Gardening in the 2016 Drought

Last year was so wet, and so predictably so, that we didn’t even bother to put out our rain barrels. No need. Would have been a waste of time and energy. All our beds are designed to collect water, and we were getting at least an inch per week anyway. Other than “watering-in” seedlings, I never watered once all season. Same thing the year before. Two good years in a row! Spring 2016 will bring the return of our rain barrels. After looking at US and EU drought monitors, as well as a private service, all are predicting that we’ll … Continue reading Gardening in the 2016 Drought

Forest Gardening with Native Plants

Over the last year, I’ve had a lot of questions from native plant lovers who want to know if they can create native forest gardens, or even adapt their current native flower gardens into food forests.  Of course!  In fact, many researchers now believe that the whole of the Eastern Woodland was one big “anthropogenic” food forest, meaning, humans were one of the keystone species controlling the plant varieties, spacings, etc. So, when we create native food forests, or at least food forests with lots of natives, we’re re-creating our true lost “pre-Colombian” habitat.  In fact, our back-yard is a … Continue reading Forest Gardening with Native Plants

Forest garden at LIllie house

Forest Gardening Articles and Resources

Why is it that nobody ever walks into a healthy forest and says, “boy, does somebody ever need to do some mulching in here! Somebody needs to weed, water and fertilize this forest, too!” For the most part, healthy forests … Continue reading Forest Gardening Articles and Resources