Welcome Crystal Stevens, Author of Your Edible Yard!

Carla Burke wrote:Hi, Crystal! Welcome to permies! An edible yard has been my wish, for decades! I'm really looking forward to your book, and learning from you, here!

Thank you!

aunt bea taylor wrote:Welcome Crystal Stevens, Author of Your Edible Yard!
I am looking forward to your book. The cover with the beautiful amaranth is lovely. I am especially hoping for some tips on continuing or starting a "yarden" when physically challenged. Thank you so much. Aunt Bea

Thank you!
My suggestion would be to start small and add more as you can. Limitations are challenging. Don't be afraid to ask friends and neighbors for help. Perhaps you could start a community garden in your space. Sharing the bounty is always fun and rewarding.

Tamara Kittelson-Aldred wrote:Hi Crystal, your book look fascinating!

I had a largely edible yard that I developed over 27 years of living in the home in a triple city lot. There was a huge back yard with full south exposure where I grew grapes, berries, veggies, apples, pears, and plums. I was also enjoying perennial vegetables like sorrel and sea kale.

That ended this spring, and I am now in a much smaller home with very different light exposure. My south exposure is almost completely shaded by two huge beech trees. The backyard faces north and much is shaded by the house and two huge maple trees on the east and west sides. It has a very neglected garden spot that gets decent sun part of the day.

Any thoughts on plants that will thrive on less sun in zone 5? I am not used to all the shade!

How you must miss your previous yard. It sounds like you had an edible paradise.

Here is a great resource for shade-loving plants!
https://onegreenworld.com/shade-tolerant-plants/

Best of luck!

Hi Crystal, and welcome on permies! Amazing cover, I really would like to discover your suggestions! Do you also explain how to use wild plants in your yard/veg garden? Thanks a lot in advance!

Luke Welsh wrote:Hi Crystal! My wife and I just got a quarter acre of land in the heart of the city, and we're excited to convert our lawn into the food forest dream. One question I have is if there's any way to use permaculture to reduce sun exposure to the house - I imagine a 30-foot metal trellis that sits 6" off of the house, and running a sun-loving vine with berries that birds eat all up it, as a way to feed the birds and hopefully save some more of the ground berries for us ground dwellers. Have you heard of anything like this? My other question is what to do with a 15x30 foot patch of the backyard that has grass now but has gravel all underneath it? We were thinking of doing clover and keeping it relatively bare for a play area and zone for classes. Thank you!

That sounds great! Long term, I suggest planting a tree for shade. You could also consider a guild planting. Of course, you would need to determine the buried utilities before planting a large tree. The trellis idea sounds great in the meantime.
The 15x30 plot would be great for a clover play patch. Have you considered permanent raised beds?
Best of luck!
https://permies.com/t/143790/Free-Webinar-Gardening

Jane Campbell wrote:hi, Crystal can you give me any tips to live with a large slug population without losing my soul or my greens.  ps I live in Wales UK

“You don’t have a slug problem, you have a duck deficiency” – Bill Mollison
Have you considered ducks?

Steve Picker wrote:Crystal I’m having trouble when I integrate herbs into my flower beds they start to take over. Is there a way to stop that?

I don't have an answer but if I were to receive that feedback from my garden, I would read it as that is the place the herbs are best suited for. Maybe the flowers could be transplanted elsewhere?
Or perhaps the herbs would be easier to transplant. What type of herbs are they?
Thank you for the great question.

Cheryl Casker wrote:I live in central Texas on a quater acre lot. I have 7 live oals I would like to grow food plants and fruit bushes under them but I worry about the acidic nature of the soil. Any suggestions?

Blueberries do well in acidic soil.
Sericeberries also do well.

I would suggest mushrooms!
https://shop.mushroommountain.com/collections/plug-spawn

You could also check with your local extension office or agroforestry resource.


Best of luck!

E Francken wrote:Thanks for joining us for a week, Crystal. I am a container gardener ready to map out a master plan for my front yard and say good bye to grass. I'm in southern California (11A) and would appreciate some resources you suggest on how to get started on conditioning soil (need everything but drainage is strong).

Dream is to build something permanent, educational, healing, and peaceful. Thanks for being with us.

That is a wonderful plan!
You may find this helpful:
https://permies.com/t/143790/Free-Webinar-Gardening
This article may be helpful:
https://www.gatewaygardener.com/tag/crystal-stevens

Jay Clayton wrote:@Y Chirea

Hello.

Have you considered preserving and sharing?

there are many ways to preserve enough for your family during the lean days so you do not have 24/7 squash.

also, I am sure there are those in your community that would welcome fresh vegetables.  Try your local food banks, churches, etc.

if all else fails:  a simple cardboard sign on the road with several bags of vegetables could give life to those less fortunate.

good luck and God Bless.

Jay Clayton

@Jay,

Yes, we barter over here. It's just not enough to be independent, and I wonder if I am not cut out for that. I hope to learn some more about how to maximize our space so that everyone can eat.
thanks

Crystal Stevens wrote:

Jessica Selser wrote:Hello hello Crystal Stevens! How exciting to see that giant "bouquet" of amaranth! Yum! I am excited to learn more about edible yards. I am enjoying sorrel, clover, lambs quarter and wintergreen on my woody parcel of land. I'm pretty shady here and live in Maine so I am i terested to learn about shady edibles. So glad you are here!

Thank you!
Serviceberries grow well as understory trees
I have heard great things about high bush cranberries but have never tried one.
Growing mushrooms is a wonderful solution for shade!
https://shop.mushroommountain.com/collections/sawdust-spawn

Here is a great resource for you!
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/pesticides/yardscaping/plants/swcdplants/shade_plants.pdf

Best of luck!

Thank you thank you, great ideas, I have downloaded the shade resource and checked the mushroom site. We have a company close by and I can speak with them too.

Welcome Crystal!  Looking forward to reading your book.

Hello Crystal, welcome and congrats on the book! It looks to be very interesting and I'll look forward to reading it. I'm very interested in getting proficient in
wild edible identification as well as innovating gardening ideas. I'm a green noob to all of this but view every day as a new classroom.
Cheers!

Kevin

K.W. Smith wrote:Hello Crystal, welcome and congrats on the book! It looks to be very interesting and I'll look forward to reading it. I'm very interested in getting proficient in
wild edible identification as well as innovating gardening ideas. I'm a green noob to all of this but view every day as a new classroom.
Cheers!

Kevin

Thank you so much!

Michelle Heath wrote:Welcome Crystal!  Looking forward to reading your book.

Thank you!

Eleonora Matarrese wrote:Hi Crystal, and welcome on permies! Amazing cover, I really would like to discover your suggestions! Do you also explain how to use wild plants in your yard/veg garden? Thanks a lot in advance!

There is a full chapter on wild edibles.
They are for zone 6-8. What zone are you in?

Hey there, great to be published, yes?  Do you have any recommendations for winning against gophers? When I have a fairly large garden, I don't think I can be lining every planting hole with wire to keep them out.  What to do?  Thanks,  DKJ

Dk Jacob wrote:Hey there, great to be published, yes?  Do you have any recommendations for winning against gophers? When I have a fairly large garden, I don't think I can be lining every planting hole with wire to keep them out.  What to do?  Thanks,  DKJ

We have not had experience with gophers so I really don’t have a good answer for you, unfortunately. A friend of ours used to rent an ozone generator to deter large pests. Not sure if that is helpful or not. Thank you.

Crystal Stevens wrote:

Dk Jacob wrote:Hey there, great to be published, yes?  Do you have any recommendations for winning against gophers? When I have a fairly large garden, I don't think I can be lining every planting hole with wire to keep them out.  What to do?  Thanks,  DKJ

We have not had experience with gophers so I really don’t have a good answer for you, unfortunately. A friend of ours used to rent an ozone generator to deter large pests. Not sure if that is helpful or not. Thank you.

I did find this:)
https://www.installitdirect.com/learn/how-to-get-rid-of-gophers/

Congratulations to our winners!

Anne Pratt
Rita Bliden
John F Dean
Paul Sofranko

We'll be sending the publishers your email addresses so they can get in contact with you to arrange shipping--keep an eye on your inbox!

Huge thanks to Crystal Stevens for joining us this week and sharing so much information with us! If you're bummed that you didn't win her book, you can order it right HERE!

Nicole Alderman wrote: Congratulations to our winners!

Anne Pratt
Rita Bliden
John F Dean
Paul Sofranko

We'll be sending the publishers your email addresses so they can get in contact with you to arrange shipping--keep an eye on your inbox!

Huge thanks to Crystal Stevens for joining us this week and sharing so much information with us! If you're bummed that you didn't win her book, you can order it right HERE!

w00t! Thank you! I WON SOMETHING!! I WON SOMETHING!! I WON SOMETHING!!!  I already heard from the publisher. I hope to make good use of Crystal's book!