Compaction and Access

Have you noticed the path less traveled is also covered in more plant life? This is the main reason that when you enter a national park they ask you very politely to please stay on the path. Even if you see no plant life in an area it might be there, sometimes waiting in dormancy for the right moment to spring up. Compacted soil is an obstacle that most plants can not over come. Even worse of course is driving a vehicle over the soil, but even a heavy wheelbarrow can do some serious damage. You can keep your garden soil light and loamy for years to come and without having to till, if you make permanent walks, and keep the soil mulched.

Walks are an enjoyable way to add interest and lead guests through your landscape. Consider serpentine paths around natural elevation changes and landmarks. Remember less energy invested in the creation means more time to enjoy. Work with the land not against it.



How wide to make your walk                                                                  
18 inches is more than enough for a person to walk comfortably of course if you need to bring your garden cart through give it enough space and plan for a place to turn it around.

Paths will evolve on their own, as you walk over them their nature will be revealed by their usefulness. If a path has no purpose it will be unused and then overgrown. Build a path with purpose and it will be maintained without effort.

Paths with parallel or grid configurations take much more space than designs created with more organic forms. This is called least path design.
 
Materials for a walk                                                                         
mulches of all sorts make good walks, they retain moisture add nutrients and cull weeds. Call a local Arborist for his latest chips, use leaves in the fall, and grass clippings in the summer.

found field stones are great materials for hard scape, know that plants will eventually grow in between the rocks. You can fight this forever, as weeding is a losing battle, or you could plant them with small ground cover or moss. I don't recommend placing a plastic sheeting underneath to stop weeds as it will eventually deteriorate contaminating your soil. A natural fabric can help for a few years, for added protection, stability, and drainage level out an inch of sand underneath.

pea gravel and river rock are also good for light or heavy traffic, make sure to have good rails around the rocks so they don't migrate into your beds. Try using as local a product as you can. For my paths I have used things found on and around my property.

Taking advantage of a interesting tree shard

Path Boarders                                                                                
Even if you have well planned out paths often people walk all over your bed anyway. They simply do not understand the destruction they are causing, or are oblivious to the rules of garden space. If you plan on having guests give the paths some definition. Try lining the boarders with taller rocks or small logs. Again I don't recommend adding plastic to your garden in any form, boarders and rhizome barriers included.

I am not against a grass walk, the problem is that it will spread into your garden giving you more weeding if the boarders aren't well secured. Carefully mowing it over and over again take time and effort.

Instant pathway of broken pavers

Biomass

My efforts to eradicate the Pachysandra have the ill effect of stripping the land of biomass. The carbon sequestering organic matter that is eventually turned into great soil. I have found a solution.

I don't even have to leave my neighborhood to find sacks of leaves. These official yard "waste" bags line the streets every garbage day in the fall. Throwing them in, or even on the roof of the car takes little effort. As I empty the bags around my yard, I then have a place to put pachysandra I've pulled. I was overwhelmed by pachysandra at one point, I pulled more than I had space for, but now it is taken away and mechanically turned into compost by the municipality. Remember not to throw pachysandra in your compost pile unless you want it growing there too.

Pachysandra Wars

There are aggressive plants and there are invasive plants.  When it comes to the woods behind my house I often say, "There is no such thing as an invasive. Only things that the deer eat, and things that they don't.", this is a joke of course. My arch enemy pachysandra is very aggressive.

 In my mind for a plant to be labeled an invasive it needs to fill a few requirements that narrow the broad definition sometimes used. I think it better to understand why a plant or animal is reacting with its environment in this often negative way then to destroy it without understanding. Never start pulling plants before you know exactly what they are and why you are pulling them. It is much better to leave plants as they are then to destroy a fragile habitat.

1. Non native- any plant that does not originate from the geographical region (must fill this requirement saving few exceptions) native plants do sometimes over populate
2. Mat forming - chokes out all other plant life, alternatively a strangling vine that is is also wide spread and/or overly aggressive.
3. Rhizome regeneration - a plant that regrows from the root or stolons, spreads rapidly makes removal difficult
4. No competition (over competes)- other plants can't keep up and are overtaken, nothing eats it or keeps it in check i.e. hard frosts, herbivores, other plant species
5. Prolific self seeding - Seeds carried by wind or birds can move ling distances and take over quickly
6. Serves no ecological function - a parasite if you will on the natural order
7. Is of no use to humans

"Invasive" is an idea created by humans. Plants only do what they were designed to do. Nature works with what is available. I clear pachysandra with the intention of introducing useful native plants, not to simply remove the former.

(right)  Kill pachysandra on top of pachysandra?
It is a good idea to cover the ground that you have exposed with at least a light mulch.
Here you see one of my new beds terraced with a log and covered with leaves.
This plot was seeded before the mulch was applied.

When you cut down a large vine that is growing on a tree you kill a wild habitat for animals. Say that vine was a wild grape, perfectly native but might smother the trees it grows on. This is nature and our intervention is not needed. So its attached to a large maple, in a forest filled with maples, all you are doing is using your feeble human mind to intercede nature who in due course knows what is right. Difficult decisions can't be made on a black and white basis. A vine that is known to strangle trees is  killed there by solving the problem? Was there a problem or just the human thought of one. This course of action potentially creates another one.

Here I have made the distinction that pachysandra is an ornamental, non native, and properly aggressive. Planted for its tolerance of both sun and shade, it readily covers an area with poor soil. It is the uninformed gardeners ground cover, chosen because it stays green all winter long. Unfortunately pachysandra gains ground on all sides each year growing stronger and thicker. Imagine its exponential growth, from a two inch mat to four, then sixteen, thirty two, and it never dies back and grows thicker and more tangled.

Total destruction was never the intention, and is probably not possible. As much as I gave grown to dislike pachysandra it serves its purpose well. Holding the hillside up under deep shade is an admirable quality. If its progress can be stifled then other plants may have the chance to coexist. It is actually possible to plant a mature bush into it. After years without management the pachysandra has become too big to fail, I cut it and it will come back.

the best place is on the street it dries it out. If you run it
over with your car, even better

burning pachysandra doesn't work too well

I have found no weakness that could be exploited to kill or even control pachsandra. The roots, doubling as stolons, grow long distances underground and pop up in any area that is suitable, conversely they will grow distances over ground, over rocks, roots anything that is in their way. Putting on leaves in these areas until they reach fertile soil again where again they root. Any small bit of plant matter left in the ground is bound to sprout again, making it that much more difficult to control. Burning is not ideal.

 It is not enough to simply pull out the plant and hope that balance returns. When pulling the pachysandra I am cautious to not over compact the soil by walking on the ground that has been lightly tilled by the removal of roots. This procedure is sure to turn up seeds of other plants that have been waiting for their chance to germinate. In any case if native seeds can be obtained it is a good idea to give them a chance as well. I am lucky enough to have a lb. of northeastern wildflower seed mix from Seedland. You should follow their planting instructions, timing is of the essence. I recommend having the seeds ready before you start your project, you may have to put seed down more than once. You might even try broadcasting see before you start pulling. I wouldn't seed in the middle or end of summer, fall through early spring is optimal.





The battle rages on.

Seed Saving

This time of year the pods and the chaff are out there drying on your plants after the years first frosts. Collecting them can be a boon to your next years crop. If you ate all your runner beans then I suppose you will have to buy more for seed. It is wise to avoid this, if you eat your seed you will certainly starve to death. Saving seeds from your garden year after year can enhance the genetics of the species and by virtue of natural selection adapt the plant to your climate.

What about harder to retrieve seeds like those of tomatoes?

There are a few ways to extract seeds from a tomato. One way is to squeeze them in a jar and wait a few days for the tomato to ferment which loosens the seed from the flesh. Shake the jar as needed and add water. Pour off the water until you reach the viable seeds which will have sank to the bottom. Repeat as necessary. I find it is easier to scrape the seeds from the pulp with a knife, then you may eat the rest. Wash and strain a few times will help to remove residue that may grow mold if left.

place these seeds in the open, with dry not overly hot or cold conditions. It is not advisable to place seeds on paper towel because they will definitely stick to it. I have started seeds in paper towels before, I find that there is a chance they will either become too saturated or become moldy. A young root may not have the power to break through the paper, if you plant the paper towl with the seed there is a chance for success.

Once your seeds have dried a paper bag makes a nice breathable place for larger seeds. You might keep seeds in a envelope, and if you are sure they have dried sufficiently a glass jar or an old medicine bottle. I have found surface mold on seeds that were not dry enough. Taking them out of the container and drying them some more should save the seeds from total destruction. Historically people have used dried out gourds and earthen bowls as a place for storing seeds. Both breath well and are dark.

wet uncured seeds will rot in plastic

Don't forget to label your seeds, name and date should suffice. Even if you have great skills at determining one seed from another labeling is important. It is near impossible to tell a variety of the same species from another, let alone how old they are. Seeds that have been stored for too long may become nonviable. I only bother with the year, omitting the month and day, so that at a glance seeds that are getting older can be used accordingly. I have found at seed swaps some people like to add the location that seeds were collected and the name of the gardener. Each plant variety has particular preferences that a small climatic shift can disrupt. Even if the plants came from the other side of the world if the climate is similar yours, you may find that the plant is well adapted. No two climate zones are truly the same.It is customary to collect seeds from the years finest fruit in an attempt to extend their genetic line.

some old seed packet designs 80's and 90's

If the plant can propagate its self then what is all this seed saving for? Farmers and gardeners like to have some control over when their plants will germinate mature and finally crop. If you have the space (perhaps a greenhouse) and time for growing seedlings out then by all means. Plants have survived on their own for all of time and can, on most occasions, get the timing right, but only if they are adapted to their surroundings. Collecting the seed comes in handy then when you want to sow for new plots or give a little protection from winter freeze and thaw. Seeds can survive a long time in the right conditions. In fact the oldest seeds ever germinated were some 2,000 years old, found in an Egyptian tomb.

garlic cloves or "seed garlic" is actually vegetative reproduction 

When I find a seed I save it.

All Plants are Carnivores,

in the end they eat you.

A fantastic introduction to Permaculture.


Bill Molloson is a prophet. He offers to you the answers for all of life's problems, all of them.

Permaculture is based on holistic design thinking, sustainable solutions which connect us to place in our community, to fill a niche, giving you the power and responsibility to observe and interact in accordance with ethics.

Sustainable - Any system which over its lifetime produces enough to have created and maintained itself.

" Nothing on earth is so destructive. If we don't stop agriculture then we are all dead."

70% of soil has been displaced by agriculture

40% of waters have been contaminated by agriculture

a species is lost every six minutes

"River in the whole forest is as the sap is in the whole tree."

Agriculture is not a system for growing food but a system for creating money.

Bill reminds us that we are all made of meat.

Pennsylvania Pineapple

Will I be able to grow this crop outside through the winter?  I'll take my chances. This is only an experiment, the pineapple tops were just sitting in water all summer and still looked healthy. The king of fruits, they say, I can attest to that. With little effort I'll give it a shot.

first step is to pot the plants. As you can see the plats are nestled in a corner next to the chimney, on this southwest facing wall. The soil was well saturated, and I drilled some inconspicuous holes in the pots for better drainage. A small amount of compost soil was placed just underneath some vermiculite.

then I put the little buggers in glass jars, hopefully this small greenhouse effect will be some source of warmth. Then I tucked them in under a nice blanket of dry leaves. Fingers crossed.

If it is possible to keep the plants from freezing I may have done my part. I know that they are tropical plants and probably can't tolerate temperatures below 40 degrees. Like I said, an experiment with little investment.

I will be sure to update in spring.

Globabl Initiative - Save the Soil