Permaculture Zone 3

Zone 3 in Permaculture is to do with ‘Farming’.

Zone 3 is usually about commercial produce which is grown, maintained, and harvested in such a way as to reduce impact on the environment, maintain soil quality, and conserve water.

The area for farming is most often larger than zones 1 and 2, although in smaller gardens zones 2 and 3 are often combined, and close plantings with heavy yields through companion planting and living mulches are achieved.

If you have land size and wish to create an income from it, popular crops are:

• barley
• corn
• fruit
• millet
• nuts
• oats
• potatoes
• rice
• rye, and
• wheat

Some farms breed:

• alpacas
• dairy cows
• goats
• pigs
• poultry, and
• sheep

Some characteristics of Zone 3 include:

• dams
• tree varieties to protect crops and animals, as wind breaks and shelter
• a watering harvesting system – perhaps using gravity to flow water from a high dam down over crops. This is where swales (ditches along the natural land slopes that capture water slowing it and giving it time to soak in, or to direct the water along a certain path) play an important role.
• living mulches
• fences to keep animals away from crops and protect conservation areas (zone 6)
• may also include Alley Cropping

Alley Cropping (aka Hedgerow Intercropping) is Companion Planting in a big way. Commercial Crops are grown between rows of assisting plants (often nitrogen-fixing). They appear as ‘alleys’. It is also a way to have farm animals and commercial crops in the one area without the animals eating your crops. The system allows the crops to benefit from the animal’s grazing plants (nutrients, shade and wind protection) as well as the added nutrients from the manure. The alleys protect the animals from strong winds and provide shade. I guess you could call it ‘Companion Farming’ in a way.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you wanted to grow wheat as your commercial crop, and you have Dairy Cows.

Plant a row of wheat and then beside it grow a row of nitrogen-fixing cattle grazing trees/crops. Add a line of fencing that allows the cattle to ‘browse’ the grazing crops, but not get through to the wheat. Leave an ‘alley’ for the cattle to walk through on their grazing adventures, then add another line of fencing. Follow that with a row of cattle grazing crops, and a row of wheat behind that… then more grazing crops, another fence, then an alley for the cattle, another fence, grazing crops, wheat… Got the idea?

Basically the cattle wander the alleys chomping away at the grazing crops (through and over the fence line)
while your commercial crops grow happily, safely ensconced by the grazing crops (assisting plants) and protected from strong winds. The only thing you would need to watch is that the cattle don’t overgraze the crops or push through the fencing (major nightmare!).

Here’s a very helpful webpage with pictures, Spec. Sheets, and details on Alley Cropping that was put together by the United States Department of Agriculture as part of their Natural Resources Conservation Series.

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