permaculture

["Robert Waldrop" <rmwj@soonernet.com>]

http://www.bettertimesinfo.org/2004garden.htm

April 6 Forest Garden Diary

1524 NW 21, Oklahoma City

"It is the main earthly business of a human being
to make his home, and the immediate surroundings
of his home, as symbolic and significant to his
own imagination as he can." -G.K. Chesterton

Since last we spoke, we have planted 44 bushes
with edible fruit, and 4 fruit trees that will
eventually be mature canopy trees. I've added more
strawberries, and planted the various lettuces,
greens, and put out my hot pepper plants
(habanero, caribbean, jalapeno, cayenne) etc. The
peas are climbing the polls, and the vetch is
blooming. And the vetch seems to be doing what I
want it to do, which is grow enough to provide
nitrogen but not enough to choke out the other
plants. When the bushes mature, we will have a
nice green screen between us and the heat of the
asphalt street, and in front (on the north side)
we will have a nice secluded outdoor "room" framed
by the bushes.

Long time readers of this diary/blog will remember
that in the first few years I sprinkled a lot of
crimson clover and hairy vetch seed each fall.
Last fall I did not do this, but I had let some of
each go to seed and the vetch seems to be
self-seeding just fine. There is a little clover,
not as much as I had hoped, however. Anyway,
before it went to seed last year I thinned it
quite a bit, as it can get quite thick if left
unchecked. It is growing, for example, in the beds
where I have garlic, shallots, and multiplying
onions, and seems to get along just fine. It's
also growing among the herbs, and they are
seriously in a growth spurt.

We have a nice spring rain today which started
early, I awoke this AM to the gentle sound of
spring showers. I was happy for the rain, with all
this new stuff that I've planted this year, it's
important that they stay "hydrated" and if it hadn
't rained today I would probably have done some
watering.

The bare root plants from the Gene Redlin plant
nursery are doing great. Nearly all of them are
already leafing and some of the Nanking cherries
have beautiful blossoms. The apple trees are
presently in bloom, and the clove currants are
STILL blooming. Add "long lasting spring flowers"
to that plant description. When I walk past them,
I get a strong blast of clove scent, which of
course is the source of their name. The peach and
plum blossoms are gone, replaced with many little
baby plums and peaches.

We've eaten some asparagus, and it was very good,
next year we will have a lot more to eat as I
planted quite a few more asparagus crowns this
year. I guess its possible to have too much
asparagus, but we are unlikely to have that
problem. The lovage and horseradish are coming up
fine, this fall I will dig up the horseradish,
harvest some of the roots, divided the rest, and
have more horseradish next year.

We're still hoping we don't get slammed with a
late freeze. It is going to be down to 37 degrees
or so over the weekend at night, so I intend to
cover the pepper plants.

Last fall I divided my day lilies and scattered
them about the garden. They have all done well,
and later in the summer we will have beautiful day
lilies decorating the landscape, and also
beautiful day lily flowers to eat, and day lily
leaves to put in stir fries and eggs, and in the
fall next year we will have day lily roots to eat.
We haven't eaten any roots yet, but since I
divided them they will multiply enough that next
year we hope to have the roots too.

This years plans for succession in the garden
include planting blackeyed and purple hulled peas
where the onions and garlic were (they will be
harvested in late May, early June), and of course
we will plant a fall garden of turnips, and fall
greens.


105 total, 3 biennials, 24 annuals, 72 perennials

TREES 12 varieties
mature pecan tree
immature pecan tree
semi dwarf peach (Elberta semi dwarf, hansens)
semi dwarf Apricot
apple (dwarf Jonathan and Gala semi dwarf)
semi-dwarf plum (Superior and Toka,)
Manchurian apricot
black cherry
Oklahoma redbud

BUSHES 12 varieties, all perennial
bush cherries
sand plums
elderberries
Mature mulberries
Oregon grape bushes
Siberian pea tree
Nanking cherry
Sand cherry
Saskatoon juneberry
Sea buckthorn
Schubert chokeberry
Sand plum

GROUND COVERS 4 varieties (1 perennial, 3 annual)
strawberries
purple clover A
white clover A
hairy vetch A

VINES AND CANES 10 varieties , all perennial
fredonia grape
niagara grape
venus grape
concord grape
dewberries
blackberries
boysenberries
clove currants
scarlet runner beans A
Luffa (a)

GREENS AND SALADS 17 varieties (6 perennial, 7
annual, 4 biannual)
Salad burnet
daylilies
Turnips (a)
Collards (a)
Fordhook giant chard (b)
Bloomsday savoy spinach (b)
Rhubarb chard (b)
Lucullus chard (b)
New Zealand spinach (a)
Ruby orach (mountain spinach) (a)

Mustard (a)
lettuce polycultue bed (a) (Parisian cos,
buttercrunch, red sails, bibb, romaine)
Dandelions
Bloody sorrel
French sorrel
Rose of sharon (flowers)

VEGETABLES 10 varieties (2 perennial, 8 annual)
Asparagus
rhubarb
habenero peppers (a)
Caribbean peppers (a)
Cherokee and roma tomatoes (a)
English peas (a)
Purple hulled peas (a)
Black-eyed peas (a)
Jalapeno peppers (a)
Cayenne peppers (a)

ROOT CROPS 5 varieties (all annuals)
shallots (a)
walking onions (a)
potato onions (a)
Garlic A (a)
Turnips (a)

FLOWERS 12 varieties (8 perennial, 4 annual)
Rosa rugosa
Rosa erfult
Prairie rose
Purple echinacea
Pink ecinacea
Iris
Maximilien sunflowers
Russian mammoth sunflowers A
Mexican hat (a)
Wild geranium (a)
bee balm (monarda) (a)
Daffodils

HERBS 23 varieties (21 perennial, 1 annual, 1
biennial)
sage
creeping thyme
common oregano
greek oregano
tarragon
lovage
gotu kola
catnip
rue
garlic chives
spearmint
apple mint
lemon balm
spear mint (or some kind of common mint)
dill (A)
horehound
chocolate mint (the leaf tasted like one of those
chocolate mints you get at a restaurant checkout)
lemon mint
Roman chamomile
horseradish
rosemary
comfrey
parsley (b)

LIST OF PLANTS ORGANIZED BY LAYERS OF A FOREST
GARDEN

Canopy trees
pecan
American plum
Manchurian apricot
black cherry

Understory trees
Oklahoma redbud
semi dwarf peach
semi dwarf Apricot
semi-dwarf apple
semi-dwarf plum


Bushes and canes
bush cherries
sand plums
elderberries
Mature mulberries
Oregon grape bushes
Siberian pea tree
Nanking cherry
Sand cherry
Saskatoon juneberry
Sea buckthorn
Schubert chokeberry
Sand plum
dewberries
blackberries
boysenberries
clove currants

Herbs and smaller plants
Salad burnet
daylilies
Turnips (a)
Collards (a)
Fordhook giant chard (b)
Rhubarb chard (b)
Mustard (a)
Self seeding lettuce bed (a)
Dandelions
Bloody sorrel
French sorrel
Rose of sharon (flowers)
Asparagus
rhubarb
habenero peppers (a)
Cherokee and roma tomatoes (a)
English peas (a)
Purple hulled peas (a)
Black-eyed peas (a)
Jalapeno peppers (a)
Cayenne peppers (a)
Rosa rugosa
Rosa erfult
Prairie rose
Purple echinacea
Pink ecinacea
Iris
Maximilien sunflowers
Russian mammoth sunflowers A
Mexican hat (a)
Wild geranium (a)
bee balm (monarda) (a)
sage
creeping thyme
common oreganogreek oregano
tarragon
lovage
gotu kola
catnip
rue
garlic chives
spearmint
apple mint
lemon balm
spear mint (or some kind of common mint)
dill (A)
horehound
chocolate mint (the leaf tasted like one of those
chocolate mints you get at a restaurant checkout)
lemon mint
Roman chamomile
horseradish
rosemary
comfrey
parsley (b)

Ground covers
strawberries
purple clover A
white clover A
hairy vetch A

Climbing vines
fredonia grape
niagara grape
venus grape
concord grape
scarlet runner beans A
Luffa (a)

Roots
shallots (a)
walking onions (a)
potato onions (a)
Garlic A (a)
Turnips (a)