[permaculture-oceania] Help needed in planning our PC farm

[Darrington, Paul A]

Apologies for the elaborate email below.
 
Hi, my brother Ryan & I are fairly new to the permaculture scene, but our enthusiasm more than makes up for our lack of experience;
We are buying 1 ha of North-East facing land in the subtropical area of Coffs Harbour, and intend to create a tropical/subtropical fruit & nut forest, including bush tucker & exotic species such as Cacao. We'll be incorporating many swales & a series of collection ponds throughout the property, and making use of Ducks, Geese, chickens, and encouraging as native wildlife as possible. 
 
We envisage this project as much an opportunity education & research as it is a hobby farm.
 
So we've come to the design & planning stage and are having difficulties finding good comprehensive information on the growth characteristics of different plants. We need to know what tree's we can or can't plant near each other, and how close.
 
We intend to "scaffold / stack" our plants as they would grow in their natural rainforest habitats, however the books all recommend full sun for just about every tree. 
 
I assume plant stacking and compatibility also depends on the tree's root structures, planting two shallow rooted trees next to each other would force plants to compete for nutrients. Or looking at the flipside of this scenario; would the intertwining of two plants root systems create a symbiotic relationship, where nutrients excreted by one plant are taken up by the other?
 
I guess this would be the case where nitrogen fixing species are involved, but what about a large nut tree, with a Cherimoya or Mulberry planted beneath it, and then a Brazilian Cherry, Papaya's, or Monsterea planted beneath those?
 
Ground covers are of obvious benefit to the orchid, but the 'companion planting' of fruit & nut tree's does not appear to be as well documented.
 
This is a key area of interest that we intend to study on this farm.
But for the here and now, and there any books you could recommend to help us in the design stage?
 
And how would I go about contacting Bill Mollison these days? As he has illustrated the root structures and stacking of various plants quite well in his designer manual, but does not do so for very many plants.
 
I've also been trying to find information on which Chicken, Duck & Geese species are best for the garden? 
Are there any varieties to avoid or recommended?
 
          
          Greatly Appreciated, 
 
Paul & Ryan Darrington 
 

 
6BF Operations, Ironmaking Dept
BlueScope Steel Limited
Port Kembla, Wollongong NSW 2500
Email: paul.darrington at bluescopesteel.com
Phone: 02 4275 7522 ext +2172
A/H: 0419 722 343
 
 
PS, we are leaving our materials engineering degree's, and quitting work at the steelworks to pursue a healthier life in Permaculture; Ryan will be studying Landscape Design, and I'll be studying Architectural Technology, both focused on sustainable, passive designs, incorporating permaculture principles etc.
 




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