Agraria Journal Winter 2021

PETER BANE Center of four-row windbreak of mixed fodder species supported by irrigation from IBC tote reservoir PETER BANE Rows of mixed species trees and shrubs in an alleycropped windbreak, showing use of IBC totes for irrigation 24 AGRARIA JOURNAL 2021 PATTERNS CONNECT ELEMENTS IN FLOW The culminating strategy that integrates these elements of soil fertility and water management into a workable system is patterning. Patterns are both spatial and temporal. Cultivation and the movement of animals or machinery should always be done on contour to harvest water from surface runoff while reducing erosion. We plant our trees in rows separated by alleys of grass and forbs (alleycropping, a form of agroforestry). This gives us the beneficial edge effect between different ecosystems, and places the woody material where it can easily improve the land with least effort. MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS Our alley pastures provide grazing for animals, supplemented by forage and fodder harvested from the trees. The trees bring up moisture, provide shade to cool the soil surface, and offer shelter against our often harsh winds. Some of the tree species fix nitrogen at their roots, so that when we coppice them to feed animals or for mulch, they release that nitrogen to surrounding plants. The trees and shrubs also attract and shelter birds and insects among other small creatures, whose frass and droppings enrich the whole. The alleys between the trees and shrubs, when grazed by livestock, contribute a drench of manure tea to the roots of the trees with every rain or irrigation. Most farms have a woodlot, but trees can make a much greater contribution to farm productivity and health if they are distributed throughout the growing spaces as windbreaks, hedgerows, bio-islands sheltering beneficial insects, and sources of food, fodder, fuel, and poles. Trees are also our main ally in combatting climate change. They cycle moisture into the atmosphere, and through transpiration, they release absorbed solar energy without heating the land surface. A cooler soil (covered with vegetation, actively cooled by trees) radiates less solar energy to the atmosphere, lowering the planet’s temperature. Heat islands are not only an urban phenomenon; they occur over bare soil on farms as well. The solutions for planetary health are the same ones that enrich the land. Sky and soil are one system. Our job is to maintain the balance. Catch, store, and circulate water and carbon between sky and soil, using trees, animals, and diverse plants. Pattern the land and the crops to harvest water and deepen soil. Build a culture from these things. Tell their stories. Celebrate fertility and abundance. Share with all of life. Peter Bane is the Executive Director of Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA.in) , and the author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country (permaculturehandbook.com ). He is a long-time teacher, designer, publisher, and author, and now farms 18 acres with his family in western Lower Michigan.