Sustainable Gardeners and Farmers
Sharing knowledge to sustain our food systems and communities
This group will create an open, global forum where growers can share practical knowledge with each other, pose questions and find answers. It is open to experts, amateurs and to beginners who look to enrich their lives by learning to grow food. It will also provide a space to share concerns about current food systems as well as sustainable approaches. I form ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Dec 24, 2007
Updated: Nov 22, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
Topic: Spring reflection...
Posts (1 - 2 of 2)
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Gaia`s Garden should be waiting for me in the post office today. This is a very relevant subject for me as I`m very close to becoming the owner of my own house and a small 600 sq. m backyard. I hope to find some concrete advice from the book, as I find most of the permaculture writings in the net to be very general in nature. I`ve also been thinking of ordering the new Edible Forest Gardens- books, but they are quite pricey.
As to watching things grow, I have been busy with my "old" rented plot. I feel sad about moving to the new house mostly because I`ll lose this little piece of land that I`ve been nurturing for a few years. It feels awful that maybe the next gardener who rents it won`t take good care of it! Maybe I`ll keep it and just plant strong plants like potatoes and squash there in the coming seasons; I would probably have time to drive there once a month or so. |
Hope you are all busy growing something or watching something grow this spring!
I had the opportunity to attend a permaculture course put on by Oregon Tilth last weekend at an urban homestead in the Portland area. Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden, taught the course and put on a very complete presentation of permaculture principles followed by the participants applying those principles to their past experience, and finally into a tour of the homestead and surrounding forest to observe nature's patterns in action. I'm just a beginner in thinking through a permaculture lens, but believe we all think this way naturally sometimes... starting with what you have, where you are makes a lot of sense to me, and seems a place where we can all start. This focus on resourcefulness and focus on locality and circumstance seems overlooked at times when we want to do it all at once or replicate something that might not apply exactly to our garden/life situation.
Anyway, just wanted to share my experience and a little reflection and hope you will all feel free to do the same with your gardening and farm experiences this spring, whether it comes from the field, out of philosophizing with friends, or resulting from education of any sort. You should also check out Hemenway's book and permaculture principles if you're not already familiar with the concept.
Happy growing!
Christine