Edible Landscaping
This will be my 5th and last article on growing food on your property. Anyone who owns a piece of our valuable earth has the ability to grow their own nutritious food which is healthier than what can be bought in a store. During World War Two we had victory gardens in many households throughout our country. After the war many people no longer felt the need for them and abandoned this time consuming project. After the War our Agriculture community developed a chemical program of how to grow plants and the nutritional value decreased. The Universities concentrated on methods of growing vegetables more economically and the big farmers became bigger and bought up the smaller ones. Machinery took over the job of man as we concentrated on a more mechanized approach to farming. Nutritional value took a back seat to production and profits. The big got bigger and the small got squeezed out. Agriculture is now big business and marketing principles filled our super market shelves with ready made food. Ready made foods have great appeal to two working parents who have to deal with the juggling schedules of their children and their hectic life. 95 % of these ready made foods have GMO altered plants added to these preparations. .Most of these altered plants is not good for you or we don’t know what effects they will have on us after being altered. We are a country that doesn’t know what we are eating. Our food chain is broken and is leading to an unhealthy America. We now have more hospitals, more doctors and more suffering to contend with as we concentrate our health resources and energy to find cures instead of prevention. Now more than ever we need Victory Gardens in our yard. We need to win the battle to bring healthy nutritious food back to the table. John Hopkins came out with a recent update. All of our bodies have cancer cells they claim. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors. A strong immune system is our best way to fight cancer.
It is up to us to supply our body with the most nutritious food that we can and build a strong immune system. Not only will a strong immune system fight cancer but many other diseases and health related problems. We need to focus on prevention so we don’t have to focus on cures. It is the home gardener that has the ability to accomplish this. It requires a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work and a lot of knowledge. You will have your successes and failures but by doing so you will learn. You will become a better, healthier and stronger person who in the long run will save money and suffering. If you can get your children involved, you will have the added advantage of having Mother Nature teach them life fulfilling lessons. We need to maintain a new mentality if we hope to save our world from the collision course we are now on. We have many people who teach our children. Make Mother Nature one of their instructors. Go to our website naturalgardennews.com to read more about the John Hopkins update. It is on this website where we will keep you informed about natural gardening and the many benefits that can be derived from it. This is a free website where you will want to sign up and become a part of.
Tor and I have put a great deal of our free time in writing and researching to keep you informed. What I have done on your behalf is worked hard to develop information that will help you become successful in back yard food production. My book ’12 Steps To Natural Gardening’ my emails and my websites are all filled with formulas for you to implement, and a Calendar for you to follow. I have tried to give you advice that comes from a lifetime of experience in growing plants. I want you to own my book for I have written it to become your partner to success. I have written it to make Natural Gardening easy and understandable. I have written chapters where whole books have been written and covered it in one concise easy to understand chapter. If building a vegetable garden is a new venture for you, I suggest you start small, read and educate yourself so you understand the basic principles, become part of a healthy food chain and as your ability, successes and knowledge develop keep at it. As your knowledge grows, your garden will grow.
It is important to keep whatever you do tasteful and aesthetic looking so you will love your back yard. Outdoor living takes place in surroundings that are inviting. Decorating foreground vegetable gardens with flowers is not only a method to beautifying your property but creates a bio-diverse environment which attracts beneficial insects and aids in cross pollination. If we can create a balance in nature you will be able to attain sustainable gardening on your property and admiration from friends and neighbors.
I have tried to teach you how beautiful an herb garden can be, how we can make a vegetable garden look beautiful and how much of a need there is to incorporate these principles into our landscape. Gardening is still the number one recreational activity in our country and health should be or number one concern. If we can combine all of the above, we have a great goal to try to attain. Gardening will take on more meaning and the fruits of your labor will be more rewarding.
Edible landscaping is a topic that every organic gardener can easily embrace. Maintaining and organic property allows you to plant edible crops any place on your property. Integrate small fruits, fruit trees, vegetables and herbs throughout your property. Increase the supply of healthy food on your property while adding to the overall beauty of it. As a runner I would pick blackberries, on the trails in the woods and as a kid I would pick blueberries in the fields behind my Aunt’s house on Long Island. There is something special about picking your fruit directly from the plant. This can be done very tastefully with good landscape design principles enhancing the beauty and interest to your property. Fruit trees can take the place of a small flowering tree in your yard. Many of us old-timers remember the apple tree in our back yard. As kids we would climb until we reached the top and swings hung from its strong branches to entertain us and the children of the neighborhood. It served many purposes providing beautiful spring flowers, shade, delicious fruit and recreational activities. The blueberry bush makes a great foundation plant and harvesting the fruit becomes a bonus. Swiss chard with its colorful foliage can be a focal point for any perennial garden. A bed of strawberries can become a border plant for an interior bed. A cherry tomato plant located on a heavily traveled pathway can serve to nourish a passer- by. Edible landscaping requires some creative thinking so that it fits into your overall backyard or front yard design. Placing the right plant in the right location is of utmost importance. Research the needs of any plant you plan to use. Start out with very small additions and changes. Make sure your decisions add not distract from your design. As you get better at placing edible plants throughout your landscape design, you will find that you can actually increase interest, aesthetic possibilities and nutritional needs for your family.
Edible Landscaping can often lead as a forerunner of Permaculture. Permaculture is combining the best of edible landscaping and natural landscaping. The ultimate purpose is to meet all the needs of its inhabitants including food, shelter, fuel and entertainment. Permaculture can rarely be followed by today’s homeowners but we can borrow ideas for its use. Edible landscaping is something we can all try and is a worthwhile investment. We all have learned to double task in our daily busy lives lets also learn how to have our landscape plants provide us with double tasking. I suggest that all organic gardeners try to embrace this concept.
I will be holding a lecture on food production in the back yard on Saturday March 22nd from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. The lecture will take place in our back greenhouse. Pass this on to anyone you think might be interested. Let’s push for a good turnout and together we can discuss this very important topic
The Nursery will open Monday March 2nd.
Spring weekend sale twenty percent off everything in the Nursery will take place Saturday and Sunday March 22nd and 23rd.
Attended our Spring Lecture series
All lectures will start at 10:00am and will end at noon.
Saturday March 22nd – The Vegetable Garden.
Saturday March 29 – Pruning.
April 5th – The Organic Lawn
April 12th – Composting.
Be sure to pickup our 2014 Garden Calendar.
It is important to keep up with your February chores by reviewing February Krautter’s Korner. It is now archived into our web site and can be retrieved by clicking on www.naturalgardennews.com.
