fbpx

From Lawn to Edible Forest Garden

Now those of you who attended our presentation at the Green Earth Fair last Sunday can't say we don't practice what we preach.  One side of my Naperville front lawn has been transformed into an edible forest garden!

Michelle's Edible Forest Garden
Michelle's Edible Forest Garden

It all started in the fall when Jodi needed to complete a landscape design for a class she was taking and I volunteered my front lawn (How nice of me, right?).  She created a beautiful edible design that I was eager to implement.

Late fall, when the City offers free leaf collection, I went around the neighborhood and collected about 40 lawn and leaf bags full of leaves and as much cardboard as I could.  This hung out in the garage (sorry to my husband who had to park in the driveway for a while) until Mama's Magic Manure delivered 3 cubic yards of composted horse, sheep, goat, duck, geese, chicken manure on December 13th.  On December 14th I spent several hours sheet mulching and let that do its thing until this spring.

Read more...

Permaculture Community

IMG_2617Learning permaculture from a book, or even many books, and videos, didn't prepare me for the power of permaculture design.  For eight years I looked at my plot of land and tried, but knew I wasn't getting it.  I installed rain barrels, tried keyhole gardens for my annuals, interplanted garlic, onions, chives and such with my perennial bee and bird garden, planted an abundance of natives, and so on, but that is not permaculture.

Most of what I did was in isolation, without regard to how it all functions together, and after the drought last year, I knew my water management strategy was seriously flawed.  Two rain barrels positioned on the other side of the house from the gardens, not only made hauling water labor intensive, but two rain barrels only hold about 100 gallons of water.  Not much when there are weeks with no rain.

So, after taking a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) and really delving into Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests, I really got permaculture.  Now the only limits have been manpower, time, and resources.  All of which can be solved with community.

Community is a vital element of permaculture and with it you can achieve your permaculture goals.  Community is there to help you dig, plant, design, eat, laugh, relax, support, and give.  Permaculturists are generous people.  They share what they have with joy.  No project is too big or difficult when you have a community.

Jodi and I have been fortunate to discover many wonderfully supportive people who make up our community and have helped us get The Resiliency Institute started.  Each person has supported our efforts in a myriad of ways and introduced us to another who has done the same.

We want to share this abundance with you and include you in our community.  We all have something to offer and receive from others.  So, we invite you to come to our first Permaculture Community meeting, Thursday, May 9th (7-9pm).  Let's meet each other, share our ideas and create a permaculture community.

Fruit Tree Grafting

As the weather warms and the spring bulbs bloom, people start thinking about their yards and gardens.  With Arbor Day on April 26th, it is time to think trees.  Trees have tremendous value - aesthetic, shade, energy savings, food and homes for wildlife, and the list goes on.  When you plant a fruit or nut tree you get all of these benefits plus a harvest.  You can harvest your own pears, hazelnuts, paw paws, peaches, and chestnuts to eat fresh, can, freeze, dry, share or make pies, jam or flour.

dwarf pear tree 2 typesRemember the last time you went apple picking and how delicious every apple tasted right off the tree.  You can have that in your own yard and the Midwest Fruit Explorers (MidFEx) can teach you everything you need to know.  They are hosting a fruit tree grafting class on April 14th at the Chicago Botanic Gardens for the public or you can join for $15 and go to the member event at Cantigny in Wheaton this Sunday on April 7th.

Click here to watch a 3 minute video on apple tree grafting.

Grafting is attaching new wood growth with buds (scion wood) from a tree of the fruit variety you want to a root with a small trunk.  The root can be dwarfing, semi-dwarfing, or standard.  Dwarf trees grow 8-12 feet, semi 12-16 feet and standards 25 feet or taller.  Fruit trees don't grow from seeds.  If you eat an apple or a pear, for example, and plant the seeds, the resulting tree will not bear the same fruit you ate.  The only way to grow the variety of fruit you want is by grafting.  All of the fruit trees at the nursery have been grafted.

The MidFEx event will teach you how to graft your own tree for free.  Just pay $4 or $5 for the rootstock and scion wood.  You can then go home, plant your new tree and graft extra scion wood to an existing fruit tree or an ornamental apple, pear, or cherry tree on your property.  With proper care you will be harvesting delicious fruit from your yard in a couple of years.

 

Edible Forest Garden

fruit, harvest, forest garden, apples, peaches, blackberries, huckleberries

Imagine finding yourself in a young forest where everything around you is edible.  The canopy is chestnuts, pears, and persimmons with a shrub layer of hazelnuts, raspberries, honeyberries, and currants.  Under the shrubs are perennial vegetables, herbs and flowers with a ground cover of strawberries, clover and comfrey.  Vining up the trees are nasturiums and peas with garlic and chives near the trunk.  This design becomes more productive each year, requires minimal input from you and can exist right outside your door.

Visit our Course Calendar to take a course or workshop so you can begin enjoying your very own Edible Forest Garden!

Permaculture

fruit trees, herb spiral, compost, bees, water management, keyhole garden

Permaculture is an empowering philosophy that establishes a design system, techniques and strategies for developing an abundant and resilient life.  It is applicable to all aspects of human living, in homes and gardens, schools, businesses, community spaces, cities and countryside. It is the mission of The Resiliency Institute to spread permaculture through our educational programming: speaking at events, hosting classes, workshops, hands-on trainings, and Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) courses.

Please visit our Course Calendar to register for an upcoming course.

As we are developing programming, we welcome comments on types of classes (classrooms, hands-on demonstrations, design), site visits, collaborative partnerships, or other supportive comments.