Sky Adams

If I were you I would fill it with shrubs that product nuts and fruits, I don't know where you live but I'd choose hazelnut, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries. Pack it up with edible diversity

What is your region? I could be more specific if I knew what sort of environment you have around you and the plants that would be available. Keep an eye out for garlic mustard, purslane (DELICIOUS) , Japanese knotweed. These will be flowering into summer. Dandelions are always good for greens as well.

You can find out about new plants by doing a survey of your local ecosystem, identifying the local plants and then looking into them. I personally use the Native American Ethnobotany Database to do initial research. This helps me identify underused plants around me. I'll identify the ecosystem, find a list of the plants occurring there and start checking them out for usability.

http://naeb.brit.org/

This one had some great ideas I hadn't considered. How would you cook mulberry leaves?

Nancy Reading wrote:

There are millions of seedlings I either let them compete or commit to a slaughter

Can you pot some up and give them away to some neighbours?

great idea! thank you for sharing!

I will absolutely be potting them up, I'm not very familiar with my community though. ( I do have hopes of engaging local people to create a public community garden in the future) I'm wondering how to go about offering these tomatoes. There's a playground I could leave them around, I saw some people advertise on FB marketplace, and I was considering having them for free at my local farmers market. I'm unsure how to start conversations with my neighbors to be honest and many of them aren't gardeners (yet).

I hope I learn some things about joining my community this year in addition to general garden skills.

5/26

I laid surface manure on plot 3 today with additional mulching along with plot 4.
I'm thrilled for the plants right now, wet and warm conditions are making it thrive although my lettuce bolted in plot 1 from variable heat days. I guess I will be looking for some summer lettuce varieties.

I also found some leftover tomato seeds from last year, I thought they were osage orange I seeded but it was tomatoes!! so many, I'm not sure if i should pull them or see if they can make it. I didn't intend for that patch to have tomatoes in it again. There are millions of seedlings I either let them compete or commit to a slaughter

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:I have no idea which of these were native, but off the top of my head:

Yucca (soap from the root)
Horse Chestnut (laundry soap from the nuts)
Comfrey (dried powdered root plus fine-ground charcoal makes a good tooth powder, which is easier to make than toothpaste)
Soapwort (soap/shampoo made from the above-ground parts)
Jewelweed (gel-like lotion, similar to aloe)
Velvetleaf (also called "butterprint", makes a good tissue)

The list above is entirely from memory, so please double-check before relying on it.

Horsechestnut seems like a good dishwashing and shampoo candidate\

Trace Oswald wrote:Just to clarify, your area is 35 sq ft, or 35 ft squared?

35 sq. ft

two 5ft x  5ft; plus one (around~)2ft x 4ft for growing

Additional Thoughts on the larger project::

5/23

Natural Insect management and Multi-cropping


Today, I will be planting sweet basil with my tomatoes patch, and some Kentucky blue pole beans beneath my corn transplants. I'm trying to create a densely planted area. Last year, I noticed that higher biodiversity reduced insect herbivory significantly. My first garden with lone potted plants got destroyed by those little mouths.

Considering natural insect management for the garden,,
After looking into it there are a few reasons that multi-cropping can reduce herbivory.
In my patches I've used a variety of species to accomplish this using the different plant services. They are explored using the following species.

Odor Confusion;
Insects use odor chemicals to identify plants for eating. So planting multiple crops with strong scents in the garden can reduce the targeting of certain crops.
- Onion
---Green onion
---Yellow Onion
-Parsley
-Basil
-Oregano

Encouraging Insect predation;

Flowering plants can draw in predator insects to attack pests in the garden. I've also considered other draws such as a small pond but that's another future project

-Marigolds
-Bee Balm
-Probably others I've yet to identify

Trap Crops;

Some crops like root vegetables with rarely used leaves are good distractions for munching insects.
This year I've noticed the radishes working great. My lettuce is definitely benefitting from their presence to take the weight off.

-Radishes
-Nasturtium
-Suggestions(?)

I still intend to use neem oil spray soon though. It's remarkably useful and while the sparse areas grow in i'm sure my transplants would appreciate the extra protection.

--To be Expanded--
--I can provide sources at request--

I started my first garden last year and this is to keep track of my second year progress; changes happen so often I'd like to see it documented.

I  want to keep track of my growth as a gardener while I work on my degree. I hope to incorporate agroforestry practices over time but I don't have a very large space to work with so I've begun with conventional gardening habits and have chosen to slowly replace them as I learn more about how to manage my garden to be more productive and regenerative. I'm paying particular attention to indigenous agriculture management practices, I'd like to incorporate them as much as possible. ( I know that a culture that grew up on this continent over time would have the best idea for how to manage it for production and conservation). So far I've determined that my regional tribe was Anishinaabe Odawans-I'll be documenting some resources If I find them related

If you see this and have resources to share, please do I have so much to learn.
5/23/22

So,,

Current Projects::

I have 4 plots 2; 10 sq. ft and 1; 8 sq. ft
Plot 1: Lettuce Patch:


Inhabitants::
-- Spring lettuce variety pack
--Onion
--Strawberry
--Snap Peas
--Carrots
-Marigold
--Bee Balm
--Radish

Plot 2: Corn Patch:


Inhabitants::
-- Sweet Bi-color Corn
-- Zucchini
-- Potatoes
-- Onion
--Parsley
-- Strawberry
-- Red Radishes
--Marigold
-- Beans (upcoming)

Plot 3: Tomatoes:


Inhabitants
-- Tomatoes (Cherry and Chunks)
-- Poblano
-- Bell Pepper
-- Jalapeno
- Oregano
- Basil
-Marigold

Plot 4; Summer Squash and Unknown:
In a fourth unlabeled plot I have 3 plants.
2 are native and unknown

Outliers::
-Cucumber
-Raspberry Bush

Wishlist Projects::

-Plum and Apple Trees
-Flower/Perennial garden in front yard


Background;

Garden Start;; 4/10/22

Region: Mid-Michigan Zone 6a

Size; 35sq ft divided into 4 zones

Regional Forest type; Maple-Beech forests in the uninhabited spaces around me

-----Index-----

Joshua Myrvaagnes wrote:Can anyone tell what made these long-term successful ones work:

--300-year-old food forest in Vietnam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZO0Nco2t5g
--2,000-year-old one in Morocco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKIgqa49rMc
--John Hershey plantings/breeding research, from the 40's or so and abandoned for many decades now:
--Helen Atthowe's food forest
--whatever the heck Sepp Holzer does
--your own experiences
--random trees in someone's yard that always kick ass
--any other food forests or just individual trees that have passed the 10-year mark, or ideally the 50-year mark, and are productive of a significant portion of at least one person's nutritional needs per year

Social factors as well as physical.

Also, please specify if you're describing your own direct observation, video observation, reading, or other.  Thanks!

The thousand + year old food forests are doing better than urban forest gardens I suspect because of the animal life.
The complaints I've hear regarding issues with crop production and establishment are always in places that don't have the same traffic as a real forest might. Silvopasture is the complete cycle for efficient forest gardens.

Not only do they need proper species selection but also the unique organic processing done by animals cannot be replicated unless you regularly haul in manure and compost. The trees will always thrive better with movement below and the addition of animal wastes and they ecological services performed

I found an Iphone 7:: unlocked in the dumpsters at my college. It was from a wealthy chinese student I believe because it was in Mandarin and an international phone. But it had a crack in the screen, I'd imagine their parents probably had enough money to just replace it. I can't imagine how often perfectly good phones are dumped-- it had a 400$ retail value when I found it. It was incredible. I have found some great pots as well