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| The forest garden in summer of 2014 |
I was trying to remember what I have planted and what is volunteering in the forest garden since I didn't want to uproot anything. The picture above is a little painful to look at if you are used to having tidy lawn with rows of petunias but to me, it announced success!
On each side of the image is a pole bean plant that I grew on trellis's as I want to phaze out annuals. The rest is Queens Annes Lace-I haven't eaten it yet as I am not sure at what stage its edible. When I pull it, I smell carrot-which makes sense as this is the grandmother of that particular vegetable.
Here is a list:
Pear
Peach
Blueberry
Sea Berry
Goji Berry
Violet
Walking Onion
Jerusalem Artichoke
Kiwi
St. Johns Wart
Asparagus
Nettles
Chamomile
Groundnut
Horseradish
Rhubarb
Witch Hazel
purslane
Lambs Quarters
I feel like I'm missing something but I'll soon find out if that is true.
By far the biggest challenge for us is how weedy the area can get in no time. Here is a long shot of me picking pole beans just to show you what happens on our land if we ignore it.
I see success too! That first image is beautiful, because it says, this is nature at work - not the gardener, lol. I grew Queen Anne's Lace once with some poppies. It was so luxurious, and great bee forage and for native wasps too (the small, stingless variety) which will predate on caterpillars.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder you had to fence this area from your chickens. They would absolutely love this! You could always turn them into the area at the end of the season though. They'll clean up any fallen fruit, take care of any pests which might be emerging and dislodge some ground so those weeds you let go to seed, can be broadcast by your chickens. You'll also notice you'll save on chicken feed when you do too.
Is that kale I spy in the lower right-hand corner? I couldn't see it in your list - perhaps its the horseradish?
The last picture with you picking beans, is just wonderful. That's what people in gardens should look like! Nature is dwarfing you, and that's a sure sign you're producing enough nutrient to feed yourselves with. If you're having problems accessing certain areas for harvesting, consider mowing your footpaths. Just one run through should be fine, or you can double back to make the path wider. You'll still be leaving enough ground cover for most of the area, and pruning some weeds regularly will feed the soil through the season and make up for what you're picking.
I see a highly productive area. :)
I am going to see if I can't add poppy to that spot then. I visualize a very pretty spot!
DeleteOur chickens are gone-we just couldn't keep up with keeping the coop clean in the last few months so found a new home for them. But we have had the occassional deer or raccoon come along and leave big piles of poop as well as trample our garden so the fences will stay up as a deterent.
I did plant kale! I will ALWAYS plant kale! Its not perrenial here so its not on the list, but I had a spot for it so I plopped it in along with some fennel and zucchini. This year that area will be dedicated to the groundnuts harveting area if the ground nut survived winter.
I agree regarding the last picture. I feel very safe and primitive in this garden. I even have a bench out there where I sit while Molly plays. I planted a border of Hopi sunflowers, gourds and broom corn around my bench for privacy. I feel like a sweet violet plant among the giant sunflowers. lol.
We have a foot path to the right (next to the kale) that leads up to the back but it wasn't mowed at the time of the photo. Its just enough to access everything. When things grow, I'll photograph this spot from out upstairs porch and you'll get a better idea of how its organized. Its hard to show on ground level like this.