Some of the permaculture presentation attendees at Gateway Farm I had a fantastic time presenting at Gateway Farm this past Sunday and though it was not recorded, I wanted to share a transcript of my presentation here with you all! But before I do, something to understand about permaculture is that it is a design system based on observation and pattern recognition within nature. This is also the basis of the Mystery School tradition ...
pawpaws 🍈 Our pawpaw fruits are getting bigger!! ...shown with my hand for size comparison (and a ground cover of lemon balm underneath). 🍈 We planted the pawpaw trees nine years ago and have waited eagerly for them to start producing. Not only are we thrilled to see our largest one begin fruiting now, it is also coinciding with another wonderful development at the farm and sanctuary. Exciting News... 🍈 We are anticipating the ...
... that we are part of the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary Network? A few years back I sent in an application with documentation of some of the various endangered medicinal plants we have growing at the sanctuary. We were approved to be part of the network, and you can find us listed at the United Plant Savers website. Besides medicinal plants, we have a wide variety of other native plants around the ...
Spring is in full swing at the Farm and Sanctuary! So I wanted to give you a small tour of the current beauty and abundance! As most of you know, we specialize in perennial food crops at Crossing Hedgerows, and have planted a food forest nearby the house. We used permaculture design to create this food forest, which I love to talk about when we have folks out for walks. Every year it becomes more and more ...
On Monday I had the opportunity to speak at a public meeting of County Drain Commissioners for Wayne, Monroe, and Washtenaw counties regarding the clearing of the North Branch of the Swan Creek. This is the creek which runs through the Sanctuary land, eventually emptying into Lake Erie. The creek runs through these three counties, and the commissioners were asking for public comment from the land owners whose properties would be affected by a proposal to clear ...
The photo above was taken this summer of some native plants growing under the shade of autumn olive shrubs, which are considered invasive. There are two sassafras trees and some spicebush, both of which are highly valuable for wildlife and humans alike. These native forest plants popped up on their own in this spot, spread by natural processes.Autumn olives can be problematic when they take over areas that have generally been dominated by native thickets of shrubs ...