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What I'm Growing
Nov. 12th, 2024 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithAlmost everything in the Charleston Food Forest is something I'm growing, would like to grow, or at least recognize from edible plant studies. So I thought it would be fun to break that down, listed in approximate spatial order moving through the lists of pictures ...
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
ysabetwordsmithThis concludes the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front. Part 2: Right Back, Part 3: Left Back.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmithThis continues the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front. Part 2: Right Back.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmithThis continues the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmithMy partner Doug spotted this place recently, and today we explored the Charleston Food Forest and its plants. (See Part 2 Right Back, Part 3: Left Back, Part 4 Left Front, and What I'm Growing.) It's a skinny rectangle, and not all that big. If you cut it in half and lined the halves up as a square, then it would fit in a typical town yard around here. It has a LOT of plants in it, thoughtfully chosen and arranged. I wouldn't call it a food forest myself, because while it has multiple layers, it is really short. I doubt anything is more than about 10-12 feet tall. That's sensible in a garden this small. But when I think of a forest, I'm thinking one that at least has a canopy layer. Mine has emergents, the main canopy, the subcanopy, and then all the shorter stuff as shown here (understory trees, shrubs, herbs, groundcovers, roots, fungi, vines, etc.). So I'd probably call this one a permaculture garden. (See the layers of a food forest and permaculture design principles.) I didn't spot actual guilds, but everything is arranged in logical order. Someone has done an amazing job setting this up in the space available.
The really subversive thing: it's not a garden to be looked at, it's a garden to be used, for free, by everyone. A little slice of Terramagne, or Turtle-Island-That-Was, especially since it's located right next to a government building with several human service offices. So I helped myself to some seeds. Sure, I might come back later for things to eat. But what I am really interested in is gathering things from here that I can grow at home.
I could only think of two things I'd really add to make this even better:
1) A Little Free Seed / Plant Library so folks could swap things.
2) A community bulletin board, chiefly for people to post their Have / Want lists for trading, but could also be used to announce things like plant swaps or sales, garden open houses, etc. There is an Events section on the back side of the welcome sign, but it's under glass.
( Walk with me ... )
The really subversive thing: it's not a garden to be looked at, it's a garden to be used, for free, by everyone. A little slice of Terramagne, or Turtle-Island-That-Was, especially since it's located right next to a government building with several human service offices. So I helped myself to some seeds. Sure, I might come back later for things to eat. But what I am really interested in is gathering things from here that I can grow at home.
I could only think of two things I'd really add to make this even better:
1) A Little Free Seed / Plant Library so folks could swap things.
2) A community bulletin board, chiefly for people to post their Have / Want lists for trading, but could also be used to announce things like plant swaps or sales, garden open houses, etc. There is an Events section on the back side of the welcome sign, but it's under glass.
( Walk with me ... )
Help Me Identify This Insect
Mar. 30th, 2012 06:57 pmeien_herrisonHi everyone,
I've been relatively busy in my garden and have a lot of things planted up both inside and outside, and am starting to see the first shoots of various plants.
( Description of problem + picture )
I would really like to know what this is, where it's come from (if possible as I suspect the bark might be the culprit), and how to get rid of them (ideally with as little harm to anything else, especially as my cat has taken to eating some of the plants we've got). Thanks for your help :)
Edit: I'm in SE England, just on the outskirts of London city.
Edit 2: They're thrips.
I've been relatively busy in my garden and have a lot of things planted up both inside and outside, and am starting to see the first shoots of various plants.
( Description of problem + picture )
I would really like to know what this is, where it's come from (if possible as I suspect the bark might be the culprit), and how to get rid of them (ideally with as little harm to anything else, especially as my cat has taken to eating some of the plants we've got). Thanks for your help :)
Edit: I'm in SE England, just on the outskirts of London city.
Edit 2: They're thrips.
Help needed: lemon blossoms/pollinators
May. 7th, 2011 05:16 pmfeuer_flammenlosHello all!
Can someone suggest a solution for the pollination of my citrus blossoms? We're suffering from a dearth of bees (that's hardly news) AND the few I've seen ignore the citrus blossoms: so far, I've seen averages of 2/3 -bees on the thyme, 1-2 apparently in love with the roses (which are decorative, colourful and....nearly odourless) and the odd bumblebee on the melons. Blackberry and apple flowers are being (as far as I see) ignored.
Suggestion, please? é_è
Can someone suggest a solution for the pollination of my citrus blossoms? We're suffering from a dearth of bees (that's hardly news) AND the few I've seen ignore the citrus blossoms: so far, I've seen averages of 2/3 -bees on the thyme, 1-2 apparently in love with the roses (which are decorative, colourful and....nearly odourless) and the odd bumblebee on the melons. Blackberry and apple flowers are being (as far as I see) ignored.
Suggestion, please? é_è
Companion planting
May. 1st, 2011 09:44 pmfulmarI recently moved to a mountainside in North West Wales where I have a large patio with flowerbeds and a view down to the sea. I've grown fruit and veg on a south facing balcony before but this is the first time dealing with stuff you actually plant in the soil! And although spring has been sunny and warm, the location means we're prone to high winds and (I've been told) a lot of salt content. Certainly, my patio is the most exposed of all the properties up here and I've noticed that plants tend to be slower to flower than those downhill. In terms of adding colour, I'm having a bit more success with bedding plants in tubs.
I picked up what I think is a blueberry bush from a local branch of Netto one night. They were selling them cheap and I'd never grown anything like it before. I didn't want to plant it out front as I wasn't sure how big it could get but I thought I could at least give it a try in a pot. Added the marigolds a week ago in order to keep insects away, along with a handful of fresh bark chippings. It's actually starting to look a lot healthier than it does in this picture.
I picked up what I think is a blueberry bush from a local branch of Netto one night. They were selling them cheap and I'd never grown anything like it before. I didn't want to plant it out front as I wasn't sure how big it could get but I thought I could at least give it a try in a pot. Added the marigolds a week ago in order to keep insects away, along with a handful of fresh bark chippings. It's actually starting to look a lot healthier than it does in this picture.
A question about Strawberries
Oct. 13th, 2010 01:21 pmmiss_s_bI live in Yorkshire in the UK, and I have a tiny garden full of containers, window boxes and hanging baskets. I mostly like to grow food, and as such I wanted to ask a question. I have had a reasonable amount of success with strawberries this year - I bought Albion and they are still fruiting and have produced lots of runners, and I also have some tiny wild strawberries which my wife brought back from his dad's garden in Devon - and I love them so much I was thinking of getting some more. The thing is, space is at an extreme premium. So... I was considering these.
Anybody have any experience of this particular breed of strawb? Do they do what it says on the tin?
Anybody have any experience of this particular breed of strawb? Do they do what it says on the tin?
My Garden!
Jun. 8th, 2010 07:12 pmamalnahurriyehI'm feeling particularly proud of my garden this week, and wanted to share pictures with the interwebs. ;)
I live in Brooklyn, New York, in a neighborhood with a little space; we have a first-floor apartment with a backyard, but our whole yard is paved, and lined with little evergreen trees in raised beds. We've also got good light only on one side of the yard, moreso now that our next door neighbors put up an eight-foot fence on their side. (I'm actually fine with this, since it keeps their pit bull out of my yard, which the previous fence did not.) So mostly I do container gardening, with a few plants in the raised beds where I can squeeze them in.
I'm also a food-gardener. Er, OK, I'm a foodie who gardens because that means I get easy fresh produce. I also compost because I'm a foodie and have enviro-fascist leanings. I have no inherent love of putting things in dirt and making them grow, but it's grown on me over time. And I don't reeeeealy do much research into my gardening; mostly I throw things at dirt and if they die, sulk and curse their departed spirits.
On to the photos.
( pretty growing things, occasional asking of advice from wise fellow gardeners )
I'd feel very accomplished, if it weren't for the fact that a lot of the Bangladeshi immigrants in my neighborhood actually garden so hard-core that their front yards are full of carefully arranged furrows of okra and peppers and eggplants. I am a rank amateur compared to my neighbors.
I live in Brooklyn, New York, in a neighborhood with a little space; we have a first-floor apartment with a backyard, but our whole yard is paved, and lined with little evergreen trees in raised beds. We've also got good light only on one side of the yard, moreso now that our next door neighbors put up an eight-foot fence on their side. (I'm actually fine with this, since it keeps their pit bull out of my yard, which the previous fence did not.) So mostly I do container gardening, with a few plants in the raised beds where I can squeeze them in.
I'm also a food-gardener. Er, OK, I'm a foodie who gardens because that means I get easy fresh produce. I also compost because I'm a foodie and have enviro-fascist leanings. I have no inherent love of putting things in dirt and making them grow, but it's grown on me over time. And I don't reeeeealy do much research into my gardening; mostly I throw things at dirt and if they die, sulk and curse their departed spirits.
On to the photos.
( pretty growing things, occasional asking of advice from wise fellow gardeners )
I'd feel very accomplished, if it weren't for the fact that a lot of the Bangladeshi immigrants in my neighborhood actually garden so hard-core that their front yards are full of carefully arranged furrows of okra and peppers and eggplants. I am a rank amateur compared to my neighbors.
If you could only have one fruit tree...
Jul. 2nd, 2009 08:47 amloligo... (or two, if your Chosen One needs a pollinator), what would it be, and why?
We have room for a few fruit trees, and I'm having a terrible time narrowing down my choices -- I want them ALL. So maybe your opinions will help me prioritize my list!
I already know I want to plant Nikita's Gift persimmon (an American X Asian hybrid). Our woods are full of wild pawpaws, and we live in a peach-growing region so I can get all the tree-ripened peaches I want for cheap at the Farmer's Market. So those three fruits are taken care of. But what else???
We have room for a few fruit trees, and I'm having a terrible time narrowing down my choices -- I want them ALL. So maybe your opinions will help me prioritize my list!
I already know I want to plant Nikita's Gift persimmon (an American X Asian hybrid). Our woods are full of wild pawpaws, and we live in a peach-growing region so I can get all the tree-ripened peaches I want for cheap at the Farmer's Market. So those three fruits are taken care of. But what else???
