YARD GARDENWhat We’ve Done for Food and for Fun

To Have Fresher, Tastier, and More Diverse Food at Home

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Blog at TheMainStreetGardener.com + weekly(-ish) mailing list sign up

Ben Capozzi bencapozzi@gmail.com

540•227•0221

@bencapozzi on Instagram + Twitter

ENTHUSIASM EXPERTISE>

Something Like ThisBut with more perennials,

and things for non-humans

VA Master Gardener

Museum Educator

Workshops and books

Plant-Based Nutrition certificate

SoilFoodWeb certificate

Permaculture Design Certificate

Toby Hemenway—Gaia’s Garden

Geoff Lawton—PRI Australia

Angelo Eliades—Deep Green Permaculture, Australia

Stefan Sobkowiak—Miracle Farms, Canada

Roaslind Creasy—“gardening should be an ecologically positive endeavor”

Ideas From:

On the corner of Main & Irish

Multiple experiments going on:

Guilds and companion planting; orchard/s; mixed flower/vegetable beds; composting techniques

Perennials are the backbone

Just us two with occasional help from in-laws

Some Things About Our Place

“What I want to do is create these beautiful, delightful, sexy, fun, food-filled alternatives…”

–Toby Hemenway

Organizing with Zones

Plants close to home are easier to water and care for—why put the garden so far away?

Ground cover to hold in moisture, shade tree for family spaces—even better if it’s edible

Home cooking is easier

Can’t get any fresher

Your yard carries the varieties you like

Perennials are less maintenance

Advantages

Why Edibles?

Physical Health and Nutrition—I know what’s in my veggies and I work to take care of them

Mental health—satisfying

Learn “new” skills—grinding corn, pickling vegetables, canning

Freshness—many varieties lost because they don’t take industrial processing well (travel, packaging, handling)

Good for the planet—diverse, self-sufficient, non-extractive, sharing

It’s something I can do

“THE US’S BIGGEST EXPORT IS TOPSOIL.”

–Jack Spirko

HORTICULTURAL AGRICULTURAL

Perennials

Fruit trees—you can fit more than you think you can

Shade tolerant Currants and Gooseberries

Muscadines

Comfrey (Nettles, Rhubarb; Horseradish)

Fava beans and N-fixing shrubs and trees

Clover and Daikon radish

Nasturtiums

Variety of vegetables—is the spice of the yard—some we start, some we direct sow, some we buy at Abbot’s in HFX

Plants of Note

COMFREY

CLOVER AND RADISH

FAVA BEANS

Composting—worm towers, weed bins, traditional compost, banana circle

Pots, bales, shade, sun, wet, dry, hugel…et al

From seed, seedlings, to pre-tended

Trying corn again including popping and flour varieties

First year we’ve planted flowers!

Trial and Experimentation

BASICS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGNCOLOR SCALE RHYTHM PATTERN “STAIR-STEPPING” LAYERS

Casa de Ward-CapozziSince 2010

~6MOS

PROJECT

ZONE DATETWO

OUTER FENCE LINEFRONT YARD

Raspberries

Red Clover

Nasturtiums

MAIN STREET ~2014STAY TUNED…

-1YR

PROJECT

ZONE DATETWO

FRONT YARD BEDSFRONT YARD

Bush Cherry Nanking

Bush Cherry Nanking

Bush Cherry Nanking

Blueberry Pink Lemonade

Forsythia

Redbud

Honeysuckle Blue Velvet Comfrey

Comfrey

Comfrey

Lemon Balm

Lemon Cypress

Cherry Black Tartarian

Creeping Pine

Weeping Pine

Daylily Condilla

Knipofia Dwarf Creamsicle

Lemon Cypress

Chokeberry VikingChokeberry

VikingChokeberry

Viking

Creeping Pine

Lemon Cypress

Cornelian Cherry

Weeping SpruceBush Cherry

Nanking

Bush Cherry Nanking

Chokeberry Viking

Comfrey

Mugo Dwarf Pine

Lemon Cypress

Hinoki Cypress

Cherry Black Tartarian

Comfrey

Weeping Atlas Cedar

OreganoStrawberry

Rosemary

Cornelian Cherry

Autumn Olive Amber

Autumn Olive Garnet

Weeping Cherry

Weeping Sequoia

Kinpo Pine

Dogwood Kousa

AzaroleHoneyberry Blue Moon

Honeyberry Blue Velvet

BlueberryBlueberry

Multigraft Apple

Gala, Fuji Red Delicious,

Golden Delicious

Blueberry

Blueberry

Comfrey

Bush Cherry Nanking

Blackberry Apache

Blueberry

OreganoRosemary

Corn

Hops

Amaranth

Peanuts

Strawberries

Oregano

Olive tree

NEW

PROJECT

ZONE DATETHREE

SHADE GARDENFRONT YARD

-2YR

PROJECT

ZONE DATETWO

INNER & OUTER ORCHARDSIDE YARD

Best light vs worst soil

Hard clay and gravel, formerly driveway, softened with Daikon (Fukuoka)

Intensively managed

Pruning and alternating species

Interplanted with herbs and sunflowers to attract pollinators, birds, and repel pests

Herbs and Comfrey

Young trees arranged by harvest date

Honeylocust trees—street tree, power line height, n-fixer

Orchard

Multigraft Pear Shinseiki, 20th Cent,

Chojuro, Hosui

Cherry Utah Giant

Apple Golden

DorsetteApple Anna

Apple Ein Shemer

IrisesGarlicsFennel Red Clover Scotch BroomComfrey Kniphofia

Cherry Rainier

Cherry Lapin’s

Pluot Flavor Grenade

Plum Golden Nectar

AlmondJujubePlum Methley

Plum Burgundy

Multigraft Apple Fuji, Gala, Red & Golden Delicious

Apple Honeycrisp

Apple Honeycrisp

IrisesTulipsYarrow Red Clover HoneylocustComfrey Cardoon

Apple Fuji

Pear Columbus

RedPear

Moonglow

Plum Emerald Beauty

Peach Red HavenMuscadineGooseberry

InvictaGooseberry

Pixwell Jostaberry

Cherry Van

Cairn Terrier

Irises

Garlics

Multigraft Pear Shinseiki

20th Century Chojuro Hosui

Fennel

Red Clover

Cherry Utah Giant

Apple Golden

Dorsette

Apple Anna

Cherry Rainier

Scotch Broom

Comfrey

NEW

PROJECT

ZONE DATEONE

HERB SPIRAL, DESSERT GARDEN, AND “THE BARGE”SIDE YARD

Garlics

Garlics

Elephant Blackberry

Gooseberry Tixia

BasilRosemary

Kale

Garlics

Latham Red Raspberry

Gooseberry Tixia

Chives

Pears 20th Century

Chojuro Shenseiki

Hosui

Pluots Flavor King

Flavor Supreme Flavor Queen Dapper Dandy Apple

McIntosh

Plum Italian

Pear Seckel

Comfrey

Daylily

Straw Bales

PERMACULTURE 101

Permaculture technique

Small footprint

Hardscaping feature

Healthiest rosemary survived wet winter and spring

Herb Spiral

Midsummer (and other) delicacies

Herbs and fruits for cocktails and sweet treats

ROUGH soil

Dessert Garden

Straw bale technique

Less maintenance, less watering, less weeding

Building soil for the fall and 2016 garden beds

Vermicomposting towers for kitchen scraps

Worked well last year

Added hoops to experiment for winter and “hugel” bottom

“The Barge”

+2YR

PROJECT

ZONE DATEONE

POTTED VEGGIESBACK PORCH

Traditional AND Specialty Crops That Require Some Love

Cut-and-come-again lettuces

Peppers

Carrots

Peanuts

Potted Bananas

Nutrients an issue—comfrey everywhere

Using SmartPots®

Fall use as well

NEW

PROJECT

ZONE DATETHREE

HERITAGE APPLE HILLSIDE & WILDFLOWER PATCHDRIVEWAY

Asparagus (Future)

Honeylocust

Apple Virginia Beauty

WildflowersWildflowersWildflowers

Wildflowers

Apple Jellyflower

SweetApple Black

Limbertwig

Apple Crow Egg

Apple Hubbardston

Nonesuch

BlueberryMarionberry

Gooseberry Lavender

Rosa Rugosa

Apple King David

Cherry Craig’s

Crimson

BlueberryRhubarb

HorseradishMuscadineMuscadine

Apple Arkansas

Black

Orchard GoalsAll ripen in Sept-Oct

Heritage apple varieties

Late season grapes

Snake haven

Wildlife plants and flowers

Red clover and wildflowers over “hugel mounds”

Perennial vegetables—asparagus, horseradish, and rhubarb

Garlic Chives

Apple King David

Rosa Rugosa

Apple Arkansas

Black

Apple Black

Limbertwig

Apple Crow’s Egg

Apple Jellyflower Sweet

MuscadineMuscadine

Blueberry

Cherry Craig’s

Crimson

Pear Keiffer

Apple Fuji

Trailing Rosemary

Lavender

Back Yard Challenges

Privacy

Walnut toxicity

Plants that like wet feet—Elderberry, Mayhaw, Willow

Rose of Sharon—poison absorber

Reclaiming yard and play space

Fire pit & Bat house for mosquito control!

Composting space

+1YR

PROJECT

ZONE DATETHREE

FIG ROWBACKYARD

Fig Black

Mission

StrawberriesRosemary

Garlic ChivesFig

Brown Turkey?

Fig Celeste

Fig LSU

Purple

Fig Chicago HardyFig

Latarula

Filbert Theta

Fig Black

Mission

StrawberriesRosemary

Garlic ChivesFig

Brown Turkey?

Fig Celeste

Fig LSU

Purple

Fig Chicago HardyFig

Latarula

Filbert Theta

Fig Black

Mission

Strawberries

Rosemary

Garlic Chives

Fig Brown

Turkey?

Fig Celeste Fig

LSU Purple

Fig Chicago Hardy

Fig Latarula

Strawberries

NEW

PROJECT

ZONE DATETHREE

PEACH PITBACKYARD

PeachPeach Peach

PeachPeach

MelonTree

Filbert

Banana CircleFig

Fig

FigFigFig

Rosemary

Muscadine

Muscadine

Filbert

Blueberry

Persimmon (Fuyu)

Persimmon (Fuyu)

Crabapple

AlmondBlackberryStrawberries

Peach Veteran, Frost, Cresthaven

Peach Muir

Peach Suncrest

Persimmon (Fuyu) Walnut

Brandywine Raspberry

Currant Ben Lomond

Currant Jonkheer Van Tets

Currant Red

Rovada Black Raspberry

Peach Veteran,

Frost, Cresthaven

Peach Muir

Peach Zaiger DoubleJewel

Peach Suncrest

Persimmon (Fuyu)

Walnut

Currant Imperial

White

Peach Indian Free

Black Raspberry

LoganberryStrawberries

Currant Ben Lomond

Filbert Jefferson

Persimmon (Fuyu)

Currant Jonkheer Van Tets

Currant Red

Rovada

Black Raspberry

Melon Tree

BlackberryCurrant Ben Sarek

Currant Crandall Black

+1YR

PROJECT

ZONE DATETHREE

BANANA CIRCLEBACKYARD

Inedible varieties of heavy feeding bananas

Winter hardy Musa basjoo

Pet waste composting

Sunchokes and Borage for pollinators

Sweet potatoes for ground cover and weed suppression—beautiful flowers!

Banana Circle

Sweet potatoes Sunchokes Borage Musa basjoo (Japanese fiber banana)

Banana

Banana

Banana

Persimmon (Hachiya)

Crabapple (Harvest Gold)

Almond Blackberry (Apache)

Strawberries Sunchoke Sunchoke

Sunchoke

“What a glorious, incredible sight.”

~Fred Urquhart

Ty Ty Nursery GA

Ison’s GA

Burpee

Peaceful Valley Organic CA

Nantahala Farm NC

Hidden Spring Nursery TN

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Abbot’s in Halifax VA

Me

Where to Get Plants and Seeds

—Geoff Lawton

—Geoff Lawton

“You can solve all the

world’s problems in a garden.”

May 20, 7PM PERMACULTURE

What it is, What it isn’t, and

What’s in it for you

THANK YOU!