Backyard wildlife habitats are just one of many examples of Permaculture. I wrote an article about them for an on-line magazine called "The Big Blend". www.BigBlendMagazine.com. It should be on the site about Monday of next week.

Here's a few paragraphs of the article:

So what can you do to bring nature back into balance and encourage the wildlife to become part of your outdoor environment? It’s easy – go natural! By adding native plants (bushes and trees, too) to an existing landscape and providing the four essential elements necessary to create a habitat you will encourage the birds, bees, butterflies, insects and other creatures to return to your yard.

How to create a habitat
Habitat is defined by four essential elements: food, water, shelter (cover), and space. The foundation of the habitat is the vegetation type that exists on the site. Food sources may include plant material (including roots, pollen, and nectar), insects, or other animals. If preferred food sources are not available but other habitat elements are optimal, then some species will look for new sources of food such as pet food, vegetable gardens, fruit trees, or landscape plants. So be sure to plant native species to provide food and keep them away from your prized plants and gardens. Another way to create a symbiotic environment is to provide a plant for the animals and one for you! Then there will be enough for everyone.

More at www.BigBlendMagazine.com


I will be interviewed on internet radio about backyard habitats on Tuesday, March 3rd about 3:30 in the afternoon AZ time. The link to use for this is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Garden-Gossip/2009/03/03/Eminent-Domain-Bird-Butterfly-Gardens-More

If you are near a computer I hope you can tune in and hear the show!

Doreen aka The Garden Goddess
www.down2earthgardens.com

Spring is Bursting Out All Over

Well the warm weather sure has the plants confused. My apple trees started to bud 10 days after they were planted! The plants are starting to flower and growing like weeds - well, the weeds are growing, too.

This yard and the garden have only been in place a few months yet they are really beginning to take shape. The foot paths are in and covered with wood chips as mulch, the fruit trees seem happy and the rain water harvesting pieces are almost done.

I recently installed a new brick patio to help with the water harvesting into my rain garden and future home for my velvet mesquite tree. Now when I sit on the patio, I will actually be part of the gradens VS. sitting on the porch looking at the gardens.

The work is not completely done, yet I can see the end of the major components and then it will be time to plant a new garden and start all over again!

Look back to my earlier posts and you can see the journey and how much has been done - It hasn't been easy - but it sure is worth it!

Happy Digging, Doreen

AKA the Garden Goddess

www.down2earthgardens.com

Dreaming of Apple and Peach Pies!

I am so excited – in about three years I will be making apple and peach pies from the fruit off my new urban orchard! I can hardly wait!

That’s right – I planted the apple and peach trees in my front yard yesterday. I now am the proud momma of 2 Anna and 1 Dorset Golden apple and 2 Mid-Pride and 1 Florida Prince peach trees.

I planted them in two mini orchards with the apples in one large hole and the peaches in another. Thank goodness I had the help of a neighbor to dig the holes. I spent almost an hour on one hole before he showed up – and I wasn’t even done. And my soil was fairly moist and easy to dig! The apples are in the top right of the photo - they look like sticks! I also planted Iris bulbs under the apple trees to start my apple guild.

Here’s a photo of the peach trees all snug in their holes. They are just in front of the trellis with the Lady Banks Rose. The stepping stones lead up to them between the new vegetable bed and the desert tree mulch pit.

As we were planting them, I caught myself calling them my "babies" and "he" or "she" – I am pretty sure Art thought I was losing it from too much sun!

I pruned them myself after they were in the ground. I made sure the grafting node faced northeast (protects it from too much sun) and carefully cut off the broken branches and any that would eventually be in the path or which pointed in the wrong direction. (If a branch either points straight out or down, it will probably break under the weight of fruit).

I was hesitant to prune too much so I chose a light pruning. I will keep the trees height at about 8 feet so I can harvest them easily. There will be more opportunities to prune over the next few years.

My front yard is finally beginning to look like an edible yard. I am having gutters installed in about a week. One section will channel the water from the roof into the lowered garden bed where the apple trees live, providing them with rain water, which will supplement (and sometimes replace) the municipal water needed.

So I do feel like it is coming together, yet I still have several things to do before it gets too hot – plant a desert tree in the mulch pit, upgrade the irrigation system, build a shade structure for the first few summers and lay the bricks for the patio. Whew – sure feels like a lot – but I know it will all be worth it when it is done.

How’s your garden project coming?

Happy Digging, Doreen

For more gardening tips and resources visit www.down2earthgardens.com

Done Digging for Now!

Look - the garden beds are in! We did the final 5 hours of moving soil around – taking some out of the yard entirely (about 8 wheel barrows worth) and getting the beds shaped. This pic shows both planting areas – well there are really four planting areas.

At the top of the photo at the edge near the neighbors yard is a sunken bed the will help manage the water that runs off the north east corner of my roof. That water will help deep water the female Mulberry Tree (gives me berries in the spring) as well as the future mini apple orchard.

The bed below it is for the edible garden. I transplanted the salvia from the pots on the porch to create a perspective so my neighbors could see these are gardens, not mud pits!
I threw a mix of about 10 different kinds of flower and veggie seeds into the dirt which I had amended with really great organic mulch (from Ken Singh). Then I covered the seeds with more mulch and watered everything down really well with compost tea. The seeds have started to sprout (after about a week). I am really excited for them to turn into a riot of plants, all growing and blooming at different times.

Then this sunken ‘pit’ is to manage the water that runs off the porch roof (could be up to 200 gallons in a one inch rain!) and where I will plant a desert tree for shade for the house and the garden.



Now, I get to just sit back and water the beds and watch them for the next 30 days or so. Well, not really sit too much. I still have the brick edging to install and a brick patio, but I feel like the push is done to get the seeds into the ground so they could germinate.

I got it all done just 2 days before the Thanksgiving rain of ’08. It was great to see Mother Nature provide the water and then the sun.

This is not the end of my journey, just the beginning of new front yard adventures. I am already planning what to plant next spring!

Happy Digging,

Doreen Pollack
www.down2earthgardens.com