Foraging violets takes me straight back to my childhood, not just to real events that occurred, but also to the dreams I had as a little girl. When I was little, one of my favorite things to do in spring was to find a shady spot under a fruit tree, brush my hands over
Ever since I completed my Permaculture Design Certificate, I’ve been searching for ways to engage the public on Permaculture garden design and various environmental topics. I did some consultations, started writing articles, and gave workshops on topics ranging from seed saving and sprouting to no-trash challenges for school kids. I’ve been studying herbalism, foraging,
It’s that time again, the time when the rains come, and the plants turn brown, their flowers going to seed. It’s time to collect and save seeds. Seed saving may be the most neglected element of gardening. Every winter, most of us feast our eyes upon the pages of seed catalogs, drooling over the
The practice of Permaculture is grounded in ethics and principles, and many new permaculture students get bogged down by them, impatient to move forward and learn the actual design system. “Why all this philosophy?” they ask. “I just want to learn to design amazing gardens and grow a lot of food.” It’s easy to
Every year I do a species inventory of my garden. I make note of which plants are growing where, and how well they tolerate the level of sun, the soil, and their neighboring plants. Sometimes I discover that plants fail to thrive in our clay soil; such is the case with our blueberry and
If we look around us, we can see evidence of environmental degradation. We might see a stand of trees that has been chopped down. We might have friends or relatives who have lost their homes or towns to a wildfire. Perhaps we hear about the extinction of a species we know and love. Now
For many years I waged war in my garden. I dug dandelions out of my lawn, using a tool called Grandpa’s Weeder, and I made huge piles of wilting Sheep’s Sorrel, which slowly dried up in a distant corner by the big pine tree. Every summer my back complained, and every spring the weeds returned
The Dirt. A few weeks ago, after pondering all the chaos in the world, I decided to sow seeds for winter crops like beet greens, hardy lettuces, arugula, and cilantro. The rains hadn’t yet come, so I knew I was in for some hard work. I took my shovel and hori knife and turned
Lace leafed Elderflower This year we’ve had an unusual amount of rain, which is heavenly after the years of intense heat and drought we’ve had recently. The plants are ecstatic, growing rampant, rioting all over the yard. Early in the morning, I stand in the still humid air and breathe deeply, reveling in
