Category Archives: Food Forest

Does a Bear Plant in the Woods?

Apparently so.  A visiting bear was apparently gorging on some sort of prunus – likely a wild (native or escaped) plum – and deposited a pile of seed-laded droppings in the fall, east of the garden, right outside the trail … Continue reading

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Felix Gillet Institute on NPR

Excited to hear a story about the Felix Gillet Institute on NPR today. I was just visiting with my Felix Gillet quince yesterday, and it’s looking well established, and will hopefully put on some good growth this year after all … Continue reading

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Graduation!

To conserve rooting medium, water, time and space, I typically root cuttings in gang pots, which depending on what I’m rooting might hold a few to as many as a dozen cuttings. For instance, when I prune the blueberries in … Continue reading

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Seeding Nettles and Others

Finally got around to seeding (a little late, I realize) stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), alum root (Heuchera richardsonii), creeping Oregon grape (Mahonia repens) and salal (Gaultheria shallon). The nettles I planted for pesto, the alum root because I’m intrigued by … Continue reading

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Native Plot, Planted

Spent the day in the garden proper, and finally fixed the fencing that the bear wrecked back in 2012, after which I planted out the natives in the new native food forest plot. I had originally planned to erect a … Continue reading

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Planting Native – A New Forest Plot

It being spring, I’ve been itching to establish a new food forest plot down on the property.  After reflecting on the drought, and the general state of the weather of late, I’ve decided to base the new plot on native … Continue reading

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Finally Rain

After a long, dry summer, raining is finally falling pretty regularly, and the plants seem happy! 156 mm (just over 6″) since November 27th, which is the day I finally installed and configured the self-emptying rain gauge pictured above.  Soon … Continue reading

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Groundnut!

I started gardening seriously out of a desire to try new fruits and vegetables, especially those that are not readily available in the produce section or at the farmers market.  One plant I’ve been eager to try is the American … Continue reading

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Sanding Seeds and Preparing for Fall

Gardening is a year-round endeavor. Having finally finished (mostly) the summer vegetable infrastructure – toms, peppers, squashes, beans, tomatillos, cucumbers, and melons planted, irrigation set up and automatic timers ticking, structural supports and trellises in place, rows mulched – I … Continue reading

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Tree Project Project – New Seeds, and Ginkgos in the Ground

A few days ago, I received in the mail another shipment of Hibaku seeds – two more ginkgo and two jujube – from my friend Hiroshi Sunairi, he of Tree Project Film fame. In the package was a screener of … Continue reading

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