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Post by terracotta on Sept 21, 2012 12:30:20 GMT -5
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Post by ottawagardener on Sept 21, 2012 12:44:00 GMT -5
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Post by stone on Sept 22, 2012 11:00:29 GMT -5
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Post by steev on Sept 23, 2012 21:50:31 GMT -5
Very good, stone. Although I've made a living in landscape maintenance the past 30+ years, being in California, I know there are NO native turf-grasses here. Whenever I see a homeowner growing veggies in the front yard, I make it my duty to stop and congratulate them on their good sense. I have never seen the sense of trucking so many veggies into our cities when people are wasting so much space, water, and fertilizer growing front lawns, on which they don't even relax. These are just ridiculous status symbols; people should get a grip on reality. Grow a tomato, a zucchini, some lettuce, anything other than a toilet for unsupervised dogs!
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Post by terracotta on Oct 9, 2012 12:55:08 GMT -5
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Post by ottawagardener on Oct 12, 2012 10:07:33 GMT -5
Great book out of Devon called Food Forests I think.
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Post by ilex on Oct 13, 2012 14:03:39 GMT -5
Great book out of Devon called Food Forests I think. Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford, really recommended. If you have minor interest in perennials ... buy it. He also published not long ago ... How to Grow Perennial Vegetables He's the forest garden man. Perennial Vegetables by Toensmeier can also give ideas, and the big books ... Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jacke & Eric Toensmeier It can also be interesting to dig into books like Native American Ethnobotany by Daniel E. Moerman
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Post by MikeH on Oct 13, 2012 19:54:47 GMT -5
Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford, really recommended. If you have minor interest in perennials ... buy it. I just searched the 669 pages for calories and it does not appear once. Protein shows up three times -once when he talks about Social wasps and twice when he is talking about plant proteins. He does at least acknowledge that carbohydrates exist: Two categories of food plants that need special design features if they are to be included are low-growing carbohydrate foods and most conventional annual vegetables. Carbohydrates are high-energy foods and require a lot of sun energy to manufacture: you cannot grow them in much shade. Tree-based carbohydrates, e.g. sweet chestnut, are easily incorporated into forest gardens, but if you want to grow your own supply of potatoes, wheat, oats, etc. then you need to either allow for a sunny clearing within the forest garden, or grow them elsewhere. If you look at agriculture where forest gardens are popular, usually people will grow a carbohydrate staple crop on a field scale in addition to growing all the more interesting foods in a forest garden. Carbohydrates similarly get little mention. The book is beautiful and the ideas certainly have a place but one wonders exactly how much of his food Crawford gets from his forest garden.
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Post by canadamike on Oct 13, 2012 21:19:09 GMT -5
I never read the book, but one thing is damn sure, I'll go along with Mike on this one. No matter how I am trying to twist my mind to think differently...High protein foods are coming from sun exposure...it does include nut trees that get a lot of it...when they do not get it...they can survive but do not give us proteins to eat..Quebec and the black walnut trees is a good exemple...the tree will survive, but there is not enough energy from the sun in most of Quebec, except maybe the most southern part, for the tree to make nuts...it survives in areas where people planted it, but bear no fruits...hence no proteins...it needs more sun for a longer time... Actinidias have nutritive seeds I once read...they grow in the shade of bigger trees, are delicious...but I would not count on them for my protein needs...I am quite sure we will have a friend that will come up with exceptions here.... Good...we need them to confirm the rule
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Post by MikeH on Oct 14, 2012 4:29:46 GMT -5
It can also be interesting to dig into books like Native American Ethnobotany by Daniel E. Moerman herb.umd.umich.edu/
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2012 18:51:33 GMT -5
I have spent much on books about local ethnobotany, but consider it mostly matter of anthropology/culture.
A rich abundance of plants went unused, in the past, for the same reasons as today. The society of the time may not have esteemed them.
I have since tried to learn about one plant at a time.
As I develop my regimen, year by year, I am now learning to exploit native flora for useful traits, whether in breeding, or for permaculture situations.
I know for certain that, even plants which are controlled should never be eradicated to the point of extinction.
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Post by steev on Oct 22, 2012 23:18:13 GMT -5
Yes. We are in no danger of knowing everything about the possible uses or connections of any species. We destroy at our peril, and "Sorry" won't undo our mistakes.
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