ideas about growing a self seeding polycultural matrix to plant your garden into

Nature almost always plants in polycultures or matrices. The plants in these groupings tend to support one another in multiple ways. Some plants readily access certain nutrients better, and share with their neighbours through leaf fall and dieback. Their roots are constantly growing and then dying slightly as the weather changes. The dead bits release nutrients, and sometimes medicinals for the other plants to access. Some plants are better at attracting pollinators, or predators for plant eating bugs. Others are strong smelling and confuse the pests. This makes it difficult for them to find their food. We know that certain plants grow better next to certain others. We can plan this if we want to, but I find that in a self seeding polyculture nature seems to take care of it. That and the fact that we should edit those plants who are unhappy. Certain plants seem to be adaptogens for others. In other words they make them stronger. A mixture also means that plants have different profiles. Some have deeper roots, some creep on the ground, and others are tall and thin. Nature also leaves no bare soil. Bare soil equals weeds. We may as well choose what kind of weeds will grow there. I have noticed in the garden, that bare soil often dries out faster due to exposure to wind and sun. Those areas planted more thickly often actually had more soil moisture. Thick planting can be a form of mulch. Polycultures have so much to teach us, and are less work to maintain than monocultures. They also have less disease and pest problems.

Self seeding annuals and biennials that can form part of a polycultural base to plant into can include the following in the Pacific northwest. Parsley overwinters well and is biennial so let a few set seed each year for a continual crop. Cilantro is a short lived self seeding annual. Harvest the seeds as coriander. Calendula is both edible and medicinal. The flowers look great in salads and teas. Dill is great in all kinds of foods and makes a gentle stomach soother. Johnny-jump-up flowers and leaves can be eaten. Seed poppies AKA opium poppies produce an edible seed, and an opiate from the plant. Kale is a winter hardy biennial that gets better in the cold. Mustard gives wonderful spicy spring greens. Lettuce should be a 4 seasons type, able to withstand heat and cold. Parsnips are a self seeding biennial that store in the ground overwinter. Eat the roots before they start to head into setting seed the second year. Leave the largest to reseed. Hollyhocks are another edible biennial with very edible cooked leaves and flowers for salads. Baby plants make great spring greens. Cosmos is the only one on the list not edible, but the beneficials love it as they do almost all listed plants when in flower. Sunflowers have edible seeds of course, but the flower petals, very young seedlings, and flower buds are all also edible. Potatoes will come every year if a few are left in the ground each fall, and so will garlic. Garlic will do better as a separate crop, but it aids the other plants in the polyculture. I have had tomatoes self seed into my polyculture when I gardened in Winnipeg. Principe Borghese was a small plum cherry tomato used for sun drying in Italy that regularly produced a plant full of ripe tomatoes from a self seeded plant before frost came. Arugula is a spicy nutty flavoured green which comes in 3 kinds. One of them is perennial. Nasturtiums have spicily edible leaves and flowers, and the green seeds have been used as a caper substitute. Chickweed is both edible and medicinal. Radishes can be pulled for roots and cookable leaves, or left to set seedpods which can be eaten green. One plant produces bowls full of seedpods which taste like juicy little radishes if picked before they get woody. Lambs quarters is another weedy edible self seeder. The leaves are packed with nutrients. Magenta spreen is a prettier version of lambs quarters with a shimmery magenta undercoating to the young leaves. Sweet dames rocket is a self seeding biennial with edible young leaves and flowers. Orach comes with red or green leaves for salad or cooking. Fennel is a self seeding perennial or biennial with edible leaves for salads, fish, and veggies, and the seeds are familiar from spice racks. Skirret and Salsify will also self seed into a polyculture happily. It seems that the "weedier" and closer to their wild relatives these plants are the better they grow in matrixes.

For greater biodiversity and range of nutrients, perennials should also be part of the mix. Egyptian walking onions multiply well and can produce at least 2 crops a year. The first is the extra green onions in early spring, and the others come from the top sets. Dandelions are great for the soil nutrients as well as being edible and medicinal. Because they bloom early the beneficial insects love them. Welsh onions are another perennial onion ready to thin out in early spring. It also has ornamental and edible flower heads. Onion seed can also be used as a spice. The extra seedlings make great baby green onions for salads. Chives will give a lot of cut and come again greens and flower heads. Garlic chives are similar but garlic flavoured and bloom much later. Daylily is a wonderful edible surprise for most people. Flowers, flower buds, dried old flowers, root bulbs and spring greens are all edible in the tawny daylily. The flowers of other daylilies are edible, with the orange and yellow ones supposedly tasting the best. Hyssop is a wonderful medicinal for the respiratory tract, and the leaves are used for a bitter minty flavour with beef or in salads. Lemon balm can be eaten in salad, drank in a tea, or used as a soothing medicine. Elecampane roots are medicinal in their second year. The flowers have also been used medicinally. It self seeds freely and the first year roots are bitter but were eaten as a vegetable in the middle ages. Angelica has edible and medicinal leaves. I include a few in salads and teas. It is Macrocarpic, meaning it dies after setting seed. It is worth letting it go to seed just to attract the huge crowd of pollinators it gets. Sweet cicely has edible leaves and seeds. The leaves are added to rhubarb to sweeten with less sugar. Lovage has edible potently celery flavoured stalks and leaves. It self seeds freely, but the small seedlings are easy to pull and great in spring salads and cooked green dishes. Plantain is a weed with edible and medicinal leaves. It is also a great nutrient accumulator. It seems that salad greens, cooking greens, and roots tend to grow best in polycultures.

Thinning, harvesting and choosing where to plant into the matrix are the biggest jobs of a polyculture gardener. Editing is the hardest part. I find I need to thin more than I think I do each year. It is difficult to pull healthy growing baby plants, but I get better crops if I thin fairly heavily. Remember that certain kinds of seed comes up later than others, so keep thinning as you harvest to leave room for newcomers. Taller perennials and biennials should be left to grow near the north side of the garden. Their seedlings can be pulled and eaten in other areas. Seedlings that are too copious to be eaten make great high nutrient animal food or compost.

Many modern vegetables don't do as well in a crowded polyculture. Even those that do ok will do better if given a little space. Broad beans seem to like growing in polycultures especially when fall seeded, and they provide nitrogen to the soil. Beets seem to do ok if given enough moisture and rich soil. Most of the cabbage family does well if cleared around. The same for tomatoes. Corn does well from transplants with judicious thinning of the matrix. Most of these things will do better if transplanted in. Young shrubs and trees can also be planted into the matrix with the end goal of having a food forest. As the woodies grow they'll slowly outcompete the forbs below them, but this will take years. In the meantime you will have edible plants around it that are better for the tree or shrub than the normal grass. Biodynamic gardeners have studied companion planting for years, and have recognised that fruit trees do worse when surrounded by grass.


It should be no surprise to us that many plants prefer a monoculture. We have been selectively breeding them as solo crops for thousands of years. If we grow something as a monoculture and select the strongest plants, we are selecting for those who like the monoculture. Most beans, peas, peppers, cucumbers, melons, carrots, strawberries, annual onions, and the main crop of garlic will all produce better in separate beds. This just means that the beds they go into get more heavily harvested before planting to this years crop. Squash will smother the polyculture in it's bed once it gets going, and needs to be free from competition when younger. The Mediterranean herbs like thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender and winter savoury will grow better in a dryer bed with less competition. Give everything a small trial to see what works for you. Polycultures imitate nature, with plants growing more naturally to support one another. Nature has been working at the concept for millennia. We might as well follow her lead, and learn something while growing highly nutritious foods.

Voluntary simplicity- my reasoning behind it and how it plays out in my life

I spend less, use less, and recycle more for many reasons. Almost everything we purchase costs the environment in terms of pollution during manufacture, transportation, and depletion of resources. By reducing, repurposing, and re-using I can eliminate some of those environmental costs. If enough of us do this there is less overall demand, with, we are told, a reduction in price for what we do consume.
When I buy less I can spend my money more ethically by being able to afford organics, fair trade, cruelty free, and local products. Yes, these items cost a bit more per each, but overall I am spending much less money, and am supporting processes that are much more ethically acceptable to me. If I cannot condone cage raising of animals, then how can I pay money towards the cruelty of modern mega farms. If I don't want excess hormones in my drinking water or my meat, then I must needs support a permaculture or agriculture that doesn't utilise them. The less I purchase the less packaging I force into the environment. If I don't use disposables the environment benefits greatly as does my pocketbook.
Another cost we tend to forget is the labour and lack of autonomy required to earn the income to buy the junk. Earning an income costs a portion of that income. Most jobs entail special clothing, the need to make or buy lunch, the costs of getting to and from work, and more. So we spend x percent of the income on earning the income. Then there is the assumption by most employers that ones ethics are theirs. I have been ordered to lie, been lied to, been knowingly safety compromised, and more by my employers. In case you think this is exceptional, the last employer to do this to me was the department of health in Manitoba under an NDP government. I am going by their actions, not their words. There was all kinds of lip service to keeping us safe.. As long as it didn't cost any money. These things are unacceptable to me. So I now do odd jobs, which means that if an employer and I disagree on what is OK, we can end the relationship, with no real harm to anyone. Losing a fulltime job for refusing to lie is very hard on the employee. Jobs are hard to get. If one is a good worker and arrives when he says, then part time jobs are easy to find. Casual Labour is also really easy to fit into your schedule, rather than fitting your life into your work schedule, as most full and part- time jobs do. I like being able to go somewhere when I want.

Many people who drive a car forget to cost into each trip a portion of the cars original cost, the financing necessary to pay for it, insurance, drivers licence, traffic tickets, taxes for cops for traffic tickets, taxes for infrastructure necessary for the vehicle, cost of the land and garage to park the vehicle, etc… Then there are all the environmental, health, visual, noise, traffic "accident", and other miscellaneous costs involved. When you figure out how many hours of work that is a week, add on the costs of working for those hours and translate that to hours, add in time to pay the taxes on the income, you'll often find that most any other way to get to work costs less. Especially when you add in the health benefits from walking or riding a bike to work. So I bike or walk to work. I get to enjoy the scenery, My vehicle and I kill a minimal amount of insects, as ossposed to the current slaughter of all kinds of wildlife on our streets, roads, and highways. I've seen road kill of insects, amphibians, mammals, reptiles, and birds. I get to talk to and acknowledge more people. I get a relaxed sense of the flow of time. The cash costs are minimal. The benefits are ongoing.. And you should see my legs :D

When you purchase food, unless your cash is limited, you lose a lot of control over what goes into your food. Many items going into the food aren't labelled. Excess packaging is making a wasteland of our oceans. Medications and hormones in our animal products are harming us and the environment. Modern farming practices are destroying the soil and the web of life. People starve while we waste hordes of edible food due to classist, ineffective and unnecessary food safety rules. GMOs are rapidly polluting our food stream. Transportation comes with environmental and monetary costs. Our food intake directly affects our health on many levels. I need to have as much control of this as possible. So, I grow what I can in my embryonic polycultural permaculture. I barter for or buy from friends and neighbours for veggies, fruit and animal products that are environmentally and ethically raised. When I have to purchase from elsewhere, I try to get organic, fair trade, from as close as possible in bulk so as to reduce frequency of transportation and packaging. There are huge problems with the organic standards council now, and so I do not always trust that "certified organic" means what I think, or would like it to mean. This means I want to know the farmer as often as possible, and preferably be it. At present, I am a landless farmer. I have 3 large 6x80 raised veggie beds [produce shared with friends, food bank, and fellow community gardeners] in the community garden, a medium sized 30x45 Carbohydrates garden, and a share of 2 family gardens in exchange for labour and some seed. A friend and I are also sharing 7 hens and a rooster, which we range in chicken tractors on her land. We get plenty of high vitamin eggs, and are hoping for chicks for replacement egg layers and some stewing fowl. I forage for wild foods of all kinds-salad components, cooking greens, shellfish, mushrooms, berries, and more. I do eat meat, mostly local and free range. Some of it is raised as a functioning part of a polycultural farm. Polycultural raised meat on marginal land contributes to our diet while enhancing the environment. My diet is quite varied and contains a huge amount of natural vitamins and minerals. Because I am gluten intolerant I am still paying a lot of money for my food. However I knowingly pay extra to hopefully get organic grains. I want to support healthy farming practices, and maintain a good balance of nutrients in my diet. Better nutrition and a greater range of nutrient sources means better health. Better health means less personal and health care costs. I've also come to the conclusion that multi-national agri-corporations have purchased our government when it comes to agricultural, environmental and chemical issues. By choosing to support the little farmer who doesn't use their stuff, I cut off some of their money. The less money they have the less they can influence my government. I do eat out and I tip well. This isn't about doing without. It's about being happy about where my money goes. I preserve my food in a way that uses as little electricity as possible. Solar dehydration, dehydration above the wood stove, curing and canning are my favourite ways to do so.

I have huge issues with much of what my government is doing right now. They do more thing that I disagree with than things they do that I benefit from. War mongering, murdering innocent women and children, condoning torture, embracing the chemical industries, supporting GMOs, trashing the environment repeatedly, bailing out those who caused the last crash, bailing out the auto makers who have refused to embrace alternative technologies, increasing the gap between rich and poor, blaming the poor for their problems, fear mongering, a hugely expensive, ineffective and classist food safety system, recanting on our basic rights and freedoms, homophobia and racism are all unacceptable to me. The current government does all those things Our health care system is awash in a sea of red tape and bureaucracy. It also denigrates holistic and dietary health care while shoving unnecessary and often harmful drugs at us. These drugs are showing up in our eco-system and creating super-bugs, which we are told we need stronger drugs with worse side effects to deal with. Our school system is based on left brain[ rationalistic, straight line thinking] while ignoring the rest, and teaching our kids to memorise as opposed to teaching them how to think critically. They are trained to follow orders and accept that those in power are unquestionable. Our roads are designed to need fixing quickly, which creates more pollution and costs us more. Our government has a prejudice against pedestrians and cyclists.. If I earn a small enough income I am not supporting them in these issues through my taxes. If I purchase less through regular channels I pay less gst or hst, and support the government less. If this means that I get less "benefits" I am willing to live with that. I cannot support the rest of what they do.

I find that a cash or plastic economy dehumanises the transactions, and often leaves both parties feeling like they could have done better. Yes I need cash. I pay certain bills, buy food and products, and deal with the government with cash. When I can I do trade, or pay as you can afford. Those type of transactions always make me feel like I've gained more than I've given. Usually the other person involved feels the same way.
I get my clothing second hand or free as much as possible. I reduce, re-use and recycle a lot. I use second-hand pickle jars to store my dried foods. I use the library and buy books and give them to the library. There are 2 libraries here, and both of them are community funded, not funded through taxes. Much of my clothing and kitchen ware came from the free store [a second hand shop that doesn't charge]. I also donate where possible to them. I cut my own hair with a 30$ set of clippers which have lasted for 3 years so far. At a haircut every 6 weeks, or, more likely, every month, my haircuts have cost less than 1$ each, even if you count in the electricity costs. I use less than 5$ worth of hydro a month. My propane for cooking costs somewhere around 20$ every 3 months. My water comes from the land. I work trade for a place to live. I cut deadfall for my firewood. I buy my art supplies from the local bookstore and support a friend through my purchases. I grow, wild craft or work trade most of my medicinal herbs. Most of my health care practices are holistic, and cost no extra cash. I get my exercise from my work and my method of transportation, as well as dancing. I get my education from online, through books and libraries, from friends and neighbours, and lastly by paying for it.I have a cell phone and a mini laptop. The cell costs 55$ a month and I dislike the health issues surrounding it. I buy a phone card for 4 cents a minute long distance. As soon as I'm more permanent I'll get a landline- cheaper and safer if I don't get cordless. The Wi-Fi internet I get from friends, neighbours and local businesses, freely given.

I have a rich, varied, fulfilling and beauty filled life. This isn't about asceticism. This is about right living, responsibility for my actions, an examined and aware life, and a relaxed way of being. I look after myself, and have access to a lot of what I consider luxuries. There are books to read when I need them. I go to music and dancing regularly. I play with art often. I have time to volunteer and contribute to community. My food is amazing and often would be considered gourmet. I get to be in nature as often as I wish. My housing would be considered substandard in the city, but I like it. It keeps me warm and sheltered. I am able to communicate with my friends both locally and across the country. Life is wonderful and I thank the goddess daily. I have more spending money now and earn less than 1/3 of what I used to earn.

corn from transplants

This year on Denman both May and June were quite cool. Cool damp soil is terrible for corn germination.So, we have the day length for corn to grow, but germination outdoors is terrible. How do we fix this?
We've all been told again and again that corn doesn't transplant well. However,I found out that a friend of mine always starts her corn plants indoors and then transplants them after danger of frost is past, and at about the 4 leaf stage. Hers were planted out in mid may and are doing well. I did a few transplants, and had success with all. In fact some were planted into the garden by a novice gardener, and they did fine. The corn seeds that were planted in ground in early June, on the same day the transplants were put in, had horrid germination [maybe 15%}.
This wasn't a scientific experiment, and I have yet to see how the transplants produce, but I'll probably transplant em all next year.
Other crops which are forgiving of transplanting even though many books say NO, are the cucurbitae [cukes, squash etc.], and beets. I start the cukes, squash and melons indoors for the same reason as the corn. The beets I transplant as I thin them. Beet[and Swiss chard] "seeds" are conglomerates. Each piece contains more than one seed, which is why beets always need thinned.
The warnings in books are to keep you from blaming the author for any problems. Yes corn and the others transplant less readily than tomatoes, but with minimal care it is still doable.

Why the cost of food is rising, and what to do

Yet another large chunk of humanity can now not afford to eat. Basic food prices have started to spiral. The answers as to why are well hidden.
1/ climate change is a reality, and 97% of scientists are convinced that humans are exacerbating the issue immensely. In other words, Our SUV's and wasteful personal, business, farming and manufacturing practices are making climate change much worse.
2/ "Modern" farming practices cause more flood-drought cycles. When we let nature do her thing, trees retain a lot of water then slowly release it. Potholes, swamps and sloughs hold water then release it through the ground. Deforesting and flattening the land means that water isn't retained in the soil. This means that during heavy rainfalls the water is all sent downstream causing floods, and later during a drought, there is no water in the soil to keep plants alive. Due to this, we are growing less food than we could if the water was managed in the way nature used to handle the process.
3/ Food now equals petroleum. Because we are using corn to create "bio-fuels" , we are using space, that could be used to grow food, for creating more fuel to spray pollutants into the bio-sphere so we can increase climate change.
What this means is that any petrochemical product [gasoline, plastics, chemicals, diesel, chemical fertilizers, and much more]purchased increases the price of food. We buy the petro-product, corn is grown to replace the petroleum used, and the price of food goes up.
Our government Likes to pretend that these fuels are somehow environmentally friendly, and ethically acceptable, because profit can be made on it. I disagree. Making a profit from someone's starvation is not acceptable.
4/The price of petroleum is on the rise. Most of our food is grown and transported with petroleum. Non-organic foods are grown with chemical fertilizers, anti-fungals, pesticides and herbicides that are made from petroleum. The field is cultivated, seeded, sprayed, often resprayed, cut and harvested all with petroleum to fuel the tractor or plane. Non-organic meat has another whole layer of petroleum usage. Even organic grain and veggies are produced by mechanical [i.e. petroleum fuelled] methods. Non-local organic foods are also transported with it.
5/ the idea that genetic manipulation will somehow increase our productivity over the long term has been proven to be a falsehood. In India, where Monsanto heavily pushed their roundup ready cotton, there are now roundup resistant weeds. Meanwhile, the price of seed has increased by almost 100 times for the farmers, many of the farmers are bankrupt, and a large amount of the bankrupt Indian farmers have committed suicide.
6. We, as a species, are extremely overpopulated. Locally we are producing less children than our death rate, which is good. In order for the other species to also thrive, there needs to be less humans.
What can we do? Grow our own food! Buy local! Buy organic or better yet poly-culturally grown foods. Buy less plastic and other petro-chemically based products. Grow a food forest. A mature food forest will produce many times more food than a mono-cultured gene-enhanced chemical crop, with an enormous gain in carbon retention. Eat less meat and dairy products. It takes more land to produce them than vegetarian food. When you eat meat, buy grass fed, there's much less transport involved. Eat seasonally. Eat your weeds, they are free, organic, and often contain much needed micronutrients. Eat from the wild. Blackberries, seafood, wildlife and much more are available. Avoid those foods your body cannot handle. We usually eat more food when we eat what we are sensitive or allergic to. Bike, walk, carpool, etc.! Travel less! Rediscover community.
We can grow an amazing amount of food here. We already do produce a lot of meat, eggs, dairy, nuts, fruit and veggies, as well as edible ornamentals and wild foods. Some of this is available for sale, and some is consumed by family and friends. Denman used to produce food for itself as well as a chunk of the big island.
For an interesting list of what we can grow here contact myself, Peter Janes, or David Hicks. Attend one, or some, of Annie siegel's courses. Talk to bruce and Lee-Anndra. Take a permaculture course from Jesse Lemieux. See if you can get some of the local farmers to talk about what we can grow. The list of foods is absolutely amazing- grains, meats, eggs, dairy, honey, maple syrup, wildlife, seafood, vegetables and herbs galore- year round, Tea, many fruits and berries, a large selection of nuts, and then there are the unusual edibles. If you aren't already growing food, start with a small garden- a raised bed 4x15 can produce a lot of food when garden by the square foot, cubed foot, or french intensive methods. You can create an absolutely beautiful food garden. Read a few books on permaculture/alternative farming, and food forests. Support Local Farmers!!!! You`ll eat healthily, and help keep food affordable for more.
Tim Jeffrey

abundance

marshmallow and comfrey- 2 favorite edible perennial herbs in my wpg. garden.
What is edible for humans that can be grown on Denman Island.
Due to climate change, and rampant population growth, food will soon be at a premium. Growing our own will make us less reliant on a turbulent world food and transportation market.
The following is a partial list of what we can grow on the island. I have tried to divide it into sensible groupings, but many items will fit more than one list. You may indeed find some of them listed more than once. It just means that plant is quite useful.
Food Trees, woody vines and shrubs:
Apples fresh from the tree from august through January[winter banana] and some keep till April or may; pears; plums- from damson through greengage, prune plum, wild American and European plums, pluots [a cross between an apricot and a plum] and many more; cherries- sweet and sour, bush and tree, including all the wild cherries and cherry x plums; medlars-a neat late fall fruit that needs to be bletted to be eaten; quince-which must be cooked for eating; high bush cranberry; raspberry, blackberry, tayberry, marionberry, etc..; filberts and hazelnut which are very happy here; Persian and black walnut are for the patient or those lucky enough to have inherited a tree; butternut, heartnut, buartnut, etc.; Chinese chestnut; oaks[acorns]; persimmons- both native American and Asian; mulberries- red, black and white; edible honeysuckle which is also known as honeyberry and????; grapes of many kinds, whose leaves are also edible; kiwi fruit- actinidia chinensis, arguta, and ????; pinenuts[species??]; autumn olive; goumi berries; blue berries; huckleberries; Oregon grape berries; Big leaf maple syrup, spring flower buds are edible; hawthorn berries; rosehips and rose petals are edible and medicinal; gooseberries; red, white and black currants; figs; Bay leaves are used as an herb; some of the passion fruit can be grown here, in an unheated greenhouse if not in the open.; olives are very marginal here.; Linden leaves and flowers are edible.; Hops flowers can be used in beer or as an herb in pillows for sleep aid.
Goji berries, aronia, lingonberry, bilberry, elderberry, sea buckthorn, cornelian cherry, cornus kousa[Japanese flowering dogwood], Japanese wineberries, berberis species-barberries, The Japanese Banana, Musa Basjoo and Musa Sikkimensis, or Musa Hookerii as it is sometimes called, are undoubtedly the hardiest and most suitable for gardens in the U.K. Frosts will still cut all of their top growth down without protection, but their roots will happily stand 5 degrees of frost and if planted deep, with a very good mulch on top, may withstand temperatures down to minus 20 degrees centigrade. Provided conditions are good, their top growth will quickly be replaced each year.
Then there are the cold hardy citrus- calamondin orange- citrofortunella, citrus aurantium- seville orange, Trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata] hardy to -30, used for marmalade, for hybridization or as rootstock,
Ichang papeda (Citrus ichangensis) hardy to -15C and Parent to a number of hybrids, including the yuzu, sudachi, ichang lemon/shangjuan, and others. It also must be made into marmalade to eat. Jiouyuezao mandarin (Citrus reticulata 'Jiouyuezao') is hardy to -13C and edible. Changsha mandarin[citrus reticulata] is edible but seedy and hardy to minus 11C. The Satsuma [also citrus reticulata is hardy to -10C and rated excellent for edibility. The kumquat [citrus japonica] is hardy to -12C and has a sweet skin and sour flesh, supposedly edible. Some of these we do not have access to trees of as yet. I know at least one local permaculture nursery that is working on it. We can also buy some of these fruits in the store and plant seeds from them. There are also the Interspecific hybrids. One is citrandin [citrus reticulata x poncirus trifoliata which is hardy to -18C and considered semi-edible[more marmalade :D]. Changsha is the hardiest citrandin. The citrange{citrus x sinensis x poncirus trifoliata]is also semi-edible and hardy to -15C. Rusk is the most edible citrange. Hardy also to -15C and edible is the citrangequat. Thomasville is the most edible one. The yuzu [citrus ichangensis x citrus reticulata] is hardy to -12C and used in cooking. There are many Japanese cultivars. The orangequat may survive a sheltered location, and would be great in an unheated greenhouse. It is hardy to -9C and edible. Nippon is a varietal favoured for both hardiness and edibility.

Animal foods:
Cattle produce beef and milk products; goats produce meat, dairy, and sometimes spinning fibres; Sheep produce wool, meat and sometimes dairy; rabbits can produce meat, hides and sometimes spinning fibres; chickens for eggs and meat; some ducks are raised for meat, others for eggs. All can be plucked for down. Khaki Campbell's produce eggs as well as, or better than most chickens.; geese, guinea fowl, and pigeons are usually raised for meat and sometimes feathers or down; Bees give us wax, pollen royal jelly and more, and then there's honey!; Llamas are eaten in their homeland, and produce a nice spinning fibre; from the wild we get venison, waterfowl, and seafood of all kinds- clams, oysters, mussels, salmon, herring, smelt, and much more
Grains:
Wheat of all kinds- winter, spring, hard, soft, Emmer, spelt, Kamut, ???; Barley both for flour or pearl and for malting. Malt can be used as a sugar substitute as well as for beer of course.; Oats; Rye is an overwintering grain often used as a green manure but also makes a great dense sourdough bread. There are plenty of wild yeasts around if we run out of processed yeasts.; triticale is a triploid cross of wheat and rye; Quinoa is a small grain that gives complete protein. Redroot pigweed is a relative and yields grain from it's seed heads; Amaranth is another small grain from south America. Any of the ornamental or "weedy" amaranths can be harvested for grain once much of the seed is ripe. Like quinoa, some seed will be falling out while the tip of the flower head is still blooming.; Millet will grow here; buckwheat is like amaranth in it's ripening; corn can be grown for flour; flax is edible and can be grown for fibre; sorghum might be worth a try;
Vegetables:
Asparagus, beets, beans of amazing variety- green, yellow, multi-coloured, snap or dry, bush, or pole, broad, scarlet runner and more; corn, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, sprouting broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, rapini, kale, collards, mustard greens and seeds, Swiss chard, arugula, Mache, a wide array of Chinese greens, artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, crambe cordifolia and maritima, horseradish, radishes, turnips, rutabagas, skirret, salsify, schozonera, onions, garlic, shallots, welsh onions, Egyptian walking onions, multiplier onions, potatoes, parsnips, peas grow very well, Broad beans love our spring, leeks, celery, lettuces, rhubarb, strawberries, okra, new Zealand spinach, cape gooseberry/ground cherry/Cossack pineapple
All the following do better with some heat retention and/or plastic tenting for heat and for disease reduction. They will probably produce without it, but are better with.- tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash-summer and winter as well as those designated as pumpkins, muskmelons, watermelon, cantaloupe
Ornamentals that have edible parts:
Daylilies- hemerocallis fulva has edible flowers, flower buds, spring greens, and roots. All daylily flowers are edible but yellows and oranges are supposed to be better tasting.; sunflower seeds, petals and flower buds are edible; poppy seeds are familiar to many; calendula flowers and leaves are edible in salads or cooked. They are also gently medicinal; Another medicinal and edible ornamental is the violet. Both leaves and flowers are edible. Pansies and viola's are more highly bred versions of violets. Don't overuse these medicinals as food. Use as an accent rather than as the main part of the salad or dish.; hollyhock, and any mallow, leaves and flowers are also edible, as well as the "cheeses"[ another name for the green seed heads]; Primula flowers and leaves can be eaten; English daisies are also edible; nasturtium flowers, and leaves are used in salads and the pickled seedpods are a capers substitute.; The flower petals of the lemon and tangerine gem marigolds are edible; the flowers of most campanulas [one species of many commonly called bluebells] are edible. Rampion [campanula rampunculoides, AKA Winnipeg blue bells] have edible roots, spring greens, and flowers. Too bad they are so aggressive[ or is it :P].; perennial phlox flowers are considered edible.; chrysanthemum daisies have edible flowers and leaves. These are also known as Shasta's, oxeye daisies and one called shungiku greens.; Sweet William and related dianthus species flowers can be eaten or used to flavour beverages.; fuchsia fruit can be eaten; sweet dames rockets flowers and young leaves are also edible; many more ornamentals are listed under herbs or woodies.

Herbs- some of these can be eaten as vegetables[ I use handfuls of many of these in my salads], some are woodies, and many are grown as ornamentals, but we most commonly think of them as herbs. Medicinal herbs can be harmful in very large quantities, Just as most allopathic medicines are poisonous in large doses. However, most medicinal herbs will strengthen your body if consumed regularly in small amounts. For a good discussion on herb safety and government control of them for financial gain of the few, please check out http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au/free-herb-information/comfrey.html read the entire piece and then decide for yourself as to the safety of comfrey as a food or medicinal. Always know what you are eating, and why it is or isn't safe, so that you may make your own decisions and retain control of your diet, health and life. Government information is heavily biased in favour of corporate control of our diet, health and monetary choices. Corporations can afford lobbyists. Government listens to lobbyists before they listen to the electorate. Governments have stopped doing their own testing, somehow believing that corporations will test for our greatest good. Remember that corporations only controlling motive is profit. Get informed. :
Anise hyssop- leaves and flowers can be used in salads or teas; bee balm- monarda dydima, Oswego tea, bergamot- they're all the same plant. Leaves and flowers for tea or salad. The florets are medicinal for migraine.; lovage- amazing strong celery-ish flavour from a burly perennial. Leaves and stalks are cooked or used sparingly in salads. This is an acquired taste. I now use lots of it in my spring greens mixes and love the flavour. However, Too much of this diuretic herb isn't a good thing.; Most mints are great in salads and teas.; Lemon balm can also be added by handfuls to cooking greens or salads. A mixture of many strong flavoured greens and herbs in your salads gives a fresh clear, sharp and enjoyable flavour to your salad. It also means you are getting vitamins and micronutrients that your body needs.; English, German, winter, and lemon thyme are all great with meat and vegetables, as well as in teas and salads; Sage [salvia officinalis] is a tough herb for use in cooking, teas, and, finely chopped, in salads.; rosemary; lavender leaves and flowers can be used in teas, desserts, French cooking, and salads . The flowers of most of these herbs can be eaten.; Winter and summer savoury both grow here; dill and fennel will cross pollinate which makes me wonder why we name them so differently in Latin nomenclature. Leaves, flowers and seeds are all used.; Basil is another heat lover we can grow; Oregano and marjoram will self seed here. Leaves and flowers can be used in cooking, salads and teas.; Coriander is what we call the seed, and cilantro is the leaf, but they're all the same annual self seeder.; feverfew is a very bitter herb used for migraines, but people add it very sparingly to meat dishes and salads.; Comfrey is controlled as a medicinal, but we can still eat it without the, oh so sincere, governmental concern. Use finely chopped leaves or flowers in salads, with cooked greens, or in tea.; yarrow leaves and flowers are used in salads and teas; young alfalfa leaves can be used sparingly in salads, teas or as cooked greens. All foods should be eaten in moderation, because they can be harmful in too large doses. Just eat a wide enough variety so that this is possible.; chamomile makes a nice relaxing tea; chives and garlic chives are wonderful in salads, and gently cooked.; Angelica leaves are pungent but nice in teas and salads.; borage leaves and flowers supposedly taste like cucumber.; salad burnet is also supposedly cuke flavoured.; caraway roots, leaves and seeds are edible.; catnip leaves and flowers make a nice tea or salad addition.; chervil is a light flavour for salads, omelettes or soups.; Sorrel grows well here, and makes a nice spring soup or salad addition.;
still more to come on water plants and wildlings/"weeds" at some point I'll try to post the same on medicinal herbs, dye plants and the like. :D need to get a voicetyping program :D

holistic stock raising for the pacific northwest, with some ideas transferreable to other parts of the world

Up until 100 years ago most livestock food was grown on the farm. We utilize mineral supplements because the diversity of our feed is so minimal. We need to get back to a good balance of grasses and forbs or "weeds" in our forages and hays. We also need to include food from trees and shrubs. Woodies are a great way to feed livestock while retaining large quantities of bio-matter. Roots, kale and squash can also add to the mix of vitamins and minerals. If we produce all our own livestock food, then our transportation costs become nil. If we can do without mineral supplement blocks, then our meat becomes truly organic. I realize that our climate may not seem ideal, but the British Isles have a very similar climate and they've been producing livestock "organically" for thousands of years.
Ideally multiple species of stock should be short term rotationally grazed . Using multiple species of livestock can mean less disease and parasites, as well as utilizing a greater variety of food plants, thus leaving less weeds to deal with. Having a greater variety of plants means more vitamins and minerals in the diet. There are more edible materials over a longer season with diversity. Being diverse, the plants can utilize a wider range of nutrients and depths in the soil. In a polyculture the overall yield of any one species is lowered as compared to a monoculture, but the overall yield in total, and disease resistance are increased. Fields should be just big enough for each group to finish in one or 2 days. Ideally you want them to eat everything edible but not kill their favourites by overgrazing them. They should also eat much of the stuff that is edible, but less palatable before being moved to the next mini field.
Sheep, cattle, goats and horses can all graze together unless the cattle are aggressive and have horns . They can be followed by poultry. Chickens will scratch up and scatter the feces of their predecessors in the field in search of bugs and grains. As a side benefit this reduces the chances of diseases or intestinal pests staying in the field. Pigs can be used to "rototill" or plow an area in need of renewal or rotation. Or they can follow the hooved group in fast rotations. They should not be grazed with the poultry. Pigs will eat chickens. They, like us, are omnivores. Each species prefers different food plants. Thus few species of "weeds" will be left big enough to shade out their more desirable neighbours.
Electric mesh fencing seems ideal except for the plastic and having to have electricity. Even the pigs and goats will respect it. Page wire works well, if properly installed for most of the livestock, but chicken wire may need to be installed for the poultry and baby pigs. This is also expensive to put in. Woven wattle would work well, and cost little or nothing, but be labour intensive. Split rail can work well though goats could probably climb it, and it's expensive unless you have your own source of rails. For the poultry you will need portable housing for the nights, egg collection, and predator prevention. You may also have to provide things to hide from hawks and eagles under. 2 pallets made into an A frame, or dead but very bushy shrubs scattered through the days grazing area should help.
Utilize those grasses grown locally for pastures and forage. Here that could be canary reed grass, orchard grass, redtop, and fescues. Legumes should be part of the mixture, both for nitrogen fixation as well as for high protein forage. Alfalfa and clovers are usually used. Forbs will also bring nutrients up for the grasses, and carry a wide range of nutrients and nutritional medicinals for the stock. Some forbs to include are: stinging nettles, yarrow, wild strawberry, chicory, dandelion, plantain, chickweed, oxeye daisy[also known as shastas] , and, of course, comfrey. Comfrey can be up to 40% of the animals diet with no harm, and will provide much needed protein as well as being a source of healing. My understanding is that the "bocking 4" strain of comfrey has the best stock food value, as well as being sterile, so it's not self seeding and can only be spread by root cuttings. Besides food and important micronutrients, as well as being medicinal for some of the animals, these herbs also attract beneficial insects, help the other plants to grow well, assist in decomposition of dead bio matter, bring other nutrients into the humus available to the grasses, and increase total yield of edible plants per acre.
Animals also get food, medicinals and trace nutrients from shrubs and trees growing in fields and fencerows. Apples, plums, pears, and cherries are happily eaten by most stock when they fall, and low hanging branches and summer prunings can be browsed by many animals. Alders are nitrogenous, easy to grow here, and we should be able to coppice them for firewood. Poplars can be coppiced and fed, as can willows which can also be pollarded. Willows and hazels can be used to make wattle or basketry. My guess is that the maple, which will coppice, and provides a thin sugar syrup, is also edible to some of these animals. Red cedar is also browse and a medicinal. The eleagnus species [autumn olive, goumi, and Russian olive] are also nitrogenous, and have edible fruits. In the southern states mulberries, persimmons and pawpaws are used as self serve stock foods, and produce over a fairly long period. They are also edible for humans. Hawthorns, raspberries, roses, blackberries, elderberries, and wild cherries provide food for wild birds, as well as berries, medicinals and browse for the livestock. Nut trees can also be a great source of livestock food. Traditionally chestnuts and acorns have been grown for livestock, especially pigs. Chinquapins have a small nut suited for birds. Hazelnuts can be browsed and the nuts provide proteins and fats. Any other edible nut or fruit tree that will bear a crop in your area can be used as stock food.
Things that historically have been used to feed stock, but have gone out of fashion, are things we think of as vegetables. Kale can be grown as a winter graze. Pumpkins, squash, carrots, turnips, beets, potatoes and parsnips can all provide some of the winter nutrients. Some sources say that potatoes are best cooked. All vegetables are best chopped. Mangels are a huge type of beet grown as livestock food. One source, but only that one, says that they must be dug and stored for 6 weeks before feeding to cattle. Cornstalks, grain stubble, sunflowers, Jerusalem artichokes, quinoa and amaranth stalks and post harvest gardens can all be grazed in the field. Many of the common garden weeds are relished by livestock, like chickweed, pigweed and lambs quarters. Milk can be off flavoured by the cabbage/turnip family, as well as by alliums [garlic, onions], mustards, and some weeds. There are heirloom lettuces that were grown as chicken feed. Check out www.prseeds.ca for seeds of Mangels, chicken lettuce and more. Extra milk or whey has often been fed to calves, chickens and pigs. Nettles, chamomile, seaweed, calendula, dandelion leaves, raspberry leaves, strawberry leaves, and other nutritional and medicinal herbs can be added dry to winter cattle feed to increase micronutrients and herd health. Seaweed can provide nutrients and salt.
An overwintered green feed hay could include oats, wheat, rye, and Austrian field peas, cut when heading out. This could be followed by a kale crop to be grazed during the winter. Comfrey also makes good hay but is problematic to dry. Alfalfa, clover or any good forage mixture will also make great hay if cut when the majority of the crop is starting to bloom. In the British Isles they do a process called fogging off occasionally. This consists of letting hay grow so that it is near it's peak when the cold season arrives, and letting the livestock graze it as standing hay . This makes for less work, but probably more gets trampled into the mud .
Hardy heirloom breeds graze and browse best. Canadian horses, that's an actual breed, were bred to live off the land by themselves during Quebec winters. Kerry, Dexter, Devon and highland cattle are rugged breeds from the British isles. The Canadienne was bred in Quebec for it's foraging ability as well as for milk. Many breeds of sheep and goats are very adaptable to tougher conditions. Katahdin is a hair sheep that forages well and can deal with humidity with less pest problems than most sheep. Geese and muscovies can get almost all they need from grazing. Breeds of chickens that range well include Brahmas, Cornish, cochins, and most bantams. The chantecler, a canadian breed, tolerates cold well. There are heirloom turkey breeds that free range very well, and are smarter than the big breasted boobies. There are also still wild turkeys that will survive wild in Manitoba, so they should be fine here if the moisture isn't too much for them. All these produce less breast meat, but, because of their foraging it has greater nutritional value. There are also Berkshire, large black and Tamworth pig breeds that free range well. Horses and goats browse most, but many of the "wilder" breeds of cattle and sheep can utilize nutrients from browsing.
So, go ahead And try some of this, all we have to lose is our dependence on chemically produced food transported over huge distances

My gardening and design "qualifications"

You may have realised that I have no degrees in garden/landscape or permaculture design. This post is to let you know where my learnings come from.
I was raised on a small mixed farm where we raised almost all our own food. The veggies were raised mostly without chemicals. Both sets of grandparents had Large gardens including some ornamental perennials.
Manitoba has LONG winters, and I read voraciously when housebound. I learn very well from reading and rereading information. Books that I've read as if they were a study textbook include the following:
Food not lawns by H.C. Flores
permaculture:principles and pathways beyond sustainability, by david holmgren
Gaias garden By Toby Hemenway
forest gardening by Robert hart
the permaculture way by graham bell
permaculture/a designers manual by Bill Mollison
permaculture/ a practical guide for a sustainable future
The natural way of farming by masanobu Fukuoka
The one straw revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
Ornamental grasses, the amber wave, by Charlotte Ottesen.. and anything esle about ornamental grass gardening
The english cottage garden, by Jane Taylor and Andrew Lawson
The self sustaining garden, The guide to matrix planting; by Peter Thompson
The Natural Habitat Garden, by Ken Druse with Margaret roach
Anything on canadian Native Plant gardening
Anything on Canadian Shade gardening
Everything from harrowsmith on canadian gardening
Organic gardening magazines, Harrowsmith magazines, and Mother Earth News from 1975 till 1990
Square foot gardening by Mel Bartholemew
Perelandra Garden workbook by Michelle small wright
And many more books and magazines too countless to mention.
Nature is my best teacher. You learn to garden by killing things, and I've contributed to a lot of compost. Bio-mimicry is a great part of my personal garden practice. So is the holism of my spirituality. Life on earth is a closed system, so we need to make our outputs become our inputs.
My garden and design styles are informed by all the above and much more. Please check out earlier posts on here for pictures and information about how I've grown my gardens in winnipeg.
I have designed and maintained ornamental gardens for others for the last 15 years. I specialise in Herb gardens, holistic gardens, edible ornamental gardens, self maintaing[sic] gardens, all season gardening, gardening to suit the site and soil, and am learning how to comfortably and ethically utilise domestic animals as part of a holistic homestead.
So, yes I am a permaculturalist, but with my own slant. I include spirit in my garden design.
I utilise natures pathways throughout the design, letting nature do as much of the labour as possible. I design for minimal ongoing labour, other than thinning/dividing or harvesting. My gardens are planned to evolve and change as things grow or die from old age or crowding.
I think of Gardening as art played through time and space.