B-21 by Sustainable Suburban Design Competitions

Deciduous tree

House (Zone 0) Root Cellar Hazelburt, Elderberry and Chinese Indigo Fruit Cup tree Kitchen Mandala Goumis, Currants and lowbush blueberries Garage Italian Alder covering Raincatchment and Compost Tea Brewing Station (Driplines to Annuals) 9. Mushroom Inoculants (partially covered by Italian Alder) 10. Italian Alder 11. Sea Berry 12. High Production Annuals on Contoured Swails

Neighbor’s house & garage

Neighbor’s shed

38 7

STANHOPE AVE

Neighbor’s houses

Deciduous trees

14 White pines 36

28-31

27 24 22

32 33

Utilities

27. Bridge 28. Hangout Spot 29. -Earthoven 30. -Hammock 31. -Grape Trellis 32. Hazlenut Hedge 33. Paw Paws and Lilac 34. Hypoaccumulater Edge (Remediation Strip) 35. Healthy Soil Bed 36. Mounds for Cucurbits 37. Blueberry Bush 38. Fungi and Nitrogen Messenger Guild

13. Northstar and Japanese Cherry Trees 14. Grafted Korean Nut Pine Guild 15. High Production Blueberries in Protective Netting 16. Siberean Pea Shrubs 17. Permanent Fenced Chicken Paddock 18. Portable Chicken Coop with Laying Boxes 19. Grafted Apple Tree 20. Nectary 21. Honey Bee Hive 22. Chicken Paddocks I, II and III (partially covered by trees) 23. Posts for Easily Collapsible Chicken Netting 24. Grafted Apple Trees Super Guild 25. Solar Powered Waterfall 26. Pond

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Ⅲ

Neighbor’s house

12 16 19

Zone 5

Ⅱ

Ⅰ

Zone 4

37 Deciduous tree

Red maple  Zone 1

Red maple Deciduous trees

 Zone 2 

scale:

North

Oak

Zone 3

project:

designer:

location:

date:

Sustainable Suburban Design Competition 20

100

21 Stanhope Street, Keene NH

B-21

September 2013

Site Plan

scale:

North

project:

designer:

location:

date:

Sustainable Suburban Design Competition 20

100

21 Stanhope Street, Keene NH

B-21

September 2013

Site Plan

About the Design and The Master Pattern The design meets the goals of having organic, sustainable practices, an outdoor living space for relaxing, entertainment and play and in a couple years will far exceed the goal of growing 50% of the food needs for the four residents. This is a Permaculture Design. Every element has multiple functions. Every function has multiple elements. The living system is designed to increase soil fertility over the years and the plants are chosen to be compatible and mutually beneficial, creating a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. There are many passive elements of this landscape, which all decrease labor and cater towards the usually fast paced suburban lifestyle. We use what is on site already to our advantage and repurpose what will decrease the productivity of the land. The design uses only plants hardy to at least the Keene area (a conservative USDA zone 5). Every microclimate is deliberately used and all functions of elements have been carefully weighed out to maximize the outputs of the site and minimize the inputs. The components have specific features, polycultures, structures and strategies that are proven to work. We change problems into solutions by designing holistically. The majority of time spent on the land will be in Zone 1 and the highest producing systems are in Zone 2 and 3. Pathways to the daily chicken chores meander through Zones 4 and 5, flowing through the high production annual beds so that critically timed observation happens during a stroll. We cycle the fertility of the land by rotating the chickens through the three paddocks in a mobile coop with laying boxes made easily accessible by the pathway. The placement of features has been chosen to connect the residents with the land. The design is true to the Permaculture ethics of care for the earth, care for the people and a return of surplus back to the people and the land. Planning can only carry us so far. Nature isn始t always as predictable as one might wish. The residents will have to have become knowledgeable of their surroundings and become stewards whom develop with the landscape. Zone 1 This is the immediate surroundings of the house and the most visited place after zone 0, hence is home to components that are used and observed daily. With wise placement of these components we conserve the residents limited time and energy. In addition, there are deliberately placed perennials which give us shade, wind protection, medicinals, aesthetic beauty, bee forage, and of course, food. Also in Zone 1, lies the herbaceous remediation strip to filter roadway pollutants, a variety of fruit and nut trees, the living pond, the kitchen mandala, the hang out spot under the grape trellis, a root cellar, the driveway and walkways. Main Components in Zone 1: The hyper accumulator edge (remediation strip) #34 consists of a diversity of ground covers, small herbs and flowers, mostly perennials. These include barley,

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hydrangea, hyssop, water hyssop, smooth water hyssop, duckweed, water lettuce, ornamental kale, pennycress, red clover, and sunflowers. All of these plants are hyper accumulators that absorb toxins, heavy metals and hydrocarbons, which flow from the road onto the landscape via, run off. This is a critical component of the landscape and essential to the safety and health of the edible plants and ultimately the people eating them. Hazelnut Hedge In the northwest of the landscape, under the utilities lines we need a plant that gives us a variety of functions. We need a wind block from the northwest winds, we want privacy, we want compatibility with the preexisting lilac, we want shade tolerance from the neighbor始s large deciduous tree and if we can, we want food. The hazelnut is a shrub that meets these criteria. It grows to be just less than ten feet tall and an occasional pruning (about once a year) will keep it at a desirable width of about 5 feet. It grows thick and is a great wind cover, it is self pollinating and it始s seeds ripen in September and October which can be used in making bread and cooking oil. Paw Paw始s and Lilac The Paw Paw is a tropical tree native to North America that is compatible with the lilac and meets the criteria of not exceeding the utility line height and being shade tolerant. In order to pollinate there must be a male and a female tree, so one is placed on each side of the lilac. The Paw Paw gives a delicious custard fruit. The tropical feel will complement the grape trellis hang out spot very well and the fruits and lilac should do well with help from the reflectivity of the pond. The Hangout Spot, As the designer and a human, this is my favorite spot. There is nothing quite like lying in a hammock out under a shady roof with vines of robust grapes next to your high efficiency earth oven with some pizzas cooking and maybe some tunes from the outdoor speakers or the faint trickle of the solar powered waterfall in the pond. The variety of grapes can be eaten fresh and also fermented in a wine. Hazelburt, Elderberry and Chinese Indigo The very most North Eastern space by the driveway does not affect the solar gain anywhere else on the property and so we have an opportunity to plant high yielding shrubs and bushes. The hazelburt is a hybrid of two types of hazelnut trees and the results are a very hardy tree, which produces nuts twice the size of hazel nuts. It takes two to pollinate so two are on the property next to the Elderberry and Chinese Indigo. The elderberry yields a berry that is very good in wine. And the Chinese indigo blooms beautiful flowers in summer that are great for bee forage.

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The Pond The Pond始s size stays true to the Permaculture guideline of having about 15% of the landscape as designated water storage. The Pond始s location is south of the house and was mainly chosen to increase the solar gain in the house during the cold months. However, as an element we get far more yields than just increased solar gain. We get large water storage, a wide variety of fish, water plants, increased sun on surrounding plants including grapes, Zen energy next to the grape trellis, a swimming hole, a medium for growing aquatic chicken forage plants, a water fence (chicken don始t swim) for chicken paddock III. The waterfall is powered by a small solar pump and feeds the pond oxygen, which will increase yields in the pond. For fish we will have Bass as a predator, Catfish as an omnivore, Bluegill as an insectivore and Java Tilapia as a plankton feeder. On the north side of the pond (just south of trellis) Asparagus will be growing as well as Water Chestnut, Sunflowers, Echinacea, Duckweed, Bamboo, and Strawberry with a perimeter of Russian comfrey (a sterile variety to prevent unwanted spreading). In the pond we will be growing Azolla. To the south of the pond where the chickens will be rotated in for part of the year, we will grow Water Celery, Water Chestnut and Duckweed. An additional yield is the overflow valve, which will feed and fill the high production annuals that are on contoured swales. This changes the perceived problem of too much rain and possible flooding into the solution of hydrating a landscape that can take it and with sun turn it into food and medicinals.

The Kitchen Mandala This is the most visited garden on the property. We dedicate this section to herbs and compatible root crops. The herbs include sage, peppermint, spearmint, oregano, marjoram, tarragon, lemon balm, rosemary, chives, upright thyme, lemon thyme, burnet and French thyme. The roots include bulbs of garlic, onions and ginger. The chefs will choose additional varieties. *Note: I understand that the design of the house may include a greenhouse that could potentially be where the trellis in my design is. This could be easily worked with and the northwest polyculture could be redesigned accordingly. Zone 2 Zone 2 is the area curving around the south edge of the pond, outside of the kitchen Mandala and tucking in behind the garage. In this zone there's chicken paddock III, which is home to an apple tree super guild, the red maples and oak tree polyculture, the

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rainwater catchment and compost tea brewing station, a section of the Sea Berry hedge and a small section of the contoured swales for spring planting. Zone 2 Main Components Chicken Paddock III This is where the chickens will be when the apples are in harvest and falling on the ground and attracting pests that will then be repurposed as chicken food. Like chicken paddock II, the fencing will be made of an easily collapsible net that weaves from the southeastern tip of the pond between the path and the annuals and hooks on posts. Like all 3 of the chicken paddocks, the path makes the mobile chicken coop with laying boxes easily accessible. Chickens will be at this paddock throughout the fall and the duration of the winter for accessibility and conserved energy. With in this paddock are the red maples and the oak tree. The red maples will be tapped for sugar or to use the sap as an alternative to water for coffee (apparently delicious and nutritious!). The leaves of the red maple will be used to store the abundance of apples. Also within Chicken Paddock III is the Apple Tree Super Guild. Apple Tree Super Guild The apple trees will be cut waist high and grafted with more delicious varieties in the spring. Around the drip line (the circle around canopy) as well as a circle around the bark will be inter-planted garlic and daffodils, these serve the purpose of keeping grasses away. With in this circle are insectaries such as dill, fennel, bee balm, and coriander. Inter-planted with these are dynamic accumulators- yarrow, chicory and plantain. Additionally, we plant a living mulch of comfrey, as well as artichoke and dandelion. We will also plant three nitrogen fixers, alfalfa, lupine and cowpeas. By balancing the mini ecosystem under the apple tree with a variety of perennials, we can avoid many of the diseases that New England Apple Trees are prone to. An occasional spraying of Compost Tea will also greatly benefit these trees. Fruit Cup Tree This tree takes grafting to its full potential. The fruit cup tree is the four stone fruits: plums, nectarines, cherries and apricots on one rootstock. In other words you have a plum, nectarine, cherry and apricot tree, all in one. This will have a ground cover of mixed varieties of comfrey. Rainwater Catchment and Compost Tea Brewing Station The Existing Garage can benefit the landscape in a couple of ways. We can use the roof space to collect water and store it at an elevation just higher than the high production swales. We can also designate a rain barrel (which can overflow into a larger tank next to it, which can than overflow to the mushroom inoculants, also right next to it)

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for a compost tea brewing station. We can use a very simple aquatic pump ($15) plugged in through window of garage, and place it in the barrel with molasses and microbes when we would like to brew compost tea. Both barrels (the compost tea and rain) can be feeding the high production swales via drip line pumped by gravity, the swales will benefit hugely from these occasional inputs.

Fungi and Nitrogen Messenger Guild Tucked back with the catchment barrels exists this guild. The Sea Berries are fixing a lot of nitrogen, and we can dig a small ditch, fill it with wood chips and inoculate edible mushroom logs in the shade of the Italian Alder and Sea Berries. According to the Permaculturist Martin Crawford, Italian Alders, actually transport and deliver fungi and nitrogen around the landscape. This is potentially a very powerful guild in replenishing soil of nitrogen and building the mycelium network of the soil that will greatly benefit the resilience of the landscape. Spring Planting Section of Contoured Swales This small section of the contoured swales will be designated for spring planting with main crops of sweet corn, squash, beans, tomato and potato, with chard and parsley inter-planted. There is also a Northstar Cherry and a Mongolian Bush Cherry that have small canopies so they don始t use too much valuable sunlight and their root systems will help stabilize the swales. Zone 3 Zone 3 consists of the majority of the high production annuals on contoured swales, a grafted apple tree and the two cucurbits mounds. Zone 3 Main Components High Production Annuals on Contoured Swales The high production annuals are spaced where we have the most sunlight. Annual crop growing gives some of the highest yields in permaculture systems. However inputs are higher than perennial systems or food forests. The inputs necessary in these systems are: steady hydration, healthy soil, and in conventional organic systems- labor intensive weeding. However, in this design we use earthworks to have hydration occur passively and prevent erosion. This gives the land the capacity to take on huge amounts of rainfall and long periods of drought which we will be seeing more of with climate change. We will also lay a ground cover of mulch to suppress weeds, slowly release nutrients, and give habitat to beneficial insects and to increase water retention in the soil. This eliminates most inputs and makes the residents lives much easier than that of a

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conventional farmer while still maintaining a very high yield and changes a “problem” of climate change into a very beneficial solution. These swales will be planted with a diversity of crops and an emphasis on root crops to help stabilize the swales. The section will include, but is not limited to Potatoes, Tomatoes, Carrots, Beets, three sisters (Corn, Bean and Squash), Peppers, Ginger, Onions, Garlic, Artichoke, Broccoli, Kale, Cucumbers, Zucchinis, Cantaloupes, Watermelons, Strawberries, Sweet Potatoes, Cauliflower, Honey dew, Eggplant, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Comfrey, etc. And like in Zone 2, Cherry trees are spaced throughout the swales to aid in soil stabilization and all species are inter planted and companion planted to confuse pests and to benefit each otherʼs health.

*Note: The swales as depicted in the visual are not on contour, this is because I have not yet come to the site to steak out contour lines. That being said the designated area for the high production annuals does not change, the only thing that will change are the shapes of the swales. The Grafted Apple Tree We will graft a delicious apple of the stewards choosing onto this rootstock and beneath its canopy will be the same super guild as the other apple trees. Zone 4 Zone 4 is where the honeybee hive is located, as well as some pre existing deciduous trees and Chicken Paddocks I and II. Chickens will be in Paddocks I in the spring and rotated to paddock II in early summer. These paddocks are strategically placed in the southeast corner of the landscape so that twice a day during the spring and early summer (critical observation periods) the residents will be taking a walk out of the house, through the Mandala and down the path of the high production annuals to get the eggs and to put the chickens in and out of the coop. This way, observation of the landscape happens while chicken chores are happening; this is another stacked function of this design. Chicken Paddocks I, II and Bee Hive We will broadcast a perennial nectary mix onto these paddocks in which the chickens can forage from and aid in fertilization. This is a mix specifically for honey bee production and is a combination of seeds from Sideoats Grama, Lance leaf Coreopsis, Big leaf Lupine, Partridge Pea, Anise Hyssop, Tall White Beardtongue, Common Milkweed, Maximillianʼs Sunflower, Wild Bergamot, Blue False Indigo, Slender Mountain mint, Ohio Spiderwort, Boneset, Arrow leaf, New England Aster, Showy Goldenrod and New York Ironweed. Chicken Paddock I is home to the existing blueberries that the

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chickens will help fertilize and will be rotated out before they are ready to harvest. Additionally, Siberian Pea Shrubs will be planted just outside of Paddock I. These fix nitrogen and make excellent chicken forage, once they are developed they will hang over the fence, this way the chickens don始t destroy them before they become established. Zone 5 Zone 5 is the least visited zone; it is also the most southern and sunniest part of the landscape. It is currently home to Eastern White Pines, which live in an acidic soil. So the goals for Zone 5 are to use the powerful sun and passively produce high yields without any chores and use the acidic soil and existing white pine rootstocks to our advantage. In this zone we have Sea Berries, a soil building guild, high production Blueberries, and we have grafted Korean Nut Pines onto the pre existing root stocks of the White Pines. We can also use this section as an overflow of the contoured swales to slow spread and sink the excess water. Main Components of Zone 5 Grafted Korean Nut Pine Guild We will cut the Eastern White Pines and leave the three rootstocks farthest east and use the other trees entirely for timber so we can utilize the valuable south sun on our annual beds to produce a much higher yield than only three trees could. With the remaining rootstocks we will graft on Korean Nut Pines, which produce very protein rich, delicious nuts. Directly underneath these trees we will plant acidic loving lingonberries and wintergreen. High Production Blueberries We will further benefit from the acidic soil by planting a lot of blueberries. These blueberries are in rows and protected from birds with netting, if still available we could use the frame of the hoop house for part of this. The unimpeded sun in this area will make these Blueberries very productive. The Blueberries will be a mix of Polaris, Patriot, North Blue, North Country, Friendship, and Blueray. This is a mixture of species that you would see at an organic pick your own blueberry farm. This section will produce a lot of blueberries! Healthy Soil Bed Polyculture The combination of Dwarf Comfrey, Yarrow and White Clover can be harvested in spring and mixed with water to make a potent liquid fertilizer. In this area you can let these perennials propagate themselves without worry because they won始t take over on the acidic soils surrounding them.

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Sea Berry Hedge This is perhaps one of the most amazing Permaculture plants of cold climates. A Sea Berry is a deciduous shrub that grows eight feet wide by twenty feet high. They dislike trimming and they fix nitrogen. They produce a bright orange berry that is very high in vitamin c, essential fatty acids and antioxidants and children seem to love the taste. The berries can be made into a juice and used to cure colds. Highly effective medicinal oil can be made from the fruit and twigs and is known to heal cardiac disorders as well as burns on the skin. The fruit is being investigated as a food that prevents cancer and also halts or reverses cancer in certain cases. The shrub gets thorny and quickly forms thickets thus can be used as barriers to keep animals in and/or out as well as being an effective wind block. Implementation Phase Firstly, we need a soil test. We need to know of any toxins or pollutants in the soil as well as mineral deficiencies so that we can act accordingly. We can take some samples and send them to a lab at UMASS or UVM for $10 a sample. Next, we need to de compact the soil. We will come in with some broad forks (an organized permablitz is great for this) and we will de-compact the whole property (minus the pathways, the trellis as well as where the pond will be) - this step is essential to unlock nutrients and for roots to establish in the soil. We will then bring in the compost. Spread it out and contour it where appropriate. We will then put a layer of cardboard followed by a layer of mulch. We will be planting all trees and crops into this medium. The UMASS Permaculture Garden is a perfect example of this process.

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