Read
Small Family Farms Aren’t the Answer
heated.medium.com
Read this viewpoint alongside the farm examples, considering the relationship between a farming approach, its scale, and what it is expected to provide.
Open resourceModule 19 / 25
Broadscale Landscape Design
Larger sites raise questions about how production, access, habitat, and ongoing work can be organized over a greater area. This module examines farming approaches and perennial systems, then returns to zones as a way to consider different uses and levels of management.
The farm readings and examples invite comparison of their priorities and practical demands. The book selections connect those choices with livelihoods, while the zone and wildlife resources help you consider how harvesting, care, and habitat relate at the scale of your own design.
Topics
- Development of Zones 3, 4, and 5
- Practical procedures in property design
- Strategies for farmers
- Wildlife habitat
What you’ll learn
Learning goals
- Understand imperatives and challenges of rural regeneration, income from acres
Read, watch & explore
Getting the books · access & editions
Use your own copy, buy the book, or borrow it through a library when possible. If you are local to me, contact me about borrowing a copy. You can also contact me for information about digital or other access to assigned readings.
If your edition uses different page numbers, contact me and we can match the correct section.
For articles, excerpts, videos, and other resources, use the links in the lesson. If a video player does not load, try its source link. If you cannot access a reading or media resource, or it has no link, contact me with the module number and resource title.
Ask about books, readings or media access ↗Broadscale farming approaches
Watch
Richard Perkins Video
YouTube
Use this example to consider the work, tools, and management involved in running a farm.
If the player does not load, use the source link.
Read
Designing and managing regenerative farms and smallholdings - Permaculture Association
permaculture.org.uk
Open resourcePerennial systems and livelihoods
The farm examples lead to questions about what a system produces and the work that supports it. Read the perennial-cropping selections alongside the livelihoods material to consider both parts of that relationship.
Book reading
Restoration Agriculture
Mark Shepard
end of Chapter 1, start at “Birds flew in and around the branches of the trees”
Chapter 6: The perennial-cropping case
Chapter 7: Begins with “Identify Your Biome” and moves to economic species and system assembly
Chapter 17, “Making a Profit” — optional further reading for farm-scale interests
Book access & editionsBook reading
Practical Permaculture
Jessi Bloom and Dave Boehnlein
Pages 291 to 295: income from acres
Use current local costs and prices for your own estimates.
Book access & editionsZones, habitat, and maintenance
Module 7's Zone 1 and Zone 2 videos compared placement with the frequency of visits and care. Use the same comparison for the Zone 3, 4, and 5 examples, considering access, harvesting, wildlife habitat, and maintenance.
Watch
Food and Wildlife Garden Together Video
YouTube
Consider how food production and wildlife habitat relate in the design, alongside the zone resources that follow.
If the player does not load, use the source link.
Watch
Permaculture Zone 3 Video
YouTube
Compare the uses and care shown in this Zone 3 example with your plan.
If the player does not load, use the source link.
Watch
Permaculture Zone 4 Video
YouTube
Continue the comparison by looking at how management and access relate to the uses of Zone 4.
If the player does not load, use the source link.
Watch
Permaculture Zone 5 Video
YouTube
Consider the place of Zone 5 in the whole design and its relationship to the more intensively managed areas.
If the player does not load, use the source link.
Read
Oregon State: Zones
Oregon State University
Open resource
Open full-size image
Planting areas and routes are drawn over an aerial image in this Living Landscapes farm plan. Reading the plan together with the visible landform helps you examine how access, open ground, and tree cover relate at a larger scale.
Source: Living Landscapes Design portfolio.
Read
New Forest Farm
In this course
Module 11 used this farm example when considering perennial plant relationships. Here, examine it in relation to farm-scale production, access, and ongoing work.
Open resourceReadings & resources
- Small Family Farms Aren’t the AnswerReadIn lesson ↑
- Richard Perkins VideoWatchIn lesson ↑
- Designing and managing regenerative farms and smallholdings - Permaculture AssociationReadIn lesson ↑
- Restoration Agricultureend of Chapter 1, start at “Birds flew in and around the branches of the trees”Chapter 6: The perennial-cropping caseChapter 7: Begins with “Identify Your Biome” and moves to economic species and system assemblyChapter 17, “Making a Profit” — optional further reading for farm-scale interestsIn lesson ↑
- Practical PermaculturePages 291 to 295: income from acresIn lesson ↑
- Food and Wildlife Garden Together VideoWatchIn lesson ↑
- Permaculture Zone 3 VideoWatchIn lesson ↑
- Permaculture Zone 4 VideoWatchIn lesson ↑
- Permaculture Zone 5 VideoWatchIn lesson ↑
- Oregon State: ZonesReadIn lesson ↑
- New Forest FarmReadIn lesson ↑