A Rooster Among Us
We knew this moment was coming: the crow heard throughout the house. There we were: Jay, myself, my sister Anne, my nephew Evan. We had spent a long morning together, picking fresh produce from the garden to make a big family breakfast. Potatoes were roasted with an assortment of home grown herbs. We snipped collards,...
Potato Tire Stacks: Progress
This past winter I decided to try growing potatoes in tires. I have never grown potatoes before, mainly because it seems they take up a lot of space. Living in a small urban lot, space is a premium. The method is basically planting 2-3 seed potatoes per tire. Once the leaves get high, you add...
Office Farmer’s Market
Last week I realized I was losing the battle trying to keep up with my lettuce, but I was determined not to lose the war. The war in this scenario would be the lettuce getting so out-of-hand that it goes to seed. When vegetables go to seed, that basically means they are done being edible...
Backyard Permaculture Layers
The design for our urban landscape is based on the food forest concept stemming from permaculture principles. One of the several important aspects of designing a food forest means utilizing “layers” in the garden. Here are those layers: The canopy (large trees) Low tree layer (dwarf fruit trees) Shrubs Herbaceous Rhizosphere (root crops) Soil Surface...
The Joiner
I have become quite the joiner this past week! Although I love the virtual community of gardeners, I have been searching for ways to join a community of gardeners here in Portland. It’s proven more challenging than I first anticipated. I began the search with gardening clubs. To date, I have found only a couple...
Follow me this a’way