Permaculture Beginnings...Slow and Steady and Sudden

Everything within me wants to race to the greenhouse before the rest of the good plants are gone.    My little tiny budget crimps those urges and forces me to plod along.

In the long run, it might be for the best.  


As I put one perennial in here and another tucked in a spot along the fence; ideas are planted and begin to bloom.

What if I dug out and sheet mulched the low spot beside my patio and moved one of my big blue stem grasses to it?  In this way, a new bed or niche will begin.

Then there is the tree issue. Three giant trees have had to be taken out of my yard this year.  My ONLY trees and it has been heartbreaking. 

By happenstance, I was outside when a landscaping company delivered a Pampas grass to my nieghbor.  After a polite amount of chit chat, I asked what time of tree they would recommend.  

"Hawthorn."  The young man said to his elder,   "Don't we have that Hawthorn at the place?"  

In light of the excited prattle of a dreaming woman and the excellent service of a good landscaper; I received the call.

"We have the hawthorn in town to deliver to you!"


 "Oh really," I say.  

"Won't my husband be surprised," I think.  

Soon after, a giant digging machine snatched out a triangle shaped chunk of earth.  I stood over it wondering how appropriately it looked like a graveside!  


The tree arrived and is absolutely beautiful and they put it in the exact right place.  Water well and watch it bloom, they beamed.

 It is a mid-layer tree.  

So...now on to add the shrubs and grasses....

Soil is full of the memories of how it once was.

Soil gets a bad rap.  Feet and hands and children are kept out of it.  

Noses wrinkled and head held high as we avoid it.

It is kept at arms length with shovel handles and spray bottles.

Keep it at a distance. Uninvolved and unmoved.  

Focus on the quick and away from the dirty and real.

Sometimes, the most important things around us, we take for granted.

Soil full of life.  

Full of the memories of how it was treated and what was once sown and thought hidden.

Soil is where yesterday, today and tomorrow merge and link arms.

Where the debris of the years is broken into particles and covered with the debris of today. Birds, worms, organisms and humans mix the layers.

Soil is where the broken, diseased, decayed and imperfect become treasure.

Where is diversity is invited and created.

"An exuberantly healthy soil is the cornerstone of a sustainable garden.  The virtues bestowed by a living, fertile soil are legion.  When we pack the growing earth with organic matter, via thick mulch, self-renewing roots, and buried debris, we're beckoning the industrious workers of the soil.  Worms, tiny beetles and mites, bacteria, fungi, and a host of other helpers arrive to feast on the offerings and on each other.  

They churn and tunnel and munch and spawn, chiseling minerals from rock and humus, all the while loosing a veritable avalanche of fertility to be shared with plants.  The plants themselves shelter, feed, and are nourished and protected by whole communities of soil life in a mutually beneficent partnership."  

 Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway (Published 2009)P. 95

Spring Has Sprung- Permaculture in Process

The butterfly bushes, Maximilian sunflowers,  yarrow, syliva, hostas and grasses are all trimmed back and confidently pushing up their new growth.  A little like three year olds testing their boundaries, or teenagers spreading their wings.

Leaves gathered around their roots over the winter, are in various stages of decomposition.  Beds and berms have been watered and cleaned.  I never tire of watching nature do what God intended it to do.  Working together to build the soil and community up around it.  

The soil is amazing and teeming with life!  Now to protect it until the plants do their job in the garden.  I'm looking for old hay and straw.  Hay breaks down more quickly.  Asking people who mow to share their grass clippings with me is going to be critical.  My goal is to have 8 inches of mulch on my beds and around my plants.

The electric company shared a wealth of wood chips with me.  Family and friends shook their heads at the giant pile in my driveway and I secretly wondered where it would all go.  Surprisingly, they have gone quickly as I add more around this perennials, or that tree as the ground settles in.

Although our area continues to be in a drought, a spring rain a few days ago has given the ground hope.  As it rained steadily through the night, I could not help but imagine the water seeping through the mulch and pea gravel to be stored in the soil beneath the swells and berms.  I imagine it being held by organic bits and pieces within the soil.

Permaculture is simply helping create community systems!

Seed Catalogs Have Arrived!!!

Spring must be just around the corner, right?  Seed catalogs are coming in the mail!  I am making my list and checking it twice.

This year I want to be more intentional.  My goal is to learn more about each plant and begin with the new perennials such as Jerusalem artichoke and Horseradish.

My plan is to have a journal committed to my garden.  As I create a seed list, I will add the information I learn about the specific plant.

This will take some time!

Did you know Jerusalem artichoke is a member of the sunflower family?

Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)

It is a perennial.

Grows 4-9 feet tall and produces yellow flowers and tubers.

The tubers contain "10% protein, no oil, and a surprising lack of starch" according to Wikipedia.

I have much to learn!!!

I would love to know if you have a systematic method to your madness?  To planting and learning more about your plants?

 

Fall Versus Spring Pruning-Perennials & Winter

The leaves are dying on my perennials.    Maximilian Sunflowers, butterfly bushes, wild flowers and grasses are beginning to go to sleep for the winter in my Zone 5 area.   We have not had a killing freeze yet, but it is coming.

It gets pretty ugly in my back yard after the freeze.  Gangly brown stalks.  

So here is what I do:

I trim down the sunflowers to about 4 feet and tuck leaves, grass clippings and other organic type mulch around the roots this fall.  In the spring before growth, I will cut it down to about a foot.

The butterfly bushes and Russian Sages are left alone.  I do trim back any branches that are drooping down to the ground.  I've noticed these plants gathering their own bedding each fall as blowing leaves are caught within their stems.  Some manure and/or compost are sprinkled on.  I do tuck grass clippings, and straw if I can find it, around their bases to decompose over the winter.

Karl Forester, pampas, big blue stem and little blue stem grasses are left alone.  I am taking a few seed heads to save for next year.  The grasses provide great shelter and some food for the tiny birds that overwinter here.  Tucking extra organic material around the grasses makes me feel like I'm being a little attentive! 

The hastas seem to gather their own bed of mulch as their leaves die down and leaves gather in their beds.  I have lost two big trees this year though and need to gather some to help insulate them.

The other beds and berms are covered with as much organic material as I can find.  I try to find mulch at our local tree dump to add to the berms I am building.

Basically, plants provide their own self-care in the fall to ready themselves for winter.  It is up to us to stay out of the way as much as possible! :)

It is About That Time

Sadly, I'm realizing it is about that time.  

Time to put my garden to bed.  Time to write down what worked and what didn't.  Time to clean pots and bird baths and tools.  Time to spray paint the tattered pots or chipped baths and place in the shed for bed.

I have enjoyed this year's additions:

Egg Plant

Celery

Okra

Sweet Potato

I planted the egg plant on a new berm.  It was tucked on top next to a pumpkin and some squash.  The one plant was extremely prolific!  The leaves decompose quickly and will add to the soil structure of the new berm.

The celery surprised me.  In fact, after it took off, I was not sure what to do with all of it.  Some freezing but mostly I've cooked with it.  Next year, I will be more prepared with ideas.

Okra, I planted from seeds along the edges of my big bed and they were voracious.  Not at all sure how to cook okra, but have a bucket in the fridge of them ready to cook.

My sweet potato loves where it is.  I planted it late along the edge of a berm.  The vines have mixed with other annual plants and it is a beautiful combination.

I left the big raised bed piled high and utilized a layered approach.  Cucumbers and zucchini on top; tomatoes and peppers in the middle ring and carrots, okra, celery and even peas on the bottom layer.

This year, I blended most of the produce to freeze and use.  Tomatoes and peppers are blended together to make chili and soups this winter.  Zucchini.  Peppers. Celery and pepper mash frozen in ice cube trays and stored in baggies.

My big blue stem seeded and is growing strong creating a beautiful hide-a-way for summer retreats!

Putting beds to sleep.  

My large bed is pulled, piled and covered with grass clippings, straw and leaves.  I've been watering generously, to encourage decomposing before the winter freeze. 

  

I dig a hole in the middle, and add scraps from the kitchen, cover with soil and water for a composting soup!

Having the soil settled in for the worms, bugs and organisms to create their amazing webs over the winter, is my main objective.  

As fall continues, I gather organic material,  leaves, straw and clippings-adding layers as I go.

I don't want to not disturb or disrupt the soil, until I transplant babies into the soil in the spring.

 

Catching Water Runoff

In the past, the extra water would run off and then evaporate.  This meant more watering and fixing the mulch after it ran with it. 

I added pea gravel the length of the run off area, covered it all with heavy mulch and I water half as much!