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Various Resources for Your Garden

WEEDS: SOIL QUALITY INDICATORS

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Weeds can be used as a soil indicator. Simply by observing the most prevalent weeds that are growing in a specific area, they can indicate if the soil is acidic or alkaline, whether the soil is a healthy, balanced soil, or if it’s depleted. Weeds can indicate a poorly draining soil, or a soil that is unable to retain moisture. Weeds can even indicate if the soil is unbalanced, being overly rich in one nutrient and deficient in others."

Learn more

http://homestead.org/DianaBarker/LooktotheWeed/SoilIndicators.htm

DROUGHT-TOLERANT LAWN ALTERNATIVES

For the mediterranean climate

Dymondia margaretae, Silver Carpet

The dymondia carpet normally appears green/silver in color, but when roots are depleted and the plant needs water the leaves curl and their silver undersides are exposed to view. Water as needed in the silver colored areas to uncurl the leaves and return to green/silver color. Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil. This plants grows rapidly with irrigation, but it has deep succulent roots and can be very drought tolerant, though notably slower growing. It is hardy to about 25-30 degrees F. About the only things that this plant does not tolerate well is a heavy or otherwise non-draining soil and gophers. Dymondia margaretae is endemic to the Bredasdorp district of the Western Cape of South Africa and is monotypic, being the only species in this genus.

Makes a flat, very drought tolerant ground cover and good lawn replacement in dry zones. Takes heavy foot traffic and often called living cement. Works well as a filler between flagstone, pavers, or stepping stones and other confined areas. Soil retention: Excellent on slopes an hills due to the large diameter and deep root system. Close up of flowers on lower lefthand side of image.

Courtesy of

www.smgrowers.com

www.wikipedia.org

To learn more about drought-tolerant lawn alternatives, explore the album on the Vivacious facebook page.

ANTI-HERBIVORY PLANTS & OTHER PROPERTIES

To deter gophers, deer, rabbits, squirrels, mice and more.

Mostly Natives offers over 200 other plant species names and images of gopher resistant plant varieties. (http://www.mostlynatives.com/plant-characteristics/gopher-resistant)

For example, daffodil, Narcissus pseudo-narcissus

The bulbs of plants belonging to the natural order Amaryllidaceae are in many cases poisonous, though they are widely cultivated for the sake of their flowers.

Etymology
The chief of these is the DAFFODIL, or Lent Lily (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus, Linn.). The botanical name of the genus, Narcissus, is considered to be derived, not as is often said, from the name of the classical youth who met with his death through vainly trying to embrace his image reflected in a clear stream, but from the Greek word narkao (to benumb), on account of the narcotic properties which the plant possesses. Pliny describes it as Narce narcissum dictum, non a fabuloso puero, 'named Narcissus from Narce, not from the fabulous boy.'

Benefits
Health
A decoction of the dried flowers acts as an emetic, and has been considered useful for relieving the congestive bronchial catarrh of children, and also useful for epidemic dysentery.
Resilient
No genus of flowering plants is more readily cultivated and less liable to disease, and the presence in its leaves and roots of innumerable bundles of needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate, termed raphides, protect it from injury of browsing and gnawing animals, rendering the plants indigestible and possibly poisonous to cattle and smaller animals.
The only insect enemy from which the Narcissus seems to suffer is the fly Merodon equestris, the grub of which lays an egg in or near the bulb, which then forms the food of the larva. This pest causes serious damage in Holland and the south of England.

Courtesy of botanical.com

To learn more about anti-herbivory plants,

explore the album on the Vivacious facebook page.

PLANTS & TIPS FOR GREY-WATER SYSTEMS

There are many under-utilized sources for recycling water throughout the home, grey water is just one of those in growing need and application.

How to Irrigate:
"The Importance of a Three Way Valve:

It is well worth the time to install a diverter valve by your machine which allows you to choose whether your wash water will go to the sewer or the garden. If you have one of these, you can do loads with bleach or what-have-you and send that water to the sewage treatment plant."

Where to Irrigate:
"A trees' feeder roots extend well past the dripline (the outer edge of the branches). If the dripline is 10' from the trunk (for example), dig a mulch basin 15' from the trunk. Plan the system so you can extend the irrigation zone outwards every few years as the tree grows."

"A medium sized fruit tree (10 ft. canopy diameter) in coastal California is recommended to receive about 12 gallons per day, or 84 gallons a week, and the same tree inland needs about 20 gallons/day, or 140 gallons a week for optimum production."

Courtesy of

www.greywateraction.org

To learn more about grey-water plants and tips, explore the album on the Vivacious facebook page.

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COMMON PLANTS POISONOUS TO PETS

Aloes, amaryllis, azaleas, baby's breath, begonias, castor bean, carnations, chrysanthemum, cyclamen, etc.

Aloe vera

"Great for burns, toxic to cats and dogs.

If you keep an aloe plant on hand for burns, make sure to keep it out of reach of your pets."

• Symptoms: Vomiting, depression, diarrhea, anorexia, tremors, change in urine color.

Amaryllis

"Pretty, common as a garden ornamental, and toxic to both cats and dogs. Be careful with the bulbs, they contain the most toxins."

• Symptoms: Vomiting, depression, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hypersalivation, anorexia, tremors.

Azalea

"Not only toxic to cats and dogs, this popular garden staple is also dangerous for horses, goats and sheep–and ingestion of just a few leaves can cause serious problems."• Symptoms: Acute digestive upset, excessive drooling, loss of appetite, frequent bowel movements/diarrhea, colic, depression, weakness, loss of coordination, stupor, leg paralysis, weak heart rate and recumbency for 2 or more days; at this point, improvement may be seen or the animal may become comatose and die.

Baby's Breath

"This sweet filler of many a floral arrangement seems innocent enough, but not so innocuous when it comes to your pet’s digestion."

• Symptoms: Vomiting, diarrhea.

Begonia semperflorens, Begonia

"This popular garden and container plant is toxic to both dogs and cats. The tubers are the most toxic part."• Symptoms: Oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing.

Carnations

"The carnation isn’t the most poisonous of the bunch, but it’s ubiquity in floral arrangements makes it one to keep your eye out for."

• Symptoms: Mild gastrointestinal signs, mild dermatitis.

"Not in everyone’s garden or bouquet, but castor bean plant is a popular landscaping plant used in many parks and public spaces. Watch out for it on those dog walks."

• Symptoms: abdominal pain, drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst, weakness and loss of appetite. Severe cases of poisoning can result in dehydration, muscle twitching, tremors, seizures, coma and death.

Chrysanthemum

"It’s not likely to cause death, but it is a popular plant and can cause quite a bit of discomfort. In certain cases, depression and loss of coordination may also develop if enough of any part of the plant is consumed."

• Symptoms: Vomiting, diarrhea, hypersalivation, dermatitis.

Cyclamen

"Toxic to both cats and dogs. The highest concentration of the toxic component is typically located in the root portion of the plant."

• Symptoms: gastrointestinal irritation, including intense vomiting. Fatalities have also been reported in some cases.

Courtesy of www.care2.com

FRUIT TREE GUILDS

Guild plant or animal species are strategically selected to boost the productivity of the central animal or plant element. The central element can be a fruit tree, for example. The guild members, then, must either improve its yield or reduce the work needed to manage it. By design, this enhances the overall self sufficiency and sustainability of the system."

"A guild is more than fruit tree companion planting or planting companion vegetables and herbs. That's because Permaculture emulates the productivity of natural ecosystems by incorporating animals too.
A guild in Permaculture landscape design is a harmonious assembly of species (plant or animal) physically associated with a central plant or animal species to provide it with some benefit."

For example, Apple

Beneficial understory: Clover attracts predators of the wooly aphid, onions repel borers, slugs, cutworms, and mites. Leeks improve fruit tree growth but does not grow well with legumes. When planted in a circle around apple trees, nasturtiums limit wooly aphid damage, deter squash bugs, white flies, cabbage moths, potato beetles and the striped pumpkin beetle, and act as a trap crop for aphids. Chives also help prevent apple scab when grown under apple trees and repel mites, beetles and aphids.

WINTER VEGETABLES

Because home-grown and healthy do not need to hibernate.

Amaranth

Low growing globe varieties can grow all throughout winter. The leaves taste like spinach, are rich in Vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. They are used to brighten salads and used in stir-fry and soup.Amaranth seeds contain 18 percent protein, vitamin E, linoleic acid, lysine, amino acids, three times the fiber and five times the iron of wheat. Cooked amaranth seed is ninety percent digestible.Amaranth predated corn as an agricultural crop and has a rich tradition as a prized plant. Montezuma demanded 200,000 bushels of seed a year as payment of taxes from Aztec citizens. In Peru, it was a food staple called Inca Wheat.

Purple-sprouting broccoli

Can be sown in June or July and grown over the winter for an early spring crop. The leaves can be eaten as well as the heads. Leave the old kale and broccoli plants in the ground in spring and they will continue to provide greens until well past mid-summer. If you let a couple go to seed, they will self sow and cross with each other giving some interesting variations.

Perpetual spinach

Can all be sown at four week intervals from July onwards for both a winter crop and some seedlings to overwinter for fast take off in spring.

Rainbow chard

Can all be sown at four week intervals from July onwards for both a winter crop and some seedlings to overwinter for fast take off in spring. Chard is less hardy than perpetual spinach so if you only grow one of them, grow the spinach.

Lamb's lettuce

A wonderful, hardy salad crop which will stand outside all winter in pretty much any weather. Leave a plant to go to seed and you will have a steady supply of plants at different ages and stages springing up everywhere. Lamb's lettuce is sown from July onwards but you only need to sow it a couple of times, once indoors and once outside, to get a supply for months. It is expensive to buy and you often see it in those bags of ready-washed salad.

Land cress

Land cress can be sown from spring until September, but will stand for months from a single sowing if picked regularly. It has a similar taste and appearance to watercress. As well as using it in salads, make a mineral-rich soup using a watercress soup recipe.

Claytonia perfoliata, Miner's lettuce

An easy winter salad crop, although it does need a bit of cover. If you have a polytunnel, greenhouse or cold frame it will keep going all winter, and will self seed. Slugs do not bother much with claytonia or with lamb's lettuce and land cress.

Chickweed

A "weed" appropriate for the season, used to soothe inflammation and expel mucus from the lungs. "Chickweed has a mild green flavor that is added to salads along with other spring greens to help balance the bitter taste. You can also use it in soups, stews, casseroles, dips, stir fries, and smoothies to take advantage of the nutritive value of this 'little star.'"

Jerusalem artichoke

Edible tubers

Austrian winter pea

Nitrogen-fixing edible groundcover

Fava bean

Nitrogen fixing edible

Arugula

Radish

Parsley

Purple-sprouting kale

Pak choi

Cabbage

Carrot

Brussel sprouts

Beets

Cauliflower

Endive

Garlic and shallot bulbs

Lettuce

Mustard greens

Onions

Parsnips

Turnips

Courtesy of
http://www.permaculture.co.uk/

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VERMICULTURE: THE WHY & HOW FOR INTEGRATING WORMS FOR LOW-MAINTENANCE WASTE MANAGEMENT

WHY:

A worm bin is an easy addition for recycling organic matter on site, especially food scraps, and appeals to anyone seeking a low-maintenance compost system. In general the container should provide one square foot of surface area for every pound of food waste per week, as the red-wriggler worms can eat their weight in food scraps per day.

Not to be confused with earthworms, red-wrigglers are ideal for the warm conditions of a compost bin but can also adapt to temperatures ranging from freezing to 95° Fahrenheit. Red wigglers also reproduce more rapidly than earthworms and dwell on the surface, making them suitable for compositing bins. Given that earthworms are burrowers, they may kill themselves in the attempt to burrow to the bottoms of bins. This means there would have to be continuously turning of the compost. For this reason, earthworms are unsuitable for compost bins.

HOW:

Providing Habitat:

As simple as a covered wooden (non-treated) bin with drilled holes (< 1 cm in diameter to omit fruit flies entering) will do to host a vermicompost. It is helpful to have a screened bottom to allow for drainage and prevent anaerobic conditions. An underlying pan or drainage spigot can be used to collect the compost "tea". Raising the bin on bricks or legs helps increase the longevity of the bin in preventing rot over time.

Within the bin there should be "bedding" for the worms as they live in soft, wet materials like shredded newspaper, straw, lawn clippings, or coconut husk shavings. This should be kept moist and ideally added after every deposit of food scraps to cover. This will help maintain the moisture balance, keep any possible odors in the bin, and help prevent fruit flies from making a home in the bin.

About 2-4 cups of soil is optimal initially to introduce beneficial microorganisms and aid the worms digestive process. Then any food scraps except citrus, onion, garlic, and pineapple can be added on a daily basis. Meat and dairy products along with oils, spicy or salty leftovers are not recommended as pathogens can still persist through the gut of worms. And additionally any soft, preferably cut up organic matter like lawn clippings, leaves, and herbaceous cuttings can enrich the compost.

Keeping the environment moist deters ants and newspaper can still be added to absorb excess moisture. Your bin should not emit any foul odors, that would be a sign of excess moisture contributing to anaerobic conditions or the presence of meat/dairy products.

And finally, worm castings can be harvested at any time. To assist in this, place food scraps on one side of the bin for 2 weeks until the majority of worms have migrated to that side so castings can be shoveled out without disturbing the worms themselves. Apply castings in the top 3 inches of soil and keep covered from sun exposure. You may discover a number of adventitious tomato plants sprouting from these castings, they in particular are often preserved whole through the digestive tract of worms and are considered by many to be a positive result!