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- May 26, 2014
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"Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system." - Bill Mollison
When my boyfriend and I moved into first (rental) house in July we had no idea what was in store for us. Our mutual best friend had been cultivating a permaculture garden for nearly four years prior to our acquisition of the property. Coming from my perspective, gardening was something my parents paid landscapers to do. I never ate fruit, or leafy greens, much less grew any. This garden has been such an awakening for me, as far as not only the discipline of gardening, but how I eat, sleep, and inspired me to live a much healthier life as a whole.
Taking on this garden was essentially taking on our best friend's 'baby,' and we consider it an honor to uphold the tradition. The garden has attracted a lot of attention in our local area, as we are located on the corner of a relatively busy three way stop in downtown Atlanta. People stop us from the road when we are outside all the time. They're not asking what are you growing, the common question is "what are you doing here?" and "how can I do this?"
The idea is simple. Let the garden take care of itself. Do not plant plants for aesthetic reasons, we plant based on how the plants will interact with each other. The idea is the garden largely takes care of itself with minimal maintenance, and we make fewer trips to the grocery store. Instead of growing one crop in our vicinity, we grow dozens. And the yield amazes.
Our quarter acre lot holds four garden plots of various sizes. Most of the growable area is concentrated on the space from where we park our cars to our front door. (maybe 50ft) The first and largest plot holds a central self sustaining pond. The plants that I can identify are our two 3 year old loquat fruit trees (roughly seven feet tall now), TONS of mint, at least two varieties of kale, purple bean, azeala, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, basil, kanip, oregano, rosemary, green onion, citronella, and probably more that I am forgetting. Our tomato crop last yielded god knows how much tomatoes. Most of my friends got home made tomato sauce for christmas.
Our middle plot is roughly 6x4 feet. It currently has what I believe is a chestnut tree, purple asparagus, and sweet potatoe. Last fall we yeilded about 70lbs of sweet potatoe from our plot that lasted us about six months.
Our third plot is closest to the road but elevated a good seven or eight feet. This plot is about the same size as our second plot, and has a three year old elderberry bush, black tomato, marigold, raspberries, a hibiscus bush, and what I think is a hazelnut tree.
Our patio has kind of become the 'nursey' for the seedlings. We have strawberries, spinach, two varieties of kale, aloe, and a south african lavender hybrid growing in pots.
We formerly had a compost section running along the side of our house slanting towards the street. Kale and other vegetables like squash and potatoes started growing so well there we essentially annexed it to the garden. That section now includes grape vines black berry vines.
Let us know what you think! As I said we are new to this and learning through trial and error. suggestions on how to maintain what we have and what to plant next are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
When my boyfriend and I moved into first (rental) house in July we had no idea what was in store for us. Our mutual best friend had been cultivating a permaculture garden for nearly four years prior to our acquisition of the property. Coming from my perspective, gardening was something my parents paid landscapers to do. I never ate fruit, or leafy greens, much less grew any. This garden has been such an awakening for me, as far as not only the discipline of gardening, but how I eat, sleep, and inspired me to live a much healthier life as a whole.
Taking on this garden was essentially taking on our best friend's 'baby,' and we consider it an honor to uphold the tradition. The garden has attracted a lot of attention in our local area, as we are located on the corner of a relatively busy three way stop in downtown Atlanta. People stop us from the road when we are outside all the time. They're not asking what are you growing, the common question is "what are you doing here?" and "how can I do this?"
The idea is simple. Let the garden take care of itself. Do not plant plants for aesthetic reasons, we plant based on how the plants will interact with each other. The idea is the garden largely takes care of itself with minimal maintenance, and we make fewer trips to the grocery store. Instead of growing one crop in our vicinity, we grow dozens. And the yield amazes.
Our quarter acre lot holds four garden plots of various sizes. Most of the growable area is concentrated on the space from where we park our cars to our front door. (maybe 50ft) The first and largest plot holds a central self sustaining pond. The plants that I can identify are our two 3 year old loquat fruit trees (roughly seven feet tall now), TONS of mint, at least two varieties of kale, purple bean, azeala, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, basil, kanip, oregano, rosemary, green onion, citronella, and probably more that I am forgetting. Our tomato crop last yielded god knows how much tomatoes. Most of my friends got home made tomato sauce for christmas.
Our middle plot is roughly 6x4 feet. It currently has what I believe is a chestnut tree, purple asparagus, and sweet potatoe. Last fall we yeilded about 70lbs of sweet potatoe from our plot that lasted us about six months.
Our third plot is closest to the road but elevated a good seven or eight feet. This plot is about the same size as our second plot, and has a three year old elderberry bush, black tomato, marigold, raspberries, a hibiscus bush, and what I think is a hazelnut tree.
Our patio has kind of become the 'nursey' for the seedlings. We have strawberries, spinach, two varieties of kale, aloe, and a south african lavender hybrid growing in pots.
We formerly had a compost section running along the side of our house slanting towards the street. Kale and other vegetables like squash and potatoes started growing so well there we essentially annexed it to the garden. That section now includes grape vines black berry vines.
Let us know what you think! As I said we are new to this and learning through trial and error. suggestions on how to maintain what we have and what to plant next are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
It really sounds like your life has changed completely for good, growing a garden has benefited you in so many ways Glad to hear that growing a garden has motivated you to change your eating habits, kudos to you! I also aspire to do the same thing you are doing with your garden 
