Permaculture and edible landscaping--check in!

[maize]

What are people growing? Anything interesting and new? How do you structure your permaculture garden or edible landscape?

 

I actually didn't know until the past couple of years that what I am doing with my yard has a name; I just like to grow things, especially things I can eat. When we bought this house it had one big honey locust tree, a blue spruce tree, and a struggling blackberry plant and strawberry patch in the back yard. There were a couple of garden boxes off in one corner  where they were shaded for 80% of the day by the blue spruce on one side and the neighbor's poplar trees on the other. The strawberry and blackberry were also in spots where they had more shade than sun. It was like someone vaguely wanted a garden but only in the most remote spot where it wouldn't be noticed. The rest of the yard was lawn that was at least 50% weeds. 

 

I immediately started planting things, especially trees. We had spent the prior seven years living in small apartments and I badly wanted to grow more than could be managed in a few pots. We've been here a little over five years and I now have two nectarine trees, one peach, three cherries, three apples, two pears, two asian pears, two mulberries, two walnut, two pistachios, one almond, one plum, three apricots, four filberts, several grape vines, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, a che berry plant, a saskatoon berry, some blueberries that I'm trying to get the soil acidity right for (they're not very happy right now), a small ramson patch, a bit of asparagus, some sorrel, a very small pawpaw (there were two but one died so I need to replace it), one hardy kiwi vine that I think is male, I keep trying and failing to get a female vine to survive. I had a fig but lost it this spring--not sure what happened, it was all leafed out then shriveled up. I've got a couple of small pecan trees but have been told they are unlikely to produce nuts in our area (too cold, growing season not long enough). 

 

I've just planted a bunch of herbs, most of them perennials. 

 

I'd love to hear what others are growing!

[myfunnybunch]

We took out the rhododendrons in our yard and replaced them with blueberries. We also planted blueberries in the front flower bed and along the fence in the back yard.

 

We've got raspberries, and turned an ornamental trellis into a garden box for growing beans.

 

We put fruit trees in our chicken yard:Apple, cherry, pear. We'll add another pear or a yellow plum in the back yard this fall. I've also got a fig in my garden, and rhubarb in pots along the garden fence, among the flowers. I just planted two more figs, too. :)

 

We also have an herb box in our front yard: Chives, thyme, oregano, parsley.

[myfunnybunch]

We took out the rhododendrons in our yard and replaced them with blueberries. We also planted blueberries in the front flower bed and along the fence in the back yard.

 

We've got raspberries, and turned an ornamental trellis into a garden box for growing beans.

 

We put fruit trees in our chicken yard:Apple, cherry, pear. We'll add another pear or a yellow plum in the back yard this fall. I've also got a fig in my garden, and rhubarb in pots along the garden fence, among the flowers. I just planted two more figs, too. :)

 

We also have an herb box in our front yard: Chives, thyme, oregano, parsley.

[cjzimmer1]

I have red and black raspberries growing.  The red are spreading nicely but the black were tiny plants when I got them.  Took them several years to get big enough where the rabbits didn't mow them down in the winter.  I have a cherry tree I plant 8 years ago.  The first winter the rabbits took it down to a stick.  I figured it was dead but we left it there.  About year 3 there was a tiny green leave at the base.  I couldn't tell if it was from the tree or just a weed growing near it.  So we left it alone.  The same few leaves where there every year but never seems to get bigger.  I didn't have a better plan for the space so we just left it alone.  Last year was still the dead stick with a few leaves at the base.  I went out this spring.  There were 3 branches over 6 feet tall and several more in the 2-3 foot range.  It flowered for the first time ever.  I think the birds snip off most of the flowers but at least I know the tree is still alive.

 

I had a volunteer mulberry tree.  I would have loved to keep it but it was growing through the rocks in the rock wall.  I was afraid to let it stay there and mess up the wall so I had to kill it.

 

I used to plant flowers on the west side of my house but I have since turned it into additional garden space and plants a row of tomatoes there.

 

We have a rock wall running through the middle of our back yard.  I have the top of it lined with pots of various vegetables.

 

I also have 5 honeyberry plants.  Last year was the first year we got any and they were very good (a bit like a blueberry but much hardier for those in cold climates).  I planted 3 more last year and one of them has a few on it this year already.

[maize]

I recently saw a honeyberry plant for the first time, I'd like to try those.

[Miss Tick]

I have had trouble beating the chipmunks, birds, and squirrels to our sweet berries, so this year I added a few more cranberry plants. I also found new growth on my wintergreen plants this weekend which is fabulous news, since I had pretty much given up back there.

 

Ironically I can't plant other trees, in part because of the giant black walnut we have - but harvesting those nuts is really impractical and super messy. Le sigh.

[Pen]

Blackberries--and I just tried eating the young stems, some of which are not so good, but some are a bit like not so sweet sugar cane. Plum trees have been sprouting in a nasty, kudzu takeover sort of way, especially since I don't especially like the plums they bear. I guess they spread by underground suckers, which must mean they are everywhere. A deliberately planted plum is not doing so well. Kale and collards will very nearly naturalize here.

 

I've planted blueberries, but they are a lot of work, so "permanent" only with lots of care. Wild strawberries do better than cultivated though and don't need care. Maple even if not sugar maple can apparently be used for syrup, though maybe not as good as real sugar maple, and maple grows easily here. We have some oak, and hence acorns which could be food, but animals always get them first. There is some chamomile in our driveway. I don't want to use it for tea where it is driven over, but it seems to do well and I am thinking to put some elsewhere in a better location for use. We have some other herbs in our garden area. Dandelions are wonderful.

[GailV]

Coming at this from a different angle, we're getting more in the swing of foraging the weeds that are proving themselves able to survive the shade and the local wildlife. It helps that as the neighbor gets older (now in her 90s) she is less likely to come over and try to spray them all with Roundup. 

 

Violets have taken over most of the back yard; I'm currently making violet-leaf vinegar.  We also discovered some mint.  Lots of plantain.  The best patch of chickweed is over near the neighbor's, so I transplanted some to a more protected-from-her location.  We also have white pine -- I want to try using the needles for vinegar.

 

 

[maize]

Blackberries--and I just tried eating the young stems, some of which are not so good, but some are a bit like not so sweet sugar cane. Plum trees have been sprouting in a nasty, kudzu takeover sort of way, especially since I don't especially like the plums they bear. I guess they spread by underground suckers, which must mean they are everywhere. A deliberately planted plum is not doing so well. Kale and collards will very nearly naturalize here. I've planted blueberries, but they are a lot of work, so "permanent" only with lots of care. Wild strawberries do better than cultivated though and don't need care. Maple even if not sugar maple can apparently be used for syrup, though maybe not as good as real sugar maple, and maple grows easily here. We have some oak, and hence acorns which could be food, but animals always get them first. There is some chamomile in our driveway. I don't want to use it for tea where it is driven over, but it seems to do well and I am thinking to put some elsewhere in a better location for use. We have some other herbs in our garden area. Dandelions are wonderful.

 

What do you do with your dandelions? We have lots, but they are too bitter for me to eat. I'm a genetic bitter taster though, so that may make a difference.

[*****]

Coming at this from a different angle, we're getting more in the swing of foraging the weeds that are proving themselves able to survive the shade and the local wildlife. It helps that as the neighbor gets older (now in her 90s) she is less likely to come over and try to spray them all with Roundup. 

 

Violets have taken over most of the back yard; I'm currently making violet-leaf vinegar.  We also discovered some mint.  Lots of plantain.  The best patch of chickweed is over near the neighbor's, so I transplanted some to a more protected-from-her location.  We also have white pine -- I want to try using the needles for vinegar.

 

I recently found out you could eat all the weeds I had been pulling out!  What a good idea!  

 

I live in the northwest and found this book recently: Northwest Foraging, the Classic Guide To Edible Plants of the PNW by Doug Benoliel.   

 

There are sketches of edible weeds, and explanations of which parts you can eat as well as recipes. 

 

I am sure there are many more books out there on this subject.

 

We took a dandelion cooking class one time-had blossom fritters, fried the root in a pan, made tea...this could be a great homeschool project for the kids!

[Cinder]

So far we only have 3 blueberry bushes on the front border of our yard. They're sort of mixed in with 3 crepe myrtles and so far we haven't been busted by the HOA for growing food in the front yard. There's a rule that any fruit/veg garden is supposed to be planted *behind* the house.

[Miss Tick]

We have a lot of shade in our yard. Anybody have suggestions for that? Can I grow fiddlehead ferns in well drained soul? I seem to remember lingonberries work in shade? There are three, 3 ft tall paw-paw trees in the shade of the neighbors' oak, but I don't have high hopes for getting fruit from those, too many squirrels!

[maize]

Shade is tough. Ramson and it's American cousin ramps grow in the shade. Many berries will do partial shade, though they will not produce as much.

[Bluegoat]

I suppose I am permaculture fusion?  I also have a fair number of flowers.  I tend to think of it as a traditional cottage garden - lots of things close together, foods being given priority and ornamentals needing to be largely self-sustaining.  A lot of them do provide food for birds and insects though so I consider them to have other functions, even so.

 

Anyway - I needed more digging this year, and I had despaired because being pregnant seemed to be making me very ineffective, but this weekend my dh did it all for me, and I am so pleased.  My front vegetable annual bed I did get planted on time and I have peas coming up, but he added a space for squash.  He also dug me a bed for hollyhock/sunflowers by the fence, and took out the rest of the grass under our front window which is a pain to mow.

 

We have goutweed in back so I dug over a bed there that was being invaded, because I needed to divide my rhubarb - I am hoping to get more eventually to have plenty to freeze and can.  I wanted the goutweed out before I planted.  I got it done but had bad tendonitis afterward.  I have to do my tomato bed too so I will take it easier I guess.

 

My trees are going well - the little nut trees we planted are starting to grow faster, as is my dwarf cherry.  My dh also found a cherry hiding in the hedgerow which we didn't know was there, and pruned some room for it, and it bloomed well as well.My peach did not make many peaches last year because of a harsh late winter but looks better this year, though it has leaf curl as usual.  My sloe bushes (blackthorn) bloom every second year and this is the year, so I will be able to make a lot of jam and sloe gin, and I might see if dh will try some wine.  The amount of fruit it produces is amazing.

 

My dh is supposed to finish the patio he started last year.  He is looking balky though.

 

I am a bit disappointed that I didn't get much germination for sweet peppers, ground cherry, or tomatillo.  I can get some from the farmer's market which will probably be stronger than my own, but I hate failing at seed starts.

 

 

ETA - I also need to get a new rain barrel - it is for out front so I may have to pay to get something reasonably attractive.  I use wine barrels out back.

 

Edited May 31, 2016 by Bluegoat