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...

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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...

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Permaculture Design Course at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano

...ess plan integrating permaculture (ie. nursery, preserving food, teaching, landscaping etc.) JUNE 14 / APPLIED PERMACULTURE – Large-scale / global permaculture projects, past Eco-Apprentices project updates JUNE 19 / FINAL GROUP PRESENTATIONS – Group presentations, potluck, evaluations, feedback, favor and information exchange Scholarships and work/study opportunities exist thanks to the generous support of The Boeing Company Global Corporate Citi...

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Decomposed Granite as Mulch: A very bad idea

...ing as a low-maintenance garden). One of the favorite tools in the flipper landscaping toolbox is decomposed granite (DG) used as a mulch. Put some plastic landscape fabric down (blocks rainwater in our climate, fyi) and top that plastic with DG. They then punch some holes in the DG/plastic and pop in succulents and maybe a rosemary bush or two. By the time the yard becomes a sad, desertified tangle of unhappy succulents and crabgrass, the flipper...

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