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!

Color in a Drought

This was taken at foreclosed home in Draper UT in September of
2013. The yard was planted with many drought resistant plants
several years before being abandoned. Not every spot was as colorful
as this one, but only the lawn looked worse than the neighbors.

The idea that waterwise plantings in Utah have to be gravel and cactus is absurd. While there are a few spots with little other choice, most of the Wasatch Front is open to a huge array of colors and plants. The planting above combines introduced 'Blue Mist' spirea with native rabbit brush. Both plants do well in Utah with little care.

If you want to cut down on your landscape water, the best way is to chose the right perennials and shrubs. But remember, don't over water them!

If live in Utah County and need help, give me a call.

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!

Designing Gardens for a Better Future

What I do is hard for most people to understand. The idea of growing food at home seems to have a hard time getting beyond the idea of the back yard raised planter. Much of that problem is caused by the concept that food production must be something that is hidden in the back yard, or put where the neighbors are not going to see it.

Many Americans have gone even further and decided that growing food is the job of professionals far away and that anyone trying to do it themselves is a menace and should be stopped. This is not far fetched if you look at city ordinances and HOA bylaws.

Since I am taking a step or five in the opposite direction of those trying to prohibit gardens, and since that still puts me a few steps away from the average gardener, I can see why there is a gap in understanding. To help clear up this gap here are some of the ideas I work with:

• Food and support of food should be the primary goal of the yard and home landscape.
• Plants do better with different types associated together.
• Planting different food crops in layers prevents waste of energy and plant nutrients.
• Food plants are beautiful.
• Perennial flowers are good for the food garden.
• The right balance of animals in the garden are better than trying to kill all the insects and critters.
• Perennial flowers are good for balancing the critters and insects.
• Fertilizer creation should be done at home whenever possible. 

To achieve these goals, thinking and design have to be stretched further than most people have the experience to do themselves. So, I try to do it for them.

Now that you have my ideas, what do you think your landscape should provide you?

Tips for Winter Flower Planters

Bright colors in groups show up best!

The hardest part of annual flowers in the winter is the pots and planters. While flower beds in the snowiest parts of the US are covered, planters stick up and often loose their protective snow cover while they are getting the worst of the cold.

Kale is a great centerpiece for a planter.
Redbor, Winterbor, and Red Russian are
some of the best varieties for winter hardiness.

But you don't need to give up hope of nice planters in the cooler months. You just need to plan ahead and give them a little care. Here are a few tips:

• Pansies and violas are your best bet for surviving cold weather.
• Plant bright colors like yellow and orange for the best visibility. Blotches or faces are great for close ups, but they will reduce distance visibility.
• Plant brighty colored plants in clusters of three or more to give them more pop.
• If you live in a USDA zone 7 or higher you might be able to to find some taller annuals to give your bed some hight, if not, look for trailing violas to hang over the sides.
• You will not get color while it is frozen outside, but when it warms up the flowers will start blooming again.
• Water during dry spells. Water with cool water only and do not saturate the soil.
• Planting in the fall gives a chance for roots to develop.
• Be careful when you fertilize. Lots of fertilizer will make the plants grow quickly and show lots of color, but it will also invite aphids and disease to destroy your plants.

Faces and blotches are great 

planters that are viewed close 

up.

Look at the three photos of
pansies. Which ones catch
your attention the quickest?

Feel free to ask questions, I will always do my best to answer them.

Manana!