The Perfect Plot Size

The question was posed, "What is the perfect amount of land to have some pigs, steers, egg layers and meat chickens, and maybe a turkey?"

The answer is it depends.  In Virginia, ten acres qualifies for farm tax credits saving a great deal of money on taxes.  This is a huge benefit in the long run, so I would say the minimum qualifications for a perfect plot would meet the state standards for farm tax credits.  Your farm accountant will be able to fill in the gaps here.

Could you provide for yourself on less?  Absolutely!  Square Food Gardening boasts that four 4ft x 12ft x 6in beds will provide enough food for one person every day of the growing season with a little extra for visitors and friends.  Stepping into the permaculture realm, there is a two acre Vietnamese food forest that has sustained a family's food, medicine, fiber, and building materials for 300 years and 28 generations.  That is like you starting a self sustaining garden for your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandchildren.

A serious concern when trying to pack animals in a small space is pasture rotation.  After being grazed, the pasture needs to rest and to be allowed to regenerate otherwise it the green material will quickly be eaten to dirt.  The magic number appears to be 91 days of rest before animals are reintroduced in rotational beef examples.  By rotating pastures stocking rates can be increased, so not only are the plants more nutritious for the cows, but you can fit more cows in the field - that equals more money in your pocket and food on the plate.

Q: Could you have a one tree food forest?

The intentional food forest is designed to mimic what we see in thriving forest ecosystems with plants of our own choosing.  The question posed was, can you have a one tree food forest?

The forest consists of 7 layers; the tallest layer is the canopy where 95% of the sun can be blocked by the tallest of trees.  Smaller trees form the second layer.  The shrub, herbaceous, and ground cover layers fill in the gaps between the trees while climbers shoot up towards the canopy and the roots find home in the rhizosphere.  So at minimum a food forest design must have two trees to meet the canopy and shorter tree requirements.

In the question, the designer asked about how to build a food forest around a single maple tree.  While the question was more about what is the smallest food forest one could make, it raises a larger question about shared vocabulary of systems.  Consistency in terminology is paramount because the words we choose create the picture in the mind of the listener.  

A monoculture is a single crop planting dominates and where it is hard to find a plant other than the one scheduled to be harvested like an incredibly large corn, wheat, alfalfa, or corn field.

A polyculture system is where many plants are planted together like an apple orchard with a clover ground cover crop.  

For a polyculture system to fall under the classification of the food forest it must have the seven layers seen in nature. 

Logo Final for now