Farming Systems 1

Having defined the purpose for our lifestyle block, the next task on my correspondence course in Small Farming was to consider the systems that we might want to put in place on our property.

After completing the reading for the module, I set about sketching out the different system components - or farming activities - that I have planned for our block. The various animals (from sheep and goats to pigs to ducks and chickens) were all included, as were the fruit trees, citrus grove and vegetable garden. I then thought about how the way the different activities might interact - both positively and negatively.

For example, the chickens will fertilise the fruit trees and keep pests down. However, the chickens would destroy the vegetable gardens if I let them free range over the raised beds. But the excess matter from the vegetable gardens will help to feed the chickens.



By considering how the activities complement each other - and how any risks posed by one component to another can be mitigated - set me to look at the principles of permaculture.

To quote the Permaculture in New Zealand website:

"Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems."

Bill Mollison from Permaculture: A Designers Manual

I have a lot more reading to do before I fully understand this farming system but I'm already intrigued. I hope too that the farming system which I'm developing for our property will help me to meet at least some of the permaculture principles such as:

• Produce no waste
• Integrate rather than segregate
  

Allowing the chickens and ducks to wander around the orchard, fertilising it and munching on insects, will integrate those components well. Segregating the chickens from the vegetable garden is the only sensible option but adding their litter to the compost and using vegetable gluts or bolted plants to supplement the chickens' diet will significantly reduce the waste on our small farm.

The diagram below shows more interrelationships, including how some subsystems such as watering troughs for the animals can be used to service more than one component.

Just click on the heading below and you can examine it in more detail over at Scribd.

2 Systems - Illustration - Components