The biggest opportunity on Deanne’s property was not adding more stuff. (She already had enough to do.)

What she needed was a design that made the pieces work better together.
Smarter. Less work. More productivity.

So one of my first recommendations was a road that followed the ridgeline of the sloped land. Why?

The road provides a central access line to divide up the property into rotational pastures, different microclimates, and complementary functions.

And because the road follows the ridge, it will always shed its water onto the neighbouring swales, fruit trees, & pastures. In doing so, the road remains dry and is less vulnerable to washout. 

This is classical Permaculture design thinking to turn a problem into a solution.
Water problems? Water solutions!

Each element does several jobs. And ideally, elements support each other.

Let’s take the top of the property as another example. I proposed four features there that all worked together:

1. A viewing patio overlooking the farm (A striking view and contrast between a monoculture orchard, a corn maze, and then Deanne’s budding farm.)
   

    

2. A chicken + compost system designed to produce incredibly nutrient-rich eggs, high-value soil, and be a fertility factory for the whole property. Using the chickens’ scratching behaviour, these hardworking birds will turn the compost and push it all downhill, where it can both passively fertilize everything downhill or be harvested. Essentially, this is gravity composting. As Permaculture would teach, “Get other creatures to do all the work.”
3. A high pond designed to be the ultimate value location for water. This is an investment in life itself – it holds high-pressure, high-value water for animals, fire, drought, and all d’em chickens. We stack functions by farming a superfood for chickens called “duckweed” on the water’s surface. It’s a free, high-protein, high-nutrition, natural, local chicken feed. The duckweed thrives in the nutrient-rich waters… like the ones near chickens and compost.
4. A farm stand connected directly to the residential neighbourhood above – residents can walk down in the morning and get their fresh eggs as if they owned the chickens themselves.

Individually, each of these ideas is useful.
Together, they become beyond efficient.
They stack functions & gain resilience.
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This is Permaculture design.

And as the farm grows, the patio can become a gathering place for Li’l Farmers, workshops, tours, or events.

And all of it becomes the demonstration farm Deanne wants to share not just with kids, but with the world.

(Below is an “electronic sketch” I made with the client during the consult using Google Earth Pro. This is not a finished design.)