Caretaking the land

Before our ancestors settled down into an agricultural society, hunter-gatherers were gardening in the forest. Land used by Native Americans was more productive than land left alone. This is because of their knowledge of natural systems, systems that permaculture practitioners have brought to light in the last few decades.

I live a 10 second bike ride away from National Forest land. Sometimes I feel naughty for care-taking the land guerilla style. I am strictly a volunteer, but with no paperwork submitted to the Ranger District. Of course I'm responsible! I take nothing from the land, and I harvest nothing. I even walk my bike over muddy trails because I know the bacterial, fungal, and mycelial damage it can do! But I do go off trail, carefully avoiding the ephemeral flowers here and there, and I go off trail to discover the hills beyond the trails. Then I spend hours there, moving stuff around for the purpose of biodiversity and long-term producitvity!

Here are a few things you can do to help the Earth around you thrive.

• When trees fall, move them perpendicular to the slope, so over time it will catch soil, retain water, and encourage new plant life. Permaculturists call these water retaining elements "swales."
• In springtime, after the wind of the winter has blown branches down, clear the branches into one pile to give light to the plants that lie dormant underneath. You can neatly add the branches to the swales, or create big mounds. If you cover the mound with leaf and soil, you've started what Permaculturists call "HugelKultur" which will retain water and create a nutrient rich soil in the years to come. 
• Create "Mason Bee hotels". Mason Bee's pollinate more flowers than honey bees, and are more resilient to disease. Let me google that for you. 
• Find the lowest point of the hill where water accumulates, dig a hole, and create transplant a rock from a body of water nearby. Do not bring contaminants from far away, but do introduce local lifeforms to your new body of water. 
• Little critters like crawl space. Those mounds and swales you made are great for them and will help the biodiversity thrive. If brambles get overgrown, little critters lose their running space. It's very kind and helpful for them if you maintain their running spaces. Deer also like to have multiple escape routes out of open fields. If the exit-ways are blocked, clear them up for them and watch the populations return!

As John Muir once said "In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks." Learn how to track animals and listen to the birds, and even if you don't see them, you will feel their presence.