Planting into the pasture terraces

With the first round of terraces dug and anchored, it was time to plant some perennials for long-term soil stability (and eventual chicken feed).  I'd already established a mulberry and three bush cherries (which will provide summer fruits) on the natural terrace near the bottom of the pasture, so I opted to add in persimmons for fall and winter fruit.  (You can read my plans for grafting Asian scionwood onto the American rootstocks here.)

In the long run, the persimmons should have large root systems, but at the moment, they're tiny twigs a fraction of the size of a pencil.  Clearly, I needed some more immediate soil-holding plants, and I had lots of comfrey waiting to be divided.  I stuck one hunk of comfrey into the ground every foot or two along the retaining wall on the downhill side of the middle terrace, figuring the plants will probably fill in the gaps within a year or two.

The next round of planting will come in the spring when I'll seed cover crops to cover the bare ground.  In the meantime, I hauled rotting wood out of the forest to hold the loose soil and to add humus to what's essentially all subsoil.  I'll keep you posted once I decide what kinds of annuals to plant.