Permaculture

Permaculture is defined as, “a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. [source]”

One of our goals at Quail Run Farm is to follow permaculture as closely as possible. Utah has two major problems when it comes to gardening/farming. First, is water. Utah is a desert. And any water we do get needs to be used as wisely as possible. Second, soil fertility. Utah is also not known for its soil fertility. You have to work the soil in most areas to have it able to sustain anything besides native plants. Our goal is to use permaculture and some other farming techniques to overcome these two obstacles.

As we learn and grow the farm, we plan on using huglekulture, rainwater and greywater harvesting, sheet mulching, tree management, and other permaculture ideas.

Recent Posts

Preparing Spring Beds
March 9, 2020
Despite being February and technically still winter, it is spring here on the farm. I love spring. All summer long I am busy making compost, in “cold” piles and with the chickens but as much as I work to make as much compost …Read More ...

Raspberry Fields
November 24, 2019
One of the projects we have been discussing and planning for almost forever has been a rather large raspberry patch. Ultimately we would like to run some sort of pick-your-own or selling shares of some sort, but to get to that point we have a lot of planning, planting and work to do. As we […]Read More ...
You Win Some, You Lose Some
October 22, 2019
Late this season, about the end of August I decided to experiment with a late planting of lettuce. In the past I have kept my lettuce growing to the spring then quit when it got hot and the lettuce went bitter and bolted. If you live in a place where the summers get hot and […]Read More ...
Cover Crops-Rye Grass
October 13, 2019
Using cover crops isn’t something I have done aggressively over the years. I would use beans and peas in rotation and we’ve planted rye and clover in some areas. This will be the first season that we are going to be using cover crops extensively. I have had many hesitations, it doesn’t seem to make […]Read More ...
Putting the Garden to Bed
October 2, 2019
About a week ago we got one of our first really cold nights. Technically we didn’t get below freezing, but I’ve come to learn over the years that our farm is in a little micro climate that is a few degrees cooler than homes that are only six hundred or so feet west of us […]Read More ...
Cover Crops
September 16, 2019
Using cover crops is an important part of regenerative agriculture, permaculture and organic gardening. Winter rye is an excellent cover crop this time of year, it loves the cold and will contunie to grow, even when temperatures reach below freezing. Its growth slows down considerably when the days get shorter, and goes into a hibernation […]Read More ...
Gathering Seeds
September 14, 2019
A few years ago I bought carrots seeds and the strangest thing happened. Instead of producing an edible root (well it may have been edible, but they certainly weren’t palatable) they went right to flower. This is strange, in that clearly I didn’t get the correct seed and typically plants in the carrot family are […]Read More ...
Late Kale
September 12, 2019
This bed had rainbow carrots growing in it this summer. Root vegetables take a lot out of the soil. They are great for aeration and breaking up hard soils, allowing compost and nutrients to get down deep once the roots are harvested. It is always important to follow root crops with other crops that help […]Read More ...
Kale
September 2, 2019
No matter your feelings about kale, you have to admit this stuff is cute when it is little. This baby kale is about a week away from planting in the garden. It is a little late for a fall harvest, we might get some, as kale is very cold hardy, but I’m not expecting much. […]Read More ...
Chickens
August 29, 2019
Chickens have a very important roll here on the farm. One of the first purchases we made when we moved here was a bunch of baby chicks shipped in when they were a day old, soon we had a big chicken coop up and our relationship with chickens on the farm began. We had kept […]Read More ...