Apocalypse Maybe

This post was originally published at http://kathrynhogan.ca/writersblog/seriously-wired-magazine/, where you can find all sorts of fun links to great books, as well as a almost-weekly sassy advice column.

This morning I had the dubious privilege of reading Apocaplypse Not: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Worry About End Times, by Matt Ridley, on wired.com.

For the record, I’m not pro-apocalypse. I think that having an apocalypse is probably a bad idea for everyone. Whether by human immorality or an act of an angry God, an apocalypse would likely suck. A lot.

Hilariously, my opinion doesn’t make any apocalypse or apocalypse-related-event more or less likely. Neither does Matt Ridley’s, or Wired magazine’s.

Ridley’s rebuttal of dooms-day-proponents is riddled with ridiculous assumptions that can only be described as his (stupid) opinion. While it’s true that the world hasn’t ended, lots of appalling things have happened. Denying their gravity is to deny the basic humanity that is worth fighting for, and that could be lost if ‘the world’ (ie civilization as we know it) were to end. His privilege as a rich white human male is so prominent in this article that the article may as well be titled:

“I don’t have to worry about anything because, failing the worst kind of disaster, literally billions of people would die before I would be in danger! Now I am going to eat a cake!”

In his introduction alone, Ridley says that the spectre of global famine is/was exaggerated… twice. I’m sure that the tens of thousands who starve to death every single day would certainly agree with him.

First World famine hasn’t happened. Just because it hasn’t happened to us doesn’t mean that it isn’t important. It deserves more attention than as just “an obstacle,” as Ridley calls it.

Next, Ridley tells us that the fear-mongers used to talk about acid rain. Can you believe it? I mean, nothing bad happened from acid rain! We still have forests and stuff!

Except that many fish died. Lakes lost their lives. It wasn’t ‘global’, it may not have been ‘catastrophic’. But it is important, nonetheless. Just because it wasn’t so big and bad that we could never come back from it, doesn’t mean that it can be dismissed just like that.

Ridley explains that we don’t have to worry about environmental destruction because AIDS isn’t a big deal. Really. You see, anecdotally, there have been environmentalists throughout the last four decades saying that shit is going to hit the fan and it ain’t going to be pretty. Well, reasons Ridley, nothing entirely catastrophic has happened YET. And people said equally terrifying things about AIDS, but AIDS hasn’t changed MY life. Therefore, they are just asking us to be scared because it entertains them.

He acknowledges in five words that, yes, AIDS did become epidemic in Africa. But he is a white British guy, so an epidemic in Africa doesn’t really matter, right?

Funny how something can certainly feel like an apocalypse to those who can’t escape it, but can be dismissed in five words by those whose privilege helps them believe they are above it.

The next part of the article – discussing the growth of human population and how we are going to feed all these people – is definitely my favorite. Did you know, for example, that smaller families are caused by lower infant-mortality rates? Yeah! They’re not caused by, I don’t know, better education for girls and women.

Oh wait, I’m lying. Smaller families are caused by better education for girls and women. Empowerment, equality, that old hat sort of stuff. But a man who is trying to prove thatcivilization will prevail and that science will overcome just as long as we continue to do things the way we always have… well, he’s going to say that science (lower infant mortality rates) are what is slowing world population growth. Not some froo-froo hippy feminist equality stuff.

“Over the past 50 years, worldwide food production per capita has risen, even as the global population has doubled”

Let me tell you a story, Matt. Once upon a time there was a whole bunch of extra nitrogen that was no longer needed for bombs because the war ended. So people decided to start using it as fertilizer. Bam! That’s the sound of explosive crop growth. It was called the Green Revolution, and has culminated, like you said, in growing crop productivity.

For a while.

It’s also culminated in a shit-ton of run-off nitrogen in the ocean, causing algae flushes that choke out all other marine life. It’s culminated in a thriving pesticide-and-herbicide industrial agriculture new-world-order, because Nitrogen helps weeds grow, not just corn or wheat, so we have to kill the weeds. It’s culminated in the growth of super weeds, which are pesticide resistant, and are taking over your precious mono-crop, savior-of-humanity wheat fields. It’s culminated in those same pesticides contaminating most of our groundwater and surface water, wreaking havoc of varying degrees on individuals of many species, humans most definitely included.

“With improvements in seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, transport, and irrigation still spreading across Africa, the world may well feed 9 billion inhabitants in 2050—and from fewer acres than it now uses to feed 7 billion.”

The ‘improvements’ you speak of have stopped increasing productivity. In fact, that same productivity is now on the decline. No matter how much nitrogen you pump into exhausted, sterilized top-soil, its fertility is drained by being constantly ripped apart by machines, soaked in poisons, and ravaged by annual grains. Soil in that condition fosters the growth of superweeds (many of whom are natural soil-improvers), and crop diseases. It also loses it’s ability to hold water, meaning it needs near-constant irrigation. Irrigating land that is naturally too dry to nurture thirsty crops like corn or rice (or soil that’s been exhausted) is a short term solution. It causes salination of the soil, and fast. Armies used to salt their enemy’s fields to inflict famine on them. Now, we’re doing it to ourselves. And calling it progress.

Last, but certainly not least, Mr. Ridley tells us not to worry our pretty little heads about peak oil or peak anything, for that matter. You see, there’s lots of oil that we can access, any old time we want! It’s just going to be a bit harder to get to, that’s all. Civilization will prevail and science will overcome, remember?

What he doesn’t mention is the cost in lives and livelihoods to access this oil. Frakking devastates massive swathes of living land. There is no safe way to dispose of the waste water. And have we already forgotten the gargantuan dead-zone in the gulf of mexico, or the freaky, mutant shrimp that are being discovered all along that coast?

In his conclusion, Ridley tries to tell us that some climate change might even be a good thing. “…net increases in rainfall (and carbon dioxide concentration) may improve agricultural productivity,” he says. In the midst of one of the worst droughts North America has seen since colonization began, which will likely see the corn and wheat crops fail, which has already caused global prices for those crops to skyrocket.

“We will combat our ecological threats in the future by innovating to meet them as they arise, not through the mass fear stoked by worst-case scenarios.”

Or, we will continue to prosper from our privilege, whether the poor and the dying like it or not, and at any cost. The deaths of humans and animals and plants out of sight do not bother me, and they shouldn’t bother you either.

Thanks, Matt.

Berry Spiral Update

When I first built my berry spiral, it looked like this:

Look at those dormant little berry bushes!

Then the bushes and seeds started growing, and it looked like this:

Some growth! Not much, but some!

Then, something amazing happened.

It rained for like a million years. And then the sun came out, all strong and warm and life-giving. Now, my berry spiral looks like this:

Explosion of Growth!!!

It is so beautiful! Surrounded by natural grasses, filled with nitrogen fixing clover and bee-attracting wild flowers, with three honeyberries, a highbush cranberry, a siberian almond, and a little baby evan's cherry, this berry spiral is sort of THE BOMB. There are also some sunflowers growing, which you can probably make out in the left hand of the picture, around one of the honeyberries.

I also planted some gladiola bulbs when I first made the spiral, but some ants have taken up residence and were using the shoots as food, so I don't think any of them will make it to maturity. I'm not too fussed - the ants are aerating the soil and plus they are pretty cute (if you are insane).

I'm super happy with my berry spiral. It probably won't produce berries this year but it's already a veritable mecca for bees, there are ants applenty, and so much green it almost hurts your eyes. 

The main goal of bringing a whole lot of life into what had been a dead zone due to soil damage has been achieved! I'm already planning a new, even more ambitious spiral with a fruit tree at the top for construction next year!

Plant Invaders From The Third Dimension!

Ok, ok. I'm not actually talking about invaders, invasive species, or anything like that.

I'm talking about... Vines!


Vines are a great way to beautify any garden by adding a whole new dimension of plant growth. They can draw the eye up, over or around; they can prettify plain old fences or trees; they can mark boundaries or contain other visual elements, like nature-imitating garden beds.

They can also feed you, attract beneficial insects, increase overall biomatter on your site, improve the soil, and take advantage of sunny spots that other plants aren't able to reach.

Plus, they're soooo pretty!

Look at the difference that some vines make in my own garden:

Before: Boring!

After: Amazing!

Some Vines to Consider Growing:

Grapes! On a Pergola!

Grapes 

If you have a long enough growing season, grapes are a staple-type of food vine for you to grow. 

Arctic Kiwi 

For those of us with much shorter growing seasons, Arctic Kiwi is a fun and interesting alternative to grapes.

Honeysuckle / Trumpet Vine

There is some beautiful native honeysuckle where I live, and I'm excitedly training it onto a trellis. It attracts lots of insects and has very unique flowers.

If you live in a warmer place, try Trumpet Vine, which attracts hummingbirds, too!

Clematis 

Yellow clematis can be invasive, so check local regulations before you plant. But the many shades of blue and purple clematis are a safe bet, and grow vigorously in full sun to part shade. The stunning flowers are a great addition to any landscape.

The best part: no matter where you live, or what part of the garden you're looking to bring into three dimensions, you can likely find a clematis to suit your needs!

Maybe you'll find treasure at the top!

Beans / Peas / Sweetpea

Often quick growers, many varieties are available that have gorgeous flowers followed by delicious food. Plus, legumes help fix nitrogen in the soil, improving soil quality and acting as a fertilizer to other plants. Buy a legume inoculant to help the nitrogen get a'fixin!

 Hops

If you're looking for a plant that will cover a trellis, pergola or arbor fairly quickly, Hops may be your plant. It is somewhat plain looking, but adventurous gardeners can use the plant to make their own beer!

Espalier How-To

Berries

Lots of berry plants can be trained up arbors and trellises, blackberry and raspberry being the best examples. Delicious!

Anything You Can Train!

Many fruit trees and bushes increase their production when they are espaliered. That's a fancy word for training a tree onto a fence or trellis. That's right! You could have an apple tree trained to grow over your deck, or up the wall of your house.

Your imagination is the limit!

Sassy Advice - Say it, Or Write it, Or frickin' pull it out by hand. Just don't Spray it.

As far as Day Jobs go, mine is pretty alright.

I work in a beautiful provincial park. I feel indebted to the foresight of environmentalists every time I drive to work here: as much as it can be while still being a tourist destination, this place is protected.

Unless there are weeds.

You see, the activities of us fun-loving humans have brought a few invasive species into this delicate mountain ecosystem. Some of them are classified as 'noxious weeds' throughout the province and are being aggressively sprayed with poisons recently shown in peer reviewed scientific literature to cause birth defects and cancers in mammals.

Like, you know, us humans.

Now, we thoughtful and good-looking humans who know a bit about ecosystems know that healthy ecosystems are far less susceptible to the advances of this invasive plants. Unfortunately, my particular place of work does not qualify as a healthy ecosystem. The accidental planting of weed-seed-contaminated, suited-to-warmer-climates grass as a landscape staple, and damage to the soil from ongoing construction have provided the perfect place for invasive dandelion and thistle.

So my boss has decided to spray herbicides. Here. In a supposedly protected provincial park.

The amount of thistle and dandelion is very minimal. It could be pulled by hand in a couple of days. Sure, it will likely come back. But guess what? It will come back if you spray it, too.

I've spoken with my boss about this twice now with no luck, and am waiting for a call back now that he has decided to go ahead in spite of my concerns... this Wednesday.

What are my concerns?

I'm glad you asked!

1. Herbicides hurt humans.

Most herbicides use glyphosate as their active ingredient. Glyphosate  causes birth defects in humans. It is associated with long term health problems including cancer, especially cancer in children.

Herbicides are also known to cause respiratory distress. Many of the people who come to my place of work have respiratory problems to begin with. If we claim to be an accessible facility to people with special needs, we have to include respiratory needs in that claim.

2. Herbicides hurt the environment.

Glyphosate also “causes birth defects in the embryos of laboratory animals” according to Lucia Graves of the Huffington Post. Even low doses are shown to cause abnormalities in rabbits, including dilation of the heart.

It promotes soil pathogens and inhibits plants’ immune systems.

We are located in an extremely important watershed. Scientific American reports that glyphosate leeches into water.

Perhaps glyphosate is not the chemical that will be used here. Perhaps it is aminocyclopyrachlore, another common herbicide claimed to be more environmentally friendly, which causes mass tree deaths, especially in conifers.

Perhaps it’s the popular atrazine, which is still present in ground water 15 years after its use, causes breast and prostate cancer, and reproductive defects in birds, fish and frogs.

Either way, I cannot fathom how something so harmful to flora and fauna can legally be applied in a supposedly protected area.

On top of all of that, my partner and I are going to be starting a family soon. How could I conscionably expose myself to chemicals that could cause birth defects and / or cancers in my babies? My workplace will be sprayed on Wednesday. I'm supposed to work on Friday.


The mostly-wild places of Kananaskis Country are under enough pressure from tourists, logging and damns without having poisons sprayed on them.


Re-posted from www.kathrynhogan.ca/writersblog where Sassy Advice is a fun and frequent feature.

Thanks for the Picture, Internet

That's not Kale!

Something amazing has happened, and it's not kale.

A couple of weeks ago I posted A short tour of my Intensive Garden Beds. This tour included the following picture, which I naively thought was the Russian Kale I had planted in the spring.

I thought this was Kale! But it's not!

Those of you familiar with Kale and other cool weather greens may have laughed yourselves silly at my simple mistake. I thought that, having planted a particular seed, that seed would grow. What a fool I was!

As it turns out, these beauties have grown even more, become bushy and leafy and I finally had to taste one.

And huzzah! It's SPINACH!

Last year, I let a few of my spinach plants go to seed. Then I just left them, and buried them in mulch over the winter. That's all it took for a whole bed of spinach to bless my garden this spring. Were I the baby-spinach type, I would have been able to enjoy spinach salads even before dandelion salads.

I'm never pulling spinach from the garden again!

Feverfew Smells Amazing!

Just installed some heaven-scented Feverfew near my Saskatoon bushes. They should flower at about the same time, attracting bees to that part of that garden. I also installed chives near the honeyberries, for the same reason. I can't believe how good the leaves smell! I have been just running my hands over the foliage and sniffing in delight.

I still have EVEN MORE seed potatoes to plant, despite the feeling that for my whole life, I have done nothing but plant potatoes. Still, having enough potatoes to last into winter after gorging on the fresh ones in the fall will be well worth it.

In other news, it looks like the Oyster mushrooms will have their first fruit of the summer in the next two weeks or so. I'm so excited to eat them!

It's been a great day in the garden. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Problem Solving in the Garden

It seems that gardening knowledge focuses on solutions to problems. Permaculture takes that further, looking to solve problems before they happen, and enhance plantings so that they are as healthy as extremely healthy clams.

So far this spring, I've been doing LOTS of problem solving. Here are some problems I'm working on now, and how I plan to go about solving them. Check back for updates about how this works out.

1. Yellowing Needles on Siberian Pine

It took me a long time to find this sapling. Pinus Siberica, otherwise known as Siberian Pine or Siberian Cedar, is the tree for which the immensely popular book series The Ringing Cedars of Russia was named. They are slow growers well suited for my climate, and I am very excited to grow one.

To prepare the bed for this tree, I dug about 2 feet below surface and filled it with composted manure. Then I added an extra 1-1.5 feet of soil on top of that, and planted the little sapling directly above the hole. I did that because this species has a tap-root, and the soil where I live can be quite packed with clay deeper than a foot. This way, the sapling will already have a healthy root system before he has to get through the clay.

I also planted the sapling with a healthy dose of mycorrhizal fungi, which it needs to grow. As you can see, though, the tips of the needles are looking sort of yellow. 

What's wrong: 

This pine is in the sun almost all day, which he supposedly needs, so the problem isn't sunlight. It could be that the soil composition isn't what he's used to: I will do more research to find out. Finally, it could be that this guy just hasn't been getting enough water lately, because it's been quite dry here.

Solution:

Water the sapling lots and see if it improves. If not, research soil needs and amend accordingly.

2. Spindly Honeyberries

Compare the leaves on these two honeyberries:

What's wrong:

 The spindly honeyberries haven't been getting enough water: the healthy bushes are all in low, wet parts of the yard.

Solution: 

I cut some planting pots in half and placed them at the base of the berries, like so.

The top half of the container is about an inch into the soil. It makes a lip around the bush without disturbing the seedlings nearby.

This will help water collect where it's needed: their root balls. I will be watering them heftily in the weeks to come.

3. Yellow Meadow Rue

This Meadow Rue is tall, strong, has beautiful flowers, and is suddenly turning yellow.

What's wrong: 

There are a few options.

a) The Meadow Rue could be negatively affected by the spruce, among whose roots the Meadow Rue is planted. However, I've seen plenty of healthy Meadow Rue among spruce in the forest nearby, so that's probably not it (or at least not exclusively it)

b) A bit of frost damage

Wild Meadow Rue has just started growing.

c) Water being sucked up by spruce roots and not getting to the Meadow Rue

d) I got this Meadow Rue from a greenhouse, where it probably started growing 2-3 months ago. Meanwhile, the Meadow Rue growing wild nearby is only just starting to grow. It could simply be that this fella is ahead of season, and suffering as a result.

Solution: 

Wait and watch. Make sure this guy gets fair amount of water.

A few pretty things from the Garden

Blueberry Blossoms

Columbine flower

Me and the newest member of our family!

Romeo the Handsome Cherry Tree

A short tour of my Intensive Garden Beds

Russian Kale sprouts exploding into the world!

I mention my intensive beds a fair amount, and it's high time that you, the internet, get a photo-fueled tour of those beautiful places.

At the moment, the intensive beds are used for cold season vegetables like kale, radishes, and chives;  ground veggies including carrots, onions, and beets; herbs that will hopefully grow in my harsh climate including lavender, chamomile, parsley, oregano, more chives, etc.

Raspberry starting to come back, with herb
sprouts all around!

There are also some strawberries, four raspberries, a gooseberry, two goji berries, a blueberry and a siberian pine; all  planted how I want them to be when they are fully mature. As they grow, they will shade out the high production beds, who will move to a more dog-proof part of the world, namely, the front yard.

Gooseberry in the forefront, with beds surrounding it.

My lavender survived the winter!

The same gooseberry is now in the background.
Behind that is my log cabin!

In the meantime, however, all of the aforementioned bushes live in the middle of a sun-bowl with the veggies. That means they benefit from reduced winds and slightly higher temperatures, which will help them grow up nice and strong. Until that time, they won't shade my annual crops.

As the garden matures, these beds will become shadier places with lots of bushes and a couple trees (Romeo Cherry, Siberian Pine, the Trembling Aspen that already call this spot home, and the spruces that you can see in the background of the third picture.

I've already planned out how I'll change pathways as the garden grows... now I just have to wait to enjoy all of the delicious bounty!

The Shade Garden Is Planted!

The beautiful shade garden, with the hostas in front.

My shade garden is all planted! I can't wait for yummy fiddleheads, currants, nannyberries... mmmm.

There are three 'producers' in this two-tiered garden. The ferns will produce yummy fiddleheads in spring while the currant and nannyberry produce berries in the fall.

Everybody else is there either as ground covers (the periwinkle vine and hostas), as insect attractors (meadow rue, periwinkle, jack frost, bleeding heart all have blossoms at different times), as mulch providers (the hostas, because of their big leaves)... and of course, all of these plants are truly beautiful!

Close up meadow rue blossom: what a beauty.

Three No-Dig or Low-Dig Methods to Set Up a Garden Bed

In an attempt to try new and exciting things (and share the experiential knowledge with YOU, internet person), I used three different no dig or low dig methods of creating garden beds this year.

1. Raised Beds

The Blueberry Bed

I used retaining walls to build raised beds, right on top of existing grass. In most cases, doing this requires a barrier placed over the existing grass. A few layers of newspaper works great for this purpose. I decided against it, because I want my garden to undergo a relatively natural succession. Any grass that works its way up through 1.5 feet of soil is welcome with my saskatoon bushes :)

A great way to build hearty, fertile soil fast is to make raised beds on top of existing vegetation, using the 'lasagna' compost method. The lasagna method involves putting layers of compostable material down beneath the soil in which you plan to plant.

I did that for my berry spiral, including layers of partially decomposed grass, compost, and even some partially composted manure from a local field sometimes used by cows.

Which was surprisingly less gross than I expected.

I also used this method for a small, very beautiful blueberry-and-snapping-dragon bed, using old wood as the retaining wall, and then placing some moss-covered, mostly decomposed logs on top of that for artistic effect.

Why This Works: 

While some of the tougher grasses may make their way to the surface of my new, raised beds, most of them will not. Instead, they will compost in place, drawing the rich soil life beneath them up and into my new garden bed.

While digging will disturb the soil ecosystem, possible leading to plant diseases and reduced nutrients, this actually adds nutrients to the soil, and encourages the many creepy-crawlies and critters to expand their territory upwards.

This is one example of working with nature, instead of against her!

The downside of this method is that you have to bring in a bunch of soil.



2. Loosen it up and Plant right in

My blister.

After pulling out any big clumps of grass, I used a pitchfork to loosen the soil in one of my beds. Despite the fact that this didn't include digging, it was really hard! I got a blister.

Once things were loosened up, I added about 2 inches of composted manure on top. Then I planted directly into this. I put some raspberries, strawberries, and then scattered wildflower seeds to fill in the gaps as they grow.

Rocks: the easiest garden decor ever.

Why This (will likely) Work: 

Loosening the soil adds oxygen to parts that often don't get much. This will result in an explosion of soil life, and a dump of nutrients into the soil. My new plants will happily use much of that dump to get established. The reason I didn't dig up all of the plants present in the soil is so that they will be able to use any of the nutrients that my plants can't, meaning that less nutrients will be lost in runoff. I'm also hoping that the addition of manure will assist in a nutrient equilibrium.

Loosening the soil will ultimately make it much easier for my plants to get a foothold in what was a very root-saturated piece of land. When I loosened the soil with my pitchfork, I was causing a disturbance. As a rule, whichever plants get their roots out first after a disturbance have the competitive advantage. I'm hoping that will be the plants I planted, as well as some of the grasses and native herbs that I left behind.



3. Some Digging Required

All three beds in a pretty row. The 'Some Digging Required'
bed is the middle one, strategically hidden behind
a tree.

I'm not sure if this is an actual thing or not, but I had the inspiration to try it anyways, and will certainly keep you posted on how it works out.

I dug up the turf of my proposed garden bed, pulling the swaths of topsoil held by grassroots up and away. These averaged 6 inches in depth. Once I had a 6 inch deep hole, I turned all the topsoil-patties upside down, and put them back in that way.

That left the rich, worm-filled topsoil exposed to the air... and the roots of my waiting plants! I covered the whole, lumpy thing with some composted manure, and planted raspberries, strawberries, sunflowers and wild flowers in it.

Why This (may) Work: 

The main benefit of this exercise was bringing the really rich, black soil held firmly by the roots of grasses to the surface, where my new baby plants could access it; or simply away from the grass roots, where the raspberry bushes I put in could get a foot-hold. It was also not as hard as tilling, and required much less time, too. I didn't have to cart in any soil.

Like the loosening method, a big oxygen dump in that rich dark soil will cause an explosion of nutrients and soil life. I hypothesize that this will be tempered by a) the plants I planted, who will use many of the nutrients before they can be washed away, b) the manure I used as mulch, and c) the grasses that remain in the soil, albeit upside down.

Some of those grasses may find their way to the surface, and if they do, more power to them. As with the raised bed method, however, most of them will die and decompose where they are. As they decompose, they will replenish nutrients and thicken the soil with a layer of rich organic matter.

Huzzah!

Romeo, Romeo...

His name is Romeo.

He is handsome, tall, and charming. His scent is incomparable: sweet, soft, somewhat musky.

The best part?

He's very attractive. To beneficial insects!

(slap your thigh now)

Romeo is a Romeo Cherry that I found at a Canadian Tire tree lot yesterday while picking up a bunch of manure to use as soil amendment for some bushes that I'm putting in today. He is already a good 7 feet tall, has just begun to bloom for the year, and is just simply gorgeous.

Even better, he is hardy to usda zone 2 (I'm between 2 and 3), and produces dark, sweet, juicy cherries. While a smaller, less hardy, (and probably less delicious) Nanking Cherry was a full hundred dollars, Romeo was on sale for 45$.

An imposing angle for an imposing guy.

I couldn't resist!

Using a small natural rise on my land, I built a circular raised bed about 1.5 meters, or 5 feet, across. If you're interested in making your own raised beds, they're easy! Check out my 'how-to', which includes some alternatives if you don't have a lot of extra soil to use.

I planted the rest of Romeo's bed with strawberries, gladiola bulbs, and raspberry stalks (that will grow GOD WILLING. I got them for 1.50$ each: a complete steal. Let's just hope that I don't get what I paid for!) I also planted three walking onions, which are sun- or shade-tolerant, perennial onions that will continue to grow and produce as my presently-grass-land-like garden matures into a forest with deeper shade.

When that happens, the strawberries will die out, and the onions will take over!

In the meantime, Romeo is the place to be if you are an insect of any kind. What was a berefect piece of land only days ago is now buzzing - literally.

More Potatoes

Today I planted a giant, bath-tub sized tupperware container, a half-bath-tub sized tupperware container, and four 5 gallon pots that used to be home to several bushes, with potatoes.

That's a lot of potatoes!

I'm very excited!

Extinctions are Important - A Short Rant

Imagine that you live in a small town, where everybody has a job that helps the town function. There are farmers, ranchers, hunters, gatherers, doctors, lawyers, dentists, grocery-store-people, etc.

Now imagine that someone comes in and kills every single doctor, dentist, nurse, homeopath, naturopath, midwife, doula, or person with good knowledge of herbs.

How do you think that would affect your town as a whole?

Now imagine that someone comes in and kills off every retail person, and burns down all the stores.

Your town is not looking so good for the survivors.

Similarly, extinctions are just as damaging to ecosystems as climate change.

Sea Buckthorn - A Journey in Design!

What a beauty!

Sea Buckthorn, aka Hippophae ramnoides of the Elaeagnaceae family, is going in my garden.

I have a large-ish site in mind for it, with a rain garden / irrigation swale in place downhill of it to make sure the plants don't drown. I'm working on the soil, and soon the site will be ready for these babies.

Before these plants can go in the ground, I have to figure out exactly how to plant them, where each of them will go, and what to plant with them.

I have ordered 8 sea-buckthorns, because it is impossible to tell the gender of the individual plants before they flower. Ordering 8 means I'll definitely get at least one male plant.

Here are some of the factors I am considering:

The Wind Factor - Sea Buckthorn has two genders, and needs to be pollinated in order to bear delicious and nutritious fruit. The flowers don't attract insects, so they rely solely on the wind for pollination. That means I have to plant them in such a way that all of the plants have good air circulation. Apparently, some people use these plants as a wind break because they form impenetrable thickets.


The Thicket Factor - Not only does Sea Buckthorn send out suckers to form dense thickets, it also has thorns. To me, that says one thing:

I figure a thicket of sea buckthorn could act as a good fence around part of my garden, keeping the dogs from their lovable habit of digging up every sapling I plant, no matter how beautiful, rare, or expensive.

The Root Factor - Sea Buckthorn is known to send out big roots very quickly. It's great at preventing erosion for this reason. My research indicates that the roots are very similar to those of trembling aspen, which already have a colony in my garden, part of which overlaps the area I want to plant the sea buckthorns in. 

Trembling Aspen: beautiful native species with medicinal value,
not to mention a great place to put my hammock.

That means competition, and competition is something to avoid in permaculture design, opting instead for cooperation and resource sharing between species. That way, all of the species are healthy, instead of just a few.

Thinking about competition means thinking about who has the advantage. In this case, the aspen colony is already established.


But, the aspen colony is old, and many of the trees are sickly, dead, or halfway to being dead. Many of them will have to be removed in the next year or two to lessen fire danger.


The Neighbor Factor - I'm not talking about my human neighbors, who are extremely awesome and with whom I shall gladly share my sea buckthorn bounty. I'm talking about the plant neighbors. 


Besides the trembling aspen colony, there are lots of native grasses and spruce near the intended sea buckthorn patch. The only potential problem I see there is that white spruce can make soil acidic, but I am putting in a buffer of other, acid tolerant plants to protect the acid-sensitive sea buckthorns, so no harm done.

Mulch! Made of leaves! Leaf mulch!

It's very likely that there are other potential interactions between these species that I haven't thought of. I just hope that they are positive!

The main consideration here for me is what I want to plant with these bad boys. Unlike the other fruiting berry bushes that I've been planting this spring, I won't be able to underplant the sea buckthorn with perennials because their intensely thick throwing habit will strangle the poor suckers out in a couple years. That means annuals only for the area immediately beneath the buckthorns, or perhaps just some nice mulch to keep soil moisture constant (and to look pretty!)

Because the sea buckthorn is pollinated by wind and not insects, I won't need to plant any pollinating insect attractors nearby to help out in the pollination process. In fact, doing so might distract the bees from berry bushes where their services would be much more helpful.

Like, for example, a beautiful sour cherry sapling that I would like to plant. This is one of my main obstacles so far in this design: where to put the cherry. It has the same soil, moisture and sun needs as the sea buckthorns - which means that it ought to go in about the same area, on the uphill side of the irrigation trench. Because the flowers are so lovely, I would also like to have a sitting area nearby or beneath it. There will also need to be lots of bee attractors nearby.

I could plant some soil improving plants in and around the sea buckthorns, but it seems that won't be necessary, either. The sea buckthorns are some of the best soil amending plants there are.

Couldn't find a picture of a sun bowl.

The Sun Bowl Factor - A sun bowl is a way to increase the ambient temperature in a small part of your garden by 'catching' the sun, and reducing the wind. Because sea buckthorn can act as a wind break, it is perfect for this purpose.


The sea buckthorn patch wraps around the north side of my high production garden beds. Because of their light coloured leaves (light colours are reflective of the sun's heat), height and density, the sea buckthorns will be able to block wind into those beds, keep frost out during shoulder seasons, and keep more of the sun's heat in the 'bowl'. Some permaculturists estimate that a properly designed sun bowl can increase the ambient temperature within by up to 5 degrees celsius! Such an increase could lengthen my short growing season by a couple of weeks - which could make all the difference.

Ouch!

The Berry Picking Factor - Because of the sharp thorns of the sea buckthorn, an important consideration to remember in the planning phase is access to all sides of each plant for the harvest of fruits. If you have to wiggle your way between two of the plants to get at a third... well, you won't be getting at the third. Unless you hate your skin, and enjoy pain.


I figure that accessing 3 of 4 sides of each plant will be enough, which seems to indicate a triangular planting pattern.






Update May 5th: The Hill and Mulch Factor - I just read a really awesome report by the Finnish Government about the growing of Sea Buckthorn. They did a study to figure out the best ways to grow these babies as they are considered a very important crop in that country. 


They found that sea buckthorn grows much better if each plant is put on a small mound, and if they are mulched with plastic. I'm willing to give that a try! Of course, I'll likely cover the plastic because I don't like the look of it, but that's just me.

Now you can see how much thought goes in to planting just one species. It may be complex, but it sure is fun. I'm going to go out in the yard and stare for a while, to see what comes to me. Stay tuned for the next installment: Sea Buckthorn - How I planted Them... with pictures!

More Bad News for Bees

Just read that Monsanto bought a leading research company whose work was linking pesticides, gmo's, and colony collapse disorder.

Looks like it's more bad news for Bees.

Beautiful Bee getting some lunch last summer in the forest near my house.

The Dangerous World of Landscaping.

Disfigurement by lawnmower.

Crippling heavy-rock-lifting related injuries.

Really bad sunburns.

These are all the real dangers that are faced by any person intrepid enough to explore and attempt to alter a landscape. Sure, some tools exist to help us avoid these pitfalls - like sunscreen.

But there is one tool in landscaping and gardening that no amount of preparation can prepare you to handle.

I am of course talking about the credit card.

That's a lot of plants.

Take, for example, a recent sojourn to the local gardening center. I wanted to get a few berry bushes while they were still dormant, some manure, seed potatoes. The usual.

But then I saw them.

Perennials.


The first shipment of perennials had just arrived, and I became blind with garden lust. The next thing I knew, I had completely filled one of those giant rolling carts with the plants seen at right, which will soon make up the greenery in the shade garden I am building. --->

It was madness.

These plants won't be able to go in the ground for at least another week. So why did I buy them now?

There are two correct answers.

1) Lack of self control and patience.
2) I figured I could 'multi-task': get these beauties hardened up while, at the same time, waiting for the day to come when I could plant them. This, instead of buying them two weeks from now, and then having to spend another week hardening them.

In the meantime, my plants sit happily in a giant tub that, when vacated, will become a potato planter.

Be careful, friends and readers. It's a dangerous world out there.