Steps to Developing Raw Land into a Permaculture Homestead

First things First – Planning

Right, the boring stuff first. Upside-down tractors and falling through floors comes later in the story.

Permaculture common practice says it is best to observe a piece of land for a year, before making any changes.

Well, we didn’t have that kind of time – we had to start developing right away.

Thankfully I was able to see the land during the end of the rainy season, meaning I was able to note where the water was flowing, which is a major factor in site planning. This, along with long walks across many acres was enough to make a rough plan for our site, applying as many permaculture principles as we could.

Through observations, we were able to determine:

• The best location for access/roads that would also serve as water harvesting potentials
• The best locations for power and water lines based off future use (or lack thereof) of the areas
• Where to locate the water tank for gravity fed irrigation
• The best locations for buildings to take advantage of summer shade and winter sun for passive climate control

We evaluated the characteristics of the elements, the attributes of the land it was to be placed on, and what we needed. The intersection of these three was often our best bet for deciding where something was going to be placed on our site.

From here we were able to map out a rough initial site plan that accounted for future locations of major elements like pasture, gardens and additional structures.

http://highsierrapermaculture.com/permaculture-articles/steps-to-developing-raw-land/

On – 14 Nov, 2017 By Bret Glassett