I was surprised to come across one of the details I must have retained from the book without knowing. Early on, the characters gather offshoots of big spiky agave from an abandoned farmstead, which they use to make a “thorn fence” around their property.

Where I live, the block backs on to public land. There’s a steep slope down to the creek, covered in blackberries. I’ve been slowly digging a tunnel through the blackberries, and now I’m within about 2 metres of an open patch.

My housemates (the owners of the property) asked me not to dig further for now, so the dog doesn’t get loose. And also so people don’t wander up from the creek, which they say has happened before. So I got to thinking about how to discourage that, and the “fence” of prickly plants came to mind.

I’ve pondered this for years on and off, when fantasising about different blocks of land. I don’t want to live in a walled compound, and even standard fencing is expensive. But I’d like to have some privacy, as well as a distinct entrance(s) for people to come through and know they couldn’t wander in some other way. I’ve pondered English style hedges (which would work well in our climate) as well as prickly native plantings of things like Bursaria spinosa, and Mediterranean options like artichokes (seasonal) and some citrus varieties.

Funny that this has stuck in my brain for so long, when I don’t remember the book’s plot.

#memory #permaculture #UsefulPlants #SmallAndSlowSolutions #StackingFunctions