How Dave Saves The World

Jan at Thanks For Today is sponsoring a meme in support of Earth Day (April 22, 2010). I have to admit I've had trouble with this. It's not that I have any problem with Earth Day or writing a post full of great tips for saving the world but when coming from a personal perspective to share something new my mind is drawing a blank. There are a myriad of issues facing us in this day and time and not one of them is easy to solve on an individual basis.

The earth is our home. We don't have anywhere else to go and it makes sense to keep it clean, safe, habitable, and beautiful for generations to come. I want my children to be good stewards of the earth and so I bring them outdoors to enjoy it everyday. I think the most important thing for them is to experience every good thing the world gives us and they will see how important the world is to them.

Since I'm having trouble coming up with something new to add to what I already do here's a list of the things I do that hopefully support our planet that supports us so well.

1. I garden as organically as possible. I always say as possible because I like the qualifier just in case but to date my garden is completely organic - as far as I know (yep that's another qualifier ;)). I don't put chemical fertilizers or insecticidal sprays on it anywhere. It keeps the garden safe for my children. 
2. I grow as much food as possible during the growing season. My garden contains vegetables, herbs and fruits that not only reduce the amount of shipping (trucks/transportation) required for grocery stores but also saves us money. You can talk all you want to about saving the earth but when you mention that it also saves you money that really catches people's attention.
3. I've been adding more edibles to the landscape. This year I added two blueberry bushes and two apple trees (see also #5).
4. I preserve food now for the winter months. One of my favorite fables is the story of the ant and the grasshopper. The ant saves food for the winter while the grasshopper wastes time playing and not planning ahead. When winter comes the grasshopper is without food and the ants have plenty. Last year was the first year of anthood for us and we plan to do even more this year!
5. I plant trees every year. This year we added a new 'Constellation' dogwood and two apple trees (Gala and Fuji) (see also #3). 
6. I plant plants that do well in our climate with needing too much extra water or care. Sometimes this means natives sometimes there are other plants that fit the bill.
7. We reuse plastic storage bags after we wash them which reduces out waste a little.
8. I reuse plastic containers for plant propagation and seed starting. I really like the little plastic containers that mushrooms come in for propagating plants. Yogurt containers work well too!
9. I use proper mowing techniques which keeps a healthier lawn and reduces the need for fertilizers and herbicides.
10. I installed two rain garden areas to help keep the moisture in the ground. Rain gardens help to prevent chemicals from our streets and drainage areas from reaching our lakes and streams. I also volunteered to help plant a rain garden in one of our community parks.

There are more things that I do but I think 10 is enough to talk about. What do you do that helps improve our world? Don't forget to visit Jan and see what other folks have written!

Edible Landscaping for Beginners: Elements of a Sustainable Plan

In my last post I told you how to begin planning for an edible landscape and how to determine what to grow. Today let's examine what elements you need to incorporate into the plan.  With an edible landscape we need to focus on one thing: sustainability.  Sustainability is a word used a lot these days and for our gardening goals we're using it to describe an edible landscape that can replenish itself with as little use outside resources as possible.

Once you have put together your To Grow list identify anything that may need special care because you will need to account for these items.  Those elements could range anywhere from structured elements like trellises to soil additives to make things more acidic.

Elements of a Sustainable Edible Landscape Plan:

A Good Soil System

The most essential part of any sustainable edible landscape is the soil.  Most subdivisions in our country have really poor soil as a result of bulldozers scraping the usable topsoil from the land.  Then the houses are built and poor soil is put back as a cover up.  Clay soils can be fixed.  Clay actually has many micronutrients that are great for growing plants but the problem is clay is made of particles so small that they are tightly packed together and don't allow roots to grow easily.  To fix poor clay add organic material.  Lots of organic material.  How you get organic material can vary.  I contacted landscapers in our area to bring in fall leaves in mass quantities from people who don't want their leaves.  You could also get manure from farmers in your area who may have more manure than they want.  Both of those methods require outside sources so in our plan for sustainability lets make our own compost.

Somewhere in a sustainable edible landscape plan a system of composting needs to be established.  A simple three bin compost system can be set up with fence panels, pallets, concrete blocks, or can be custom built. Compost piles can be established right on the ground in an out of the way area of the garden.  If you don't have much space you can buy a rotating compost bin with multiple chambers.  Worm bins are very effective ways to get great organic matter for you plants.

The important thing is that you retain any waste material from your kitchen or plants that can be recycled back into the soil.  Any organic vegetable matter can be used so don't waste it in the trash!

A Good Water System

How are you going to water your plants?  This is very important in areas that frequently experience drought conditions in the summertime.  You could simply use the faucet connected to your house.  Depending on the quality of water in your area and how it is treated this may not be the best option.  Filters can be attached to garden hoses the faucet to prevent chlorine from killing off beneficial bacteria in the soil.  Rain barrels are great options so long as you have a cleanout system to remove sediment from the water.  You really don't want asphalt from your shingles as a soil amendment!  Keep in mind that rain barrels are only effective if it rains.  They are great at bridging the gaps between dry spells but if it does rain on occasion you will run out of water.

In our garden we use a system of soaker hoses to put water directly on the soil at the base of the plants. After the soaker hoses are put down we cover with mulch to prevent moisture from evaporating.  The less water lost the more water the plants get!  Last year I put together an alternative watering method for the garden called ollas. The rain last year was plentiful and so I could not fully evaluate their effectiveness.

Excellent Pest Control

No matter where your edible landscape is you will run into pests from time to time.  In our garden we experience losses from deer, aphids, rabbits, caterpillars, and an assortment of other creatures.  An edible landscape plan should include ways to help mitigate losses.  Nothing is 100% fool proof and the gardener needs to understand and accept that some losses will happen.

My favorite method of pest control is companion planting.  Companion plants mask, repel, or trap pests to help keep them away from plants you want to grow.

Good fences make good neighbors and also keep the deer out if you make them high enough.  To keep rabbits out fences need to extend under the soil, rise at least 18 inches above the soil, and have a tight enough mesh to prevent them from squeezing through.

Marigolds make good companion plants for edibles.

A sustainable landscape can't rely on chemicals for pest control.  Chemicals kill off the beneficial creatures that pollinate our plants and eat the bad bugs.  An organic landscape is what we should all strive for!

We'll stop there for this post today on these three elements to plan a sustainable edible landscape plan.  In the next post of this series we'll discuss crop rotation, weed control, and a couple other very important elements of that edible landscape plan!