Base Map/Water Map for my homestead with sectors and permaculture principles.

1. BASE MAPPING, SECTORS
and PERMACULTURE
By: Cady Arruda

2. Sectors on my site
 Sun: (See next slide for sun map & explanation)
 Water: Luckily gravity never fails. I will take advantage of the water from our roof through rain
barrels at the end of downspouts. Rain barrels will capture the water at the top of the hill above
the garden. I will assemble a header pipes and drip irrigation to irrigate certain areas.
 Wind: Strong winter winds have been known to come through the property. I will use sturdy wire
for hoops and bricks to hold down frost cloth over the winter on certain flower beds such as
ranunculus and anemones. I will use summer breezes as an advantage for the vegetable and
flower beds on the North/ North-East side of the property knowing that this wind will help
ventilate the gardens and spread seed. The winter also works to my advantage during
November/December blowing leaves off trees that I can use to cover perennial beds.
 Pollution: Biggest source of pollution comes from the front yard (roadside). This is where cars
pass by and litter piles up especially over summer. We can collect the cans and recycle them.
 Noise: Luckily the left and back side of the yard is woods. The only noise coming from there is
maybe some coyotes howling at night (yikes!) The right side of the yard has a rock wall to
separate my yard from the neighbors. To give a little more privacy and to make for a more
attractive garden walk for CSA members, this spring I plan on planting more hydrangea bushes
along the wall. Along with some raspberry and rose bushes to the back right side that receives
more sun.

3. Sun Map “The direction and angle of the sun
are important to designing buildings,
perennial crops systems, outdoor spaces
and in evaluating the microclimatic conditions
of different plots and slopping lands.” (Bane)
Seeing as to how important the sun is
factoring into my homestead, I choose to
experiment with a sun map design. I
had a better overall understanding of which areas of
the layout had the most sun and which areas were
mostly shaded.
I can use this knowledge to my advantage when
planting my spring/summer vegetables/flowers.
For example, the backyard garden is a prime
spot for flowers that like well-drained soil and a
lot of sun. I plan on planting sunflowers,
strawflower, poppies, zinnias, and dahlias here.
I would like to give strawberries a shot in the
North-West region of the yard, because here too
receives little shade.

4. Permaculture Principles
 Make No Waste: “In nature nothing is wasted.” (Bane) Everything can be consumed by
another life form. “Ordering the movement of resources down the cascade of function is
one of the most important set of skills that a good garden farmer or post-industrial citizen
needs.”(Bane) I value this principle very highly and plan on making very little to no waste on
my homestead. Some ways I plan on doing this and have already started practicing are;
keeping a compost bin in the kitchen, cutting plastic bottles in half and using them as a
“mini greenhouse starter” for transplants, using the ashes from the firepit in my soil mix,
using the leaf piles in the Fall for a mulch-like protection over winter for plants and
spreading chicken manure as fertilizer on the garden.

5. Permaculture Principles
 Cultivate diversity: “…diversity is one of the most
important energy storages in any ecosystem
and a good measure of the level of available
information.”(Bane) I have always found it very
important to grow a large variety of mixed
heirloom plants. I want to explore the limits of
the system I live in and see just how much
diversity I can grow. This diversity will not only
make for a healthier and stronger homestead, it
will also support the environment. Practicing
seed saving and local seed exchange is
imperative. On a personal note, I have worked
on a lot of farms. Most of these farms practiced
many organic methods but not one farm seed
saved! When I started growing my own plants
at my house I ordered from Bakers Creek for
heirloom seeds and they didn’t disappoint! I
made sure to put aside some time to seed save
from those special varieties and those very
seeds are stored in my basement for next year
at this very moment.
Delicious lunch made from 3 different
varieties of heirloom tomatoes and pesto I grew.

6. OVER 200 FOOD PLANTS ON JUST A TINY
1/10TH ACRE OF COLD CLIMATE URBAN
LAND!!!
 I was astonished seeing Eric Toensmeier and Johnathan Bates converted 1/10 acre
suburban backyard as a perennial food garden of exotic plants located at Holyoke
in Massachusetts! I had no idea some of those native species even existed!
 I found the tanks to be very interesting being a thermal mass for the winter time.
This is definitely an option I would like to explore of my homestead.
 After choosing diversity as one of my permaculture principles I found it particularly
interesting Eric mentioned they have grown over 300 different varieties of plants
but narrowed it down to 200 that taste good and grow well. Over the years I have
been trying to “trail and error” varieties of flowers myself and narrowed it down to
a solid list. I would like to try this method with vegetables, fruits and herbs.
Permaculture Principles continued … CULTIVATE DIVERSITY

7. Permaculture Principles continued …
CULTIVATE DIVERSITY
Seed Saving from the summer
Post harvest- 20 different flower varieties. Diversity.

8. Water Analysis
System my friends in Florida at “Deep Springs
Farm” use for
their lettuce that inspired me. Using a
self timer, gutters, and drip irrigation. As you
can see they produced very healthy heads
and managed water efficiently.

9. Water analysis
 My area receives about 49 inches of rain annually.
 The precipitation is not spread out evenly throughout the year. My area receives more
rainfall April-November. April through November typically has 4.4-4.9 inches per
month where as May-October typically has 3.5-4 inches of rainfall per month. The
heaviest rainfall month in the past has been in December being 4.77 inches and the
lowest has been 3.54 inches in August.
 The local watershed is called the Westport River Watershed Alliance. (I actually grew
up going to field trips to the Westport River and local beaches in elementary school
learning about water sustainability and erosion.)
 The soil type is clay.

10. Water analysis
 Water enters my site by the well by a artesian well, a hand dug well and rain. The
hand dug well has produced rusty water in years past.
 Water leaves my site by the septic system, evaporation or by soaking in ground.
 The highest point of the site is the area surrounding the porch in the front yard, the
south-west. The next highest point is the backyard at the top of the hill. The lowest
points of my site are the field to the north-west next to the woods and the back near
the blueberry bushes. The lowest points happen to be where flooding is prone.

12. Water Analysis
 The areas of flooding are the area we grow blueberries in and the north side of the
pasture near the woods in the north-west region. Seeing as I want to use the acreage
in this pasture but worry since it’s prone to flooding and doesn’t have fertile soil to
begin with I have explored the option of raised beds here and/or setting up a
greenhouse since it does get a lot of sunlight throughout the day despite the minor
flooding habits.
 The areas that are exposed to potential pollution such as road salt, chemical run-off is
the front road-side property. The only plants that grow here are lilies.
 Other observations: As I started to design my water map I started noticing I was
putting in a lot more detail than my normal base map or my sun map. I was really
starting to think about every single subject on the property that could affect water and
pathways I could use to redirect water flow.
 I found that while I have a lot of opportunity to save water and redirect water in the
front of the yard, I needed to rearrange some things in the back to make for well-
managed garden. (This also had me exploring the idea of more beds for vegetables
and herbs in the front yard.)

13. My water Map: other observations
 As I started to design my water map I started noticing I was putting in a lot more detail than my
normal base map or my sun map. I was really starting to think about every single subject on the
property that could affect water and pathways I could use to redirect water flow.
 I found that while I have a lot of opportunity to save water and redirect water in the front of the
yard, I needed to rearrange some things in the back to make for well-managed garden. (This also
had me exploring the idea of more beds for vegetables and herbs in the front yard.)
 I labeled a swell in the backyard near the top of the elevation but noticed that there is still a lot of
runoff water there. After watching the Water Management video I now plan on digging smaller
swells cascading down that hill leading to the garden.
 The yellow rain barrel that is labeled rain barrel with garlic is an old trick my neighbor taught me
that I wanted to share. She keeps a rain barrel in her garden that she puts a small amount of her
excess garlic in and waters with this water once every week or so to naturally prevent from
beetles and other pest from eating her crops. I started using this method this summer and it had
great results.

14. References & Citations
All pictures on the presentation were mine.
Book:
Bane, Peter. Permaculture Handbook Garden Farming for Town and Country. New
Society Publishers, 2012.