House & Garden

“We’ve had 50 years of unusually stable weather… What do we need to do now, to garden in times that are less predictable?” Plant breeder Carol Deppe, author of The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times, suggests growing a wider variety of crops adapted to conditions where you are; crops needing minimum inputs; and varying gardening patterns with the year. “Short season crops are a premium,” she asserts. She discusses seed saving, and storing enough seeds so everyone in your neighborhood can be gardening if need be.

“This place is famous. People loving coming by here because at any time of year you can get something to eat.” Architect Mark Lakeman, co-founder of the City Repair project, gives a tour of the corner sidewalk outside his Portland office building, where a food forest is bursting with life. A diagram shows where over 80 plants are located in six or seven vertical layers. Tall fruit trees, flowers, a grape arbor, herbs, berries, small vegetables, and ground cover are abundant.

303 Vertical Gardening for Small Spaces

Plant breeder Carol Deppe is passionate about making seeds available for all growers, rather than being in the control of a handful of corporations. “If we want to control the kind of food available and the kind of agricultural system that we want, we have to do our own breeding,” she explains. “What Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) does is create a pool, a protected commons, of germ plasm which will always be available for breeding. The OSSI pledge goes along with these seed varieties, but also if you breed new varieties.

What might ecovillages show us about living sustainably? Political science professor Karen Litfin visited fourteen ecovillages in both developing and developed countries. The author of Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community looked for commonalities among such communities, whose intention is to live sustainably. Looking through the lenses of ecology, economics, community and consciousness, she found they share a common worldview: The web of life is sacred, and we’re part of that web.

"We're here to help form things. We have a food forest mimicking what the natural forest does." Ann and Gord Baird's edible gardens make use of less-than-ideal growing spaces on their rocky knoll. Nook and cranny gardens optimize micro-climates -- water catchment for perennial plants, rocks that retain warmth to extend the growing period, and trees providing fuel, food and shade. They are transitioning away from the annual food plants. As more perennials get established, they're becoming foragers rather than cultivators.

"Chickens are naturally forest birds." A tour of Gord and Ann Baird's edible landscape starts at the off-grid chicken house and yard, containing fruit trees that provide a protective canopy against flying predators. Roof rainwater becomes drinking water for the chickens, whose “rototilling” has prepared land now being planted in grains — for themselves and people. Don't miss Hannah Hen catching a berry in mid-air! Then visit a Hobbit-ish above-ground root cellar built of cob, where cheeses, vegetables, and beer stay cool and dry.

Having learned "How Much Food Can I Grow Around My House?" (Peak Moment 87), Judy Alexander kept right on going. As chair of the Local 2020 Food Resiliency Action Group in Port Townsend, WA, she helped initiate 25 community gardens in her county within four years. Sitting in her own neighborhood's garden, she talks about the power of cooperative gardens compared with individual plots. There's something for people of all ages and skills to do (even non-gardeners), while enjoying learning from one another, and building closer neighbors and a more secure community.

More than a community garden, this sharing garden provides fresh produce for all who've contributed to it, with surplus going to the local food bank. Coordinators Chris Burns and Llyn Peabody note that with one large plot rather than separate plots, Alpine Sharing Garden enables more efficient food production — from watering to optimizing for pollinators. They share tips for getting started, garden planning, communicating with volunteers, garden practices like deep mulch, and especially the joy of giving without expecting a return.

Watch baker Jen Ownbey whip up a batch of zucchini bread while she talks with Janaia about doing what she loves. Every week, members of her bakery CSA (community supported agriculture) get a handmade, local, mostly organic, and even personalized box of breads and bakery desserts. Jen talks about getting started, selling wholesale and at growers markets, plus the joys, lessons, and challenges of running a solo business.