Hollyhock Presenter & Guest Blogs
Presenter's Blogs · 26th June 2009
Carolyn Herriot
By Carolyn Herriot
Amazingly it only took five years to achieve year round sufficiency in fruits and vegetables. It’s very encouraging to have had this experience because I know now that if we got organized we could achieve much greater food security in a relatively short period of time.
A five-year plan could look something like this:
Year 1: Edible landscaping - Plant fruit trees, hazelnut and elderberry shrubs in the shade, fruit and berry bushes galore.
Year 2: Vegetable gardening – Plant an extensive summer/fall vegetable garden.
Year 3: Growing food in winter – Plant an abundant winter food garden.
Year 4: Seed saving for future harvests.
Year 5: Four season food production with seeds from local seed banks.
Here’s what Year 1 (this year?) could look like:
Plant a ‘Berry Walk’ - I planted a 50-foot long border with raspberries, loganberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and Josta berries, all of which were under planted with ‘Totem’ June-bearing strawberries. They all thrive in the same conditions, and especially appreciate the seaweed mulch from the beach and the wood ash from our woodstove each winter.
The Small Fruit Orchard - We have a small orchard of ten dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees, (all our favourite fruits) - apples, pears, Asian pears, sweet and sour cherries and plums. The trees were planted 15-feet apart in two staggered rows of five into 4-foot deep holes lined with compost. I visualized an avenue of fruit trees dripping with fruit providing a shady canopy for summer banquets.
A Fruit Arbour – We built a 50-foot long arbour from forest logs, and used these to support kiwis, grapes and climbing berries - ‘Marian’, ‘Nectar’, ‘Cascade’ and thornless blackberries. This arbour has fragrant climbing roses growing along one side, and ornamental berries ripening from red to black on the other. It’s so beautiful that now we call it ‘the Wedding Arbour’.
Designing the Vegetable Garden – Ours is 50 feet by 50 feet square, divided into 4 quadrants, with a circular bed in the middle. This layout works very well for crop rotations, which break the lifecycle of pests and diseases. Perennial plants grow in the borders at the edges, because these plants don’t rotate, and there’s a fragrant Roserie de l’Hay rugosa rose as a centrepiece.
Amending the Soil – If your soil is sandy, it will be porous and infertile, so you can never add enough organic soil amendments. If it is clay be grateful, you have nutrient and water holding capacity. If it’s clay, break it up before mulching like mad with what I call ‘The Four Secrets of Successful Soil Building’ - compost, manure, leaves and seaweed. Adding six-inch layers of these organic amendments on a yearly basis turns compacted clay into friable soil of good tilth, which teams with earthworms.
The best part is that these organic soil amendments are free and freely available throughout rural communities, and are often regarded as a waste problem. If urban gardeners linked with rural farmers to use manure, we’d be solving potential waste problems. If gardeners kept their leaves and fed them back to the soil, we’d save a lot of money, as the City does not pick them up, and gardeners do not drive to the municipal works yard to buy them back! Aren’t we funny?
Edible landscaping is the perfect solution to climate change, because every bit of food consumed from your garden saves it from being shipped around the world, heating up the planet, and there’s nothing better for you than the food you grow yourself!
Carolyn Herriot is author of ‘A Year On The Garden Path, a 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide’ and grows certified organic ‘Seeds of Victoria’ at The Garden Path Centre, where she teaches 'The Zero Mile Diet and 'Growing An Edible Plant Business'.
www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath
Join Carolyn and Hollyhock cookbook author, Moreka Jolar, July 22-26, 2009 for their Zero Mile Diet Program at Hollyhock. Find more info at: http://www.hollyhock.ca/cms/index.cfm?Group_ID=4403
Amazingly it only took five years to achieve year round sufficiency in fruits and vegetables. It’s very encouraging to have had this experience because I know now that if we got organized we could achieve much greater food security in a relatively short period of time.
A five-year plan could look something like this:
Year 1: Edible landscaping - Plant fruit trees, hazelnut and elderberry shrubs in the shade, fruit and berry bushes galore.
Year 2: Vegetable gardening – Plant an extensive summer/fall vegetable garden.
Year 3: Growing food in winter – Plant an abundant winter food garden.
Year 4: Seed saving for future harvests.
Year 5: Four season food production with seeds from local seed banks.
Here’s what Year 1 (this year?) could look like:
Plant a ‘Berry Walk’ - I planted a 50-foot long border with raspberries, loganberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and Josta berries, all of which were under planted with ‘Totem’ June-bearing strawberries. They all thrive in the same conditions, and especially appreciate the seaweed mulch from the beach and the wood ash from our woodstove each winter.
The Small Fruit Orchard - We have a small orchard of ten dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees, (all our favourite fruits) - apples, pears, Asian pears, sweet and sour cherries and plums. The trees were planted 15-feet apart in two staggered rows of five into 4-foot deep holes lined with compost. I visualized an avenue of fruit trees dripping with fruit providing a shady canopy for summer banquets.
A Fruit Arbour – We built a 50-foot long arbour from forest logs, and used these to support kiwis, grapes and climbing berries - ‘Marian’, ‘Nectar’, ‘Cascade’ and thornless blackberries. This arbour has fragrant climbing roses growing along one side, and ornamental berries ripening from red to black on the other. It’s so beautiful that now we call it ‘the Wedding Arbour’.
Designing the Vegetable Garden – Ours is 50 feet by 50 feet square, divided into 4 quadrants, with a circular bed in the middle. This layout works very well for crop rotations, which break the lifecycle of pests and diseases. Perennial plants grow in the borders at the edges, because these plants don’t rotate, and there’s a fragrant Roserie de l’Hay rugosa rose as a centrepiece.
Amending the Soil – If your soil is sandy, it will be porous and infertile, so you can never add enough organic soil amendments. If it is clay be grateful, you have nutrient and water holding capacity. If it’s clay, break it up before mulching like mad with what I call ‘The Four Secrets of Successful Soil Building’ - compost, manure, leaves and seaweed. Adding six-inch layers of these organic amendments on a yearly basis turns compacted clay into friable soil of good tilth, which teams with earthworms.
The best part is that these organic soil amendments are free and freely available throughout rural communities, and are often regarded as a waste problem. If urban gardeners linked with rural farmers to use manure, we’d be solving potential waste problems. If gardeners kept their leaves and fed them back to the soil, we’d save a lot of money, as the City does not pick them up, and gardeners do not drive to the municipal works yard to buy them back! Aren’t we funny?
Edible landscaping is the perfect solution to climate change, because every bit of food consumed from your garden saves it from being shipped around the world, heating up the planet, and there’s nothing better for you than the food you grow yourself!
Carolyn Herriot is author of ‘A Year On The Garden Path, a 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide’ and grows certified organic ‘Seeds of Victoria’ at The Garden Path Centre, where she teaches 'The Zero Mile Diet and 'Growing An Edible Plant Business'.
www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath
Join Carolyn and Hollyhock cookbook author, Moreka Jolar, July 22-26, 2009 for their Zero Mile Diet Program at Hollyhock. Find more info at: http://www.hollyhock.ca/cms/index.cfm?Group_ID=4403