Permaculture

Please post here your thoughts, ideas, and questions about Permaculture.

A while back I wrote an article about, No Dig Gardening: Sustainable Alternative to the Rototiller. Today some one D-Mailed me. Help!, he said, I am about ready to start tilling. What do I do about row crops in a no-dig garden? Crops like peas, potatoes, carrots, etc.

My answer to him was that I don't think a permaculture garden would be planted in rows, since the objective is to emulate natural ecology. As for potatoes I would plant them in a barrel or in a strawbale. And I sent him on to the Strawbale Forum.

Well, I am not exactly happy with that answer. The truth is I don't know what carrots would like like growing naturally, or peas, or potatoes for that matter.
So if anyone has any ideas of what a natural garden might look like, lets hear it!