Are you dreaming of a self-sufficient oasis on your property where abundant, delicious crop yields and ecological balance go hand in hand? Look no further than the fascinating concept of a coconut circle! Coconut circles are a permaculture design harnessing the remarkable…
What does self-sufficiency mean to you? For some homesteaders, self-sufficiency is growing and raising food. For others, it’s about getting their utilities off-grid or surviving without store-bought products. In these times of hyperinflation, supply-chain uncertainty, and questionable quality of many consumer products, learning how to become more…
Let’s discuss poisonous lawn mushroom types, and which lawn mushrooms are poisonous, deadly, or toxic! Because there is a lot of concern about finding poisonous mushroom types in our backyard. Many homesteaders avoid foraging for lawn mushrooms because they are…
If you grow some or even most of your own food, you might think you’re doing your part to live more sustainably. However, if you’re not using polyculture farming or gardening, you could be missing out on big ways to…
Ask anyone living off the grid – the path to self-reliance is about skills development, perseverance, and savvy planning. Moving away from the conveniences of urban living is both challenging and risky! A checklist for off-grid living is essential to help steer your transition…
With feelings of food insecurity on the rise, starting a survival garden may have crossed your mind more than once. Even though we usually have enough food being produced and sold every day, the current crisis has reminded most of…
To make the most of a plum tree guild, it is always important to place it in the right spot and select the best companion plants to help your plum tree guild thrive. Understanding the type of soil plum trees…
If you want to plant an apple tree in your garden, you should not cultivate it alone. In the wild, plants don’t grow in isolation. They grow in communities of plants. In your garden? You should mimic natural ecosystems and…
The perfect permaculture garden is a garden that cares for people and our planet. It is a resilient space that helps you live sustainably and take only your fair share – returning the surplus to the system. And nature. But…
Fruit tree guilds are a fabulous feature of many permaculture gardens. These guilds are essentially collections of plants that work together to improve the health and productivity of the tree at their heart. The concept is simple. However, achieving the…
In this series of articles, I will walk you through the seven layers of the forest garden or backyard food forest, explaining the purpose and function of each one and some of the species that can be grown there in a temperate climate. …
There’s a bit of an odd-one-out among the seven layers of the permaculture food forest garden – a group that doesn’t fit into any one particular compartment of the garden quite so neatly… Like all plants, climbing plants start their…
In our exploration of temperate food forest layers, we’ve been taking a closer look at each of the seven layers, what we can plant there, and how to design each layer for optimum results across the whole garden. So far,…
So far, in our exploration of the different layers of the permaculture food forest garden, we have covered the underground and herbaceous layers that comprise the smaller plants of the ecosystem. Today, we’ll look at permaculture shrubs we can grow in…
Edible ground covers and the herbaceous layer of the permaculture food forest. What makes a food forest garden different from an orchard? One of the distinctions lies in what’s growing on the ground… In conventional orchards, the ground is either…