Seeds in school

[PatrickW]

You might do a little searching on 'food forests', I remember in particular seeing a video on one in Asia somewhere that was really interesting. Basically it was this guys urban backyard that his ancestors started planting perennial edible plants there 300 years ago, with each generation keeping it up and adding to it, and now it completely feeds him, his family and part of the community.

This is really the problem with annual crops, that they require so many inputs and so much work...

This is slowly what my allotment is turning into...

[ottawagardener]

Just wanted to lend my support to perennial and permanent edibles. My front yard is slowly evolving into a food forest though I have two apple backbones that I would like to get rid of for something more productive, only they are my daughters trees so I think I'll just have to wait until we get a new yard.

It makes so much more sense than annual agriculture on a number of fronts even if annuals have their place in ecosystems.

[silverseeds]

Ive actually been working on my own style of a food forrest. It is much harsher conditions ehre then many areas, so my choices are limited. If anyone is aware of anything from other parts of the world, which, might do well in a dry place with a short season let me know. Im sure theres other things from other regions of the world.

I bought a book about permaculture for the south west, recommended by native seeds, and it didnt give a single example, of actual plants. It ws essentially a long wikipedia article about permaculture.

I just didnt relate the concept to the schools land, because I think they intend a more contemporary approach, but this is muc better. They can start many bushes and other things now, and transplant them before the summer. Utilizing many water saving and retention technics, it should work out great. Kids in every class teachers will participate, could start the grasses in cups also, and plant all of them spread out thinly across the land. So as to take advantage of the spreading seeds.

Yeah I think this is workable, to be honest I had no idea what would even work in such a small community, with little resources. I actually have a source for many varities that would do well there. Any ideas on perennials let me know.

Like dandelions might be an option, if I can find hardy seeds of plantain, and purslane and other perennials greens, any other ideas in that regard? Maybe some tomatillos. Theres varieties Ive heard of but dont know a source of the seed, that once grew semi wild here. As a weed in the gardens. I also heard someone on this forum talk of perennial tomatillos, Id love some of those for this project, and myself if anyont has a source, I can buy or trade with.....

okay so far I have pinon trees, choke cherries, wolfberries currants, possibly some amranths? If I can find a really hardy one, possibly tomatillos, grasses with large seeds, like rice grass and droppseed. Possibly dandelions, plantain purslane, and other weedy grens. Choke cherries, a wild plum tree I know of which MIGHT make it, maybe some local oak trees, prickly pear cactus, maybe service berry, with some attention, algerita, hackberries.

So any other ideas I might look into as for perrenials, of any nature? that could do well here with little or no help once established?

[silverseeds]

My wifes teacher thinks the principal will like that idea alot, because she old the principal today, I was working on ideas, and the principal said "Oh good". "Weve had people start things out there befor but never finish I hope he finishes" So an annual beds or a few is not out of the question but for staying power perrenials are they way to go. I hope the prinicpal agrees.

[Alan]

The high school that I attended offered many options in regards to agriculture.

By the time I had graduated I had already accumulated college credits in botany, horticulture, landscaping, animal husbandry and more.

We had/have a greenhouse and a terrific "hands on" FFA including animal husbandry/science and soil judging.

At current pace the high school has bee experimenting with growing my tomatoes in their winter greenhouses with much success.

We also had a terrific aquaculture program while I was in school which is now a "circulatory system" for the greenhouse operation with Talapia and I believe now Yellow Perch.

The ag teachers are pushing heavily to use some currently unused open farm field the school bought (corruption goes a long way in this town) for no good reason from the super intendent's brother for the location of field crops and an orchard in conjunction with Purdue university from what I have heard, I have also had a conversation where I was assured of my involvement in the "other side" of things, the "organic" trialing grounds if you will.

This will seague into internships on my farm and scolarships for Purdue.

I too am working towards a "permaculture" set up on my farm.

Yesterday I planted 25 trees. 12 grafted apples, 4 mullberries, 8 perssimmons and one cherry tree.

This morning I ordered a myriad of fruit seeds; currants, raspberries, thornless blackberries, gooseberries, plums, muscadine grapes and some interesting alpine, chiloneese, and musk strawberries.

Today I made a large blocked off bed of alpine and alpine crosses.

Tomorrow I'm going to the woods to cut a number of cedar posts for bean trellises, rose trellises, grape trellises, and some fencing.

I have blueberries germinating on the porch as we speak.

[castanea]

Alan, seedling mulberries or grafted?

[Alan]

Seedling mullberries from diversified endemic stock. The progeny of these trees is so similar that for all intents and purposes they could be termed "open pollinated".

There are two endemic type populations in Washington County Indiana, both black. One is a shrub type, low to the ground tree that bears prolifically, the other a monster of a tree with the most delicious fruit you ever tasted!

[PatrickW]

I'm impressed Alan. My high school never had anything like that! We were pretty much limited to college level math, physics, biology, English, history and maybe a few others. And I thought my high school was progressive!

It's actually a big problem that traditional/alternative agricultural techniques are not taught in schools in the US or elsewhere. Basically, if you have an Ag program someone has to pay for it, and no one is paying for these any more.

For example, if you want to study Ag plant breeding and genetics, you will by definition do this at the U of Wisconsin, Madison. As far as I'm aware there are are no other programs in existence. Some of the students of this program are floating around the Internet and blogs, like Karl of The Inoculated Mind, and they mostly seem pretty extreme in their political views, preaching the gospel according to Monsanto. I would expect if you went into a program like that with any sort of view of the world like any of us, you would have a pretty hard time succeeding.

I hope whatever becomes of this 'food forest', it offers a good view of the worlds food systems...

[Alan]

Yes Patrick, I really enjoyed those classes, I probably should have gone on to college for some expanded education in those fields but as you pointed out there are very few options, and the options there are seem to be farm more catered to the gene jokey crowd like Karl of The Inoculated Mind, who by the way is wasting everyone's air anytime he has a thought and writes one of those posts in my honest opinion. He should have just called it the "indoctrinated" mind.


I really do wish it was possible to bring back all of the land grant university agriculture programs that were once so prevalent here. Here I am working with everything I can on my own without funding and the colleges have given up, heck there aren't even any colleges now maintaining heritage turkey flocks, the last of those was "liquidated" in the past year or two, a flock of Midget White at that, one of the rarest breeds still clinging on to existence somehow.

This country has lost so much in terms of agriculture and history that it really makes me sad.