Garden Tour

We planned a front yard food garden because it was the only part of our property that had enough sunlight to grow food. The garden was created as a purposeful permaculture landscape with a completely functioning eco habitat designed to conserve resources and fulfill my desire to create a cosmos within a cosmos (a complex orderly self-inclusive system). Realizing this vision resulted in removing almost half of a traditional suburban grass lawn!

The natural wood fence encloses, contains and puts a focus on producing fruits and flowers throughout the growing season. The landscape plantings, spilling out and over the fence containment area, integrate the greater outdoor space afforded by the ample front yard. The unique combinations of pathways provide practical access for maintenance while encouraging circulation, recreation and relaxation amongst the beneficial wildlife and abundant plant life.

Plants on our property include common milkweed, butterfly weed, swamp milkweed, false blue indigo, various goldenrods and asters, red and blue lobelia, mayapples, sweet fern, iris versicolor, ilex glabra, winterberry, foam flower, fringe tree, service berry, bear berry, button bush, paw paw, eastern red bud, beach plum, New Jersey Tea, mapleleaf viburnum, Golden Alexander, NY Ironweed, sneezeweed, wild ginger, lungwort, black eyed susan, ostrich fern, clethra, Bowman's root, mountain mint, monarda, yarrow, echinacea, aronia melanocarpa, aronia arbutifolia, penstemon, red columbine, baneberry, solomon's seal, northern sea oats, golden ragwort, white and spotted joe pye weed, culver's root, wild senna, anise hyssop -- to name (more than) a few. Many of the native plants I have grown from seed using the wintersowing method.

All plant material and household waste is composted on-site in large bins. Rain water is collected in four rain barrels on the property and used for watering in the garden. In addition to the garden, I am raising chickens and keeping honeybees, which provide eggs and honey for our family. The smaller lawn allows maintenance with just an electric mower and string trimmer. I fertilize only using organic fertilizers to ensure that it is safe for our bees and chickens, and for our dog. The garden beds are only leaf mulched from trees on property or green mulched with plants.

I will be giving away Swamp Milkweed plugs while supplies last!