Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land

...to max it out, to do as much as we can to capture and recycle water, to improve our soil, to start breeding out tough-as-nails annuals, to develop more effective “guilds” (in Permaculture speak). In regular talk that means we plan manage our landscaping wisely, so the plants support one another. I’d encourage you to think of your own little patch of the world as an oasis too. How can you help make it more resilient to the shocks of strange weathe...

Read…

Wild Edible: Bermuda Buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae )

...nk its attractive–usually more attractive than whatever neglected patch of landscaping it has colonized. More importantly, it’s super tasty. It packs a potent, lemony punch, like true sorrel, which makes it an excellent salad green, and that’s how I use it–raw, in salads. The leaves, stems and flowers are all tasty, but for salads I just use the flowers and leaves. They provide a bright, lemony note which is just wonderfully fresh and tasty with t...

Read…

Picture Sundays: A Keyhole Bed and Straw Bale Garden in Texas

...sent in some pictures of his garden. John says, This is my first year to use compost tea. I am growing plants in two Keyhole Gardens, self watering 5 gal plastic buckets and two hay bales (coastal Bermuda hay) that have a wooden framework on top containing bulk landscaping compost from a local nursery. My plants are growing super fast and my tomatoes are loaded. This looks to be the best garden I have ever had. Judging from the fencing it looks l...

Read…

Our new front yard, part 6: it’s all potential at this point

...project has made me aware of how often we expect instant results with our landscaping, and how this haste often comes at a price. I don’t mean money, though that is true as well. So often the homeowner or the designer installs way too many plants, and plants them too close to one another, so there is an instant sense of fullness in a newborn landscape. It looks good for a while, but inevitably the plants start to choke one another out. This eithe...

Read…

Village Homes: A Model for Sustainable Suburbs

...ably reduced. Some have even have green roofs. But more interesting is the landscaping, the massive network of bike/walking paths and the creative use of public space. The entire development is essentially a big food forest. All of the rainfall is captured and instead of being directed to the sewer system, it runs to swales between the houses, to nourish fruit trees. The resulting space is a lush park full of edibles, from exotic jujubee trees to...

Read…