http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBLZmwlPa8A
Related: Gardening and Foraging • PermacultureHOW TO PROPAGATE THE SAFFRON CROCUS Although found in the bulb section of most plant retailers come autumn, the saffron crocus actually grows from compressed underground stems known as corms. These specialised stems come complete with dormant buds, each one capable of growing into a genetically identical plant. Each year one new corm will grow on top of the old one, together with some smaller ones which will grow from the base of the plant.
Self-Seeding Crops You’ll Never Need to Replant One of the characteristics of a truly sustainable garden is that it produces at least some of its own seed. This is most often done when gardeners select, harvest and store seeds until the proper time for planting the following year. But some self-seeding crops produce seeds so readily that as long as you give them time to flower and mature, and set seed, you will always have free plants growing in your garden. You can simply let the seeds fall where they are, or toss pieces of the seed heads into the corners of your garden, or whichever area you want them in — no harvesting, storing or replanting required.
Permaculture not Monoculture - The Gardeners Calendar For some time now we at the Gardeners Calendar have been following greener and more environmentally sympathetic lifestyles. We have been harvesting rainwater, reducing our carbon footprints, generating alternative sources of energy, we have planted our vegetable crops using the lunar calendar, we have even had forays into composting toilets. All these things are lifestyle choices we have made because we are concerned with the impact we have on the environment. These choices are a small part of a lifestyle culture known as 'Permaculture'. 30 or so years ago two Australians wrote a book called "Permaculture One", Bill Mollison and David Holmgren.
Guy Creates Trees That Grow 40 Different Fruits Sam Van Aken, an artist and professor at Syracuse University, uses “chip grafting” to create trees that each bear 40 different varieties of stone fruits or fruits with pits. The grafting process involves slicing a bit of a branch with a bud from a tree of one of the varieties and inserting it into a slit in a branch on the “working tree,” then wrapping the wound with tape until it heals and the bud starts to grow into a new branch. Over several years he adds slices of branches from other varieties to the working tree. In the spring the “Tree of 40 Fruit” has blossoms in many hues of pink and purple, and in the summer it begins to bear the fruits in sequence—Van Aken says it’s both a work of art and a time line of the varieties’ blossoming and fruiting.
How To Start A Permaculture Food Forest In Your Yard – REALfarmacy.com What if I told you that you can start an edible garden that will continue to produce food year after year with very minimal maintenance, monitoring, and no sowing after the first year (unless you want to diversify). It’s vital that you use open pollinated heirloom seeds to establish this system. Hybrid seeds won’t always produce the same plant that they came from but open pollinated heirlooms will. By using this type of seed you can design a mini food forest in your own yard that will continue to reseed itself year after year. Pumpkins and Winter Squash- Harvesting and Storage There are few things better than pumpkins and winter squash to brighten the fall and winter dinner table. Almost nothing is more satisfying than growing them yourself. With the right knowledge, you can turn your harvest into satisfying and nutritious fare for months.
Can Permaculture Feed the World? Can permaculture feed the world? ... Well I would say ‘yes’ to that, wouldn’t I? But whether I’m right or wrong, one thing’s certain: conventional agriculture certainly can’t feed the world for much longer. It’s based on a one-way flow of non-renewable resources and it falls down both on the input side and the output side.
Persimmon Provisions Persimmons can persists after the leaves drop making them easy to spot. Persimmons: Pure Pucker Power About the only bad thing you can say about a persimmon is that it has pucker power, if you pick it at the wrong time. You’ll have competition for ripe persimmons. What most people don’t know is that the persimmon is the North American ebony, Diospyros virginiana (dye-OSS-pih-ross ver-jin-nee-AY-nuh.) There are few trees more versatile than the persimmon.
Top 7 Mistakes In Backyard Permaculture Design - And What To Do Instead - The Permaculture Life If you’re like me, fresh fruit is one of your favorite foods. I love when we can peaches, because there’s always “bad” peaches that I can’t process and must sacrifice and eat fresh. It’s terrible, but someone has to do it. Might as well be me! amaranth (Amaranthus sp. L.) History Amaranth is an old cultivated crop originating on American continent. Permaculture Design and the art of letting go of control My introduction to permaculture was through doing a distance learning course about it when I was in prison. Working in a banal prison garden, permaculture became a sort of fantasy-escapism-therapy. I dreamt of overflowing gardens of produce, abundant food forests and deep rich soils. My formative ideas of permaculture weren’t grounded in pragmatic realism that a good teacher might convey in a face-to-face design course. When I got out, it was like finally – access to a playground. Unemployed and on benefits, I had plenty of time to build compost piles, make raised beds and pay attention to young seedlings in need of nurturing.
perennialsolutions February 12, 2013 User Admin Eric Toensmeier This post is to celebrate the release of my new Perennial Vegetable Gardening DVD! Perennial Vegetables Defined These are crops that fit my definition of perennial vegetable: living three or more years, used as a vegetable and not a novelty crop or culinary herb, and not destroyed by harvesting.
Our Permaculture Life: The 2 Best Things You Can Do To Simply Create Superb Soils for Superbly Healthy Food Nurturing soil vitality is one of the best things you can do as a gardener. Plants thrive in soil that is teeming with life. The aliveness of soil really matters. How To Use Your Pee For The Planet Well, not on them, exactly, but if you aren't using your urine in your garden and on your compost pile, you are, pardon my French, pissing away a free, valuable resource and missing out an easy way to help close the gaping hole in your household nutrient cycle. Using urine in the garden can help you cut your water use (less flushing) while also cleaning up the environment downstream (no water-polluting fertilizer runoff). Your #1 Choice For Fertilizer Recent scientific studies have shown urine is a safe and very effective fertilizer for cabbage, beets, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and pretty much anything else you want to grow. Urine boasts a nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (N-P-K) ratio of 10:1:4, plus more modest amounts of the trace elements plants need to thrive.