radishes,
rocket, scattered over the surface ( also buckwheat but the ants ate
that!)  planting squash every 2 meters with compost and one
sunflower.  We planted late so the squash only produced flowers ( but
vast quantities) but the rest produced well.
>  
> We hoed the seeds in with  bonemeal and goat manure ( which comes
naturally pelleted!) and a bit of clay as our soil is so sandy. We
covered it all with long cane grass which let enough light and space
for the seeds to come up among the canes- something I highly
recommend! Did not hoe or weed- just returned to pick! And that field
today is clearly richer and more fertile than the land beside it which
has never been worked.
>  
> I just received the DVD of Sepp Holzer- an astonishing example of
polycultures in a near-siberian climate ( median temperature 4.5
degrees...) in the mountains of Austria.
> (www.okofilms. de)
>
> Happy almost Spring to everyone!
> Marsha
> --- On Tue, 2/10/09, cory8570 <cory8570@.. .> wrote:
>
> From: cory8570 <cory8570@.. .>
> Subject: [polyculturepeople] Introduction
> To: polyculturepeople@ yahoogroups. com
> Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 1:37 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi, I'm a permaculture designer who recently relocated to Florida from
> LA. I had a food forest in LA that I was just starting to experiment
> with regarding polycultures. Mostly I've done them in my veggie beds.
>
> I worked with Adonijah Miyamura at Crenshaw High food forest and have
> seen a number of examples of food forests that had lots of interaction
> going on.
>
> I'm interested in discussing successes with tropical/semi- tropical
> polycultures in food forests. I've studied the coffee plantation
> version and also some of Marsha Hanzi's work in Brazil (which is
> amazing stuff!) Just from what was happening in my forest, it seems
> that there are many potentials for polycrop in semi and tropical
> areas. I've found that permaculturists often don't record their
> experiences with polycropping - I know I haven't and no one I know has
> either. That would be a good project for somebody.
>
> I'm also helping organize a permaculture course at the first Earthship
> in Florida starting at the end of Feb, more info at
> thepermacultureguil d.com - it's going to be a really good course with
> lots of extras above and beyond the 72 hour requirements, including
> workshops on native plants and other things.
>
> Cory Brennan
>