It’s great that you are thoroughly documenting and sharing this work. We need examples of permaculture in action to help us understand, improve and promote what we do. Being able to weigh costs against benefits will help permaculture consultants build a business case for their clients.

Greg,

The Net & Pan system is a planting design in the Arid Landscape. Where the hardy crest trees are planted along the top sections. For example here in this design the Olives, citrus species are planted along the top of the orchid, following down the slop to trees that like a good deep base soil, so here we planted the apples, pears etc…

We have combinded a few different systems in this orchard, Net & Pan for the tree layout and Boomarang swales or bull horn swales for the water catchment. By where the second row of tree swales are off set from the first, so that the overflow from the first swales are allowed to flow to the next row down slope and so on.

Between the rows and on each side of the fruit trees we planted hardy legume mulch trees to fix nitrogen into the soil.

If you have Bill Mollsion’s (Permaculture, A Designers Manual) See page 393 Figure 11.84 Net & Pan, also Page 396 Figure 11.88 for Boomerang swales.

WE will be posting a detailed write up on the design of this job very soon, also lists of plants, there uses, how the was constructed, and what the job cost to construct and the process of how it came together.

Keep it coming…

Rhamis