If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know how much I love food forest systems. While growing tomatoes, peas, squash and other annual edibles is rewarding (and delicious!), there is a different feeling that you get from designing and planting a perennial ecosystem of plants. When I plant things in my food forest, I’ve […]
My Pear Tree Guild Read More »
Despite a bumper crop of raspberries and tomatoes starting to produce, it’s not all unicorns and butterflies over here on the homestead. Weekday harvests in the food forest have been interrupted by the background noise of earthmoving machines. You may recall that to make way for a new development, a substantial wildlife corridor was taken down
How I Established My Native Wildflower Garden Read More »
Since planting season is underway, this week’s Q&A with Kareen is especially timely and all about native plants. Sam asks what native plants grow in a cold climate and I share some of the shrubs and wildflowers that I have growing in my front yard. Sam’s question is especially relevant since in April of 2023,
Q&A with Kareen – What native plants grow in a cold climate? Read More »
This week’s ‘Q&A with Kareen’ is all about pears. In the video, I answer Elizabeth’s questions about what pears I grow, an explanation about the kitchen tool I use the most for pear preservation, and what to do about codling moths. The pears in my food forest are one of the yields that I look
In this week’s ‘Q&A with Kareen’, I address Julie’s question about my top 10 favorite crops to grow to feed a family. In particular, Julie was interested in crops that were either high in calories and/or macro and micronutrients, as well as easy to grow, prepare, store, and preserve. You’ll notice that I don’t mention some of
Q&A with Kareen – Top 10 Crops to Feed a Family Read More »
Chickens are one of the easier and more useful animals to have in your backyard gardens. In permaculture, they are often the example of ‘each element performing multiple functions.’ In other words, having chickens as part of your backyard ecosystem accomplishes several functions at once. Not only can they provide you with eggs and meat
Raising Chickens in Cold Climates Read More »
My latest video is out and in it, I give you a quick tour of my herb spiral. It’s one of my favorite features in the garden. A combination of perennials, annuals and self-seeding annuals, I love changing its look every season. It’s like painting a new canvas every spring. With the additional heat from
Tour of My Herb Spiral Polyculture! Read More »
In our gardens, we always want to follow the permaculture principle of “obtaining a yield”, whether that be a yield in food, medicine, pollinator habitat or fertility. Then, especially in a cold climate, we work to extend that yield in time so that we can be eating from our gardens 365 days/year. We can do
What we’re still eating from last year’s garden Read More »
There are always firsts when you become a gardener – the first time you grow lettuce, or peas, or a zucchini; the first time you save seeds, start plants from seed, or build a compost pile. As far as I can remember, this is the first year that I have had plants in my outdoor
Late Fall Garden: What’s still Growing Read More »
On our homesteads, we’re always striving for a bit more self-reliance. With our annual garden and some fruit trees and berry bushes, we can have many of our vegetables and fruit covered. But we can take it a step further by growing our own tea. In this way, we continue to expand the products that
Top 5 Perennial Tea Plants for Cold Climates Read More »
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