Global Permaculture?

Globalization has weighed heavily on my mind over the last few years. It has brought us prices that can't be beat and many products from the far corners of the earth. But at the same time I can't help feeling that the price has come too high.

Specialists in many fields might agree with that. They might point to solution, the spread of invasive species, or the plight of the worker in the the developing world to prove the price is too high. I don't need to go that far to prove it to myself. I only have to look for a locally owned shop where I can buy a simple t-shirt for work.

In my town of over 50,000 it is not possible. All the t-shirts are handled by chain stores or international retailers. If I go one town over the situation improves a little, there are two regional farm shops that might handle a couple of t-shirts, but chances are better that I will get a better shot at a western styled button down or a pare of the most expensive work jeans available. I could keep going, but reality is I will have to go nearly half the county away to find a simple item from a locally owned store.

When I was growing up in this same town I could go to at least three stores to get jeans, two of them carried cowboy boots, if I cared to wear them! Now there is just one big box store and I have to pick jeans there or go to the next town over.

While it would be easier to blame the big box stores, I think things have changed enough in the world that if one of these stores didn't exist another would instantly take its place. I don't recommend avoiding or demonizing the big boxes either. They are just following the time honored tradition of trying to make the biggest dollar.

No, I just recommend that you take the Saturday after Thanksgiving and shop at smaller, locally owned shops. I promise you they won't have everything you need, like t-shirts, but they will have a lot of useful stuff and will return the money back to your community. You may not even like the shop, that is ok, you don't have to go back if they treat you or their employees badly.

But if you like what you see, you will look for excuses to go back. And really, that is the only thing that will sell sustainability and permaculture in the long run. Good results from good practices. 

Manana!

The Secret to Dark Brown Soil

Photo courtesy of JC Shannon

The soil in this photo is dark brown and rich looking. That means it is good soil. Getting the soil to look like this was fairly easy. Before this patch became a flower bed, it was covered by large junipers that dropped needles on it for decades. I left all those needles in the bed to improve it for the flowers.

After I initially shaped and otherwise prepared the bed, I have never tilled it. But twice a year during planting I mulch it with a layer of compost.

That's it. That is the simple secret of creating good garden soil. Mulch the top and don't till.

Manana!

Vote Local!

I get stares for wearing election day stickers,
but any little nudge to get people working for
their communities is well worth it.

The most ignored part of gardening is voting in your local election. So often I hear about some poor soul being halled away in chains because her (it always seems to be female) zucchini plants offended the neighbors. But I rarely hear about those who support gardening taking things into their own hands by taking it to the ballet box.

While many of us are tired of the national, and even state, political messes. Local politics, however, can be refreshing. I have never had a city politician who was too busy to make time for me. I have never had one who could hide his flaws well enough that concerned folks couldn't run a successful campane against him.

The real truth of it is we forget how local politics can improve our real, everyday lives. Go ahead, talk to the candidates and tell them what is important to you.

Then, go vote in November!

Permaculture Values

A proper front yard.

The following is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a young man trying to decide how his love of permaculture should effect his formal schooling:

My degree is in Urban and Landscape Horticulture. I ran into permaculture about the same time I decided to go back to school and change my degree.

I found my classes invigorating and a lot of fun. They also backed up many permacultural technics quite well. When I graduated is when the trouble started. Things are not done in the best way in many fields.
We have a tendency to want things now and buy our way out of problems. Ego usually wins out over common sense. Controlling everything and everyone around us is how we get ahead.

For a few years I tried to make things happen the way people said I should, get ahead and all that. But I found myself becoming less happy with myself and less happy with work. The more I tried to apply the principals and practices of pemaculture to my work, the less my bosses thought of me and my value.

I finally dropped out and am now trying to find a way through the world that does not create conflict with those I work with and will still pay the bills and allow me to follow my values. 

Now, if you will allow me to return to the question of my experience with permaculture. It has followed me by my side since I found it some ten years ago. I have often used it as a bag of tricks to help me in my landscape work and my own garden.

The truth is that permaculture is really a philosophy of living. Whether it be in the farm, or in the board room, it shouldn't matter. I was originally attracted to it because those philosophies closely match principals that I already believed. Even though I didn't know it at the time.

Those principals are more in need in the circles of business and economics than in the farms and gardens of today. Take what you know of permaculture, boil it down to principles, and then apply it wherever you decide to go.

It may cause you some conflict, you may not be able to work the jobs you thought you would, but you will be able to hold your head up and sit down at the end of the day and know your work is good.

Please, sit down and think about it. 

Green Buying

It just might be time to get a new mower....

Every once-in-a-while I check out the environmental blogs and articles on the web. Invariably I click away in disgust. Most of the chatter seems to be about great environmental products that are so green that you can’t live without them. When I start reading the green resume of the products I am often surprised at what constitutes ‘green’ to the bloggers. 



And then I look at the price. Even if I like the product and have a need for something like it, I don’t get the green product because I can’t afford it.

While more of us are becoming familiar with ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ I think we would be well advised to also remember an older phrase ‘use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without’ as well.

Neither of these phrases covers what to do when you finally need to buy something, but here are some tips to help: 



• Ask: do I really need it?

• Check to see if you already have something that will work for you, but you just hadn’t realized it. 


• Look for hand-me-downs, items from thrift stores, or second hand shops. 


• Don’t buy fad items. Look for colors, and designs that looked good 30 years ago and will still look good in five years.

• Decide what you will do with the product after you are done with it. My running shoes are a good example. I can only use them for running for a year or two. Then they get rotated into my work shoes. When I get done with them at work, there is little left to dispose of.

We all need a certain amount of 'things' in this world, but by thinking and planning ahead we can cut our 'things' down to a manageable level that all of us can live with.

Nitrogen from Plants

Nitrogen fixing plants are a great way to build up nitrogen in the soil without using chemicals. But you can’t expect to just plant them and leave them.

The plant wants to use the nitrogen for its own purposes, namely leaf and seed production. So if you want to get the nitrogen benefit for your soil and other plants you will need to trim them back before seed is set.

Most annuals can be taken down to two or three inches, with some leaves showing. Perennials can usually be cut down to the ground. Many shrubs can be coppiced every few years, while the remaining shrubs and trees can be selectively pruned or even hedged.

Even some trees can be coppiced, but you must choose the tree wisely. And you must commit to caring for the tree as it recovers. Coppicing can cause trees to grow back with structural weaknesses that may create safety problems later on.

Whatever you plant and however you decide to maintain it, you should spend the time to research it before hand. Then, pay careful attention to how it grows for you and record what happens in a journal so you can refer back to it latter.

Good luck and let me know what happens!

Occupy My Own Life

The Occupy Salt Lake City encampment, before they
were cleared out by the city.

I have a great deal of sympathy for the Occupy Movement, but I could never be involved.  The reason is I have things that are more important for me. I have a daughter that will gain an entire life by me being home and teaching her how to live so that she cares about others in a personal way. 


In addition, my wife was being treated for cancer at the height of the Occupy Movement. My greater responsibility was to support her and give her the help she needed to get through alive.


But even without the worries of my family, I couldn't be involved because I have something better to give than days and weeks at a time demanding change from people who don't care. I have a skill that I can teach that can change people's lives.


Each time I work with a new client on a design, I teach them how to make life better for themselves by giving them the choice to be involved in growing their own food. I give them a chance to see how they effect their neighbors by how they care for their lawn. And, how they can change that by taking out the lawn altogether.


I also work with several non-profit agencies giving low cost classes and seminars. I can't say I've truly helped more than a handful of people, but I know I am moving in the right direction. 


Now, I have begun to wonder, what if just a few of those protesters with specialized skills were to join me to teach others. I am sure there must have been a few folks with legal and financial skills that could have stepped out of the protest ranks, for a least a little while, to teach classes on how to improve local financial situations.


I can't give you details on these systems because I don't understand them well. I've read about them, but they seem to be ignored by the larger world of big government and big capitalism. 


Unfortunately, real solutions are rarely found by just protesting. They are found by people who take the next step and actively find new solutions which can be implemented from the bottom up. That is my job. Now that things are less active in the protest arena, I hope a few others will join me. Maybe with a lot of hard work and time we will make some real changes together.

I don't need to plant, that was done last year...

Lettuce gone wild.

While other gardeners are bemoaning the last days of winter, I am already started on this year's planting. Well, actually I started last spring. The lettuce plant you see above is a seedling of lettuce I planted last year. Half-a-dozen plants bolted before I could eat them and I left them in place to give the wind a chance to do its job.


Surprisingly, the new lettuce plants are near where the originals were. Less surprisingly, they are all in divots where the wind is too weak to blow them back out. While I have never been strong on a smooth seed bed, I think it is time to make them even more rough.

Rhubarb and a pea.

A few peas have found a way to sprout in mid-January as well. The one above will be an interesting companion plant to the rhubarb and strawberries that I planted last fall.

I will plant a few more lettuce and pea seeds since I don't quite have enough to cover my expected needs. I will be sure to leave a few of the best plants to give me seed for next year.


Now my biggest problem is what to do with the time that I was going to use for planting. Hmm, maybe it is time to talk to the landlord about digging up more lawn....

Sustainable Carpentry

I found a recent listing for an army carpenter's kit. Please note, although I recently found the listing, I also found a recent listing. With that said, I tracked down a kit that was newly issued as of 2011. With all the new electric motorized gadgets that most people work with these days, it is refreshing to know that at least the army has the sense to know that the power is not always on.

With the list still fresh on my mind I went to the local big box store to see what they carried. Although my tour was not complete for all the parts on the list, I did not find much. Files and screwdrivers were abundant. But of the other tools that were common only twenty or thirty years I could only readily find were an all-purpose-saw (no cross cut or rips saws), key hole saws, and a small sized plane.

The salesman for the tool department thought I was odd for being interested in had tools and continual recommended that the only manual tool I should be interested in is a trigger. 

Fortunately, I ran into Roger and his son-in-law Ron. Both of them are highly skilled hobbyists with an interest in good skills and good tools. Their suggestion was to find good old tools from antiques shops, on line, or preferably, from garage sales. While there  is some risk in buying old tools, the quality of the tools makes them well worth the time restoring them. 

They also recommended one web sight for good quality new tools: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/index.aspx. The prices are high compared to the big box, but if you are serious about carpentry and woodwork, the price is worth it for tools you won't have to replace.

Ron also has a woodworking blog that is well worth looking at: http://ronswoodshop.blogspot.com/. He goes into all aspects of woodworking as well as the tools used. I enjoyed his blog more than any others I have found recently.

Have a good a time finding more sustainable skills. And don't forget, there are more people out there that think like you. You just have to find them.

P.S. The list for the tool kit is below.

Carpenter's Kit
Item Description	National Stock Number
Pinch Bar 26 in	5120-00-224-1372
Wrecking Bar 30 in	5120-00-293-0665
Wrecking Bar 12 in	5120-00-223-7218
Sliding T Bevel 8 in	5210-00-278-0645
Auger Bit Set	5133-00-293-2396
Bit Expansive7/8 in-- 3 in	5133-00-223-4987
Phillips Screwdriver Bit	5120-00-250-5576
	5120-00-595-8197
	5120-00-223-6971
Rachet Brace	5110-00-293-1958
Twist Drill Case (bits)	5140-00-837-5313
Countersink 5/8 in	5133-00-224-9096
Glass Cutter	5110-00-222-4401
Mechanic's Dividers	5210-00-263-0376
Hand Drill	5110-00-293-3411
Glazier's Driver	5120-00-596-9552
Hammer Face Insert	5120-00-293-2997
Hand File Flat 8 in	5110-00-203-4935
Hand File Slim Taper 6 in	5110-00-234-6528
Hand File Auger Bit Type 7 in	5110-00-251-9000
Hand File Taper 6 in	5110-00-234-6522
Hand Saw Filing Guide	5110-00-860-3377
Safety Goggles	4240-00-052-3776
Engineer's Cross-Peen Hammer	5120-00-900-6103
Carpenter's Hammer 16 oz	5120-01-112-8346
Carpenter's Ripping Hammer 20 oz	5120-01-112-8345
File Handle	5110-00-595-8325
Hatchet 1-3/8 lb	5110-00-228-3161
Hammer Face Holder	5120-00-903-8553
Craftsman's Knife 2-1/2 in	5110-00-240-7070
Pocket Knife	5110-00-240-5943
Aluminum Level 24 in	5210-00-239-0892
Hand Oiler 6 oz	4930-00-985-2604
Pencil	7510-00-275-7213
Jack Plane 2 in x 14 in	5110-00-224-7911
Pliers w/Cutter 8 in	5120-00-239-8251
Brass Plumb Bob	5210-00-224-8794
Glazier Point	5340-00-538-6791
Saw Set Anvil	5120-00-244-1167
Crosscut Hand Saw 26 in	5110-00-293-3435
Rip Saw	5110-00-142-5015
3 Blade Nested Keyhole Saw	5110-00-501-6014
Phillips Screwdriver Size 2	5120-00-764-8067
Phillips Screwdriver Size 3	5120-00-234-8912
Phillips Screwdriver Size 1	5120-00-240-8716
Screwdriver Flat 6 in	5120-00-234-8910
Screwdriver Flat 8 in	5120-00-237-6985
Screwdriver Flat 3 in	5120-00-236-2127
Screwdriver Flat 4 in	5120-00-222-8852
Carpenter's Square	5210-00-273-1948
Combination Square	5210-00-241-3599
Steel Staples	5315-00-132-8302
Sharpening Stone Couse-Fine Grit	5345-00-260-0759
Staple Tacker	5120-00-388-6821
Tape Measure 100 ft	5210-00-527-9429
Tape Measure 25 ft	5210-01-139-7444
Portable Tool Box 42 in x19 in x19 in	5140-01-237-3233
Waxed Nylon Twine	4020-00-954-1118

A Walk in the Park

Brigham tea, otherwise known as Ephedra viridis. 

Brigham tea is known for its drought resistance as well 

as for its medicinal value. I like it for a nice evergreen 

splash in even the driest areas.

When time allows, I love to go to parks and gardens. The more diverse the plant material is the happier I am. This fall I went to a garden that specializes in drought resistant or 'waterwise' gardening.

When looking at plants that I am not as familiar with
I take a photo of the name tag so I don't forget the
name when I get home.

In an area that averages only fifteen inches of precipitation a year, I am always impressed by the color and vitality that can come to a garden with little or no additional water. Of course it takes a little planning and a lot of study to get it right.

On the upper left, out of the camera, is a plum tree that
requires more water than this poor, soaked rabbit brush.
When planting areas with different water needs it is
important to provide a buffer zone to protect each type
of plant.

I had read about Hummingbird flower in the past, but I
had never seen them blooming in person. 

I also think parks and gardens say something about the community they grow in. In the case of this garden, it is more of a library that the entire region can access.

I made sure I photographed the label. I don't want to
forget this one!

For a wonderful time with plants the Central Utah Gardens are at:

355 W. University Parkway

Orem UT

The garden is open through the growing season and is at its best, like most gardens, in the spring. Please take a little more time in the native plant area, it is phenomenal what beauty is growing just outside our well watered lawns!

A Late Season Bee Treat

Lacy buckwheat at a local water-wise garden

I am not a bee keeper, but I do like to keep garden helpers that come to my yard happy. Part of that task is to provide food for the bees all season.

While most gardeners keep plenty of good foraging flowers from spring to late summer, we have a tendency to start wrapping things up as the days get shorter.

Here is a list of some flowers for the late summer and fall:

Chives Allium schoenoprasum May-September Garlic chives Allium tuberosa August-September Aster Aster spp. September-frost Borage Borage officinalis June-frost Bluebeard-blue mist spirea Caryopteris clandonensis August-September Star thistle Centaurea ssp. July-September Sweet autumn clematis Clematis terifolia Late September Melons Cucumis melo June-frost Pumpkin-squash Cucurbita spp. June-frost Lacy buckwheat Eriogonum corymbosum Late Do not over water James buckwheat Eriogonum jamesii June-November Do not over water Pink smoke buckwheat Eriogonum racemosum August-September Do not over water Joe Pye weed Eupatorium esculentum August-September Sunflower Helianthus annuus June-September Alyssum Lobularia maritima June-September Mallow Malva alcea June-September Mountain beebalm Monardella odoratissima July-September Phaccella Phacella tanacetifolia June-September Goldenrod Solidago ssp. September-October Lacebark Elm Ulmus parvifolia August-September

I encourage you to add flowers that are native to your area!

Still Giving Thanks

My wife has done most of the Christmas decorating
during her short periods of energy. She even basted
the Christmas valance to the curtains while they were
still hanging!

This Thanksgiving week has been the first time in four years I have been at peace for more than a few hours at a time. Things were so good, I even managed to smile while doing my last minute Thanksgiving shopping.

Things went so well that I got most of Thanksgiving dinner done on time, except the jello. I always forget the jello! The food was good despite a close call on the rolls. I even got to take my wife on the longest walk we have taken in over fifteen years.

Why was this such a peaceful holiday? It has much to do with what is not happening as well as with what is happening. First, I am not deployed. Second, I am not recovering from deployment. (It takes a year for me to get over it.) Third, my wife is not experiencing mysterious, weird health problems. Fourth and finally, the no-longer mysterious diabetes and cancer are responding well to their respective treatments.

All of this amounts to a chance to slow down and be happy.

Things are still dicy on several levels. My wife is not out of the woods regarding cancer, and she never will be. Rumors of a second deployment are increasing. Life in general is always unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. And worst of all, I have to find a way to support my family through the coming winter! Gardening as a trade is a wonderful pleasure, but it will never be stable.

But even with those fears, I am thankful. I would especially like to thank my wife, who cut back on housework and cooking, but tenaciously fights to keep on doing the dishes and laundry. Special thanks to my daughter, as well, who has picked up more of the housework and did a great job of helping me get Thanksgiving dinner together. (She was the one who finally wrangled the jello into the refrigerator.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The End of Landscaping

The concept of a garden seems to be increasingly lost in America. Instead, we prefer plenty of carpet-mown grass with kidney-bean shaped tree and shrub beds plunked in the middle. We lovingly call this 'landscaping' to try and connect ourselves with the great painters of the past.


Well, at least some people stay true to the idea that a garden should be a unique endevor. And some of those are bold enough to use them for food as well!


These photos are great for stimulating design changes in next year's garden:

These folks are getting serious about food.

This resident shares food with his neighbors, they never 

complain to the city.

This wins my prize for best use of a boulevard
strip!

This garden is near my house. I look
forward to seeing the changes as the
summer progresses.

A bit of the wild look.

Food and beauty. These folks have it together!

If You Must Poison a Tree...

If you must poison a tree, do it right! Most of my readers prefer organic methods, but once in a while a stump is in a difficult spot, cannot be visited regularly enough, or is maintained by someone so feeble that poisoning is a justifiable option.


Here are a few steps to doing the job right:


Consider whether poison is the best option. Most of the time a truly organic option is best. A thirty dollar pick and an hour swinging it would take care of this stump for good. The pick will last a life time, but a bottle of weed killer costs between ten and twenty dollars and has a limited shelf life.


Understand the biology of the tree. The wood where this cross has been cut has tubes transporting water and nutrients up the tree. The green layer under the bark transports water and sugar down into the roots. Put the poison only on the green portion where it will go down into the roots.


Minimise the amount of poison you use. If some is good, more is not better.


Plan for re-sprouting. You may find it is better to cut the sprouts down every two weeks, than to cut and poison them every four weeks.


Anytime you use a chemical, even an organic one, it should be the last viable option. What is viable is your determination, but chemicals should never be your first and most trusted options.

Spooky Halloween Tree

This looks good for the scary season, but 
will be bad through the life of the tree.

I appreciate the macabre spirit of Halloween as much as everyone, but making a tree into a permanent horror is simply too much.


For the rest of its life the tree will have problems with:

• Bad form caused by quick growing limbs.
• Branches constantly rubbing together and leaving open wounds.
• Rot and disease entering into the trunk and main limbs.
• A drastic increase in limbs falling. Some of them might be quite heavy.

I understand why the homeowner would think this is a good idea, the tree really is too big for the location. A better solution would have been to remove the tree and replace it with a smaller tree.

The worst horror of this botched job is that the pruner thinks he did great work. I am disappointed that someone who professes to love their job refuses to put the study into understanding the basic do's and don'ts.

I strongly recommend that if your friends get work like this, don't go to them for recommendations on a tree service.

I bid you peace and hope that your Halloween horrors last only through the season!