I have always loved The Secret Garden (read here for free). I also used to love working in my grandmother's garden and for many reasons, I hope to have my own garden one day.
One of the ways that I hope to save money, eat better, and be healthy in general is to start a garden. But I really don't want to start one of those labor-intensive mini-farms. I want to start a garden that will maintain itself. I want to start a garden that will not require pesticides, fungicides, frequent watering, and fertilizer. I want a garden that is less susceptible to infestation and drought. I also want a garden that will yield a harvest that will reduce my grocery bill. Will it eliminate my grocery bill? No, but I can lower the bill on the produce section freeing up money to afford more organic foods. How will I do all of this?
I will use permaculture, a set of design principles. The permaculture ethics emphasize earth care, human care, and fair share. I will provide several resources at the end of this post, but first, I will work on what I want in my own garden and how I will address all of my wants and don't wants from the first paragraph of this post.
I found this post on Temperate Climate Permaculture and felt like there is no time like the present to discuss my garden plans. So here goes!
Looking at the Midwest Permaculture's Plant Guilds Booklet (PDF), I have decided to to combine the Fruit Tree guild on page 11 with the Bee Guild on page 6 in my backyard. I will likely try a walnut guild or a hickory in the front yard. I really would like a pecan tree and a peach tree. There will be more posts about my dream garden. And check out my Pinterest board on gardening for inspiration and tips from around the web.
Here are some of my favorite permaculture resources:
Pattern Literacy by Toby Hemenway author of Gaia's Garden. He is considered one of the foremost experts on permaculture for the United States' Pacific Northwest.
Permaculture Activist Magazine
A Link to a Wonderful Permaculture Reading List
And my two favorites:
Midwest Permaculture's Plant Guilds Booklet (PDF)
Dr. Will Hooker's Website. He a professor in the Horticulture Department of University of North Carolina. He teaches an opencourseware permaculture design course available via web and iTunes U
Once again, I have pinned all of my favorite tips on my Pinterest gardening board. And there will most definitely be more posts describing what I want in my garden and why here on Mother Teacher Scatterbrain!
UPDATE: I have a new favorite resource. Read about it here.
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