We took advantage of the relatively mild December to do some basic observation and surveying of the site. Although the property is mostly pasture with some mature trees, thankfully the previous owners applied no pesticides or other chemical treatments so there is a fairly diverse ground cover (clover, wild strawberries, etc. in addition to grass). The vegetation patterns can be quite informative about relative humidity etc. in different areas. 

In the first instance, we will probably concentrate on about 1/3 of the property, adjacent to the house and barn and gently sloping, as zones 1-2. South of the house, and between the house and barn, is a sloping & mostly sunny area that we are considering converting into a terraced garden. Below that is a sunny level area where we could construct a lasagna garden for annual vegetables, and to give us some production this year while the other systems are still being established. 

This area would also be ideal to site a greenhouse, which we are thinking of building as an extension/attachment on the south side of the barn. Interestingly, the latest Geoff Lawton video (http://permaculturenews.org/2015/01/09/how-to-build-a-geo-solar-greenhouse/) visits an innovative greenhouse design in Canada, where they store summer heat under the floor for passive heating through the winter (or at least the first part of it) - the “annualized geo-solar” concept (see also, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annualized_geo_solar). In our thinking, we had got as far as considering the insulation of the north-facing walls, water-based thermal masses and underground insulation of the greenhouse subfloor (see also Mollison, p.422), but the idea of actively storing the heat in underground could be a useful additional feature. I’ll be digging into more specific details.

To the north-west of the house is an open, mostly sunny and gently sloping area. However, it slopes to the north. We are thinking of establishing a small orchard zone along swales here, although the northerly aspect is an interesting challenge. One idea is to grade the rows by tree height, to minimize shade cast by one row onto the next. The area in general is somewhat sheltered from the cold winter winds by higher ground and trees to the north and west. However, judicious addition of windbreaks will likely be necessary here as well. 

The Permaculture Orchard film (http://www.permacultureorchard.com/) was interesting viewing, especially as the Quebec climate is similar to here (if anything a little colder). Permaculture projects in the northern midwest, north-east USA and Canada are extremely helpful to us, as we grew up in milder climes (especially, milder winters) and don’t have good reflexes in terms of what plants can handle our climate. We’re learning a lot from this segment of the permaculture community, and soon will start learning more by trying it ourselves. 

To the south-west of the house, in-between the above two areas and adjacent to a small woods (to the west - which will be left as a small zone 5 pocket also providing a wind/visual break), is a southward sloping but relatively shaded area, containing several mature trees as well as trees along the southern perimeter of the property. There are some gaps and so irregular sun/shade as a function of time of day and precise location in this zone. This area will need consideration of what might thrive in this shaded or partially-shaded environment.