Summer Waning Strawberry Moon I’ve not written much about permaculture for a while. Here’s a one-pager* from our landscapers, Ecological Gardens. It defines a new term for me: natural capital. I’ve since discovered that this is a term with a larger history which I haven’t explored fully, but I like the Ecological Gardens version. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Gaining from and giving back
Beltane Full Dyan Moon Paula Westmoreland from Ecological Gardens came out today and gave us a walk through, explaining the plants and their relationships. The real distinctiveness of permaculture lies in developing and nurturing those relationships, using plants together in ways that are mutually beneficial. An easy to understand example is the familiar legume family, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Before and After: The Orchard in Autumn, year 1
65 bar steep drop 29.80 2mph W dew-point 45 sunrise 7:12 set 6:51 Autumn Waxing Crescent of the Blood Moon rise 11:04 AM CDT set 8:00 PM CDT Before Ecological Gardens “What is permaculture? Permaculture (Permanent Culture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems that have the diversity, stability and resilience […]
Read the rest of this entry »Orchard Installation Day 3
Plants in position. This is a fruit tree with a guild of plants that will support it. Guilds are a permaculture concept that I will explain later. Paula Westmoreland, a principal in Ecological Gardens, at Day 3 start. More trees and guilds with Christa in the background. Lindsay Rebhan (kneeling) is another principal in Ecological […]
Read the rest of this entry »Chop Wood, Carry Fencing
After years in urban ministry, economic development, affordable housing and responsbility for urban congregations spread throughout the metro area I thought I knew Minneapolis. Not so. When I drove over to ecological gardens, Paula’s home at 4105 Washburn Avenue I discovered north Minneapolis, the one that includes Shingle Creek, the Humboldt Greenway, Victory Memorial Drive. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Sombre et Sol
59 bar steady 29.98 2mh NE dew-point 53 sunrise 6:48 set 7:29 Lughnasa Waxing Gibbous Harvest Moon rise 6:15 set 3:35 9AM Sun/Shade OK. All the sun/shade photographs have been printed and I will take them over to Ecological Gardens today. Just looking at them myself, it is obvious that we have vegetable growing possibilities […]
Read the rest of this entry »Change and Changes
68 bar falls 30.06 0mph NNE dew-point 38 sunrise 6:45 set 7:34 Lughnasa First Quarter of the Harvest Moon rise 4:49 set 12:17 Corn, Bleeding Heart, Impatiens, Beets and Beans at 3pm This morning I got up, ate breakfast and went straight outside. Posting in the morning has begun to interfere with other projects. […]
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64 bar falls 30.11 4mph N dew-point 45 sunrise 6:38 set 7:46 Waxing Crescent of the Harvest Moon rise 11:00 set 9:02 The morning. More gazpacho. Another triple batch. This time Kate will can it. We had a blind taste test and found we liked the canned gazpacho even more than the fresh. Go figure. […]
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