Sisyphus Acres

Homestead Challenge ~ Day 2

Edible landscaping ~ ahhh....the rewards.  The 2+ acre parcel we're taming begun as overgrown scrubbiness with some lawn in between ~ only trees were birch and some "weed trees".  We cut back the brush, and cleared out the invasive trees, left the birches ~ and then we had a clear canvas.

We intend to tap the birches to make birch rootbeer.

We cut out a garden, which we've moved, it is 40' X 70' ~ it is for the veggies.  We will be make a nice wall/fence around it.

We also cut out an herb garden, 15' X 25'.  It is pretty, and we use the herbs for tea, cooking, etc.  We trellis birdhouse gourds, nice little area.

But, the landscaping...well, to me it seems most practical to make the landscapeing "useful"  We have to plant a windbreak, and are planting blue spruce to fit that bill.  We have planted sugar maples so that sometime in the future, syrup will be made.

Lining the driveway (but not too close) are fruit trees ~ 3 apples (soon to be 5 or 6), a pear (soon to be 2), a peach , a plum, and a Cherry (coming this year).

We set up an arbor, and started grapevines.  We found an uneven (not so pretty) spot and planted bluberries ~ 6 bushes (will be 12 this year, and 18 the year after).

In the corner of that area it gets a bit wet, so we planted a highbush cranberry.

We have a flower garden out front of the porch which we grow perennial, cutting and edible flowers in the shade of 3 birches.  The garden begins a sheltering arc for the northeast corner of the house.

In the arc is a Thornless Blackberry.

There are a few "flower circles" dotting the yard ~ one is the asparagus patch, the other is a flower garden covering a rock :-)

We have a small rhubarb patch, and we intend to add anoother "circle" for strawberries.

In the future, we intend to add some filbert bushes.

I try in my planning to find plants in particular categories that have a single or double useage.  When we need a shrubby hedgy thing to line a side of the yard as a snow block, I'll be searching for one that will produce benefit outside of that purpose, like nut or berry bushes.

Our yard is a work in progress ( 3rd year in), but it is amazing the difference in how it looks and how it works for us.

I recommend creatively landscaping with "useful" plants, from which you can gather food or some other use than decorative: coolness/energy conservation, fibers, wood, syrup/sap, nuts, fruits ~ there are so many options!

Enjoy the hunt through the catalogs!

val

Your garden souns great.

{ 06:48, 2007-Jan-9 } { Posted by csstumper }

We have a little patch, but we inherited an asparagus patch. My sweet wife is making asparagus omelets (we freeze it) for supper and she just gave me a spear to chew on. It was like heaven.
We've always dreamed of such a place as yours, but are getting along in years and are resigned to being here in town. We still have a garden and will try to use as much non-petroleum as possible. One way we go is to use compost and manure for the garden instead of chemical fertilizer. Funny thing, the stuff seems to grow better, too. Why Sisiphus? He was being tortured and punished. Surely, you don't feel that way?
I highly recommend a good fence to keep critters out. We find the worst are squirrels. If we lived in the country, I'd shoot them and eat them, but I can't here and I won't poison them for doing what comes naturally. Grow as much as you can, you never know. We usually keep it down because of space limitations, but we try something different each year, so we have some experience in the event we have to grow more.

Thanks!

{ 04:05, 2007-Jan-16 } { Posted by MrsBurns }

We ordered last year from Johnny's and they're in Maine, and the seeds did just fine. I would suppose the Fedco seeds would perform equally as well? They have a broccoli my husband wants to try, that Eliot Coleman's wife has grown and loved and recommends. So that is the motivation for placing the order, plus they have a couple other items that look interesting. Which is my biggest problem...it all looks interesting and I delude myself into thinking I'll get it planted!

I'm glad to hear your blueberries performed well; we love our berries. Love them. Lots. And how about your asparagus bed? Have you had much success? I can't decide where to put one, and so I'm stuck another year without asparagus due to my indecision.....

DeniseB