mulch the secret weapon of the #permaculture people. #foodforest #farming #mulch

About 30 years ago, I was in the Maquis country in France, I met a man trying to grow trees, in those days that area was a desert, low scrubby maquis with bare ground between bushes.the man was a genius, he would select a field he wanted to plant, dig his holes, some of them over 50 cm deep and 70 cm wide, into that he would put mulched maquis and any other vegetable matter he could find. He dug “arms out from the hole, across any slope. He then put heavy black plastic down, weighted all along the four sides, with a largish pebble in the middle of the plastic as it covered the hole. He then left it for a year, checking from time time to make sue the plastic remained covering and to “top up” the mulch. He dug the holes all year round, he had holes dug for the next 2 to 3 years plantings. When it came time to plant, he would put the plant in the hole along with some mulched seaweed, cover it with dirt and mulch the lot out for 2 metres with at least 40 cm of mulch topped off with rocks.