Before!  

 

 

 

 

 

Forest garden hedge planted!

Setting up the polytunnel after the bottle hedge was done!!

 

Allotment with reused wood (from the local community college) raised beds as for 1st layout

Clover lawn coming up!!

Polytunnel rain water harvest,I collect a lots of water!!!!! no need for tap..!!

 

Letter to Town council - Permission to keep bees

To Crowborough Town Council

plot.ref.PR02

Dear Sue Ongley,

I would like to ask you the consent to keep one bee hive on my allotment in Pilmer road.

It will be beneficial to impollinate our and other allotmenteers plants,it will be beneficial for the wildlife and conservation aspect of the local area as well because I will use British bees.

It is,also stated on the allotments act 1950 that it is possible to keep bees on allotments in respect of the local-by-law.

Regards

Pietro Zucchetti

 

The new top bar bee hive in spring 2009

Allotment with beneficial grasses during summer 2009

 

Top bar bee hive new roof during winter 2010

 

Allotment mini pond in summer 2009 with lily,beauty as a yield!!

Raised beds made with wine bottles-spring 2009

 

Butterfly bush during summer 2009

 

Newts in the mini pond-May 2009

 

My Allotment design costs at 05/12/09

Trellises  £18

Polytunnel £310

Shed £60

Plants + seeds + fruit trees £ 447.66

Compost 1 1/2 pallet £110

Rockdust 2 pallets £120

Soil moisture and PH meters £9

Rainwater harvest kit £29

Bee hive £43.47

Total amount £1147.13

 

Removal of the raised beds after the incremental design was done!! December 2009

 

Incremental design swale

 

Planting cauiflowers and chinese cabbages in November 2009

 

S.W.O.C. analisys for forest garden    05/12/09

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES	OPPORTUNITIES	CONSTRAINTS
low maintenance	pruning	reforestation	size
more productive than annuals	harvest	increase yields	wind
More stable ecosystem	sometimes too windy	to receive friends	town council permission
less flooding problems because trees function as pumps	long time for first yield	more spiritual environment	costs
Trees catch and store more sun energy for food production	establishing time	educate children to agroforestry	skills
nice place to be		birds and insects watching
nice view		more type of yields
more biodiversity		more recycling
it uses part of the kitchen waste		catch and store energy
food production		more space to play for children
sun trap		educate other allotment holders
windbreak		show to the town council different use of the land
children involved in maintenance		edible landscape
attract birds + insects + butterflies		reduce costs
diversity of yields		long lasting approach
soil improvement		save money on fruits
decorative		less watering
it brings nature inside the allotments view		more rainwater harvest from dripline
bird watching		more fertility
reduce run off of nutrients		stabilise the soil

 

Forest garden nutrient budget

This budget* is only to ensure sustainability in nutrients through a rough balancing of demand and supply. Note that this nutrient budget is for fully grown trees and fruit bushes,the requirements may not reach these levels for ten or fifteen years.

 

Trees	Number	Nitrogen (N) Kg.	Potassium (P) Kg.
Apples	3	3.39	4.25
Plums,Damsons,Gages	4	7.6	9.5
Cherries	1	0.452	0.565
Fruit bushes	15	3.8	4.71
Tot.	242	23.342	29.475
Compost needed^ (annually)		45kg.
Human urine(annually)			1 pee a month

*Annul calculations based on the Agroforestry research trust in U.K.- Book:Creating a forest garden by Martin Crawford

^Micronutrients,humic acid,micro fauna and flora are present in the compost.

Additional sources of nitrogen are present in form of nitrogen fixing plants and annual leaf litter.

 

Forest garden planted and mulched in Spring 2009

 

Beneficial insect,a ladybird on a pear tree in 2010

 

Newspaper mulching,the only way to turn bad news in good news!!

 

Hay mulching on top of newspaper.

 

Now,lay back and have a rest until the potatoes are ready!

 

Inside the polytunnel in summer 2009

 

My Allotment design Evaluation 04/12/09

 

Yields

 

Cawiflowers                                 16/05/09 1100g.

19/05/09 2200g.

29/05/09 1400g.

01/06/09 323g.

 

Apples Howgate wonder               19/07/09 400g.

21/09/09 4000g.

 

Apples different variety                 21/09/09 3000g.

 

Tomatoes from 04/09/09 to13/10/09

3000g.

14 kg.

Amish paste tomatoes                                24/11/09 393g.

24/11/09 1677g.

 

Broadbeans                                  19/07/09 115g.

 

Mix salad                                     19/07/09 50g.

21/07/09 120g.

21/09/09 300g.

 

Peas                                           21/07/09 350g.

Edible flowers                             19/07/09 50g.

21/07/09 80g.

21/09/09 100g.

Borlotti beans                             21/07/09 150g.

10/09/09 500g.

Garlic                                        21/07/09 500g.

23/03/09 350g.

Chicory                                     04/09/09 1500g.

13/10/09 1000g.

Kale black tuscany                      13/10/09 500g.

Garlic yield 23/03/09

mix yield 15/09/09

mix apple yield 15/09/09

 

Allotment Yields 15/10/2010

 

Apples Howgate wonder 22/07/2010 500g. 10/09/2010 5000g.

Apples different varieties      10/09/2010 3500g.

Tomatoes 02/09/2010 9000g. 13/10/2010 2000g. 07/11/2010 3000g.

Mix salads all through the year 4500g.

Garlic                  20/03/2010 500g. 24/07/2010 700g.

Chinese cabbage                                     17/03/2010 512g.

Perennials Like Borago officinalis,

Good king Henry,nasturtium,wild rocket,sorrel etc. all through the year 1500g.

Pears                                                     01/09/2010 3000g.

Cherries                                                 20/07/2010 1500g.

Plums                                                    24/07/2010       n.3

Loganberry At different time between end of June-July 1500g.

A mix yield in September 2010

 

Heirloom tomatoes 2010

 

One of the many small yields in June 2010

 

Cherries in July 2010

 

Loganberries in July 2010

 

A mix yield of herbs and perennials in 2010

 

A true perennial: Garlic second year yield without replanting 2010

 

A mix varieties of apples in 2010

 

A pears yield 2010

 

Last yield of tomatoes in November 2010 (on the scale is an Amish paste tomato)

 

Obtain a yield - we cannot work on an empty stomach!!!!

 

Permaculture Design report

My allotment

This is a design for my allotment. I was inspired by the south american native garden. It is located in the council allotment area half mile distance from my zone zero. That's my biggest area for food production and I use also to teach my children about permaculture.

I will use the S.A.D.I.M.E.T. approach for this design.

Survey information – My allotment  was an opportunity to produce fresh food for my family,to use rain water for the polytunnel,to save more money on food,to grow more salads and herbs in winter,to grow perennials in bigger quantities,to reuse an unused space (my allotment was uncultivated for 6 years),to attract insects and birds as non-instrumental value,to show our neighbors that it is possible to grow without pesticides,to relax and to have a more pleasant environment.

Information from client interview

From the client interview I understood different possibilities to design my allotment. Like: reuse waste (plastic containers,plastic pots,water etc.),more food,relax,helping wildlife (bird feeders),educational (bird watching,gardening,soil and plants observation),use of unused space,shows neighbours that it is possible not to use chemicals in the allotments.

How you analysed the information

After the input/output analysis and a random assembly I could understand the most useful systems to place in the design like: Raised bed using glass bottles,mycorrhiza,tyre wormery,polytunnel,windbreak,swale,forest garden,pond and rockery. Also, I have used the incremental design approach,a S.W.O.C. analysis for the forest garden,nutrient budget and yields evaluation over two years.

Conclusions

This design is a  permaculture example of what it is possible to do in an urban area with a smal space available,as it has been said by the Permaculture Association Britain in the reply letter to the LAND project.

How you approached your design

The design method I used was SADIMET.The inspiration came from the study of the native american garden used in the south with the association corn,beans,squash. I choosen this design to compliment the organization of my zone zero and my balcony.

Drawings, overlays and plans

I am not using overlays in my designs because they are not very precise and the acetate paper is not sustainable to me. To use tracing paper it is possible to barely see the design behind it and become even less precise. Instead sometimes I overlay two plans digitally where it is possible to have a better understanding.

"Stacking and use of vertical space" I used trellis on the west side of the allotment to create a forest garden hedge with:Apples,pears,satsuma plums,cherry,wild strawberries,garlic,loganberries,redcurrants,raspberries,rosemary,perpetual spinaches,welsh onions,black Tuscany kale,broad beans and more.

"Nutrients cycles" using composted grass,kitchen waste,worm cast (from tyre wormery) and polytunnel veg. waste. Harvesting rain water from polytunnel and through a swale.

"Work with nature not against" growing only seasonal plants and using plant associations like in the forest garden hedge and lately in the forest garden. No use of pesticide,herbicides or other kind of chemical.Instead,mycorrizal inoculation of fruit trees,bushes and other plants. Using white clover as ground cover to release nitrogen into the soil.

"Catch and store energy" catching and storing rain water from the polytunnel and pond,storing composting waste,allow rainwater into the system.

Catching light from the sun with the forest garden and transforming it in sugars.

"Obtain a yield" The yield in this system is not only food but also education for my children,relax,bird and mammals watching while they feed around,spreading permaculture to my neighbours and proving them that using chemicals like slug pellets doesn't help.

"Use and value diversity" in the small pond we found two palmated newts,there are robins and other small birds coming in and out,ladybirds,green snakes,voles. I mix plants and trees together of different old varieties.

 

"Use hedges and value the marginal" I established a forest garden hedge along the west side of my allotment, but all my allotment has got different areas on the edge of each other like the forest garden on the edge of the polytunnel and the white clover lawn and the pond.

If able to install or implement the design

The whole design has been implemented starting from the forest garden hedge.I started with that because it gives protection to the whole allotment giving almost an instantaneous production. Than I built the polytunnel to start with an intesnsive veg. production.

How did the maintenance

The maintenance turned out easy, because the relative placement of the elements. As soon as we have some spear time we go there to check it out and water all the plants.

Evaluation and Costings

Overall, it has almost produced food from the first year,the cost it may be expensive but considering the amount of food produced,our leisure in staying there with all the education for my children, it was worth it!!