Hi Cory-
A while ago there was a thread on atmospheric water harvesters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_well_%28condenser%29,), or dew harvesters . In the Pine Ridge area you may be able to condense atmospheric water with sheet metal or plastic “mulch” placed around the young trees and angled towards the tree so that dew and condensation drips onto the plants ((http://www.plastemart.com/upload/Literature/write-up_for_plastmart.asp), though this still may be hard in the summer.
Rough mulch of logs and rocks will also help to preserve and condense water. Soil prep should also include earthworks to harvest any rainwater that does fall. I know that you have a long and hot dry season to span, and any tree will need some supplemental water for the first year at least.
As far as plant selection, may I suggest looking into nut pines (korean, etc) for windbreaks. These can handle severe frost and wind and also provide nutritious nuts! For expediency, I would also look into any plants you can do from cuttings, like mulberry (if they will survive).
Best of luck! Sounds like a great project!
Loren Luyendyk
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> Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 13:58:03 -0700
> From: neilbertrando@gmail.com
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Food forest on the rez
>
> Cory,
>
> Do you have the ability to purchase from wholesale nurseries? this can > often really drop your costs. you may need a resellers/retailers > certificate, but if you have a not for profit or some other business (or you > call and explain the situation) that will probably work. Also, if you > aren’t currently connected, I recommend NAFEX (North American Fruit > Explorers) for access to scion wood and rootstocks and people with lots of > experience growing fruit trees on this continent.
>
> http://www.nafex.org/
>
> You may already have your contacts and suppliers > lined up. If you don’t, let me know and I’ll try and connect you with some > leads.
>
> I personally have struggled with getting plants established without some > soil prep (as Darren suggested), especially with little to no irrigation. > I’m not sure what your rainfall regime is there, but if it is low to nil > during the warm season and you want to establish trees without irrigation, I > recommend looking at some establishment strategies such as deep pipe > irrigation, Driwater (they may provide you with a some opportunities if you > partner with them for research purposes), soil gels, growing trees out in > deep pot bands, or some other means of maintaining soil moisture and > encouraging deep rooting.
>
> It is inspiring to hear about the work y’all are doing there. Best of luck, > Neil
>
> On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 2:20 PM, Cory Brennan wrote: >
> > Hi, Darren,
> > Thank you for the advice. Common Vision is a good idea – didn’t think they > > traveled out of S. Calif but worth a shot. We still want our own bus as we > > plan to use it as a mobile cultural and sustainability library for the rez > > and “multiple function” it to bring sustainability in several formats – the > > rez currently has NO public library!
> > I hear you on cheap stocks, we do plan to graft and buy cheap – we have > > been working on a shoe string budget and we’re all volunteering here, and > > have been getting a lot done, for the money. We constantly recycle, reuse, > > reduce. We have access to some fairly mature windbreak stock and already > > have somewhat sheltered areas so we feel we can plant fruit trees this year, > > and we have some very nice composted soil from animal manures, etc. We want > > to get the nursery going so stuff can start growing now for next year. > > We’ll be planting at least two food forests on the site (we have 42 acres), > > the first one will be experimental to see what envelopes we can push and how > > we can push them. We will of course use our tools and knowledge and do our > > best to ensure maximal success. But we do need to push the envelope here. > > The reason being, is that the situation here is somewhat desperate on the > > subject of food and we really do not have the luxury of adding a lot > > of time to this activity. So the sooner we get this going, the better. > >
> > — On Fri, 5/20/11, Darren Doherty wrote: > >
> > From: Darren Doherty
> > Subject: Re: [permaculture] Food forest on the rez
> > To: “permaculture”
> > Date: Friday, May 20, 2011, 11:31 AM
> >
> > G’day,
> >
> > Can I suggest that as a low/no cost option for establishing this system > > that
> > you look at the following options:
> >
> > A. Contact Common Vision who are already > > doing
> > the bus thing and are very fine people….plus their main game is planting > > fruit trees en masse…
> > B. Look to sourcing cheap rootstocks and/or growing seedlings from locally > > grown fruit trees and then doing some grafting…
> >
> > If you are growing windbreaks then you have the time to do point B. until > > such time as these get established. Sometimes in exposed/new sites its a > > good idea to do a year’s preparation of soils and sites before you plant: > > that’s our experience though of course you can, with capital and materials, > > push the envelope….but the can is being rattled so perhaps a more > > deliberate, high quality job can be done….
> >
> > All the best,
> >
> > Darren
> >
> >
> >
> > On 20 May 2011 15:35, Cory Brennan wrote: > >
> > > We want to put a food forest on the rez (Pine Ridge Lakota reservation) > > > this spring as a demonstration and propagation site, but we’re also doing > > a
> > > large kitchen garden and some other projects that took up our budget, so > > we
> > > had put that idea aside – until someone made a Kickstarter video for us > > and
> > > it started raising funds. We got excited – we now feel we can do this! > > We
> > > have the manpower and equipment to get the holes dug, windbreak trees in, > > > swales put in, etc. We’re planning a no-irrigation food forest that will > > be
> > > self-contained. We’ve been madly researching and want to experiment with > > a
> > > number of fruit species, using some microclimates to get them to grow in > > > this relatively harsh climate. We are really excited about this because > > it
> > > is getting some interest and support on the rez and we think it will > > catch
> > > on. Along with the food forest will be youth tree planting events, > > > education, outreach, etc. If we get enough funds we could get our > > > permaculture bus repaired and activated and take our show on the rez > > road.
> > > Please consider supporting the project and forwarding to your friends! > > >
> > >
> > http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/olceri/pine-ridge-food-forest-growing-food-security-on-th?ref=live > > > Mitakuye Oyasin,
> > > Cory Brennanfacebook.com/olcerifacebook.com/permacultureguild4olceri.org > > > _______________________________________________
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