What can you do to make your garden more sustainable? If you search the internet, you’ll find all sorts of answers, and this may seem confusing, but there are some basic practices that are easy to understand and implement. In Permaculture we talk about reducing inputs and waste, and this is
Every summer I travel to Northwest Montana, first to play viola in the Montana Baroque Festival at Quinn’s Hot Springs in Paradise (yes, the town really does bear that name!), and then to visit my other home, the log house by the lake in which my mother learned to swim, a few miles from
Sustainability, what does that word actually mean, anyway? Sustainable, a word that’s become hugely popular over the last twenty odd years, one hears it at conferences, all over social media, in permaculture courses, and everywhere in between. You’ve probably heard or seen it on grocery store labels, corporate mission statements, and your
Six months ago I joined the board of an organization called Edible Landscapes of Yamhill County, ELOYC for short. I had met them at our library, where a permaculture designer gave a lecture on Food Forests, and when I started chatting with the neighbor to my left, I found out that ELOYC
This is part of a new series of blog posts for beginner gardeners. These posts may be a little shorter and more specific in nature. Many people feel intimidated when they first hear about Permaculture. There’s so much to learn! Pathways, water capture, biodiversity and tree guilds, even the placement of dams!
This is part of a new series of blog posts for beginner gardeners. These posts may be a little shorter and more specific in nature. Before I get into the list of things to do, I wanted to mention that in some regions, you can do these things in June, and even
This is part of a new series of blog posts for beginner gardeners. These posts may be a little shorter and more specific in nature. Starting a new flower or vegetable bed can be daunting to the beginner, especially if the area is covered with lawn. One can, of course, use a
This is part of a new series of blog posts for beginner gardeners. These posts may be a little shorter and more specific in nature. The Three Sisters garden is a companion planting technique that maximizes the amount of food harvested, while organizing the plants in a way that gets them to
This is part of a new series of blog posts for beginner gardeners. These posts may be a little shorter and more specific in nature. Every gardener asks the question, what should I plant now? Many of us end up planting lots of annuals: tomatoes, beans, peppers, corn, squash, to
This is part of a new series of blog posts for beginner gardeners. These posts may be a little shorter and more specific in nature. Some will focus on ways to deal with what you grow, and how to preserve your harvest. The garden is slowing down and it's getting cold outside,
