Hi! Today you will get to know the difference between a Standard Farm Layout and a Permaculture Farm Design. Are you ready? Let's go! On the picture you see the regular homestead layout or at least it represents what I normally see around. The yellow line represents a property boundary. You can see small provincial roads surrounding the north side of the property. So usually a house is built next to the road close to home. There are usually outbuildings and animal housing which is a good thing because we have to feed most animals on a daily basis or milk them. Structures are usually built with no consideration to sun angles. I will explain this in the next section. So usually the structures are oriented towards the road and not towards the Sun. Close to home we'd have a garden and an orchard which again is a good thing because we want to have the fastest route possible to our ripened crops. Then the farm is usually divided into various rectangular, square or triangular sections, so it has different postures as well as fields devoted to grain cultivation. Lastly we typically have farm tracks but often the land topography is not considered. So whenever it rains heavily, the tracks make it muddier and muddier leading to loss of topsoil in a surrounding area. I'd like to show you what's in my opinion the best way to plan the homestead layout, because we have an amazing gift from 1970s. We were lucky enough to get a blueprint for ways to cultivate land sensibly, sustainably, resulting in a win-win situation for both the farmer and the nature. Of course I'm talking about permaculture. Intrigued? Good! Let's go! Okay. We start with the same empty area. We start with placing a compass. I'm in the northern hemisphere, so positioning different elements will make sense for Northern Hemisphere residents only, and I will explain more in a bit. Before we think about placing any elements, any plants or a house we have to consider the water flows first. This is a non-negotiable first step to creating a successful farm business and a great permaculture project. So on the picture you can see the contour lines which tell us how the land is shaped. On this picture, there is a screenshot of contour map generator. The link will be in the description below. The red colour represents the highest elevation point on a map, and the dark blue on the other hand the lowest elevation point. On the next picture from Google Earth we can see what it means in practice, as I changed the settings to show you the exaggerated elevation points to better visualize higher and lower altitude points. So we can see clearly there is a valley here. On the next picture, you can see arrows representing the direction of rain water flows in the landscape. So all the water flows from top to bottom and from different directions, and our aim is to capture as much water as we can and keep it in the landscape for longer, especially if we are in arid areas. By looking at the satellite image you can see it's extremely dry and there are no signs of vegetation. By creating water storages in land, we have more chances to succeed as we can distribute water from the various ponds to different parts of the property. The wavy lines represent "swales" which are tree growing systems. They are created by digging uncompacted ditches and putting a soil on a side to create a mound on which trees would be growing. The ditches naturally gather rainwater falling from the hills. Designing water features is much more complex than that, but to move on with this video, let's consider "access" and "structures". Access is very important, any future structures should have a good access point. In the previous example I showed you that the house is usually placed close to a road, but in permaculture if we can we try to build houses on a mid-slope. This is often recommended for several reasons: 1. placing the house on the mid-slope allows for better management of water flows. if the house is located at the bottom of a slope, water can accumulate and potentially flood the house during heavy rainfall. On the other hand, if the house is located at the top of a slope water can quickly run off and cause erosion 2. A house located on a mid-slope can take advantage of natural temperature regulation, the slope provides a buffer against extreme temperatures with cooler air flowing downhill and warmer are rising uphill 3. A mid-slope location can provide optimal sun exposure for gardens and crops. I hope you found it interesting. Moving on. The Barns and animal housing as well as vegetable gardens will be also in proximity to home on a mid-slope. But now let's move on to the bit you've been waiting for: Plants! Firstly I will place trees on the steeper parts of the property as they are not suitable to crop cultivation and using heavy machines. The trees will (help to) stop erosion and may be used as a source for wood fire. Then of course we will have orchard as close to home as we can, but the trees will be growing on swales filled with water during rainy periods. It's very important to look at the compass when planning the plant layout. Ideally the trees shouldn't be shaded by other trees unless you live in Tropics. Some trees and shrubs in the Mediterranean climate will benefit from partial shade due to the sun intensity in the summer. if you live on a flat land, a tree in the South will shade a tree behind it if planted closely it's vice versa in southern hemisphere. ATTENTION! The Southern Slope in northern hemisphere is therefore best for cultivation, as all trees more or less receive the same amount of light. In southern hemisphere the most favourable slope will be the northern slope. Pastures are also treated differently in the permaculture. Instead sowing just grasses and fodder crops, we incorporate trees that animals can forage on. This is an important aspect of permaculture design, as it can provide numerous benefits for both the environment and livestock production. Here are some reasons why: 1. Forage trees help to cycle nutrients in pasture systems. The leaves and twigs of forage trees are high in nitrogen and other nutrients that can be used as natural fertilizers for the soil. When animals graze on pastures and consume the forage trees they deposit manure and urine which further enriches the soil with nutrients. This can also improve the health and productivity of the animals while reducing the need for supplemental feed. 2. The roots of forage trees help to stabilize the soil and prevent erosion. The canopy of the trees can also provide shade which can help to reduce soil temperature and moisture loss. 3. Forage trees can provide habitat and food for a variety of wildlife including birds, insects and mammals. This can help to increase biodiversity in pasture systems, which can lead to more resilient and sustainable ecosystem. Let me know in the comments if you ever thought of incorporating trees to pastures. Okay after planting forage trees, we can move on to sowing grasses, cover and fodder crops. Next, it appears that in this case the best place for planting grains for animal feed is behind the barns. They are interplanted with legumes to increase soil fertility and biodiversity. In permaculture usually a small percentage of land is devoted to cultivation of grains, as most nutrition is sourced from fruit trees, not trees, berries and vegetables. However if one prefers to cultivate larger portion of grains, it of course can be done. But intercropping grains with other species will prevent most diseases, it will decrease the pest populations, and will conserve the soil. Lastly on the bottom of the picture we have dwarf fruit trees and berry bushes. The reason why they are placed there is because that part of the property is higher than the swale with fruit trees, which would mean placing the normal size trees could shade anything behind it, so such area would be also best suited to pastures with limited amounts of trees. Please note that the whole design would change if we had severe winds coming from either side as we'd need to place wind breaks first to protect the crops and animals. If you would like to know more about wind breaks, watch this video. Thanks so much for watching, see you in the next one. If you got value, consider subscribing.