Gardening

These photos of the Coles County Community Garden came from October 9, 2025. Begin the trip with Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side and Charleston Food Forest Part 2 Left Side. Continue with Seeds.

( Walk with me ... )

These pictures are from Thursday.  I went foraging at the Charleston Food Forest.  It's across the parking lot from the Coles County Community Garden.

( Walk with me ... )

Today I started making liquid fertilizer from Russian comfrey. This plant fills a lot of guild roles in permaculture including fertilizer, miner, mulcher, protector, attractor. I have been using it primarily as a bee plant that I can also slash-and-drop several times a season. I grow it under many of my trees and there's some in the prairie garden too.

There are various ways to make liquid fertilizer from comfrey. I will be testing two: 1) a small amount of comfrey leaves in a large amount of water, and 2) only comfrey leaves crammed tightly in a jug. (See Part 2: Leaves.)

( Walk with me ... )

Today I took some pictures at the Charleston Food Forest.

( Walk with me ... )

Today I took pictures around the yard. It's cloudy, so the lighting is bad, but so much is happening that I wanted to capture it. See the House Yard, South Lot, Savanna, and Prairie Garden.

( Walk with me ... )

Today we visited the Charleston Food Forest.  I took pictures and rescued some plants that were growing in the paths so they don't get trampled. These pictures are mostly from the right side. See Part 2 Left Side.

( Walk with me ... )

This set of photos begins documenting an experiment to see which type of pen will prove most durable for outdoor plant labels. I also took a few pictures around the yard, as long as I was out there with the camera.

( Walk with me ... )

I got to talking with a friend about permaculture in Great Britain and it kind of snowballed from there...


These are permaculture design principles. They can help figure out how to build a mini-ecosystem.

Here is a handbook for Midwest North America tree guilds. Some of these, like oak and ash, will grow in many parts of the world; and a fruit tree guild can be customized for anywhere.

( Read more... )

This concludes the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front. Part 2: Right Back, Part 3: Left Back.)

( Walk with me ... )

This continues the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front.)

( Walk with me ... )