If I say, “The ‘A’ word,” what word do you think of? It is likely
that you think of the word “ass,” or some variation of it. For some
in the permaculture world, or at least in my permaculture world, the “A”
word means annual…as in annual edible plants.
Most of us eat only a handful of different vegetables and fruits. If you think of the variety of veg. that you eat compared to a number of plants out there that are actually edible (and often highly nutritious), it is actually astonishing how small your diet is. I started a timer and wrote down all of the annual vegetables that I could think of…it took me 3 minutes…just 3 minutes to list the majority of veg. that people eat day in and day out. Note that some of these plants are/can be grown biennially or perennially, but we usually think of them as annuals. Sure, there are other vegetables past this list that are commonly grown as annuals and are popular, such as leeks, arugula, and fennel, but the following list are the vegetables that came to me while I was being timed. And yes, I realize that some of these are technically fruits, but that is beside the point. The list follows:
In addition to the main question of today, a gardener has to ask himself/herself, “What do I want out of my garden?,” “How much time do I want to spend tending vegetables?,” and “What is the end goal (selling food, veg. for personal use, animal fodder, enjoy getting your hands dirty in the soil, etc.)?” These are all factors that must be considered when deciding how to cultivate your garden, farm, or property.
I am not sure if it is because I have not been to many working permaculture farms and that I read about those that are still early in the establishment phase, but it seems to me that many permies still cultivate a lot of annual veg. In the early years, it is pretty much unavoidable to grow annuals. This is because long-term food systems are getting established and it can be several years until production really picks up. In the later years, I assume that one would just continue to breed the genes of the annuals that they REALLY like, and leave the rest behind as a thing of the past. Here is why:
Think about these concepts while you are going about your daily life for the next week. Start to pay attention to how many annual vegetables (and often the extremely limited amount of varieties of each particular vegetable) you eat every day, where those came from, and the amount of work/energy/water/etc. that went into making those foods available. The next time you are on a permaculture site, pay attention to how many annuals are cultivated and ask yourself why this is so.
When you design a system for yourself where you will be growing annual vegetables, consider the methods that you will be employing and why you are employing those specific methods.
So…why do we grow so many annual vegetables? And specifically, why do we still grow so many annual vegetables in permaculture?? I am not sure, but I will try to change that with each seed/cutting/transplant that I put into the ground
Most of us eat only a handful of different vegetables and fruits. If you think of the variety of veg. that you eat compared to a number of plants out there that are actually edible (and often highly nutritious), it is actually astonishing how small your diet is. I started a timer and wrote down all of the annual vegetables that I could think of…it took me 3 minutes…just 3 minutes to list the majority of veg. that people eat day in and day out. Note that some of these plants are/can be grown biennially or perennially, but we usually think of them as annuals. Sure, there are other vegetables past this list that are commonly grown as annuals and are popular, such as leeks, arugula, and fennel, but the following list are the vegetables that came to me while I was being timed. And yes, I realize that some of these are technically fruits, but that is beside the point. The list follows:
squash, peas, beans, tomato, Swiss
chard, kale, mustard greens, Asian greens, potatoes, onions, garlic,
spinach, beets, turnips, radish, carrot, lettuce, eggplant, peppers,
cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kohl rabi, corn, okra,
celery, cucumber.
Meanwhile, here is
a sampling of perennial plants that are edible. This is obviously not
an exhaustive list, as there are SO many edible perennials worldwide,
but it is a really good start.
As a part of my Teacher Training in permaculture, I made a short
lesson plan with the same title as today’s post. I wanted to share this
thought experiment that I came up with. The question presented is not
one to which I have the answer. Of course, I have opinions and feelings
on the subject, but the question of the role of annual veg. in
permaculture is right now, for me, an area of genuine inquiry. What is
the role NOW, where will the role be in the near FUTURE, and what should
the role be moving forward in a more sustainable and permanent food
system?In addition to the main question of today, a gardener has to ask himself/herself, “What do I want out of my garden?,” “How much time do I want to spend tending vegetables?,” and “What is the end goal (selling food, veg. for personal use, animal fodder, enjoy getting your hands dirty in the soil, etc.)?” These are all factors that must be considered when deciding how to cultivate your garden, farm, or property.
I am not sure if it is because I have not been to many working permaculture farms and that I read about those that are still early in the establishment phase, but it seems to me that many permies still cultivate a lot of annual veg. In the early years, it is pretty much unavoidable to grow annuals. This is because long-term food systems are getting established and it can be several years until production really picks up. In the later years, I assume that one would just continue to breed the genes of the annuals that they REALLY like, and leave the rest behind as a thing of the past. Here is why:
The season of an annual veg. gardener
goes something like this…till, fertilize, make rows, plant/transplant,
irrigate, weed out undesirables (or spray herbicides), spray pesticides,
break up poor soil between rows, harvest, weed again, fertilize again,
spray pesticides again, harvest, irrigate, till, and repeat.
The season of my envisioned
well-established permaculture site goes something like this…harvest,
plant/propagate new plants, make planned disturbances, harvest, preserve
food, tend animals (ongoing), wait (meaning work/focus on things other
than tending plants), harvest, harvest, wait, harvest, wait, and
repeat.
The bottom line is that tending annual
vegetables is SOOOOOO much work. There are many other factors in play
with growing long-lived perennials past the work factor, including, but
not limited to efficiency of capturing sunlight, biomass accumulation,
water retention, earlier/later season extension, protecting soils from
erosion, increased precipitation, regulation of soil temp., nutrient
filtering and uptake, and increased wildlife habitat. I am aspiring to
create landscapes that have (in addition to diverse aquaculture and more
open prairie-like systems) food forest systems with long-lived trees,
long to medium lived shrubs and bushes, long to short-lived small plants
(vines, prostrate, 1-3 ft. tall), perennial root veg., and reseeding annuals and biennials.
The reseeding is a big key, I think. It is
not that I am necessarily against edible annuals, but if you have a
plant that is not going to live for more than 2 years, it is very
convenient if that plant is proficient enough to disperse seed really
well (or have allies like birds that disperse the seed). If you set up
the conditions for a plant to thrive on its own, then it will do so. If
it doesn’t thrive, then think about the idea that maybe that was not the
right place and/or time for that particular plant or set of plants to
be there. You may have some varieties of plants that you feel are so
tasty that you don’t want to lose them, and for those, you should expend
the extra energy and time to baby and preserve them. Otherwise, it
might be interesting to let some of the more succulent and tender annual
veg. revert (at least partially) to their old selves. It is possible
that letting plants revert to their more natural states isn’t such a bad
idea. Fukuoka makes it a point in his book, The One-Straw Revolution,
to write that re-wilded forms of common veg. can actually taste BETTER
after your taste buds get reacquainted with the flavors.
Though permaculture can be romanticized
sometimes, it is definitely possible to provide for most all of your
needs onsite in a rural environment, take care of the surrounding
ecology, produce excess food for others, AND have minimal inputs. It
takes A LOT of work and time to get there, but it can be done. There are
some individuals already doing it, and more that are well on their way.
To build such a system, it is helpful to have staple food crops,
animals, and an array of smaller edible plants…diversity is crucial. It
is also helpful to not have to tend large swaths of annual vegetables.
Let the plants tend themselves! They are quite good at it given the
right circumstances!!
There is one final interesting point to bring up here about annual
vegetables. Even if an individual is extremely eco-conscious in the
raising of the vegetables, the seed is still usually brought in from
outside sources. There is the raising, care, production, and
transportation of those purchased seeds that must be considered. For
this reason (in addition to genetic diversity and food security), seed
saving is an important practice.Think about these concepts while you are going about your daily life for the next week. Start to pay attention to how many annual vegetables (and often the extremely limited amount of varieties of each particular vegetable) you eat every day, where those came from, and the amount of work/energy/water/etc. that went into making those foods available. The next time you are on a permaculture site, pay attention to how many annuals are cultivated and ask yourself why this is so.
When you design a system for yourself where you will be growing annual vegetables, consider the methods that you will be employing and why you are employing those specific methods.
So…why do we grow so many annual vegetables? And specifically, why do we still grow so many annual vegetables in permaculture?? I am not sure, but I will try to change that with each seed/cutting/transplant that I put into the ground