I had learned from sages that to evolve, to be a person that progresses is a worthwhile journey to be on. Even if not progressing in a straight, linear line, even if through loops and slides, just being a seeker, a striver and sometimes a struggler is exactly what will bring us the best results.

As in life, so it is in the garden. I tried many ways and styles of gardening and I have evolved over the years as a gardener. What I love most about gardening is that It can change so much from year to year.

In previous posts I explained how my journey led me to permaculture and how I enjoyed transforming my space into a food forest garden. I had planted and tended a beautiful perennial garden, with lots of condition challenges but still with many successes. When I decided to turn this garden into a 7 layered food forest with a heavy and diverse production of food, I thought I was sacrificing the beauty of the perennial garden in all its blooms, textures and structure. I intended to get rid of most perennials and shrubs and I gradually did. Would I need to compromise blooms? How about beauty? Are blooms even needed in a food forest?

Blooms, of course do provide services to food production: they draw pollinators, emit scent, draw beneficial insects, and repel harmful ones. Plants that bloom increase photosynthesis which sends sugars as root exudates into the soil and promotes soil biology. They increase root mass, keep soil from eroding and increase water infiltration in the soil. Some of the flowers are even edible!

Blooms that give service are blooms that delight! Blooms that are simply for beauty can co exist with the food forest design as well. They are important, in my opinion simply to keep us, the centre element of the design, happy and balanced. While so, we might find these flowers to be indicators for the right time to do a garden task, such as the famous and helpful adage that says “when forsythia is in bloom it is time to prune the roses”. Or you can use showy flowers for cutting and making bouquets. As long as we make the most use of our gardens, I think we are on the right track!

My goal is to have blooms from as early as possible in spring to as late as possibly. I will be winter-sowing many flowering plants this coming January (two months from now). I am into planting indigenous perennials so most of them are native wildflowers. In this post I will show you the blooms we had so far in the food forest, month by month. A few are remnants from the perennial garden. I have hundreds of pictures. I will choose two or three pictures from each month and hope that this blog will allow me to upload them. Expect updates for sure :)

I want to encourage you to try new things, think of new exciting ways to enjoy your garden and enrich your life.

See you in the garden!

Sharona

Exciting times ahead of us!

We are beyond glad that we got it going good with gardening at this time and era of uncertainty, turmoil, aggravation, loss, threat and forced changes that seem to turn the whole world upside down. Gardening is certainly allowing us and countless other gardeners to surf over the troubled waters of our day. Our gardens proved to be like a magical vehicle that carries us over a sinking highway, allowing us to overcome hurdles and reach a safe place, fortifying us and filling us with hope.

I didn’t always have it right with gardening. In fact, I never gardened until I was nearing 30 years old. I didn’t even have a house plant, can you believe? I grew up in an urban culture in apartments. The culture in my town valued high tech. I can hardly think of one person in my childhood who had a garden where I lived. Nevertheless, I did love and thrive in the outdoors. I would walk through fields of wild flowers and orchards (where new buildings would soon be built) and I loved climbing the big mulberry tree outside our building. Mom allowed me to go high up into the canopy and pick mulberries to my hearts content.

Arriving in Canada in the not too young age of 27 I had no roots here, no community and no knowledge of the local climate, or of plants. I started experimenting with growing food by imitating an old Italian neighbour on the other side of the chain link fence. Here are some pictures from my first vegetable garden:

I struggled with heavy clay soil, boggy conditions and especially with lack of knowledge. Every Spring the yard would become too wet to keep a good soil structure. Not that I knew back then that soil even had a structure and that this factor was very important. I used to dig and turn the soil when it was too wet and I did endless other mistakes but I always did my mistakes with a real sense of purpose. I was reclaiming a lifestyle that was rightfully mine and I knew that I was learning all the time and that my destination on this journey is very good and worth all my failures.

It was when I got my compost going and accelerated it with lots of used coffee grinds that I started seeing amazing results.

My experiences with the clay soil in the back yard, the loamy soil in the front yard, sunny areas and shade areas and experiences with different plants started accumulating. My experiments with indoor gardening and growing vegetable and flower seedlings taught me a lot. Finally, I explicitly voiced my wish: “I want to understand plants.” I wanted to know them intimately, science and all. I spent every free moment researching, reading, watching videos, following and finally I enrolled in a school of horticulture.

Understanding plants also became understanding soil, ecosystems, ecology, socio economy and personal health, both physical and mental. It was especially permaculture that brought all the pieces of our world together. It mended the soil in my boggy garden and it fortified our mental state through uncertain times. Gardening was no longer just a life-style, it was who I am. My connection with the power of the natural world cannot be undone.

I am telling my story for those of you who don’t have much experience gardening, but feel that it is time to get some creative experiences growing your own outdoor expression. I brought up my story to help make a clear point – gardening is for everyone.

• Maybe you are an immigrant like I was, not experienced with the effects of Northern seasons on various plants.
• Maybe you think it would be really cool to know what happens to plants above ground and underground, how they interact, survive and stand many challenges.
• Maybe you realize that experiencing right outside your door the provisions that gardens provide to the 5 senses can gently revolutionize the quality of your life, and that of your loved ones. It has surely revolutionized the quality of ours.
  

If you find yourself in any of the situations that I mentioned I would love to take you on a journey of gardening that highlights your personal expression and allows you to work with nature and grow your dream garden. I would love to teach you, at whatever pace suits your means and time, how not to do all of my mistakes and to marvel at your successes. We can build your itinerary to include all or part of the lessons. The lessons include:

• Garden planning and designing your outdoor space
• Plant diagrams and selection
• Design principles
• Plant propagation from seeds, cuttings and division
• Maintenance practices
• Edible garden setup and practices
• Tree planting and pruning.
  

Gardening is not a hobby. It is a lifestyle that is in the very nature of humans and has been so for eons. Modern lifestyle is drawing us away from our nature. Now we want it back. Now is the time to get right, to improve our personal environment, that of our community, and the whole planet. When considering the bigger picture of environmental degradation and the toll it is taking of all living things, including humans, it is time to be part of the solution.

We are here for your personalized gardening coaching. As an option, you can get a small group together for group coaching sessions. Group sessions will be fun and more affordable due to split costs.

There are exciting and promising times ahead for us and our children. It is in our hands to create the environment as well as the intention, thought and actions that support life and our future. We will always be happy to hear from you and get together with you to transform our personal environment, that of your town, as well as inspire the whole world.

Remember - Life is a garden,

Yours,
Sharona