Monday, January 4, 2010

Gaia's Garden 2nd Edition Set Me Straight

Well, I couldn't resist.  I stopped at the book store the other day and picked up a copy of Gaia's Garden, 2nd edition.  I've been reading it the last few days.

It reminded me that to make progress building my food forest, I need to be planting soil-building plants.  So I'm scrapping my plans to get some honeyberry bushes this year.  Instead, I'll get some Seaberry (also called Sea Buckthorn) bushes, since they are nitrogen fixers.  And I'll plant a mix of annual and perennial flowers that attract beneficial insects and also help build the soil.  I think I'll plant my squashes out there, too.  Then after I harvest the squash, I can slash the plants and let them compost in place.  And comfrey.  I defintely need some comfrey (it can be cut for compost-in-place 2-3 times a year). 

I'd best get busy!