A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners
New Project Needs your input
Hello friends. I need help with suggestions on another farmscape project.
I need help identifying:
- Crops and plants that grow well in sandy dirt (not soil).
- Animals.
- Identify possible attractions.
It covers an area of about 166 acres, at an elevation of around 1,500 feet above sea level.
The geology is rocky sand, high plateau/ high desert, similar to Sierra Nevada high plateau/ high desert.
Its climate is considered continental monsoon, semi-arid and sub-humid transition zone. The annual average temperature is 23 C with the coldest being –8.8 C, in January and the hottest being 26.1 Deg C in July. Springs and autumns are quite short while winters are relatively long.
Annual average relative humidity is 57%, average annual rainfall reaches 447.8mm, with 180 frostless days. With obvious temperature difference between day and night with daily winds during sunup and sunset. Dominant wind direction is southwest and southeast winds. The southwest wind velocity is stronger.
At present, the local communities grow wine grapes, apples and raise ducks to the west (near the lake), with some grain production (wheat, buckwheat & corn). Most of the soil is alkaline; much of it is low in nitrogen and poor in physical characteristics.
Plants planed for use so far include:
Trees (shade): The tree-of-Heaven ailanthus, often called simply ailanthus, Green ash, Velvet ash, Aspen, Boxelder, Siberian/ Chinese elm, Mesquique, low Pinyons, Junipers, Hackberry, Norway Maple, Thornless honeylocust, Red mulberry, Russian mulberry and Bur oak.
Trees (fruit):
Bushes:
Grasses:
Vegetables:
Animals:
Fish:
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Entertainment & Attractions:
Camping, fishing, goat carts (as main transportation within the community), Aquapoonic demonstration, my “tractor style” cow/ deer/ fowl portable pens, petting zoo, ATV/ motorcross track.
The major limiting factor not including climate and poor soil is that only one percent of land can be used to build permanent structure/s. At present, I plant to build a community/ activilies center with commercial kitchen and dining room.
Portable residences will be made out of recycled shipping containers and busses.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Randall Wimbish on
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Did you mean Mesquite? Where I live it is very invasive. Kinda' like Chinaberry trees and Cedar- Juniper trees are here as well. They all make good habatat for wildlife though. It gives them a good place to hide. Wine grapes are grown in similar soil here.
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Permalink Reply by Carey Ma on -
Yeah, bad spell-check..hehe Invasive is kinda ok cause it will be grown for on premise BBQ use. This is planned for first generation re-forestry efforts and will be replaced by other trees and bushes over time to finally end in an edible forest garden.
This is THE most challenging project I've come across to date! If I can grow and prosper here, I can grow anywhere!
What kind of produce and animals are raised near you?
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Mesquite is what I use for BBQ but spairingly because a little smoke goes a long way.
All kinds of produce and farm animals are grown near me. Texas is a very large state.
In the alkaline soils the cedar trees seem to thrive and there are lots of goats raised in that sort of setting. A friend of mine raises the large meat goats called Boer goat from Africa I think. Lots of people raise cattle. Farmers grow a lot of cotton, milo and mellons Some big cotton farms to the north are switching to wine grapes because they can make so much more money per acre that they can with cotton but they have to plant a lot of acres to make any money. To the south, the mesquites are thick and the soil is more like clay. It is my understanding that about 100 years ago there were no mesquites here but the cattle drives up from Mexico spread them here. The mesquite beans are nutricious for the Whitetail Deer and the wild feral Hogs that are also becoming very invasive and a nuisance. Although Whitetail Deer is a native species ranchers put up high fences and raise them for trophy heads and get a lot of money letting people hunt them. Then farther south there is a warm climate valley near the mexican border with large produce farms and citrus orchards.
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Permalink Reply by steve on -
http://agroforestry.net/pubs/NFTs.html Maybe some N fixing trees or plants? Just my thinking but I'd ditch the ATV idea, yes its fun and all but are gas toys the direction we want to continue? Maybe replace them with animal carts or maybe a train is efficient & quieter. What else grows well in sand, maybe potatoes, root crops, cassava. Source for compost nearby?
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Sulphur is sometimes added to alkaline soils to acidify. what about peanuts?
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Permalink Reply by TCLynx on -
Peanuts and sweet potatoes like sand but they need a long hot season.
Potatoes might be better for alkali sandy/rocky soil with a cool growing season but would need fertilizer in poor soils.
There are shrubs and trees that fix nitrogen that could be planted as the early stage of forest garden establishment.
Then mulberry is a pretty nice food and forage tree that grows in a wide range of climates though I don't know what it thinks of alkali soil. I grew up in a more northern climate but I don't know alkali soils so I'm running low on ideas other than rosemary.
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Permalink Reply by Carey Ma on
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Yeah, due to the short growing season, drastic day /night temp differences, accompanying high winds, lack of organic matter and lack of water, force me to house any production area in more controlled environments. But the surrounding "wild" areas are definitely a challenge. The only thing I have going for me is clear blue skies. Mulberry and rosemary would be good in the wild areas. Not ideal forage land for sure but I need to make as much use of this wild area as possible. See how after the whole year of growing. The natural grasses/ weeds are still only knee high whereas on my land, which I leave to seed after harvest, grows shoulder height.
This will be slow transformation.
I understand about supporting petroleum companies but really need some attraction. Horse trails are common here.
Thanks for the link Steve.
Thanks and please keep it coming! That's what brainstorming is all about. Lets turn this patch of nothing into something we can all be proud of.
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Permalink Reply by Eric Warwick on -
As you've probably seen this what I'm going to say will not be helpful in the slightest. However I'd say that non-fruiting plants with less water needs would be the correct thing to look at. So, the normal herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary, tarragon etc.) are good ones to have. Also, have you heard of Joel Salitan
. He made rocky soils (although I'm not sure the pH) into very productive farmland by using animal manure in a biodynamic fashion (I'm sure others can elaborate). Anyways what you should do, I just thinking into the reply box, is get a whole lot of organic matter and animal urine to turn that alkaline soil more acidic. Anyways I hope this helped.
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Permalink Reply by Chip Pilkington on
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Hi Carey,
Before moving to Asia, I spent about 20 years in Colorado. At one point, part of the territory I covered was the San Luis Valley in South Central Colorado. The soil in most of the valley is extremely sandy, in fact the Sand Dunes National Park is located there (State park?). Regardless, I supported the Ag industry there and the #1 crop in the valley was potatoes. They were extremely successful in that climate (over 4000 ft) with the very sandy conditions. There were additional crops that grew well too, but potatoes did really well.
You might do a little research on the area - Alamosa, Monte Vista areas in S. Co. region. They did have a good water supply, which is necessary and as I mentioned, they grew other crops as well. Also, the SLV is famous for occasionally being the coldest spot in the lower 48, at times hitting -40 or better every year. I'm just thinking sand and altitude and cool temps in the off season, might be close to what you're after.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Carey Ma on
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Eric, you are fast becoming a true AP guru. Keep up your thirst and quest for knowledge. When you graduate, you are welcome to work with me if you so choose. Organic matter build up is a must. I'll look into the possibility of getting sorted refuse from the nearby villages.
Chip: Thanks for your input. Growing root crops is a good idea.
OK, This thing is starting to come together. Maybe not so daunting. I've got trees and veggies taken care of, now I need some suggestions for bushes, grasses and livestock.
I'm still short on entertainment/ attractions. I need activities that'll keep them here as long as possible. I'm not sure how feasible it is but instead of ATVs, I'm thinking hot air balloons on a tether but winds are tricky so...
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Permalink Reply by Scott Westhoff on -
You should put in a zip line for an attraction. You have trees there to connect it to.
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Permalink Reply by Robert C. Wood on -
I am not sure how big a population is near you, but what they do here to help with reclaming or restoring a wet land is to get schools involved and use this as a learning experiance for the kids and having meny hand to make light of alot of work.
From the pictures you posted it looks like that there is alot of ag all around you. How meny have livestock like cattle,sheep, goats or chickens, and are they able to feed on the grass that is growing now? I know that with intensive soil reclimation through organic methods it will take about 3-4 years to have it so that you do not have to do anything to have it grow on its own.
As for what type of bushes to plant will depend on what type of wild life you want to attract.
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