Humid Cool Climate Home Gardening -Efficient Permaculture Practices

The current inefficient and destructive type of farming and gardening, which was exported as the ideal model to the rest of the world, came from humid cool climates.

Cool climates were once “a mosaic of mixed forest, extensive hedgerows, small fields, permanent meadows or prairie, and relatively small vegetable plots,” reflecting a stable use of the land. Then, in the cool, humid regions of Europe and southwest Asia, the broadscale crop agriculture we know today was developed by forcing large-scale grain crops and feedlot systems onto the land, causing deforestation, pollution of both soil (through chemical fertilizers and pesticides) and air (through burning fossil fuels), and soil loss.

While the tropics and arid regions suffered greater ecological shock and more damage to their gardening systems by adopting this broadscale practice, gardeners in cool climates also need to break free from this mechanized, energy-intensive, artificial fertilizer- and pesticide-dependent agricultural model and rediscover efficient, sustainable gardening solutions.

The next series of letters will focus on efficient permaculture practices for home gardeners living in humid cool climates who want to transform their relationship with nature.

Check out the previous editions of his series about permaculture practices for home gardens across different climates. Part 1 Desert Garden and Part 1 Tropical Garden.​

In this edition, in 4 minutes or less:

#1 Characteristics of the Humid Cool Climate

#2 What Can Be Best Grown

#3 The Cold Climate Home Garden

The current inefficient and destructive type of farming and gardening, which was exported as the ideal model to the rest of the world, came from humid cool climates.

Cool climates were once “a mosaic of mixed forest, extensive hedgerows, small fields, permanent meadows or prairie, and relatively small vegetable plots,” reflecting a stable use of the land. Then, in the cool, humid regions of Europe and southwest Asia, the broadscale crop agriculture we know today was developed by forcing large-scale grain crops and feedlot systems onto the land, causing deforestation, pollution of both soil (through chemical fertilizers and pesticides) and air (through burning fossil fuels), and soil loss.

While the tropics and arid regions suffered greater ecological shock and more damage to their gardening systems by adopting this broadscale practice, gardeners in cool climates also need to break free from this mechanized, energy-intensive, artificial fertilizer- and pesticide-dependent agricultural model and rediscover efficient, sustainable gardening solutions.

The next series of letters will focus on efficient permaculture practices for home gardeners living in humid cool climates who want to transform their relationship with nature.

Check out the previous editions of his series about permaculture practices for home gardens across different climates. Part 1 Desert Garden and Part 1 Tropical Garden.​

Characteristics of the Humid Cool Climate

Humid cool climate regions are spared many of the challenges typical of tropical and arid regions: excessive evaporation, intense sun, and fragile soils.

However, winter frost — with or without snow, ice, and frozen ground — poses its own challenge. On top of that, cold winds reduce the growth of animals and plants through heat loss. Sound construction, careful planning of the growing season and garden beds, and storing food over winter are therefore essential:

• The coldest months are below 0°C, and the warmest are above 10°C
• Winters are wet, though rain can occur year-round
• The dry period is usually mid- to late summer
• Spring and summer are the periods of strongest plant growth, with a less intense growing period in autumn
• Winter is marked by little to no plant growth

Wind in these regions can be a major impediment to yield, so much so that windbreaks are essential for animal health and crop protection. Another characteristic of these regions is that cold air can accumulate in valleys as a dense mass, creating frost conditions and fog (reduces the growth of plants and animals). In these areas, frost-free sites are rare and usually found high on sun-facing slopes or in small forest clearings (less than 30 m across).

The soil has the unique ability to accumulate humus under the natural conditions of forests, prairies, and meadows. It is normally acidic and contains a good amount of clay. Vast areas of cool climates also have periglacial loess soil formations, which create very fertile soils.

Open water storage is very appropriate in these regions because the soil’s high clay content makes the construction of dams and tanks easier, evaporation is less intense than precipitation, and many useful plant and animal species benefit from water systems. The potential for water-based gardening systems, agroforestry, and pasture is enormous. P. A. Yeomans developed his keyline design for water catchment and storage while studying this landscape.

The humid cool climate presents a different situation from the ones we have studied so far, yet it offers many characteristics that support the life of the farmer and gardener — if they can withstand the cold and plan accordingly.

What Can Be Best Grown

Cool climates are especially suited for:

• Berry crops
• Agroforestry
  • Forest products
  • Orchards
  • Perennial grasses for grazing
• Aquaculture: fish and aquatic plants
• Free-range systems
  • Bees
  • Poultry
  • Pigs
• Forested home gardens

The Cold Climate Home Garden

Gardens can follow layouts similar to tropical gardens, with frost-resistant species, appropriate seasonal timing, and sun traps replacing shade strategies.

Structures such as nurseries, greenhouses, and even cloches (miniature greenhouses for individual plants) are essential for extending the growing season by providing a warmer environment for plants. Another important feature of cool climate gardening is the need to grow and store crops for the winter months.

The winter food gap is bridged by growing root crops and preserving harvests. Mid-spring is often known as the “hungry gap” because winter crops are finished while new crops have not yet begun producing.

There are therefore two main planting periods: early spring, and late summer to early autumn. In milder regions, however, a green crop can be sown before winter and harvested the following spring.

Mulch remains an important strategy, just as in arid and tropical regions. Although mulch can shade the soil and delay warming in early spring, crops planted in mulch eventually catch up with those grown in bare soil and mature at the same time. The exception is spring carrots, which prefer slightly warmer soil earlier in the season and may require the mulch to be temporarily removed.

Trellised crops are important, but overhead trellises should be avoided because they tend shade the beds too much. Vertical trellises are therefore the best choice for this region.

Small fruits such as currants, gooseberries, raspberries, and trellised blackberries are prominent features because they provide food rich in vitamin C and can also serve as windbreaks.

The cool climate garden should contain many layers, from the canopy of tall trees to herbaceous ground plants and underground root crops, in order to make maximum use of sunlight and multiply yields during the short but intense growing season. It should also be built with solid structures that protect against the cold and preserve the most limited resource: heat.

The cool climate garden is a multilayered sun-trap forest garden.

Gardening in cool climates is fundamentally about protection from cold, wind, and frost.

You want to take advantage of bodies of thermal mass to improve heating efficiency while using insulation strategies intelligently. Creating natural sun traps and using animal body heat to warm spaces are effective design strategies. All of this is focused on extending the growing season by creating protected microclimates for crops. Crop storage and planting timing also become essential because winter imposes a pause in nature that cannot be ignored. Windbreaks are a cornerstone strategy in making this work, whether through trees or building materials with good thermal mass, such as cob and stone.

Cool climates therefore demand anticipation, planning, and durable structures, but they also offer fertile soils and abundant water. If these resources are not polluted, they create enormous possibilities — provided we can see beyond the spell of this mechanized, energy-intensive, artificial fertilizer- and pesticide-dependent agricultural system that claims: “we no longer need to worry about the soil because we control fertility.”

See you next Tuesday!

Alexandre and Marina

P.S.: It can be very challenging to shift your mindset toward permaculture, because it asks us to look at growing food and taking care of soil fertility with new eyes. The next edition will explore what a forested home garden capable of helping save the planet can look like.

Sources: Mollison, Bill, Remi M. Slay, Jeeves, Andrew. Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. Tagari Publications, 1988, pages 411-414, fig 12.1