Laurel Nest Yurts

‘Create a self-sustaining environment in any situation,
from the farm to the city… by planning your lifestyle
to increase resources, conserve energy and reduce
or eliminate pollution or waste.’ Bill Mollison

Steve Fry's demonstration patch for chemical-free, low weed and low water vegetable gardening, supports the growth of kale and other leafy vegetables over the winter months

Winter is a time for warm drinks, cozy fires, and daydreaming about warm weather.  That said, most of us in colder climates don’t harvest our food from a winter gardens.  Permaculture gardens are places of abundant life throughout the year, and with little to no effort, you could eat fresh kale everyday!

What is permaculture? Permanent agriculture or sustainable food producing systems.  Permaculture advocates a mutually beneficial arrangement: the Earth
provides nourishment for us, and we in turn provide nourishment for it.   According to Mollison, if farming practices were truly sustainable we would require less than 10% of the Earth to feed all the people of the world. This can happen if we modify our consumption and become more responsible with our waste.  Through Permaculture we can reduce waste, leading to fulfilling, sustainable and responsible lifestyles.  Permaculture is different from organic gardening in a few subtle ways.  In permaculture we: 

• Observe and imitate nature. Lots of inter-planting for pest control, using mulch to conserve soil and water, allowing plants to self-seed, and most importantly, attempting to put back into the
soil whatever is taken out.

• Utilize effective design that minimizes energy for maintenance.

• Are responsible for all ‘waste’ produced on the property.
Waste contributes to enriching the soil rather than contributing to pollution and landfill.

• Produce as much of our own food as possible. This minimizes the energy used transporting the food to them and also means that what comes out of the soil is returned to it.

• Attempt to provide nutritious food and shelter for ourselves, and native birds and animals as well.

• Always looking to make the best use of the energy and resources, rather than importing them onto the property. (These might include water, sun, wind, leaves, bird droppings, seaweed, eggshells, lawn clippings, kitchen scraps etc).

We want to design for minimum waste.  Natural systems waste very little energy, time, water, and other resources.  If we imitate nature and its complexity in our design systems, we will develop systems where co-operation between elements is inbuilt, resulting in harmony and sustainability (meaning less work for us!)

When the waste of one is fuel for the next - there is no waste.

Bantam chicks are sweet and friendly!

So basically, we are creating a micro version of world peace (er… peas?)  Where do we start?
First off, with your soil.  Add nutrients to your soil with compost and mulch from your land (see last years blog on sheet mulch).  Check your soil’s pH.
Second, develop water management systems.  Ideally 15% of your total space should be dedicated to water storage.  Learn to use water as many times as possible before it leaves your property and try
to ensure that it leaves in a drinkable condition. This will take some practice!
Third, develop systems to deal with pests. We don’t use pesticides, of course, but rather create ecosystems for native animals that will take care of them.  Attract native birds, frogs, lizards,…
Fourth, companion plant.  In nature, things that grow together have similar needs and symbiotic relationships…
Fifth, grow lots of perennials and save your seeds or buy non-hybridized seeds…. Hybrid species cannot be collected for propagation the following year, as they do not reproduce ‘true to type’.  Heirloom seeds from your area have stood the test of time, and are a great bet.

Some of our favorite animal friends in the permaculture garden?
1. Cute little bantam chickens, ducks and geese  “A chicken’s need for water comes automatically from a tank off the hen house. Its need for greens are created by rotations in the orchard and vegetable beds; its need for insects meet the gardens needs for pest control. It also supplies direct fertilizer where it walks and tractoring where it scratches. Most importantly, it supplies us with feathers, eggs and meat.” Permaculture Visions, PDC
2. Worms, worms, and more worms
3. Birds
4. Bees (plant thyme, lemon balm, catnip, marjoram, hyssop, sweet basil, and mint)
5. Lizards and frogs help eat all the nasty insects that like your food!
6. Rabbits and guinea pigs are great for weed and grass control, plus have great manure! (you do need a good movable cage…)

Well, that was a lot of information, and yet it’s barely enough to get started…
I got a lot of information from www.livingschools.com.au from the Introduction to Permaculture pamphlet by Faith Thomas. Living Schools offers a Permaculture Design Certificate, as well as a wealth of information on their website.
There are many good books available including:
• Permaculture – An Introduction by Bill Mollison
• The Earth Users Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow
• The Permaculture Home Garden by Linda Woodrow
And for those who are really keen…
• Permaculture: A Designers Manual by Bill Mollison
…is the definitive guide.

Ever since I heard Rosemary Gladstar talk about the risks of wild crafting herbs, and the importance of not “over harvesting” I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can help and give back.

Goldenseal is one of the most "over harvested" medicinal plants.

There are so many important medicinal plants that are at risk, and I need to find a way to help plant them and preserve them.  The organisation, United Plant Savers, helps protect native medicinal plants and their native habitat while helping to ensure an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants to come.  They are a great resource for information and grants to help bring these plants back to our local communities.  I am brewing with ideas…

Can you imgaine a future without echinacea?

That said, I was so surprised at some of the “At Risk” plants.  Can you imagine a future without  Ginseng, Echinacea, Goldenseal, Gingko and Slippery Elm? These are some of the most common herbs that we see at our local health food stores, and have been over-harvested so much that our future generations may never get to use them. I’ve attached a list from the United Plant Savers website, and I urge you to get involved my making a small medicinal herb garden that helps educate and bring back our natives!!! They are part of our rich heritage.

Ginseng

If you decide you want to plant some of these medicinal herbs, United Plant Savers has planting information… check these guys out as they are a great resource.  I feel a new calling…

“At-Risk” List

“To-Watch” List

• Arnica – Arnica spp.
• Butterfly Weed – Asclepias tuberosa
• Cascara Sagrada - Frangula purshiana (Rhamnus)
• Chaparro – Casatela emoryi
• Elephant Tree – Bursera microphylla
• Gentian – Gentiana spp.
• Goldthread – Coptis spp.
• Kava Kava – Piper methysticum (Hawaii only)
• Lobelia – Lobelia spp.
• Maidenhair Fern – Adiantum pendatum
• Mayapple – Podophyllum peltatum
• Oregon Grape – Mahonia spp.
• Partridge Berry – Mitchella repens
• Pink Root – Spigelia marilandica
• Pipsissewa – Chimaphila umbellata
• Spikenard – Aralia racemosa, A. californica
• Stone Root – Collinsonia canadensis
• Stream Orchid – Epipactis gigantea
• Turkey Corn – Dicentra canadensis
• White Sage – Salvia apiana
• Wild Indigo – Baptisia tinctoria
• Yerba Mansa – Anemopsis californica

Over the last few months we’ve been making progress in our garden and it’s been fun! Our first tomato just grew in a couple days ago, it was so exciting!  We’ve got flowers planted throughout the garden and As we make progress in the garden, Emilia plays with butterflies.  We planted a few really bright and colorful flowers in different parts of our garden, and it’s been awesome to watch the lovely splashes of color fly through… 

Making a butterfly garden to encourage different butterfly varieties to visit your home is a relatively simple task. Butterflies are quickly losing their habitat due to the continuous construction of roads and houses, so providing them with a place to live and breed is an environmentally friendly idea.

The first thing you need to do is research a little about which butterflies are native to your area. Finding out what kind of butterflies are native to your area and plant the types of plants that they prefer, usually purple, yellow, and blue flowers. Plant your garden in mid to late summer, when the butterflies are most active.

Different butterflies like different nectars, both in color and in taste so plant numerous types of flowers and shrubs to encourage them all. The more varieties of plants you include in your garden, the more species of butterflies you’ll have. Many plants that attract butterflies include Asters, Blackeyed Susans, Marigolds, Purple Coneflower and numerous others. It will be easy to fill your garden with butterfly favorites. Flowers with multiple florets that produce nectar are ideal and annuals are a good choice as they bloom throughout the season providing a continuous supply of food. Once you know which butterflies are indigenous to your area, go to the local garden center and load up on the plants sure to attract them.  A great resources is http://www.thebutterflysite.com/gardening.shtml

Plant the garden in an area that is open and sunny and be sure to include flat stones for butterflies to bask upon.  To best attract butterflies, plant your garden using groups of colorful flowers as butterflies are very nearsighted and larger groups of flowers will be easier for them to see than singles. Place taller flowers at the back of the garden and smaller, shorter plants at the front.  A good butterfly garden includes plants that provide food for both butterflies and caterpillars, as well as a place for them to lay eggs.  Snapdragons and nettles are good examples of larvae food and leafy plants and trees will provide food for caterpillar forms. In addition, attract butterflies by including places for females to lay eggs. They prefer small sheltered areas with protection from the wind.  Consider supplementing with a homemade feeder. Simply take a small jar and drill a hole in the lid. Plug the lid with cotton and fill the jar with a solution of one part sugar to nine parts water. Attach brightly colored fabric to the feeder to make it more attractive to the butterflies and hang it, inverted, in a tree near the garden.

For butterfly and caterpillar plants, check out this website, http://butterflywebsite.com/butterflygardening.cfm

Butterflies cannot drink from running water so consider including a drinking source.Butterflies love puddles. To make a permanent one, bury a bucket to the rim and fill it with your choice of sand or gravel. Then fill the top with liquids like water, stale beer or sweet drinks and place small stones or sticks in the area to give butterflies a place to perch. To further encourage butterflies to visit your garden, place small pieces of overripe fruit that has been allowed to sit for a few days by the puddle. They won’t be able to resist these sweet treats making your garden the favorite in the neighborhood.

The Ringing Cedars series offers material about living close to the Earth in community. The book reflects an increasing worldwide back to the land movement based on the Russian tradition of self-reliant living on the land, providing physical subsistence and spiritual fulfillment.The book combines deep ecology with traditional family values based on the idea of self-sufficient family homesteads.

I was so inspired as I was reading, I thought I’d share a few intense parts from the book…

Anastasia writes about seed planting and how dedicated planting can be one of the most healing ways to garden and create new healing energy.

“Every seed you plant contains within itself an enormous amount of information about the Universe…. Through the help of this data the seed knows the exact time, down to the millisecond, when it is to come alive, to grow, what juices it is to take from the Earth, Moon and stars- what it is to grow into, what fruit to bring forth. These fruits are designed to sustain Man’s life. More powerfully and effectively than any manufactured drugs of the present or future, these fruits are capable of counteracting and withstanding any disease of the human body. But to this end the seed must know the human condition. So that during the maturation process it can satiate its fruit with the right correlation of substances to heal a specific individual of his disease he has it or is prone to it….”

Megre goes on to share the following steps to make this happen:

1. Put one or more little seeds in your mouth, under the tongue, for at least 9 minutes

2. Place the seed between the palms of your hands and hold it there for about 30 seconds.  You should be standing barefoot in the spot of earth where you will be planting it.

3. Open your hands, and carefully raise the seed which you are holding to your mouth.  Blow on it lightly, and the seed will know everything that is within you.

4. Hold the seed with your hands open for another thirty seconds, then plant it in the ground.

5. Water the seed 3 days after planting.

6. Plant the seeds according the days on the lunar calendar.

7. Interact with the seeds and sprouts, and on the full moon touch it during its growth period.

According to Anastasia, if you follow these steps, the seed can absorb information and it will grow into a very healing fruit or vegetable.  It is capable not only of curing one of all diseases, but also it will slow down the aging process.

The book, from the Ringing Cedar Series, has lots of interesting information.  I am grateful to be reading it, and I thought I would pass on the information to you!

“In the book you are going to write, Vladimir, there will be unobtrusive combinations, formulations made up of letters,
and they will arouse in the majority of people good and radiant feelings. These feelings are capable of overcoming ailments of body and soul, and will facilitate the birth of a new awareness inherent in people of the future. Believe me, Vladimir, this is not mysticism—it is in accord with
the laws of the Universe.” Anastasia

Last night before bed Emilia asked me if I’d make some eggs.  So we went down to the coop, and gathered three eggs… this last week, we finished our chicken coop and brought home 7 young chickens.  The coop is pretty awesome, it’s got boxes for the hens to lay in, and then at the top there is branches for the ladies to roost on.

Here Jimi is working on our coop.

Emilia loves going in the coop, and it’s so much fun to hang out with the squawkers… we are feeding them chicken feed, and compost (and some worms, too…) Once they really get the straw on the ground really “poopy” we’ll spread that on our beds and their poops will feed the plants.

We expanded the garden this year, and so to prepare the soil we made sheet mulch.  On the bottom layer we spread good happy compost, full of worms (to introduce life into the new area).

First we spread the compost layer.

Then we spread straw and next cardboard.  The cardboard acts as a weed barrier. Last leaves and seed free mulch… Check out the book Gaia’s Garden, it is a great source for wonderful permaculture ideas!!

Layering cardboard on top of the straw and compost.

This is the new spot for our herb garden, which will have native plants, medicinal plants, and culinary plants… more on that soon!

Last we raked our seed free mulch on the cardboard.

My new beet babies...

We spent the afternoon in the Garden, and it was so much fun! Our garden is in full swing, and we have a lot of vegetables growing… think peas, lettuce, cabbage, beets, radishes, onions, flowers, clover, potatoes, beans, asparagus, and more… I am so excited about it! Anyway, today we planted our beats, radishes and onions together; they are companion plants. Put them one after another, 3 inches apart. That’s a lot of food! While we were gardening, Jimi sang my favorite song, One Tin Soldier. “One Tin Soldier” is a 1960s era anti-war song written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter (musician). The Canadian pop group Original Caste first recorded the song in 1969. Enjoy this cartoon of a recording by Coven!

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If you have a garden in the Triangle area, make sure you contact this Tree Removal Raleigh Company for services such as tree care, trimming, pruning, and stump removal.

Every Sunday at our house is a community work day… We have been getting so busy in our garden, getting our beds ready for this year and putting our first plants in the ground, as well as our starting our seeds in the greenhouse.  (Our greenhouse is actually a yurt with a clear roof, a lovely family tub, and it is a multipurpose space.)

Beets are my favorite vegetable!

So far in our garden we have lots of things planted… carrots, turnips, broccoli, cabbage, onions, and peas.  This is a great time to plant all those plants and beets, lettuce, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts.
If you’re a strawberry lover you can start your plants now, although you will probably not harvest much from them until next year, so you’ll want to put them somewhere you would keep them for a few years. Some people suggest picking off the flowers the first year to encourage them to get better established the first year.

If it hadn’t rained today I would have gotten a bunch of beets in today.  Argh! I will admit, I think the beets are my favorite vegetable.  I could eat them everyday…

As far as our starts in the greenhouse we have a whole bunch- tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and various herbs.  These need to be started early.

Starting plants from seed...

It is probably a bit on the late side to plant for things like tomatoes, eggplant and peppers, but things like zucchini and other squash and cucumbers grow very quickly from seed and can be transplanted when it gets warmer.

Some of my friends are incredible gardeners, and they always have great tips.  Yesterday we were talking about “feeding” the garden, and my friend Charlie said that they give all their plants a good feeding of worm juice or other highly nutritious food at least once a week…  Feed your garden and you’ll be eating much better food! If you don’t have your own home made compost, you try to mix a few different kinds together…cow, hen, and mushroom are readily available at garden centers.  Depending on how heavy your soil is, you also might want to consider adding in some peat to help make it more “loamy” and workable.  Happy Gardening!!

A lot of my life I’ve had to deal with migraines. They come and go in cycles, but stay as a constant more or less. The last few months I had more migraines than I remember having. I started to really wonder what I should do.
Over the holidays, my mom gave me the Kundalini yoga teacher training manual. It is an incredible, comprehensive manual that touches on many areas including diet. Yogi Bhajan, who brought this wonderful yoga to America, advocates a diet that is high in alkaline foods. This means basically simple foods that most of us can grow in our gardens. Below is a list of these foods, and then some more descriptions that you may enjoy…

Alkaline Vegetables

Yum! Let's grow these alkaline veggies!

Asparagus, Artichokes, Cabbage, Lettuce, Onion, Cauliflower, Radish,  Lettuce, Peas, Courgette, Red Cabbage, Leeks, Watercress, Spinach, Turnip, Chives, Carrot, Green Beans, Beetroot, Garlic, Celery, Grasses (wheat, straw, barley, dog, kamut etc.), Cucumber, Broccoli, Kale, Brussels Sprouts

Seeds, Nuts & Grains

Almonds, Pumpkin, Sunflower, Sesame, Flax, Buckwheat Groats, Spelt, Lentils, Cumin Seeds

Fruits

Lemon, Lime, Avocado, Tomato, Grapefruit, Watermelon (is neutral), Rhubarb

I wish we could grow these in NC!

Drinks

‘Green Drinks’, Fresh vegetable juice, Pure water (distilled or ionised), Lemon water (pure water + fresh lemon or lime), Herbal Tea, Vegetable broth, Non-sweetened Soy Milk, Almond Milk

What does that leave you with? The acidic foods:

Meats, Dairy, Fats & Oils

i.e. Saturated Fats, Hydrogenated Oils, Margarine (worse than Butter), Corn Oil, Vegetable Oil, Sunflower Oil

Don’t forget about acidic convenience foods: i.e. Sweets, Chocolate, Microwave Meals, Tinned Foods, Powdered Soups, Instant Meals, Fast Food, White Pasta, White Bread, Wholemeal Bread, Biscuits, Soy Sauce, Tamari, Condiments (Tomato Sauce, Mayonnaise etc.), Artificial Sweeteners, Honey, vinegar (except unpasteurized apple cider vinegar)

Drinks

Fizzy Drinks, Coffee, Tea, Beers, Spirits, Fruit Juice, Dairy Smoothies, Milk, Traditional Tea

Here we are, it’s February, and we’re about to start planning our garden… Since we live in NC, we have decided we will grow everything on the alkaline list. That way, we can eat a diet high in alkaline foods, as the others will probably gravitate into our life anyway…

To prepare for this, last week a few of us dug through the snow to take soil samples.  These are free, you just have to pay for postage. every county offers this service, and all you have to do is collect soil samples and send them in.  When the lab is done testing a sample, a computer printout shows exactly what each sample needs, helping you know what your gardens need to grow lush and green.

Then  how do you do it?

Soil samples are the first start to planning a thriving garden.

First, locate the bed you would like to test. Take 5 scoops of the soil from different areas of the bed, mix it all together, and take a sample of that soil.  Repeat this process for each bed you would like to plant this spring.  Our soil samples should be coming back soon, and we’re excited to get busy in that dirt!!!

I strongly advise everyone who can to try to start a garden this year. Even if you have never done this, start now.  With the prospect of huge food shortages this year, it will be imperative for us to have food in our backyard.  If you can, help your neighbors and start a community garden.  Good luck!

a lot of the information on this page was pulled from various websites, especially http://www.energiseforlife.com/list_of_alkaline_foods.php