I just took a pleasant walk around your back yard (in photos, I mean) and I think I can see where you are heading, at least judging by your name for everything ("food forest"). My own back yard (type "Our ... more »

I just took a pleasant walk around your back yard (in photos, I mean) and I think I can see where you are heading, at least judging by your name for everything ("food forest"). My own back yard (type "Our Grounds" in the Search at top right) has been all ornamental for almost twenty year and late last year I decide, nope, time to add a lot more vegetable and fruiting plants--grapevines, blueberries, maybe a Turkish filbert tree, squash vines wandering where they want to. I just planted a rhubarb crown and am looking forward to eating my own rhubarb next Spring. Likewise asparagus. Trouble is, the little black asparagus beetles show up in numbers and strips the stems. Ugh. (less)

Apparently petunias repel asparagus beetles, maybe try companion planting Petunias around your asparagus patch.
I looked at your Grounds, and you have some lovely plants, I was impressed to see you had... more »

Apparently petunias repel asparagus beetles, maybe try companion planting Petunias around your asparagus patch.
I looked at your Grounds, and you have some lovely plants, I was impressed to see you had a Bloodroot, they are hard to find! You have some truly beautiful blooms!
I love flowers, but I am a function kind of person. I like to have a symbiotic relationship with the plants I grow... that is, I like to eat them! I really do get a great joy from wandering around my yard collecting dinner, or berry picking with my kids, or collecting herbs to use in our meals or as tea.
In the spring this year, we made the decision that changed everything. That was, to create, not just a food garden, but a permaculture food garden. I began to devour everything I could find about permaculture practices, designs, methods; you name it, I went a little nuts. In fact, I think I have watched every Youtube video associated with permaculture. And then we began to buy plants, and plant them, and bring in truckload after truckload of mulch, and the logs!
You know sometimes I wonder if the neighbours think we are crazy. During the summer, at least once a week it was mulch or new plants or logs(we use these as retaining walls for the gardens). Honestly we have not been able to pull our car all the way up the driveway since spring, we always have some raw material waiting to be used!
So back to the garden, as I said I went a little research crazy. I made a short and long list of plants that I wanted to procure. And as the spring turned into summer, my list grew shorter and shorter. Now it consists of a few very hard to find plants. Most of the plants you will find in our yard now are perennials and edible. The ferns, the berry bushes and the fruit trees are my favorites. We had a veggie garden this year, and it produced dinner almost every day for us though out the summer. I wish I had planned ahead more with the veggies, but there is always next year!
(less)