R-strategy Permaculture
Mar. 22nd, 2025 03:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis video describes a permaculture style that I'd call r-strategy. Throw seeds and plants all over the place, see what grows, then feed and protect the ones you like. If something's in the way or just not what you want, hack it down and drop it at the feet of something you like better. Do you get frustrated and want to hit things? Slash and drop!
If you like detailed planning, that's fine, most permaculture is basically K-strategy where you invest lots of energy in just a few plants. But you don't have to do it that way if it's too expensive or just too frustrating. You don't have to make it neat and tidy either. A natural forest isn't tidy, but it is productive. Spray seeds everywhere and see what survives. It's a lot of fun if you love surprises.
This is close to what I do, because I don't like to buy individual expensive plants. I'd rather get a bunch of affordable ones, so I don't freak out when something inevitably does die. Also, I enjoy the discovery of wandering through the yard to see what's growing, blooming, ripening. I love being able to pick things and put them in my mouth. I love having craft materials all over the place. If I need to stake a plant, I don't have to buy a stake, I can hack off a random branch from a volunteer sapling and use that. It's awesome.
I will say one thing: planting free seeds that you save from foods you eat will often work in terms of growing plants, but the quality is less predictable. If you have only a very small space available, then you probably don't want to waste time and footprint on something that might not be good. Because you don't have to cover a large area, you can probably afford to invest in quality plants. You also need to think more about efficient layout. Still, you can buy one or two of a favorite and propagate them. It's when you have a large space to cover that you can benefit from planting 20 apple seedlings, cut down the ones that don't do well, then when you're down to 5 or so and they're fruiting, whittle down to the best-tasting 1-2 or however many you want to keep.
While many modern things won't breed true to type, it remains the case that offspring tend to resemble their parents and grandparents. You will usually get something usable. If you have space to grow out and select among a large batch, you can typically find something quite good. You can improve it over time if you wish by taking your seeds from the best parents. If you like the idea of r-strategy permaculture, definitely look into grexes, hybrid swarms, and landraces. Throwing down a highly diverse mess of seeds will really improve your chances of success.
Done is better than perfect. Go out there, throw stuff in the ground, and get some shit done. \o/
If you like detailed planning, that's fine, most permaculture is basically K-strategy where you invest lots of energy in just a few plants. But you don't have to do it that way if it's too expensive or just too frustrating. You don't have to make it neat and tidy either. A natural forest isn't tidy, but it is productive. Spray seeds everywhere and see what survives. It's a lot of fun if you love surprises.
This is close to what I do, because I don't like to buy individual expensive plants. I'd rather get a bunch of affordable ones, so I don't freak out when something inevitably does die. Also, I enjoy the discovery of wandering through the yard to see what's growing, blooming, ripening. I love being able to pick things and put them in my mouth. I love having craft materials all over the place. If I need to stake a plant, I don't have to buy a stake, I can hack off a random branch from a volunteer sapling and use that. It's awesome.
I will say one thing: planting free seeds that you save from foods you eat will often work in terms of growing plants, but the quality is less predictable. If you have only a very small space available, then you probably don't want to waste time and footprint on something that might not be good. Because you don't have to cover a large area, you can probably afford to invest in quality plants. You also need to think more about efficient layout. Still, you can buy one or two of a favorite and propagate them. It's when you have a large space to cover that you can benefit from planting 20 apple seedlings, cut down the ones that don't do well, then when you're down to 5 or so and they're fruiting, whittle down to the best-tasting 1-2 or however many you want to keep.
While many modern things won't breed true to type, it remains the case that offspring tend to resemble their parents and grandparents. You will usually get something usable. If you have space to grow out and select among a large batch, you can typically find something quite good. You can improve it over time if you wish by taking your seeds from the best parents. If you like the idea of r-strategy permaculture, definitely look into grexes, hybrid swarms, and landraces. Throwing down a highly diverse mess of seeds will really improve your chances of success.
Done is better than perfect. Go out there, throw stuff in the ground, and get some shit done. \o/
(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-22 05:26 pm (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2025-03-23 02:28 am (UTC)Some nurseries sell a polyculture mix, or things that can be used as such. A few offer landraces of certain crops that have a lot of variety. Some folks buy a manybean mix from the grocery store and plant that, which is great because legumes set nitrogen.