Regenerative gardening: swales and berms?

[Heartbased Homestead]

Hi all! I've seen some good posts here about gardening theory and thought I'd ask yall. I'm looking for a forum or resource which focuses on regenerative gardening for beginners. I follow Andrew Millison for basics and primers, will probably purchase a course. But wanted to check for other's journey, if you have any free resources you've gathered to learn gardening, or even want to post your journeys here, I'm all eyes! My journey with permaculture has been a very slow start and I basically know nothing after researching for a year I've just dipped my toes in.

My climate is arid, cold, northern. I don't have land yet, we rent a house (yes! I'm doing my rabbitry while renting, without informing my egg-laying landlord) but we are planning on purchasing a small property around the beginning of next year. I'm looking to put up a yurt or other semi-temporary structure and build from scratch while also regenerating the land for a food forest by use of swales/berms.

My whole plan would be to aquire a property insufficient for development; on a slope, lots of bramble and trees, get a few goats to eat it away over the first spring/summer while chopping down and feeding the carbon to the base of the berms, contouring the swales, ect. It's all a lot for me and I want to do it right without needing to hire a professional to design it. I've heard people can get a lidar map done on their property to make their 1st year plan and plot their water shed and garden designs, and I'll buy land with water and mineral rights included. That's about all the info I know for my situation.

What would you do if you were me? What would be your first steps? If anyone has done this task I'd love to review your favorite design parts and warnings/mistakes.

Thanks yall!

 

[ladysown]

well, that led me down a rabbit trail. I didn't know what regenerative gardening was. I hope you find some help!

 

[eco2pia]

I think the most influential gardening author I have ever read was John Seymour. He wrote the Self Sufficient Gardener which someone had given my non-gardening parents as a wedding gift. It led me to rabbits, chickens, bees, as well as gardening, and shifted my focus to intensive use of small spaces rather than sprawling country properties where you can afford to be wasteful of space. It isn't quite regenerative gardening, but it is an excellent, exhaustive primer for a new person, with sort of general tricks and a very old school low tech solutions, giving you cheaper ways to do things without buying a bunch of junk. He is writing for the climate in England, so it will not apply directly to your location, but I still highly recommend it. It is literally fun to read and inspirational...

 

[Zee-Man]

You will find a wealth of information at permies.com

 

[Heartbased Homestead]

I think the most influential gardening author I have ever read was John Seymour. He wrote the Self Sufficient Gardener which someone had given my non-gardening parents as a wedding gift. It led me to rabbits, chickens, bees, as well as gardening, and shifted my focus to intensive use of small spaces rather than sprawling country properties where you can afford to be wasteful of space. It isn't quite regenerative gardening, but it is an excellent, exhaustive primer for a new person, with sort of general tricks and a very old school low tech solutions, giving you cheaper ways to do things without buying a bunch of junk. He is writing for the climate in England, so it will not apply directly to your location, but I still highly recommend it. It is literally fun to read and inspirational...

So cute and funny that it was a facetious wedding gift that ended up bringing you here! I looked it up yesterday and found there's a free online book on archive, if anyone else wants to read along!

 

[eco2pia]

So cute and funny that it was a facetious wedding gift that ended up bringing you here! I looked it up yesterday and found there's a free online book on archive, if anyone else wants to read along!

I hope the illustrations are there. It is worth finding a used copy on thriftbooks if you enjoy it--but I may just feel that way because it is like the book version of comfort food to me. Lately I have been re-acquiring a few old books that I have long since committed to memory. It is nice to hold them again, even if the knowledge has been in my head for decades.

 

[Heartbased Homestead]

I hope the illustrations are there. It is worth finding a used copy on thriftbooks if you enjoy it--but I may just feel that way because it is like the book version of comfort food to me. Lately I have been re-acquiring a few old books that I have long since committed to memory. It is nice to hold them again, even if the knowledge has been in my head for decades.

It is such a good book so far! I'm really impressed, will definately be persuing a hardcover to add to the irl bookshelf. Thanks a million!

 

[kusanar314]

I hope the illustrations are there. It is worth finding a used copy on thriftbooks if you enjoy it--but I may just feel that way because it is like the book version of comfort food to me. Lately I have been re-acquiring a few old books that I have long since committed to memory. It is nice to hold them again, even if the knowledge has been in my head for decades.

I just went in and found it. It's an actual scan of the book in PDF version. Free download.