This was a really fun project – edible forest gardens, mandala gardens, meditation area, plants for the chickens, and TONS of beautiful, pollinator-attracting flowers everywhere. These were really fun clients to work with, very committed to regenerating the land, being good stewards, and growing their own healthy food in abundance. This will truly be a permaculture paradise!
Native, ornamental and edible plants provide a beautiful, enclosed sanctuary for this Alexandria residence.
This is a highly diverse, medicinal paradise – created as a center of production, a teaching demonstration garden, and an aesthetically beautiful home landscape for a local herbalist in Woodbridge, VA.
For a while now, we’ve wanted to start profiling certain plant species here on our site. There are a few reasons for this: First, a lot of these plants are unfamiliar to American gardeners (outside of some permaculture circles, that is!), and they definitely deserve a bit more popularity for several reasons. Second, we want to show that functional plants (edible, medicinal, etc.) can serve very powerful aesthetic purposes in the landscape as well. We hope that you will enjoy these profiles as we post them, and that you gain an appreciation of these amazing plants!
Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is a large shrub in the Elaeagnaceae family that is native to Europe and Asia – it can be found from Britain to Japan, Norway to the Himalayas. In the wild, Sea Buckthorn is typically found near the coast (hence the ‘Sea’ in its common name), growing out of cliffs and sand dunes. What is interesting is that by evolving to grow in these harsh conditions (sandy alkaline soils, exposure to salt, etc.), it basically has the ability to grow in nearly any soil and any conditions you can throw at it (wet, dry, near roads where they put down salt in the winter, etc.), which is great for gardeners in many different kinds of growing areas.
One of the reasons that Sea Buckthorn can survive in so many different kinds of conditions is that it, like other members of the Elaeagnaceae family, is what is called a nitrogen fixer. Basically, this plant forms associations with soil microorganisms (in this case, a genus of actinomycetes called Frankia) . The plant absorbs atmospheric nitrogen, which is not readily used by plants, and transfers it to its roots, where it is “processed” by the microorganisms (in exchange for plant sugars and nutrients) into a form of nitrogen which IS available for uptake by plant roots. What this means, is that the plant provides its own fertilizer. This fertilizer is available for use by other plants, too – when its roots die back (which happens naturally or can be encouraged by coppicing, as described below), or when it drops its leaves in the fall, the nitrogen concentrated in these tissues remains in the soil, available for uptake by any nearby plant. Having these nitrogen fixing plants in the garden can reduce or eliminate the need for external inputs of nitrogen and other elements commonly found in fertilizers.
Aside from providing a good amount of fertility to the garden, Sea Buckthorn can serve many other functions in the garden. It makes a great hedge for keeping out unwanted intruders (human, deer or otherwise) – it does have thorns, so avoid placing near paths or where children play. It is a very beautiful plant – silvery gray-green, almost needle-like foliage gives it a very Mediterranean-like appearance. When it bears fruit in the fall, the plant is literally COVERED with brilliant orange berries – very much like Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), a common shrub in eastern American gardens. We’ll talk more about the fruit below. Sea Buckthorn can get to be 10-20 feet tall if left to its own devices, but can be kept reasonably small by coppicing (cutting it to just above ground level in the winter when it has gone dormant) every few years. It is an excellent plant for holding together soil and preventing erosion.
Sea Buckthorn fruit is not very good fresh – the berries are very tart and astringent, but they make an incredible juice when steamed or pressed and then sweetened. They are incredibly nutritious, too – incredibly high in Vitamin C and Vitamin A, antioxidants, and healthy fatty acids. Jams, jellies and wines made from Sea Buckthorn are delicious. The fruit yields an edible oil which can be used for cooking, and is also used to make an inexpensive and easily produced biodiesel fuel. Other uses of the plant include medicines, cosmetics, charcoal, wood fuel, and yellow dye.
To conclude, Sea Buckthorn is an incredibly beautiful, useful, multifunctional plant that we think deserves more of a place in our gardens and landscapes. Stay tuned for more useful plant species profiles, there’s a whole world to cover!
On May 5, in celebration of International Permaculture Day, we participated in an organic gardening & raw food demonstration at a local resident’s home. Our contribution was an herb spiral demonstration.
An herb spiral is a well known permaculture technique for growing herbs in a very small space. Essentially what this does is take about 30 linear feet of growing space, and condenses it into a mound approximately 6 feet in diameter and 2-3 feet high. This allows for easy access to the plants from all sides without having to reach more than 3 feet from any side.
It also allows for the creation of microclimates – creating small spaces with slightly different growing conditions that are ideal for different plants. Plants that require more sun are placed on the top and south-facing aspects of the mound, while plants that like a little less sun are placed on the north side. Since the mound is watered from the top, and the water will run down the mound, plants that prefer less water are placed near the top of the spiral while those that like a little more water are placed near the bottom where they receive more water.
Herb spirals can be as simple or as complex as your desire warrants – they can be anything from a mound of soil with stones or bricks outlining the spiral, to spiral-shaped dry-stack stone walls filled with soil. Our purpose in building this particular herb spiral was to illustrate what anyone can do with a minimum of materials and effort – in this case we used bricks, pavers, and mulch that the resident already had onsite, the only outside inputs were about a cubic yard of topsoil, the plants, and some alfalfa meal for an organic fertilizer.
First, we marked the circular outline of the herb spiral bed, and dug out a small trench to sink in the landscape pavers for a border.
We then covered the interior of the circle with cardboard to act as a grass and weed barrier – the cardboard will smother the existing grass and prevent it from growing up into the herb spiral. Over a few months, the cardboard will decompose and add organic matter to the soil.
Next, we filled the interior of the circle with topsoil to create the spiral mound.
Once the mound was shaped, we used found bricks from the site to shape the spiral.
From there it was a simple matter of putting in the plants – in this case, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, lavender and chives – and adding a bit of alfalfa meal as a slow-decomposing organic fertilizer.
Add mulch and water the plants, and voila – you have an herb spiral. The whole process took about 30 minutes from start to finish.
It was a great opportunity to show people how simple, inexpensive, and effective permaculture techniques can be. We had a lot of fun and look forward to giving more demonstrations in the future!
This is a really cool project we’re doing for a great friend of ours, Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home/Lauren Liess Interiors. We’re really excited to build this beautiful garden for her family!
©2013 by Jon Storvick and Organic Edible Gardens, LLC
Our previous article on ecological lawn care was an introduction to how the ubiquitous and toxic-chemical-addicted American lawn can be transformed in a safe, non-toxic, eco-friendly manner. Now we’re going to show you a little of what that actually looks like in practice.
We have been working with one of our clients in McLean for several years now, designing and maintaining various plantings organically. However, they retained their existing lawn service, which treated the lawn with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Despite all of the toxic chemicals, unsightly weeds still flourished in the lawn. They decided to try out our organic lawn maintenance service as an alternative. Here’s what we’ve been doing as part of the process of converting their lawn to an organic ecosystem.
First off, we needed a snapshot of exactly what the conditions were in the lawn ecosystem. We took several soil samples from the lawn areas, and sent them off to two different sources – one examined the chemical and nutrient levels, and the other analyzed the biological activity in the soil – bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, etc.
The chemical analysis indicated low levels of phosphorus, potassium and calcium, as well as a slightly lower pH than desirable. Organic matter was at 3.3%, where 6-8% would be more ideal.
The biological analysis indicated a much better microbial soil food web than we had anticipated – fungal and bacterial levels and diversity were good, but protozoa and beneficial nematodes were low. There were also higher levels of “pest” nematodes than were desirable.
We devised a strategy for increasing lawn health and converting to organic management based on these test results.
We arrived at the property in early April – we’ve had a belated Spring, so this was one of the first weeks where soil temperatures were high enough that we could proceed without harming the grass. Here’s a before shot of the lawn:
We began by organically removing much of the weeds in the lawn – hand removing taproot and bulb species like spring onions and dandelions, and flame weeding the rest (yes folks, this is safe, and we take all necessary precautions before using open flame in the landscape!).
We then gave the lawn its first mowing of the year, leaving the grass clippings in place. After mowing, we aerated the lawn to increase oxygen levels in the soil, decompact the hard clay, and allow for organic material to penetrate the soil surface.
After aeration, the next step is to topdress with lime and a good amount of compost.
We then spread the compost over the lawn.
After this is completed, we heavily overseed with our custom mixes (composed of various grasses, legumes for nitrogen fixation, and selected broadleaf species to fill open niches in the lawn ecosystem), and topdress with alfalfa meal, which slowly adds nitrogen and other nutrients through decomposition.
As we left, the lawn doesn’t look much different from when we started – but this will give it the initial start it needs to be healthy and organically maintained. In the future, we’ll be treating it with compost teas to feed the soil life, among other sustainable management techniques. We’ll keep you posted to show you how this new organic lawn turns out!
UPDATE 4/19/2013
After just 2 weeks, this is what the lawn looks like! Amazing!
For more information on organic lawn care, please visit the NOFA Organic Landcare website, or call Organic Edible Gardens LLC at 571-282-1724 for a free consultation.
This is an urban permaculture design combining edible, native and low-maintenance plantings into an enchanting space for a young Arlington family. Let us know what you think!
The best time to order and plant fruit trees is during the mid-winter/early spring while the trees are undergoing dormancy. If you’re interested in planting fruit trees this year, give us a call at 571-282-1724 now to schedule a consult!