Updated on January 13, 2016
Growing on a Patio
Hi Everybody, here is another one to help you beat the winter blues and get you thinking and planning your growing for the coming garden season. This post includes a short video highlighting all the horticulture I had going on a patio in 2013. It shows that PERMACULTURE IS NOT ONLY RESERVED FOR THOSE WHOM HOLD TITLE OVER A PATCH OF GROUND. I hope your planning season is going well.
Growing on a Patio
When I first started down the permaculture road, I was absolutely dogmatic about the need to have a patch of ground for gardening. After several years of bouncing from place to place, moldy farm rental accommodation to moldy farm rental accommodation I have soften a bit on my perspective. At some points my family's search for a bit of equitable land access was down right depressing. The real low was the one autumn season I had to remove a sheet mulch garden I had installed in the spring, because my landlord up stairs didn't like the look of it. Never the less we have persisted in finding a living arrangement that suits the life quality and ethical needs of a young family trying to build a livelihood directed by permaculture principles.
I currently find myself doing something I would have deemed unthinkable just a short 7 years ago, I am container gardening. Imagine that... I Jesse Lemieux, a professionally active permaculture designer and educator, moving from a rural situation, out on the land, to an urban situation living in an apartment with nothing more than a west facing patio for food production.
Updated on January 13, 2016
Premature Planting
I first wrote this post back in the winter of 2013, after the excite of Christmas comes and goes I start looking ahead to the coming growing season.
I HAVE A BAD CASE OF PREMATURE PLANTING (PMP) SYNDROME
Are you going to be growing food in a container garden this summer? If you are you might want to have read, I think that I am on to one of the best in container gardening techniques.
If you are anything like me, endless days of cool and wet west coast winter weather can drive you a bit batty. I have pale hair, pale eyes and pale skin but despite my best genetic efforts I still can't seem to produce enough vitamin D to keep my pleasure gauge up at normal levels. My troubles are multiplied by the fact that my home is perched neatly on the north slope of a very steep granite knob, known as Cates Hill.
Not that I am complaining, in many regards our home on Bowen is turning out to be a perfect location for my family and our business: we are walking distance to the ferry; Lachlynn's (that's my daughter) preschool is 20 steps from our front door; we are on "can I borrow your car" terms with our neighbors; Pacific Permaculture's studio/classroom space is three doors down the sidewalk; there is an organic artisan chocolatier across street and a great cafe just across the square. Alas nothing is perfect, there is a serious, but tolerable, drawback. Due to the northern aspect the sun disappears behind Cates Hill in late November and doesn't show itself again until early February. Please see the diagram below to understand the lay of the land.
Updated on January 13, 2016
Lemons In Vancouver
Happy New Year!
I am currently going through the process of re-working Pacific Permaculture's old website which has dozens of old blog posts. Even though, I wrote many of them long ago the information is still totally relevant so over the course of the next few months I will be re-posting all of them here at www.pacificpermacultureschool.com.
To start off I figured it would be good to post one that is relevant to the cooler winter temperatures. This is short one I put together about helping a Meyer Lemon survive and thrive through a winter on Bowen Island BC. If I remember correctly this little tree survived a few nights that dipped below -5 and went on to blossom and produce fruit in the coldest part of the year, a result that certainly exceeded my expectations.
Have a great garden planning season.
Sincerely
Jesse
Growing Lemons In Vancouver
Are you a grow your own fanatic like me?
If you are than you probably dream of growing your own citrus.
Just because you live in a cool climate like Vancouver doesn't make it a pipe dream. It can very easily be a reality.
In fact you don't even need to have a yard or green house. All you need is a patio, incandescent Christmas lights, a piece reemay and one Meyer Lemon Tree.
The Meyer Lemon is a pot ready dwarf lemon tree, known for its prolific fruiting habit and ability to tolerate cooler temperatures. This fantastic little tree will not survive a freeze up and must be kept above freezing to survive a Vancouver winter. Fortunately that doesn't take much. My own little micro-climate experiment has exceeded expectations.
