Photos: Charleston Food Forest
Nov. 8th, 2025 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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gardeningToday we visited the Charleston Food Forest, Coles County Community Garden, and Lake Charleston. These are the food forest pictures. What started out as a beautiful fall day, sunny and cool, clouded over by the time we got out of the house. So the lighting isn't great, but at least the pictures look okay. (Continue with the community garden and the lake.)
This is the entrance to the Charleston Food Forest. A sign offers a map and other resources.
Looking left, you can see color on a few trees. Some have already dropped their leaves. Most of the annuals are dead and perennials are going dormant, but some are still green and a few even still blooming. There hasn't been much color this fall because the weather has been unseasonably warm and dry.
The right side has a bit more color than the left.
This yellow flower is still blooming to the right of the entrance. It might be calendula.
A patch of marigolds are still blooming vigorously. Like my Shithouse Marigolds, they are great for late-season pollinators. I gathered more seed from these.
A few zinnias are still blooming near the back. I started gathering seeds from zinnias in the food forest, but most of the mass came from the community garden's 4 rows which is a great pollinator resource.
Some of the peach trees have fall color. This one is mostly orange. Those narrow, crescent leaves are particular to peach trees. A pocket orchard can be surprisingly pretty in fall.
The hardy kiwi vines have pale yellow leaves.
The pawpaw tree is turning yellow.
A few milkweeds are casting seeds by the asparagus patch. I gathered some of the seeds and fluff. These are host plants for monarch butterflies, who also like the flowers as adults.
This pink zinnia is still blooming.
This peach tree is more yellow than orange, with hints of pink.
This flower is still blooming in purple puffs. It might be ageratum. Most of the others like this have gone to seed. I've seen butterflies on these too.
The garlic chives have gone to seed. I gathered some of these seeds, as the flowers attract many pollinators. This and the 'Autumn Joy' sedum are the favorites for my parasitoid wasps.
I also gathered some other things:
* wild indigo seedpods, the tiny ones
* giant white marigold seedpods
* rescued a few Egyptian walking onions from the path.
I really need to get a dedicated bag for foraging, though. This time the plastic grocery bag ripped and made it hard to carry things. >_< Still, I managed to get a good haul.
This is the entrance to the Charleston Food Forest. A sign offers a map and other resources.
Looking left, you can see color on a few trees. Some have already dropped their leaves. Most of the annuals are dead and perennials are going dormant, but some are still green and a few even still blooming. There hasn't been much color this fall because the weather has been unseasonably warm and dry.
The right side has a bit more color than the left.
This yellow flower is still blooming to the right of the entrance. It might be calendula.
A patch of marigolds are still blooming vigorously. Like my Shithouse Marigolds, they are great for late-season pollinators. I gathered more seed from these.
A few zinnias are still blooming near the back. I started gathering seeds from zinnias in the food forest, but most of the mass came from the community garden's 4 rows which is a great pollinator resource.
Some of the peach trees have fall color. This one is mostly orange. Those narrow, crescent leaves are particular to peach trees. A pocket orchard can be surprisingly pretty in fall.
The hardy kiwi vines have pale yellow leaves.
The pawpaw tree is turning yellow.
A few milkweeds are casting seeds by the asparagus patch. I gathered some of the seeds and fluff. These are host plants for monarch butterflies, who also like the flowers as adults.
This pink zinnia is still blooming.
This peach tree is more yellow than orange, with hints of pink.
This flower is still blooming in purple puffs. It might be ageratum. Most of the others like this have gone to seed. I've seen butterflies on these too.
The garlic chives have gone to seed. I gathered some of these seeds, as the flowers attract many pollinators. This and the 'Autumn Joy' sedum are the favorites for my parasitoid wasps.
I also gathered some other things:
* wild indigo seedpods, the tiny ones
* giant white marigold seedpods
* rescued a few Egyptian walking onions from the path.
I really need to get a dedicated bag for foraging, though. This time the plastic grocery bag ripped and made it hard to carry things. >_< Still, I managed to get a good haul.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-11-12 12:09 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2025-11-12 03:36 am (UTC)May
June
August
The website has a map and guide to what's planted there.
A food forest is a type of permaculture designed in layers, although my local one is pretty short. It's dense, though, with many different useful plants crammed together in a mini-ecosystem. So you can have lots of different foods -- leafy greens, fruit, roots, nuts, etc. -- as well as other useful things such as healing herbs or craft materials.
If you want to grow a food forest, an easy way is to start with a guild, either from scratch or by adding plants around an existing tree. It doesn't have to be big or fancy. I tend to use mini-guilds, just a few extra plants around trees -- usually daffodils, comfrey, and sometimes extras like crocus or garlic chives.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2025-11-14 01:30 pm (UTC)And thank you- a mini-guild is a great idea. I might need to make this my next gardening/homesteading project.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2025-11-14 06:35 pm (UTC)It's fun to walk around in. :D
>> And thank you- a mini-guild is a great idea. I might need to make this my next gardening/homesteading project.<<
Go for it! In homesteading, mini-guilds or guilds let you add functionality to what you already have. I suggest comparing the trees in the guild booklet to what you already have, then you could just add a few other things. Comfrey is my go-to because it does most things except fix nitrogen, and I have clover in the lawn for that. On the garden side, there are vegetable polycultures and perennial vegetables that offer different advantages.