Land Design

Human Habitat Design starts with a goal articulation and visioning process in order to elaborate on the wants and needs of the project. It is important also at this stage to discover the primary motivator for the transition towards a regenerative lifestyle.
The second phase includes surveying the site. For example, we look at the way the water is currently moving over the property and check what is currently on site with regard to fauna, flora, access, and already built structures. In this phase, it’s also good to expand the clients understanding of the local bioregion, including useful plant and animal species as well as weather patterns, sun angle, and common challenges with food production and home maintenance that we intend to overcome.
The 3rd stage is to run some assessments such as an input and output assessment and zone and or sector analysis and place challenges & solutions in order of priority.
The 4th stage is when the design commences and we try to figure out what kind of habitat is practical for the site. At this point, we’ll consider all the available options for ponds, cisterns, construction, landscaping and what possibilities there are for solar, micro-hydro or other evolving technologies.
A cyclical design process of continuous forecasting, evaluation and tweaking is established that keeps the project moving efficiently in the right direction.
The Dream Ticket
The type of projects generally sought by Charlie is conventional and sustainable building hybrids, surrounded by agroforestry and when relevant, terraced, rainwater harvesting silvopasture/food savannah systems which use both plants and animals to mimic the natural nutrient cycles. These systems sequester the most carbon, regenerating the planet by both improving soil fertility locally and mitigating climate change globally. To find out more, read on or check out the glossary section.
Home Design
The type of home design depends primarily on the desires and budget of the client and what is already there to work with, as often retrofitting is the most sustainable option.
Other considerations are what materials are on site, what the local building codes and local engineers are willing to work with. Charlie is a huge fan of passive solar homes, cob, strawbale, hempcrete, log homes etc, but also appreciates the efficiency of conventional building methods in this eco-social region, where altering building codes leads to undesirable engineering fees and often extra quality man power which is everharder to come by. For this reason, we remain integral and open to a logical and beautiful fusion that meets the needs of the client.
Please note that once a concept is established, we will then work with locally renowned architects, draftsmen and engineers to complete an aesthetically beautiful and structurally sound home that complies with the updated building codes.
Food Systems
Regenerative Developments specialises in food production based on a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature – aka Permaculture.
Biomimicry is all the rage in many aspects of todays world, from microtechnology to economics. Food forests (aka forest gardens), and food savannahs are agriculture’s version of biomimicry, which, where appropriate, become the most productive and regenerative forms of food production.
Food Forest/Forest Garden(aka Multi Strata Agroforestry)

A food forest is a simple no-till (the earthworms, the harvesting of root crops, and the death of old trees do the tilling) multi storied systems of food and other useful products (medicines, flowers, timber), which while being managed with a ‘working with nature philosiphy’, benefit from the largest possible bio diversity (for example 90% of insects in a garden are either beneficial or completely harmless, and the more diversity, the less chance of any single species being problematic) to produce low input, high output food production.
See a food forest tour by Charlie at Taino Organic Farm in the Dominican Republic in 2014.

The Mariposa Food Forest, Day 1 and Day 500 (approx.)

Food Savannah

Mark Shepard’s Farm in Viola Wisconsin! Perhaps the premier example of a food Savannah or what he calls ‘Restoration agriculture’
A ‘Food Savannah’ can be similar to a food forest yet with less of a closed canopy. In the openings between trees (which are usually planted on swale mounds on contour that catch, spread, sink and then store the water in the soil and ponds), organic crops are grown, or animals such as cattle are raised in a system called ‘silvopasture’. If cattle are raised they will be managed in a way that’s known as ‘Holistic Management’ or “Mob Stock Grazing”. This method mimics the natural herding tendencies of ungulates in the wild. Ungulates generally migrate in large herds that are kept in tight groups by predatory animals. Instead of predatory animals, the most common method is solar power net electric fences. In doing so the herds or ‘mobs’ spend anywhere from a few hours to a few days in an area eating, imprinting their hooves and fertilising before moving on, giving the paddock a chance to fully regenerate. This method when accompanied with appropriate water management and subsoil ploughing is known to be one of the fastest ways of building soil and sequestering carbon (carbon farming).
For a full and compressive understanding of Food Savannah Agriculture or ‘Restoration Agriculture’ this presentation by Mark Shepard is a greta resource!

This video is a vey brief introduction to Holistic Management.


Taino Fam’s Sketch Design from 2012

Food Savannah with Pigs
Earthworks
Whenever there is a budget for earthworks and the sites is appropriate, earthworks are encouraged. As well as creating a level building site, machines can be used for the formation of swales, ditches, ponds/dams and terraces. The reason for doing this is that we can optimise the water absorption and storage capacity of the site as well as soil building and carbon sequestering potential, while creating beneficial microclimates and wildlife habitats. The Ancient Incas knew full well the return on investment from earthworks; They would build it all by hand because they know the increased yields over time far outweighed the efforts to create them. Toady we have readily available excavators which we can utilise the leftovers of the oil age to create land healing shapes that will continue to do their job sequestering carbon and promoting life until the glaciers scar them back to bed rock in the next ice age.
Fertigation
A huge amount of the design process involves managing water so that it is stored when we don’t need it and utilised when we do. This water management system is generally known as key line design.
Through making creative add on’s we can also have our irrigation system fertilise at the same time hence ‘fertigation’. Imagine having ponds gravity feed into pools, that we let ducks play in and then use the fertilised water to gravity feed our apple trees..? This is what we mean when we say ‘Working with nature’
In this introductory piece we have only touched the surface of how we intend to save you time and money for generations via being a part of the development of you project. Please get in touch if you have any further questions or would like to receive information about rates and potential booking for the 2016 season. 6047418325 or regenerativedevelopments@gmail.com.