Also called "woodland gardening" Permaculturing the woods seems to be the solution to Zero Energy Farming since we plant once and harvest forever (in theory) with only minimal maintenance. We have started permacultured areas in the veggie gardens that seem to cut down a large portion of planting in the spring. We've planted cauliflower, brocolli, cabbage and brussels sprouts with good success as they have come up a few years in a row and provided for an early harvest.

The goal of a permacultured landscape is to use the space you have to grow the things you need naturally and intermingled. The reasoning is - you confuse the heck out of the bugs so you have less pest problems. And since this is the opposite of mono-culture, no single pest can take down a whole crop, not just because they can't find it but few bugs eat everything so no harvest goes without something producing. If pests do take down all of a particular crop - say corn, the potatoes have been spared and thrive better with the space.

Permaculture takes advantage of building "stories" of trees, vines, bushes, plants and roots all in a small area. The northern things that can be permacultured into a landscape (and make an edible landscape) are:

Top Story: apples, pears, peaches, nuts (and for us we will add hybrid poplars for our wood heat needs).

Second Story: Elderberries, raspberries, blackberries, and other bush fruits including roses for rose hips. Vines on this level could include grapes, kiwi, hops,and other permenant fruits.

The Third Story: Rhubarb, strawberries, asparugus, wintergreen, mints, sage, . I've also found broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussel sprouts come up every year if I do not pull out the plants in a fall clean up. The produce is smaller the second year but I haven't done much (if any) work - other than to harvest.

A Fourth Story might include horse radish, ginseng and other root crops. I had thought about adding potatoes to this list as I do have potatoes that grow yearly since I can't seem to find all the small potatoes.

These plants should need little care other than an occationally side-dressing of a good nutrient rich compost in the spring to produce a harvest. Trees might need trimming, vines might need traing, all plants might need side-dressing, but the goal is no re-planting the area yearly.

Do the wildlife some considerations too. Planting sunflowers, millet, thistle, grasses and clovers will go a long way in keeping wildlife from your crops.

The places we chose for permacultured woods are farther away from the house just because of the wildlife sharing the area.

Recommended Videos (Note - these are also available on youtube):

Understanding The Permaculture Concept

Suburban Permaculture

A 25 Year Permaculture Project

Farming for the Future