Traditional Portuguese vineyard converted to a permaculture farm
Cultivation zones
Mediterranean food forest and vineyard - contains native and exotic plants adapted to sunny and dry summers: wine (mostly Castelão & some Moscatel) grapes, pistachio, carob, mulberry, oak, pecan varieties, apricot..
Fruit orchard - plants that benefit from a lot of water - orange, lemon, tangerine, persimmon, olive, apple, fig, plum, avocado, guava, chestnut, walnut, quince, table grapes, raspberry.. AKA the chicken field.
Mixed orchard - plants with varying needs - Castelão, olives, annona, macadamia, carob, oak, peach, raspberry.. AKA the duck field.
Kitchen garden - tangerines, kiwi, lemon, apple, pear, acerola, passion fruit.. Planting beds for veggies. Trellises for beans and squash
Permaculture practices
Pest control - Pesticide and fungicide free. All zones are fertilized by brown manures - chicken, duck, geese, horse, and by green manures (lupine, vetch..) No chemical fertilizers are used. The chickens and ducks are also very effective at reducing common pests such as snails, slugs, caterpillars and beetles. Dogs and cats - rabbits and rodents. Irrigation avoided at dusk to prevent the need for fungicides.Cultivation zones - Divided into the four areas. Fenced kitchen garden area irrigation designed for very high water usage. Fenced fruit orchard for high. Fenced mixed orchard for medium. The Mediterranean zone has a flexible layout for low irrigation needs. While established trees do not need irrigation, water is needed to establish new plantings and to boost productivity. The farm uses about 90% less water than before conversion to a permaculture model. There is more than enough well water available, if needed.
Diversity, diversity - Tree species are mixed together. This helps prevent disease transmission, common with monoculture plantings. Different varieties of the same species are planted together. For example pistachio on terebinthus and UCB1 rootstocks, grafted with Aegina, Sirora, Kerman etc.. varieties. Interspersed with the fruit trees, are faster growing trees designed to provide ornamental or temporary shelter and for soil improvement. For example - nitrogen fixing: Amiero, Casuarina, False Olive. Other. Eucaliptus species, ash...