Permaculture is something that most new homesteaders strive for. We hear about it, and almost immediately we love the concept. But what does that look like when you live in a desert. Is it possible to have an edible food forest when there is deer, rabbits, and mice everywhere and everything you plant seems to disappear as quickly as you plant it. What do you do when you have free range cows?

When we moved out to the high desert of Northern Arizona we were faced with hard clay soil, free range cows and more rabbits then you could count. In addition to that, we have mice that are everywhere and love to eat the tiny plant starts as quickly as they come up out of the soil. 

I often laugh when someone tells me they don't' have a green thumb like me because I definitely don't have a green thumb and I use to say that to other people all the time. However, I really wanted a food forest and I really wanted to succeed, so I just kept going. 

Try and Try again

Probably the first thing that I did was buy a lot of plants and watched them die. That's right, I watched them die. Oh don't get me wrong, I didn't want them to die. More then anything, I wanted them to live. The problem was I didn't know how to keep them alive. I still don't know how to keep them alive. I often purchase a new plant, put it into the ground only to watch as it slowly dies, and it can be frustrating at times. The good news is that eventually I found plants that did well and liked our (amended) soil. 

Amend the soil, Amend the soil, Amend the soil

The other thing we did was we amended the soil. I added compost, manure, sand and earthworms. When I dug a hole for a tree I would dig a very large hole. I then mixed the soil from the hole with the compost and manure and some sand. Finally I mixed in some earth worms. Earthworms can be an incredible amendment to poor soil.   Earthworms:

• Aerate the soil

• Eat some types of harmful nematodes

• Assist in the composting process of our soil

• Increase nutrient availability

• Improve soil drainage

• Improve soil structure

The beautiful thing about adding earthworms is they will continue to work in your soil long after you plant your gardens. 

Use  Perennial Plants

A perennial plant is a plant that will grow back every year and will continue to produce year after year. When we first started our gardens I made a short list of perennial plants that we could plant. It was discouraging because I just didn't feel like there were a lot of options out there and when I did find an option the plants often didn't want to thrive here in the desert. Since those early days I have found so many different plants that are perennials and thrive here. 

• Trees

• Berries - all berries are perennials. Raspberries, strawberries, saskatoons (service berries), blackberries, and elderberries are all berries that we can grow here with success.

• Rhubarb

• Chives

• Daylilies

• Egyptian walking onions

• Comfrey

• Mint

• Oregano

• Lavender

• There are loads of flowers that are perennials

• Asparagus

• Artichokes

Pay attention to your sunlight

When you plant something like a strawberry that does well in full sun in the desert here they thrive when planted under a tree with partial sun. Full sun is 8 hours of sunlight. During the summer months the sun comes up at 5am and doesn't go down until 7:30 (and even later midsummer). That means that your plants are getting over 14 hours of sun. You want your plants to get sunlight, but you don't want to cook your plants. 

If you don't have shade in your garden areas think of ways that you can provide shade.

• Add trees 

• Use wood fences

• Take advantage of buildings (this one is a little more tricky because building can also be a good place for rodents to hide that could eat your plants but they can be used wisely). 

• Build shade structures 

Wind is real and the seasons are irrational!

We get a lot of wind here. When I put my plants in I have to think about how much wind they are going to get and when. Trees that I planted for fruit grow beautifully, but an early stretch of warm weather in February followed by wind and freezing temperatures almost always takes out any dreams I have of getting fruit. Finally I got smart enough to realize that I needed to plant varieties of fruit that would blossom later in the season. And when it comes to that wind, well lets just say perennials are the way to go because once they get established they can handle the constant wind a lot better. For that reason, its sometimes better to put in your plants after the wind season. The wind dries out the dirt and the plants and adds to the harsh sun. However, if you wait until after the windy season then you could have more success. 

Keep going

The number one thing that I have learned is to keep going. Keep trying, keep learning, and DON'T GIVE UP! 

If you want to learn more about how we farm in the desert, come and visit our farm. We are open in June and July Friday and Saturday from 8am-2pm. And while you are here buy some comfrey plants and worms for your garden and shop our farm stand. Help support us so that we can keep teaching and keep learning and trying.