Starting Seeds Indoors Many of our summer plants we start in our greenhouse. This means we can start them from seed earlier, and we can…

So, one of the places the permaculture team is focusing on before the weather turns warm enough for seedlings to be transported to the ground…

One of the hardest things about permaculture, or any project for that matter, is getting started. It can be so overwhelming to balance all of…

SPRING IS HERE!!! And while other gardeners have yet to even think about putting seeds in the ground, you can be out there harvesting bowls of…

With lots of snow followed by warmer weather, there’s lots of water flowing everywhere. Here on the mountain, that water rushes with gravity downslope towards…

With the polar vortex bringing bone-chilling cold this winter, it seemed like spring couldn’t come soon enough. But after some crazy cycles of freeze and…

  The land where the Southside Permaculture Park exists today, and much of the land in Eastern PA, northern DE, southern NY, and NJ, is…

“The most important thing we can do right now, regardless of what the future holds, is to build community, solidarity, and a culture of radical…

Yesterday I was going on a walk through the woods when I cam across a fallen tulip poplar tree. The first thing I noticed about…

Yesterday, as I was about to take a nap, I heard the forest calling to me. I quickly threw on some jeans and boots, made…

Description

Seaberry, also known as Sea Buckthorn, is a perennial deciduous shrub that grows 2-4 meters tall. The leaves are long and thin, about 6-8 cm by 1-2 cm, alternate, with a silverish green hue. Individual plants are either male or female, with the male flowers clustered in groups of four to six and the female flowers produced alone. The fruit are produced on the female plant and are orange/red, ovoid, and about 1-2 cm in length.

A female seaberry in mid September after fruiting. Note the silver leaves and small buds. A male seaberry in mid September. Note the shiny leaves and the larger buds.

Cultivation Tips

Seaberry will grow well in most soil types, but prefers deep, well draining sandy loam. Seaberry is drought tolerant, but can be sensitive to excessive moisture [60]. It requires full sun for fruit development. Seaberry fixes nitrogen through nodules of bacteria on their roots. Some sources say they require sufficient phosphorus in the soil for this process [61], but we have seen seaberries with lots of healthy nodules even in poor soils, so if the soil is healthy and fed with mulch and compost you should never have to worry about it. Seaberries can also tolerate relatively salty conditions. Plants can be propagated by seed, by hardwood or softwood cuttings, or by root suckers. Female plants will bear fruit in the fourth or fifth year if planted from seed, or in the third or fourth year if planted from cuttings, but only if a male plant is close by. Pruning to allow more light penetration and promote the growth of lateral shoots can increase the yields and fruiting life of seaberries. Pruning will also cause roots to die back and deposit significant nitrogen into the soil for surrounding plants to use.

This seaberry root sucker was cut away from the mother plant in early spring while the plant is still dormant and was subsequently replanted in a new location that same day. Note the nodules on the roots; these are where the nitrogen fixing bacteria reside.

Uses

Sea berry fruit are exceptionally tasty, if a bit sour, with a grapefruit-like flavor with hints of mango and guava. They are higher in vitamin C than oranges [62], and can be eaten raw, becoming sweeter after a frost. Berries can also be pressed, the juice separating into an oily layer that is often used in cosmetics and a water layer that can be added to drinks. The berries can also be used to make jams and jellies. As a nitrogen fixer and tolerator of poor, salty soils, seaberry can also be used for soil reclamation. If managed properly, seaberry can serve as a nurse plant for larger tree species, feeding it when young and then being cut back once the tree is more mature.

Friends

Sea berry can be used as a nurse plant along with large fruit and nut trees (not black walnut) to provide them with nitrogen when young. Seaberry must be managed to allow light to the tree.

They also work very well with herbaceous perennials that are more shade tolerant, allowing for some highly functional and diverse polycultures.

*Note: Image of berries from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aabNVT6WVY.

Posted on May 6, 2022July 20, 2023 By: southsidep

Starting Seeds Indoors Many of our summer plants we start in our greenhouse. This means we can start them from seed earlier, and we can…

Posted on February 10, 2019June 8, 2022 By: southsidep

On December 1, 2018, the greenhouse began its winter session. We had maybe up to 10 people involved from the Lehigh community seeding. Much of…

Posted on November 30, 2018November 30, 2018 By: southsidep

As we roll into December and the weather cools, nighttime frosts begin to wither the more tender annuals, while the perennials drop their leaves or…

Posted on September 3, 2018October 18, 2018 By: southsidep

Seeds. For much of our history, seeds were considered to be some of the most valuable possessions. If asked what they would take from their…

**************************************************************************************************************This page is currently in draft phase as we add more information and organize a bit. In the mean time we highly recommend the following resources on the subject:

• Gaia’s Garden by Tobi Hemenway
• Farming the Woods by Ken Mudge & Steve Gabriel
• Edible Acres youtube channel

**************************************************************************************************************

A forest garden, sometimes called a food forest, is not growing food in the forest, it is growing food como the forest. Forest gardens integrate diverse elements into multiple layers of design to fill all available niches, harvest all available sunlight and water, and create stable systems that generate productivity as a result of, not at the expense of, overall ecosystem health.

While food is certainly an important part, it is by no means the only function of the forest garden. Forest gardens can also provide us with abundant medicines and materials for building and crafting everything from shelters to furniture to toys, tools, and more! They can provide us with the energy we need to keep our shelters comfortable in the heat of summer or the cold of winter. Forests clean the air and water, keeping us healthier and less prone to disease. Communities centered around forest-based systems tend to exhibit greater social cohesion and less depression and anxiety. Forests sequester huge amounts of carbon, helping to slow and eventually reverse the trends of global warming and climate change. They are also incredibly resilient and more likely to survive such climate catastrophes than conventional field agriculture.

While it may be called a “forest garden”, a more accurate term for the phenomenon that we are describing and attempting to build would be a “forest-based community”, or a “forest-based society”. Food is surely a central feature of any community or society, but the idea is bigger than that. It is about learning to coexist within the community of life, not as a master to conquer and control, but as an equal to live and prosper within.

Field agriculture is the foundation of our modern global civilization, and nearly every problem from wealth inequality to disease to climate change can be traced back to this method of agriculture and the underlying philosophies about the role of humans and human civilization on this Earth that make such a mode of agriculture possible.

The techniques described here are designed to both practically change the material conditions of this agricultural paradigm, and to simultaneously undermine the ideological basis that allows such a paradigm to exist in the first place. By changing our ideologies, we change our practice. By changing our practice, we change material conditions of existence. By changing the material conditions of existence, we change ideologies. It is a dialectic, and the best place to start is here and now; so go ahead get started!

Food forests are generally organized into the following layers:

• Canopy
• Sub-canopy
  • smaller trees fill on gaps of canopy
  • mid-stage succession
  • ex) mulberries, pawpaws, dwarf/semi-dwarf fruit trees, redbuds
• Shrub layer
• Herbaceous layer
• Groundcover
• Rhizosphere (root layer)
• Fungal layer
• Vine layer
  • all stages of succession
  • ex) hardy kiwi, grapes, beans, morning glory

Considerations (microclimate)

• Path
  • Need to be able to access anything that needs to be harvested
  • Want to maximize access while minimizing path
  • Create edges
•  Sunlight
  • slope
  • buildings
  • sizes and orientations of planted elements
• Wind
  • slope
  • buildings
  • sizes and orientations of planted elements
• Water
  • slope/contours
  • runoff from roads buildings
  • storage
  • drainage
• Other
  • people/animal traffic
  • pollution
  • noise

Description

Honey Locust is a fast-growing leguminous tree that can grow up to 100 feet tall and lives 100-150 years. It has pinnate compound leaves and produces long seed pods in the summer that mature in late September to early October. Some varieties contain thorns.

Cultivation Tips

Honey Locust is a rapid grower that will tolerate harsh conditions. It will thrive even in poor, compacted soils low in nitrogen, and can tolerate high salinity, making them ideal for roadside use. Honey locust can also tolerate heat and drought relatively well. Honey Locust can be pollarded or coppiced and will re-sprout vigorously from the stump, making it useful for a roadside hedge row or as a nurse plant. Seeds from the honey locust are encased in a hard shell that must be scarified prior to germination. Make a small score with a file or sand paper until the inner seed is visible through the shell, then place in water. When the seeds have swollen to 2-3 times their initial size they are ready for planting in a loose, moist soil. If planting in pots, be sure to use deep enough pots to allow the taproot to grow freely. Seeds can also be direct sown in the garden, with or without scarificaiton, but unscarified seeds may need several freeze-thaw cycles to germinate, potentially taking a few years.

A honey locust in mid September of its first growing season protected by two large green onions

Uses

The seeds of honey locust are edible, and can be ground into a flour. Seed pods are ripe when they are dark brown/maroon and rattle like a maraca when shaken. The pulp within the seed pods can also be eaten and is very sweet, hence the name honey locust. The pulp is sweetest and most abundant when the pods are still slightly green. Honey locusts are nitrogen fixers that will fertilize the soil for plants around it. Coppicing and pollarding can allow for yields of high quality timber and dowels that are very dense and rot resistant. The indigenous people of Lenapehoking would boil the bark of the honey locust in order to induce perspiration as a treatment for colds [109].

Dozens of seed pods hanging from a tree in mid September

Friends

Honey Locust gets along very well with others. It makes a great companion to heavy nitrogen feeders, like nuts and leafy greens, and its pinnately compound leaves means it won’t excessively shade out plants in the understory.

[10]

The grass around our petal beds at the Southside Permaculture Park has been a nuisance since the lawn mower cannot get in between the beds.…

This blog post is dedicated to natural disaster resiliency.  We first owe a shoutout to one of our readers, Phebe, for inspiring this post!  She…

One of the hardest things about permaculture, or any project for that matter, is getting started. It can be so overwhelming to balance all of…

  The land where the Southside Permaculture Park exists today, and much of the land in Eastern PA, northern DE, southern NY, and NJ, is…

“The most important thing we can do right now, regardless of what the future holds, is to build community, solidarity, and a culture of radical…

In the absence of human intervention, species of plants, animals, fungi, and bacterial automatically group themselves together in ways that mutually benefit all those involved.…

Human civilization may seem so extraordinarily complicated that it can never be understood in all its minute details and complexities. And indeed it is, but…

Description

Commonly called Chanterelle or Golden Chanterelle, these delicious mushrooms are more commonly foraged for than cultivated by hand. Chanterelles grow about 2-3 inches tall and are bright orange-yellow in color. The cap of the mushroom is inverted, similar to a funnel, and the underside of the cap has forked, ride-like gills. You will often find these mushrooms in the Northern Hemisphere and during the summer, more specifically late June to early April. They grow in the soil of oak or conifer woods. Chanterelles are known to give off a fruity, apricot-like scent.

Forage tips

Under the ground, Chanterelles have fungal networks, or mycelium all throughout the soil. The mycelium attaches to the roots of specific trees to form symbiotic relationships where nutrition and water is exchanged.  For this reason, Chanterelles grow beside oak or other hardwood trees. They can also (less commonly) be found next to softwood trees including pine or spruce. When foraging for Chanterelles, it is important to be knowledgeable about the identifying characteristics of the mushroom and to be aware of poisonous look-alikes that are not the true Chanterelle. Jack-O-Lanterns (Omphalotus illudens), a look-alike mushroom, is very similar in color, but has unforked gills and a slightly different cap shape. This mushroom is poisonous and inedible.

Uses

Chanterelles are renowned for their unique taste and are considered to go well in pasta dishes. They can be prepared in a slow sauté for the most pungent flavor. Before cooking, use a little water to clean and lightly brush off dirt, as soaking the mushrooms can diminish flavor. On the medicinal side of the Chanterelle uses, a study published in the National Library of Medicine found that Golden Chanterelles have significant wound-healing and anti-inflammatory properties when used topically as an extract. 

Disclaimer: It is important to remember to never eat or use a mushroom if you are not 100% certain what kind it is, and make sure you perform thorough research on preparation before tasting.

Sources

Posted on July 25, 2019June 8, 2022

For those that are unaware …

Sand is the most extracted natural resource in the world.

It is a “key ingredient for concrete, roads, glass, and electronics” and many other everyday objects like toothpaste and paper. Unfortunately, sand mining and dredging is extremely damaging to the environment and various ecosystems, endangering communities, and even promoting violent conflict. It is a highly sought after material that is quickly diminishing in quantity while the demand continues to grow.

You may ask or think, “What about all the sand in the desert?” That sand is actually different from marine sand (i.e. sand from rivers, oceans, and lakes). Desert sand is shaped by the wind, which makes the sand very rounded and smooth. While marine sand’s angular shapes lock into place better; therefore, it is better for construction.

This issue may feel as though it does not affect you, but it does.

It is not the most noticeable, but sand is all around you. It is what the building you’re in is made of, what your phone/computer screen is made of, and what the sidewalk you’re walking on is made of. It is used in cosmetic products and even used to mine fossil fuels. Without sand, humans would not have the many luxuries we take for granted today. The negative consequences of sand extraction affects fish, dolphins, crustaceans, crocodiles, turtles, migratory birds, porpoises, some endangered species, microorganisms, fishermen, infrastructure, etc. While also worsening floods in Houston, TX, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh due to coastal erosion and drop-off. This sand crisis is not well-known, but it does exist and will be an ever growing problem.

Here are 2 good Youtube videos pertaining to this subject.

Picture Source: https://yourdivineblueprint.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/footprints-in-the-sand.jpg

Content Sources: https://www.businessinsider.com/world-running-out-sand-resources-concrete-2018-6 & https://www.businessinsider.com/global-sand-shortage-2017-9 & https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/feb/27/sand-mining-global-environmental-crisis-never-heard

Coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the mid-1970s, “permaculture” intertwines “permanent agriculture” and “permanent culture” to be a holistic design philosophy based on ecological systems. It models land management and settlement design after natural ecosystems by drawing together diverse skills and ways of thinking about a sustainable future. Permaculture also extracts from indigenous knowledge, such as understanding the interconnection between people and planet as well as their different cultivation skills. With aims of creating regenerative and self-sustaining systems, permaculture is rooted in three ethics and twelve principles.  

More than landscaping or even organic gardening, permaculture is a design system for resilient living and land use.  As a design system, permaculture not only focuses on farming, animal husbandry, and forestry but also extends to energy efficient building design and general individual and household lifestyle changes.

Also, permaculture is a “worldwide network and movement of individuals,” sustained by local efforts rather than any governmental, business, or other institutional initiatives.

Posted on marzo 20, 2019marzo 20, 2019

SPRING IS HERE!!! And while other gardeners have yet to even think about putting seeds in the ground, you can be out there harvesting bowls of fresh greens that just appear without any intervention on your part.

Yesterday I biked over to a community garden in search of greens, and you better believe I was not disappointed. Pathways and garden beds were filled with tasty and nutritious greens. I forgot to take a bag with me, but fortunately (or unfortunately) there were plenty of old plastic shopping bags blowing around, so I picked the strongest, cleanest one and began filling it up.

While some may call these plants “weeds”, I personally believe that “weed” is really more of a state of mind than a class of plants, as these species are so easy to cultivate and perform so many critical ecosystem functions from repairing soil to feeding wildlife. I’ll add that feeding people is an important ecosystem function as well, for if we do not get our food from beneficial, regenerative sources like these “weeds”, then we will be getting them from commercial farms that, as we have seen, do horrible things to the environment.

One thing that I will add before moving on is that it’s important to pay close attention to where you are harvesting these plants from, as many people who don’t understand their benefits will poison them with toxic chemicals. Eating plants treated with such poisons can make you seriously ill, or worse, so if gathering from local parks or neighbors’ lawns, make sure they don’t spray anything.

With that disclaimer aside, let’s take a look at some of the greens that are out today and what you can do with them.

Cress

Cress, or rather, the Cresses are small species in the mustard family that pop up in the cooler months of early spring and late fall and retreat in the warmer months in between. There are many different types of cresses, and it is often difficult to determine exactly which one you are looking at, but all are in the mustard family and all are safe to eat. Being in the mustard family, they have a distinct spiciness to them that makes them ideal for garnish or pesto. The leaves, stalks, flowers, and seed pods are all edible. You can harvest individual leaves or pop the whole rosette off the roots, but be sure to leave the biggest and strongest rosettes to mature and set seed so that the population can continue to thrive and provide.

A rosette of bittercress. Note the lobed compound leaves and the small white flowers in the center Another bittercress growing among other early spring greens.

Onion Grass

Onion grass is perhaps one of my favorite wild greens, and it can be found all year round in diverse habitats from lawns to forest floors. You can use it like you would onion, garlic, leeks, or any other allium for everything from soups to pestos to omelettes and beyond. Onion grass grows in clusters and produces tall, round, hollow green leaves that resemble grass, at least to the untrained eye. As soon as you break the leaves, however, the sweet smell of onion will fill the air and you will know you have onion grass. Onion grass also produces small bulbs below the soil surface, like all alliums, but it is best to only harvest the leaves to ensure that there will always be onion grass for everyone who wants it.

A tuft of onion grass hiding among true turf grasses

Dock

There are many types of dock — curly dock, patience dock, bitter dock, etc. — but all are in the Rumex family with the sorrels, and all are edible. Although edible, some are so bitter that they will not be palatable even after boiling in multiple changes of water; a quick taste test will let you know what you have.

Docks are much less bitter in the colder months of early spring when the leaves are young and tender, some being as mild as spinach with a similar texture. The leaves also tend to lose some bitterness in the late fall after setting seed, but I think spring is the best time to harvest.

A young dock, possibly patience or bitter dock, in early spring with very tender and mild leaves.

Chickweed

Chickweed is a tasty green that can be quite abundant in the spring, though it is not my favorite of the spring greens. It has an almost vine-like growth habit, as it produces long shoots that generally lie along the ground. It produces opposite leaves and small white flowers.

Chickweed with small almond-shaped leaves and little white flowers visible.

Henbit

Henbit is a herb in the mint family that comes up in the early spring but can be found throughout most of the year. Like most mints, it has a square stalk and has flowers that are loved by bees. The leaves of henbit are round with wavy edges and wrap almost entirely around the stem. Flowers are usually purple and have a nice sweetness to them.

Just 10 minutes of harvesting yielded a whole colander-full of wild greens that, together with some foraged black walnuts, made an incredibly delicious pesto.