permaculture

["Jerome Osentowski" <jerome@crmpi.org>]

Hollyhocks, the giant mallow.  It is the  food  the rabbits first,  also 
good for weed control.  I let it vol. throught the forest garden, or in new
area that are especially weedy then  follow up with sheet mulch and fruit
trees and shrubs.  It flowers the second year, and I also dig  it up the
first year put it into pots, and sell it in my nursery.  I have not
attempted to make capers with the buds , but that could be possible.  Birds
and chickens do not eat the seeds.  I have a few plants in my new greenhouse
design with white flowers. I will harvest the leaves throught the winter for
the breeding doe, and enjoy the flowers.
--
Jerome Osentowski, Director
Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute
PO Box 631
Basalt, CO 81621   U.S.A.

Tel/fax (970) 927-4158    E mail: jerome@crmpi.org

For more information, please visit our web site at <<www.crmpi.org>>


----------
>From: Claude Genest <genest@together.net>
>To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: Re: [permaculture] Where are you from?
>Date: Wed, Oct 30, 2002, 12:43 PM
>

>
> hollyhock & other mallows - big showy, various colors; edible
>
> What part of hollyhocks are edible ? The flower I presume ?  I thought they
> were toxic ?
>
>
>
>
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Where are you from?
>
>
> I am from Oklahoma City, and live on a city lot in an older Oklahoma
> City central neighborhood built in the 1920s.  All of my available
> space for gardening is in my two front yards (I am on a corner), and
> the buildings are right up against the other property lines.  I am
> finishing the third year of my project of creating a "forest edge
> garden".  This past year's garden diary is online at
> http://www.bettertimesinfo.org/2002gardendiary.htm .
>
> I am in the master gardener's training program with OKlahoma County
> Extension, and today we got the results back for our soil test.  On a
> per acre basis, mine came out:
>
> Nitrogen:  232 lbs/acre
> Phosphorus:  575 lbs/acre
> Potassium:  1462 lbs/care
>
> which are all waaaaay above what Extension described as being ideal
> for vegetable gardens.  My soil pH was 6.7.
>
> My gardens are untilled raised beds on top of a former lawn, planted
> intermixed about 2/3rds perennials and 1/3 annuals.  I presume it had
> been lawn since the house was constructed in 1929.  For the three
> years I've been working on this, I have fertilized with nothing but
> compost.  My compost is primarily shredded trees, grass clippings,
> flowers, dried leaves, and kitchen leftovers.  The walls of the beds
> are logs (mostly elm) from two mature trees on this property that in
> my first two years here were taken down by wind and ice storms.
>
> I had very lush growth and good production all summer, except for the
> tomatoes, which grew very nice plants but were a bit stingy on the
> tomatoes (it was also an abnormally cool year for Oklahoma City, not
> one single day over 100 degrees and I only watered maybe 6 times since
> spring.)  And except also for most of the perennials like fruit trees
> and berry canes/vines which haven't been in place long enough to begin
> producing.
>
> Another question:  how do y'all feel about pruning grape vines?
> Everyone I know says "prune them".  I was wondering how some of the
> more experienced permaculturists felt about that.  I haven't pruned
> mine since planting them two years ago, but was thinking about doing
> that for the next season.
>
> I'm thinking that Extension standards are probably based on
> conventional agriculture and gardening and I was wondering how these
> soil test results compare with others of you out there who have had
> soil tests done on your permacultured gardens.
>
> Third question:  I mentioned the master gardener class I am in, I was
> thinking about producing a handout to give to everybody in the class
> with a short list of food producing plants in each of the seven layers
> of a permacultured forest garden.  I have quite a bit of material, but
> I would like some more suggestions for "color".
>
> Thus far under that I have Maximilien sunflowers (mine put on two
> separate and very showy displays of flowers this year), purple
> echinacea, rosa rugosa, purple hyacinth beans, Mexican mint marigold,
> daylilies, perennial kale, dandelions, and amaranth (which in my
> garden is self seeding).  Any other suggestions?
>
> And finally, about those Maximilien sunflowers, I was expecting a bit
> bigger seed, as supposedly they are an oil sunflower (so I read
> somewhere on the net).  Any thoughts about extracting oil from the
> seeds?  Also, should I cut them back closer to the ground (I bought
> two pots, and they each grew into 10' tall stalks, covered with
> flowers.  Even if they aren't edible and I was mistaken about that,
> their beauty is food for the soul.
>
> Robert Waldrop, Oklahoma City
>
>
>
>
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>
> Green Mountain Permaculture: Solutions, Sustenance, Sustainability
>
> "What Permaculturalists are doing is the most important work being done on
> the planet."
> David Suzuki
>
> "The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable
> living from a small piece of land."
> Abraham Lincoln
>
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