Permaculture Design: Vision Plans for Sustainability

With the long hot summer in front of us, now is the time to assess your landscape and make new plans for fall planting.  Take the time that you have to observe and interact with what you have on site, and create a vision for the next big step in your garden and drought tolerant landscape.  At the same time watch how your environment interacts with the heat, look for plants that will establish through the fall and winter next year.  Look for ways to capture and retain water in the rainy season to come.

A permaculture vision plan done now will answer most of your questions and save time and money when it comes to implementation.  Don't wait.  Now it the time to slow down, stay in the shade and contemplate the future while enjoying the present!  Call us if you want a consultation.  We have the knowledge base and experience you need to bring your dreams into reality!

Tips:  If your wanting to plant something plant pumpkins for Halloween.  Top feed plants with compost and mulch those areas that are thin and need extra protection.  Then root soak with compost tea.

More tips:  Go for a hike in the local area and observe how native plants are dealing with the heat.  Nature is your best teacher!  Go for a swim in the ocean, and bring back a 5 gallon bucket of seaweed to add to your compost pile.  In Ventura, we live in a virtual paradise of natural resource.  Integrate your everyday actions with permaculture principles!

Our suggested drink for hydration:  Cool filtered water with fresh mint sprigs and a few leaves of lemon verbena.  Ahhhhh!

Relevant Links:

Seaweed Mulch
http://eartheasy.com/blog/2010/09/how-to-use-seaweed-to-mulch-your-garden/

The Many Benefits of Chayote

From root to fruit to shoot, Chayote is an edible that adds versatility to permaculture landscapes.  A native from mexico, and a member of the gourd family, Chayote is known by many names as it has migrated across the globe and into many diverse culinary dishes.  Some call it Cho-Cho, some Sayote, and some know it by the name Merleton just to name a few.  There are as many ways to cook it as there are names.

For a great selection of recipes, check out Chayote recipes at Pinterest.  Just recently we harvested some shoots from the Art City garden and used them freshly chopped in a green salad with purslane, mustard greens, arugula, and young endive leaves.  These greens were tossed in a yogurt garlic onion dressing with fresh cracked pepper and lemon juice.  Excellent and healthy!

Chayote is easy to grow in our local climate.  Perfect for trellising over border fences, the pear shaped fruit hangs from heart shaped leaves and curling shoots.  Grow Chayote!  It adds a tasty vertical element to your garden.

photo by: Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên cc-by-sa

Chipping Away at Permaculture

As our next step in creating a permaculture landscape in Ally's yard, we asked our friend Don to come over with his chipper to help with breaking down a huge pile of brush. Instead of having all the brush hauled off to the landfill, we decided to keep it onsite and use the resource for mulch and compost building.  It's part of our permaculture ethic, to close the loop and reuse as much as possible.

Don purchased the chipper with this is mind.  Whenever we have a need to chip up a bunch of organic debris, he is the person we call.  He's been helping neighbor's and friends since he started in his own backyard last summer.  It's a great piece of equipment for small to mid-size jobs.  Easily portable and economical, and makes really nice mulch.

Earlier in the week, our crew had cut down a volunteer pine tree and trimmed vines and hedges all around Ally's yard.  The trunk and some of the branches were too big to chip, so we cut them into lengths to be used as firewood.   Most of the rest of the branches we cleaned for mulching. The rest we lopped up into big compost piles.  After about 6 hours of work we had about 5 yards of rough compost and a dozen bags of fine mulch to be used in the yard.

Thanks Don!  Now we can move on to the next phase of Ally's edible landscape--building raised beds and compost bins.