Fall is the best time of year for planting trees, shrubs and many perennials – including all those fabulous bulbs and tubers. Mother Nature will keep them watered and comfortable for several months, giving them lots of time to get established. Temperatures are cool and the ground is usually soft from autumn rain. Everything needs to get in the ground before the first frost date,
Front Yard – 2014 Update
We’ve lived in our little house for about eight years, but the front yard was the last garden I really put much effort into. In the fall of 2012, I finally took the time to draw up a landscape design. It was based on perennials from the backyard that would be easy to cut and divide, which meant I didn’t need to spend much money
April To Do List
April on the homestead means the lilacs are just starting to open up, our fruit trees are flowering and there is enough weeding to keep an small army busy. Here are some things on my homesteading to do list this month: Weed, weed, weed! Propagate woody perennials Transplant groundcovers and small perennials Direct sow vegetables Keep the raised beds watered Restock indoor homestead supplies An
Fall Plantings
Fall is a great time of year to plant new trees and perennial shrubs for two big reasons: it gives your plants several months to work on establishing roots and there are all kinds of crazy deals right now as nurseries close out their summer stock. Just be sure to get your new purchases in the ground well in advance of your first hard freeze,
Propagating Grapevines
Springtime means pruning and our grapevines were more than overdue for their annual haircut. We love the Glenora and Himrod grapes growing on old bed frames on either ends of our raised beds. But each year they grow so long that they get tangled into the nearby trees and shrubs. Pruning them back keeps their growth under control and also gives me the chance to
Get Busy!
The growing season is not too far around the corner! Witch hazel is already blooming and my flowering quince buds are days away from opening. If we can get a handle on some garden chores now, we’ll be in good shape to maximize the harvest from our homesteads this year. When it comes to growing your own food, here is my short list of what
Garden of Plenty
We visited our house in Portland this past weekend, which we are renting out while I finish my grad program. We planned on spending all day there working on weeding and pruning. The garden is in such beautiful shape though that we spent the morning doing light pruning and admiring what a healthy, lush garden it has become. It’s amazing how a few years of
Another New Herb Garden
An herb garden is usually the first thing I plant at a new home. This is the perfect time of year to plant cuttings because the weather will stay mild for several more months. Their root systems should be fairly well-established by summertime, so they should be fairly self-sufficient. What looks like an empty, barren part of the front yard is actually a patch of
Eugene Grafting Fair
The Eugene Permaculture Guild hosts an annual, free Spring Propagation Fair that I recently attended. The event included a fruit tree grafting portion, a seed swap area and several speakers throughout the day talking about things related to edible gardening. I have always been curious about how fruit tree grafting works so I went to check it out. I was first and foremost completely blown