Edible landscaping
 

Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html

Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
"Edible Estates" series:
http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html

Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
--

modom

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:24:32 -0500, "modom (palindrome guy)"
> wrote:

>Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
>http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
>Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>"Edible Estates" series:
>http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
>Am I alone in my interest in this idea?


--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Edible landscaping
 

On Aug 21, 2:24*pm, "modom (palindrome guy)" >
wrote:
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home? *
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
> --
Well, we read Rosalind Creasy years ago but couldn't get past her
wrongheaded notion that kale is a) attractive and b) good to eat. We
have citrus trees and two veggie raised beds but they are separate
from the so-called landscaping, which needs a lot more attention. -
aem

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:24:32 -0500, "modom (palindrome guy)"
> wrote:

>Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
>http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
>Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>"Edible Estates" series:
>http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
>Am I alone in my interest in this idea?

I use various herbs including sage and thyme as landscape, two dwarf
apple trees and what will someday be a real meyer lemon tree instead
of a bush (small yard). Other than a couple of other things I don't
eat like violas (love them) and butterfly weed, I don't use edible
landscaping. One of these days I'll try growing multicolored chard,
but mainly I want plants that will attract hummingbirds, butterflies
and beneficiary bees.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Edible landscaping
 

"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in message
...
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>

I just pictured you as a goat. Not the first time. :D

Edible landscaping
 

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?

Our entire backyard is edible landscaping. We have nine fruit trees,
black berries, blue berries, a herb garden, a large vegetable garden,
and long strip beds along the fence line that are generally put into a
mix of edible flowers, ornamental flowers, and vegetables.

If DW would allow it I would plant more fruit trees in the front yard
plus turn the flower beds into decorative vegetable gardens AND flower
beds. I guess I could always eat the roses like we do the pansies and
nasturtiums.

Edible landscaping
 

"modom (palindrome guy)" wrote:
>
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?

In many places, a higher priority should be placed
on fire-resistant landscaping.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/natres/06303.html

I suppose someone could attempt to do both at the same time.

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:09:39 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>>
>> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>>
>> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>> "Edible Estates" series:
>> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>>
>> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
>
>Our entire backyard is edible landscaping. We have nine fruit trees,
>black berries, blue berries, a herb garden, a large vegetable garden,
>and long strip beds along the fence line that are generally put into a
>mix of edible flowers, ornamental flowers, and vegetables.
>
>If DW would allow it I would plant more fruit trees in the front yard
>plus turn the flower beds into decorative vegetable gardens AND flower
>beds. I guess I could always eat the roses like we do the pansies and
>nasturtiums.

Do you find it to be a lot of work caring for all that?

My gardening this summer has been mostly confined to the community
garden here in Cow Hill, and I'm not sure I have the gumption to take
on more just now.

Still lawns seem sillier and sillier to me. I mean what's the point?
--

modom

Edible landscaping
 

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:09:39 -0500, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>>> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>>>
>>> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>>>
>>> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>>> "Edible Estates" series:
>>> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>>>
>>> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
>> Our entire backyard is edible landscaping. We have nine fruit trees,
>> black berries, blue berries, a herb garden, a large vegetable garden,
>> and long strip beds along the fence line that are generally put into a
>> mix of edible flowers, ornamental flowers, and vegetables.
>>
>> If DW would allow it I would plant more fruit trees in the front yard
>> plus turn the flower beds into decorative vegetable gardens AND flower
>> beds. I guess I could always eat the roses like we do the pansies and
>> nasturtiums.
>
> Do you find it to be a lot of work caring for all that?

Not really, we both grew up in gardening and farming families and
communities and are used to it. The gardening strips are small enough we
sold our tiller and just use a shovel on the rare occasions when we need
to turn the soil. Ordinarily we don't bother. We mulch between rows with
layers of newspaper, covered with leaves we've picked up with the
mulching mower and the grass from the mowing season. Under the newspaper
are soaker hoses as we often get dry spells. Not right now, we've been
getting from one to four inches of rain daily lately.

The fruit trees need dormant oil spray in the winter plus a winter
pruning and then there are small prunings going on all year. Putting
fertilizer out takes a very little time. I'm retired so have all the
time I need, DW will retire in 2011 as she is determined to teach art
for at least one year in a school with an actual art classroom - her
school is being closed and a new one is being built to open in the fall
of 2010. She is bumping 70 yo and is only teaching half-time but she
loves teaching elementary students art.

>
> My gardening this summer has been mostly confined to the community
> garden here in Cow Hill, and I'm not sure I have the gumption to take
> on more just now.
>
> Still lawns seem sillier and sillier to me. I mean what's the point?

That's the way I am, we never had lawns when I was a kid. We had grass
but the cows ate that when we turned them into the "yard." Ie. the
fenced yard around the house. The rest of my Dad's ten acres was in
pasture or money crops, such as three acres of crowder peas one year and
tomatoes the next year. When DW and I married and moved to Texas we
lived on a half-acre on the back of Dad's property as he had given each
of we three kids that much land to build on. He was getting on in years
so for our twenties and thirties we farmed the rest of the property
and/or ran stock on it. Our kids grew up with chores in the garden or
the barn and enjoyed it. I think it is a matter of what your mind set is
more than anything. If you enjoy gardening do it, DW says it relieves a
lot of the tension that builds up in her from dealing with the school
bureaucracy. I was the same way when I was in corporate management, come
home and beat the hell out of the soil instead of slapping some stupid
person around at work.

Edible landscaping
 

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>


I never thought of it as edible landscape but I love to have
edible stuff in the yard like fruit trees and berry bushes.

We are in the midst of a very wet summer for Colorado which is usually
pretty desert-like in summer and it's making me think maybe we CAN grow
raspberries and the like. We have two apricot trees, last year planted
two cherry trees and currants and gooseberries. Here's hoping!

gloria p

Edible landscaping
 

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?

I've made an island and palm trees with a double-cheese burger, Belgian
fries (needed the crispy outside), and the strtegic use of soe romain
leaves. Does that count?

But seriously, I remember a PBS show a long time ago that discussed
that. The guy who's property was used as the demo, was a goo tem minute
path around different "islands of herbs, lettuces, edible flowers, corn,
mellows, etc. While beautiful, I sure a farmer would had scratched his
had, laughed, then gone back to the farm. Had to be a pain in the butt
to maintain, expensive to water (a ton of drip systems), and generally a
chore to harvest unless you combined harvesting with a morning walk.

Bob

Edible landscaping
 

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?

I've made an island and palm trees with a double-cheese burger, Belgian
fries (needed the crispy outside), and the strategic use of some romaine
leaves. Does that count?

But seriously, I remember a PBS show a long time ago that discussed
that. The guy who's property was used as the demo, was a goo ten minute
path around different "islands of herbs, lettuces, edible flowers, corn,
mellows, etc. While beautiful, I sure a farmer would had scratched his
had, laughed, then gone back to the farm. Had to be a pain in the butt
to maintain, expensive to water (a ton of drip systems), and generally a
chore to harvest unless you combined harvesting with a morning walk.

Bob

Edible landscaping
 

"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in message
...
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
> --
>
> modom

I started gardening that way many years ago. I've just recently moved all
edibles to the backyard and all ornamentals to the front. That way I can be
sure that I don't use anything iffy for us or the dog in the backyard
edibles. I use the disease/insect/fertilizer for the roses in the front and
didn't want that stuff in the soil with edibles. I still battle with nature
as naturally as possible, but I've given up on aphids and mildew on the
roses. Besides, while I can keep my dog from doing his stuff all over my
edibles, I can't control the neighbor's dogs.
Janet

Edible landscaping
 

In article >,
"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote:

> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?

You are anything but alone! Herbs make excellent landscaping. So does
Kale. And that's just a start. Thank for posting this! It's giving me
ideas. My stand of Canna has finally died out so I have the entire
driveway bed now to re-do except for where the Lantana, wandering jew
and lily bulb gardens are...
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down."
--Steve Rothstein


Subscribe:

Edible landscaping
 

"modom (palindrome guy)" wrote:
>
> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
> --
>
> modom

Used to. We only cultivate a small strip around the property. Back
garden was full of herbs and bean vines, we still have a grape vine,
plum tree, crabapple tree (can make jelly), ate the purslane that grows
as a weed around here, large decorative containers hold chile and tomato
plants etc. Not done much since I was ill but might manage to get things
going next year.

It's the only way to go.

Edible landscaping
 

modom wrote:

> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?

I'm *extremely* interested! It's just that I recognize my complete inability
to keep plants alive.

Bob

Edible landscaping
 

In article >,
"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:

> modom wrote:

> > Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
>
> I'm *extremely* interested! It's just that I recognize my complete inability
> to keep plants alive.

It's not a complete inability. It's a lack of passion. I'm cursed with
it too. You ought to see my lawn. If I killed the dandelions, I'd have
to reseed and pay attention. Not likely.
I put a tomato plant in my front flower bed this year but neglected to
support it. Well... I supported it with a piece of rock. I got a couple
of tomatoes out of it, but most were beaten to death against the rock
during wind events.
Where I live, I could make a border of rosemary and thyme without
effort. They're perennial in my outside flower pots, so I assume they'd
be perennial otherwise. That'd be a border of rosemary and thyme between
one patch of dandelions sparsely grassed and another.
Say la vee or something like that.

leo

Edible landscaping
 

Leonard wrote:

>> I'm *extremely* interested! It's just that I recognize my complete
>> inability
>> to keep plants alive.
>
> It's not a complete inability. It's a lack of passion. I'm cursed with
> it too. You ought to see my lawn. If I killed the dandelions, I'd have
> to reseed and pay attention. Not likely.

It's more than that; it's also a lack of knowledge. See below.


> I put a tomato plant in my front flower bed this year but neglected to
> support it. Well... I supported it with a piece of rock. I got a couple
> of tomatoes out of it, but most were beaten to death against the rock
> during wind events.

I didn't know that tomato plants *needed* to be supported. That's what I
mean by lack of knowledge. I know that plants need water; that's about the
entirety of my gardening knowledge.


> Where I live, I could make a border of rosemary and thyme without
> effort. They're perennial in my outside flower pots, so I assume they'd
> be perennial otherwise. That'd be a border of rosemary and thyme between
> one patch of dandelions sparsely grassed and another.
> Say la vee or something like that.

Rosemary seems to grow easily around here, so I'm thinking of trying to
plant some as ground cover in a side yard. But I don't know how quickly it
would spread. How many plants would I need to start off with? Does the soil
need to be more or less acidic? How often does it need watering, and how
much water should it get when I do water? Really, I know next to nothing
about gardening, and that's why plants die under my care.

Bob

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:44:26 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>> On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:09:39 -0500, George Shirley
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>>>> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>>>>
>>>> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>>>>
>>>> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>>>> "Edible Estates" series:
>>>> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>>>>
>>>> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
>>> Our entire backyard is edible landscaping. We have nine fruit trees,
>>> black berries, blue berries, a herb garden, a large vegetable garden,
>>> and long strip beds along the fence line that are generally put into a
>>> mix of edible flowers, ornamental flowers, and vegetables.
>>>
>>> If DW would allow it I would plant more fruit trees in the front yard
>>> plus turn the flower beds into decorative vegetable gardens AND flower
>>> beds. I guess I could always eat the roses like we do the pansies and
>>> nasturtiums.
>>
>> Do you find it to be a lot of work caring for all that?
>
>Not really, we both grew up in gardening and farming families and
>communities and are used to it. The gardening strips are small enough we
>sold our tiller and just use a shovel on the rare occasions when we need
>to turn the soil. Ordinarily we don't bother. We mulch between rows with
>layers of newspaper, covered with leaves we've picked up with the
>mulching mower and the grass from the mowing season. Under the newspaper
>are soaker hoses as we often get dry spells. Not right now, we've been
>getting from one to four inches of rain daily lately.

Crazy summer ain't it? We got a bigass storm last night. This late in
August should be dead dry, but not this time around.

I think this fall, I'm going to start small and see how it fits with
my routine. But my first attempt at a garden here wasn't a good plan.
Too far from the kitchen and too big. (We have about 1 1/2 acres, and
my garden was out by a fig tree because it was just there -- or
something.) The next patch will be much closer to the kitchen door and
smaller. I got a line on mulch through the community garden, and I'm
going to have it delivered here, not there, in the coming months.
>
>The fruit trees need dormant oil spray in the winter plus a winter
>pruning and then there are small prunings going on all year. Putting
>fertilizer out takes a very little time. I'm retired so have all the
>time I need, DW will retire in 2011 as she is determined to teach art
>for at least one year in a school with an actual art classroom - her
>school is being closed and a new one is being built to open in the fall
>of 2010. She is bumping 70 yo and is only teaching half-time but she
>loves teaching elementary students art.
>
Good for her! I taught art at the college level for over 20 years.
>>
>> My gardening this summer has been mostly confined to the community
>> garden here in Cow Hill, and I'm not sure I have the gumption to take
>> on more just now.
>>
>> Still lawns seem sillier and sillier to me. I mean what's the point?
>
>That's the way I am, we never had lawns when I was a kid. We had grass
>but the cows ate that when we turned them into the "yard." Ie. the
>fenced yard around the house. The rest of my Dad's ten acres was in
>pasture or money crops, such as three acres of crowder peas one year and
>tomatoes the next year. When DW and I married and moved to Texas we
>lived on a half-acre on the back of Dad's property as he had given each
>of we three kids that much land to build on. He was getting on in years
>so for our twenties and thirties we farmed the rest of the property
>and/or ran stock on it. Our kids grew up with chores in the garden or
>the barn and enjoyed it. I think it is a matter of what your mind set is
>more than anything. If you enjoy gardening do it, DW says it relieves a
>lot of the tension that builds up in her from dealing with the school
>bureaucracy. I was the same way when I was in corporate management, come
>home and beat the hell out of the soil instead of slapping some stupid
>person around at work.

Usually good policy. But sometimes whacking dummies AND dirt makes
sense.

Re edible lawns: I guess that I'll start small and see how it feels.
If one or two 4 x 12 beds work okay, I'll push on for more.

Many thanks for your insight.
--

modom

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:23:37 -0500, "modom (palindrome guy)"
> wrote:

>Still lawns seem sillier and sillier to me. I mean what's the point?

You're in Texas. Lawns are just a Northern memory in Texas.

sf
<never been to Austin, but I know lawns are a losing proposition here
and Austin isn't too far off from that>

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:44:26 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

>The fruit trees need dormant oil spray

Just curious... what are you spraying to eliminate?

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Edible landscaping
 

"modom (palindrome guy)" ha scritto nel messaggio

> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his> "Edible
> Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
> --
>
> modom

Nope, because I have done it for years. At my farm in the US I had a
cottage garden through which one entered the house, mixed herbs, veg and
flowers. The deer were very grateful.

Here I have lots of herbs and some vegetables in the garden proper, potted
lettuces and celery used as edging (not that tall white kind) and the
orto/veg plot has only raspberries this year. It's the cinghiali that are
grateful here, but they only destroy a grass and bulbs.

Edible landscaping
 

In article >,
"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:

> It's more than that; it's also a lack of knowledge. See below.

Me too. I lack the knowledge because I don't have the inclination.

> I didn't know that tomato plants *needed* to be supported. That's what I
> mean by lack of knowledge. I know that plants need water; that's about the
> entirety of my gardening knowledge.

Someone told me to support them. If I got ten tomatoes total, I was
lucky in the past. This year, perfect June temperatures produced a
bunch. The bush I was yammering about was an extra that I didn't plant
in a pot. An extra that I didn't know what to do with.
My *real* tomatoes are supported by a wire cone. Nevertheless, I don't
water them enough.

> Rosemary seems to grow easily around here, so I'm thinking of trying to
> plant some as ground cover in a side yard. But I don't know how quickly it
> would spread. How many plants would I need to start off with? Does the soil
> need to be more or less acidic? How often does it need watering, and how
> much water should it get when I do water? Really, I know next to nothing
> about gardening, and that's why plants die under my care.

I don't know if rosemary spreads. I grow it in a pot. It looks sort of
like a tiny pine tree and doesn't seem to spread within the pot. I ought
to google for sure. I know it gets bigger than ground cover. It might
even make a tree if given the chance. Somebody reading this knows.
My thyme seems like good ground cover. It's three years old and about
ten inches tall in the pot. Real gardeners here can tell you if I'm full
of it.
OTOH, plant a cheap tiny container of rosemary somewhere in the sunny
side of your yard and see if it takes or takes over ;). Then ignore it.
If I can grow it, anyone can. I live in whatever climate Northern Nevada
close to the Sierra is in. Usually not below zero and not above a
hundred, although we broke a hundred and soundly busted a 1919 record,
yesterday.

leo

Edible landscaping
 

Leonard wrote:

>> Rosemary seems to grow easily around here, so I'm thinking of trying to
>> plant some as ground cover in a side yard. But I don't know how quickly
>> it would spread. How many plants would I need to start off with? Does the
>> soil need to be more or less acidic? How often does it need watering, and
>> how much water should it get when I do water? Really, I know next to
>> nothing about gardening, and that's why plants die under my care.
>
> I don't know if rosemary spreads. I grow it in a pot. It looks sort of
> like a tiny pine tree and doesn't seem to spread within the pot. I ought
> to google for sure. I know it gets bigger than ground cover. It might even
> make a tree if given the chance. Somebody reading this knows. My thyme
> seems like good ground cover. It's three years old and about ten inches
> tall in the pot. Real gardeners here can tell you if I'm full of it.
> OTOH, plant a cheap tiny container of rosemary somewhere in the sunny
> side of your yard and see if it takes or takes over ;). Then ignore it.
> If I can grow it, anyone can. I live in whatever climate Northern Nevada
> close to the Sierra is in. Usually not below zero and not above a
> hundred, although we broke a hundred and soundly busted a 1919 record,
> yesterday.

I'm on the other side of the mountains from you, though we routinely break
100 degrees here. This summer has been cooler than usual, for which I am
grateful.

I got the idea that rosemary might be suitable for ground cover because (1)
a local automall uses it for ground cover and (2) the guy who runs my CSA
had rosemary as ground cover in the house he used to occupy. I just don't
know how much trouble it is, and whether it would stay alive under my care.
It's not that I forget to take care of plants, it's just that I go out
there, see that they aren't doing well, and have no idea what I need to do
to make them do better. Watering them often makes things *worse*.

Bob

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:55:48 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Leonard wrote:
>
>>> I'm *extremely* interested! It's just that I recognize my complete
>>> inability
>>> to keep plants alive.
>>
>> It's not a complete inability. It's a lack of passion. I'm cursed with
>> it too. You ought to see my lawn. If I killed the dandelions, I'd have
>> to reseed and pay attention. Not likely.
>
>It's more than that; it's also a lack of knowledge. See below.
>
>
>> I put a tomato plant in my front flower bed this year but neglected to
>> support it. Well... I supported it with a piece of rock. I got a couple
>> of tomatoes out of it, but most were beaten to death against the rock
>> during wind events.
>
>I didn't know that tomato plants *needed* to be supported. That's what I
>mean by lack of knowledge. I know that plants need water; that's about the
>entirety of my gardening knowledge.
>
>
>> Where I live, I could make a border of rosemary and thyme without
>> effort. They're perennial in my outside flower pots, so I assume they'd
>> be perennial otherwise. That'd be a border of rosemary and thyme between
>> one patch of dandelions sparsely grassed and another.
>> Say la vee or something like that.
>
>Rosemary seems to grow easily around here, so I'm thinking of trying to
>plant some as ground cover in a side yard. But I don't know how quickly it
>would spread. How many plants would I need to start off with? Does the soil
>need to be more or less acidic? How often does it need watering, and how
>much water should it get when I do water? Really, I know next to nothing
>about gardening, and that's why plants die under my care.
>
>Bob


One of my rosemary plants is about 5 feet tall. There may be some low
growing varieties that you would have to get if you want ground cover.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

Edible landscaping
 

Susan wrote:

> One of my rosemary plants is about 5 feet tall. There may be some low
> growing varieties that you would have to get if you want ground cover.

Thanks. Poking around online, I didn't see any rosemary plants which would
be suitable for me to use where I was contemplating using it. But I still
want to plant rosemary; I just won't use it for ground cover.

Bob

Edible landscaping
 

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> Susan wrote:
>
>> One of my rosemary plants is about 5 feet tall. There may be some
>> low growing varieties that you would have to get if you want ground
>> cover.
>
> Thanks. Poking around online, I didn't see any rosemary plants which
> would be suitable for me to use where I was contemplating using it.
> But I still want to plant rosemary; I just won't use it for ground
> cover.

Have you looked at creeping rosemary?

nancy

Edible landscaping
 

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> Leonard wrote:
>
>>> I'm *extremely* interested! It's just that I recognize my complete
>>> inability
>>> to keep plants alive.
>>
>> It's not a complete inability. It's a lack of passion. I'm cursed with
>> it too. You ought to see my lawn. If I killed the dandelions, I'd have
>> to reseed and pay attention. Not likely.
>
> It's more than that; it's also a lack of knowledge. See below.
>
>
>> I put a tomato plant in my front flower bed this year but neglected to
>> support it. Well... I supported it with a piece of rock. I got a couple
>> of tomatoes out of it, but most were beaten to death against the rock
>> during wind events.
>
> I didn't know that tomato plants *needed* to be supported. That's what I
> mean by lack of knowledge. I know that plants need water; that's about the
> entirety of my gardening knowledge.
>
>
>> Where I live, I could make a border of rosemary and thyme without
>> effort. They're perennial in my outside flower pots, so I assume they'd
>> be perennial otherwise. That'd be a border of rosemary and thyme between
>> one patch of dandelions sparsely grassed and another.
>> Say la vee or something like that.
>
> Rosemary seems to grow easily around here, so I'm thinking of trying to
> plant some as ground cover in a side yard. But I don't know how quickly it
> would spread. How many plants would I need to start off with? Does the soil
> need to be more or less acidic? How often does it need watering, and how
> much water should it get when I do water? Really, I know next to nothing
> about gardening, and that's why plants die under my care.
>
> Bob
Buy a couple of gardening books Bob, they're a great help. Rosemary
grows into a large shrub depending upon your climate. I can plant a very
small potted one in my yard and within two years it is four feet high
and four feet wide. If you want ground cover plant creeping thyme,
smells good when you walk on it and keeps the soil in place.

Edible landscaping
 

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:44:26 -0500, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>>> On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:09:39 -0500, George Shirley
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>>>>> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>>>>>
>>>>> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>>>>>
>>>>> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>>>>> "Edible Estates" series:
>>>>> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>>>>>
>>>>> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
>>>> Our entire backyard is edible landscaping. We have nine fruit trees,
>>>> black berries, blue berries, a herb garden, a large vegetable garden,
>>>> and long strip beds along the fence line that are generally put into a
>>>> mix of edible flowers, ornamental flowers, and vegetables.
>>>>
>>>> If DW would allow it I would plant more fruit trees in the front yard
>>>> plus turn the flower beds into decorative vegetable gardens AND flower
>>>> beds. I guess I could always eat the roses like we do the pansies and
>>>> nasturtiums.
>>> Do you find it to be a lot of work caring for all that?
>> Not really, we both grew up in gardening and farming families and
>> communities and are used to it. The gardening strips are small enough we
>> sold our tiller and just use a shovel on the rare occasions when we need
>> to turn the soil. Ordinarily we don't bother. We mulch between rows with
>> layers of newspaper, covered with leaves we've picked up with the
>> mulching mower and the grass from the mowing season. Under the newspaper
>> are soaker hoses as we often get dry spells. Not right now, we've been
>> getting from one to four inches of rain daily lately.
>
> Crazy summer ain't it? We got a bigass storm last night. This late in
> August should be dead dry, but not this time around.
>
> I think this fall, I'm going to start small and see how it fits with
> my routine. But my first attempt at a garden here wasn't a good plan.
> Too far from the kitchen and too big. (We have about 1 1/2 acres, and
> my garden was out by a fig tree because it was just there -- or
> something.) The next patch will be much closer to the kitchen door and
> smaller. I got a line on mulch through the community garden, and I'm
> going to have it delivered here, not there, in the coming months.
>> The fruit trees need dormant oil spray in the winter plus a winter
>> pruning and then there are small prunings going on all year. Putting
>> fertilizer out takes a very little time. I'm retired so have all the
>> time I need, DW will retire in 2011 as she is determined to teach art
>> for at least one year in a school with an actual art classroom - her
>> school is being closed and a new one is being built to open in the fall
>> of 2010. She is bumping 70 yo and is only teaching half-time but she
>> loves teaching elementary students art.
>>
> Good for her! I taught art at the college level for over 20 years.
>>> My gardening this summer has been mostly confined to the community
>>> garden here in Cow Hill, and I'm not sure I have the gumption to take
>>> on more just now.
>>>
>>> Still lawns seem sillier and sillier to me. I mean what's the point?
>> That's the way I am, we never had lawns when I was a kid. We had grass
>> but the cows ate that when we turned them into the "yard." Ie. the
>> fenced yard around the house. The rest of my Dad's ten acres was in
>> pasture or money crops, such as three acres of crowder peas one year and
>> tomatoes the next year. When DW and I married and moved to Texas we
>> lived on a half-acre on the back of Dad's property as he had given each
>> of we three kids that much land to build on. He was getting on in years
>> so for our twenties and thirties we farmed the rest of the property
>> and/or ran stock on it. Our kids grew up with chores in the garden or
>> the barn and enjoyed it. I think it is a matter of what your mind set is
>> more than anything. If you enjoy gardening do it, DW says it relieves a
>> lot of the tension that builds up in her from dealing with the school
>> bureaucracy. I was the same way when I was in corporate management, come
>> home and beat the hell out of the soil instead of slapping some stupid
>> person around at work.
>
> Usually good policy. But sometimes whacking dummies AND dirt makes
> sense.
>
> Re edible lawns: I guess that I'll start small and see how it feels.
> If one or two 4 x 12 beds work okay, I'll push on for more.
>
> Many thanks for your insight.

You might want to check with your local state agricultural agent and see
what grows best in your area and how much sun it needs. There are many
good books on the market for beginning gardeners.

Edible landscaping
 

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:

> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?

Dunno if you could call it 'landscaping' - but we have various fruit
trees, some herbs, veggies etc. and a grape vine growing in our garden.
The rosemary bush is in one of the 'flower beds' if that counts...
>
> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>
> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
> "Edible Estates" series:
> http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>
> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?

I doubt it, makes a lot of sense (to me).

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Edible landscaping
 

"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote in message
...
> Susan wrote:
>
>> One of my rosemary plants is about 5 feet tall. There may be some low
>> growing varieties that you would have to get if you want ground cover.
>
> Thanks. Poking around online, I didn't see any rosemary plants which would
> be suitable for me to use where I was contemplating using it. But I still
> want to plant rosemary; I just won't use it for ground cover.
>
> Bob

It depends where you live and how cold it gets in the winter whether
rosemary will live through the winter. Be sure to check for varieties that
have a low temp tolerance (I think max is about 15-20 F). Rosemary doesn't
spread in the sense that I think you mean. It doesn't drop seeds that
become rosemary seedlings. (of course, I live in a zone where rosemary
doesn't last the winter) Rosemary plants will get very big. They can
become a sizeable hedge in time. There are low growing, creeping or draping
varieties of rosemary that might be nice rambling over a rock garden. If it
is an interest, reading seed catalogs in the winter is educational, if
you're not interested, it's a bore.
Janet

Edible landscaping
 

"Janet Bostwick" wrote
> "Bob Terwilliger" wrote

>> Thanks. Poking around online, I didn't see any rosemary plants which
>> would be suitable for me to use where I was contemplating using it. But I
>> still want to plant rosemary; I just won't use it for ground cover.

Hi Bob. I'm the 'break even' zone for this.

I have a 3ft or so tall rosemary at the front of the house. Don put it in
the front planter spot by accident but it seemed so happy, we left it there.
Survived the winter last year which suprised me. We give it a regular
haircut when making potatoes and things.

> It depends where you live and how cold it gets in the winter whether
> rosemary will live through the winter. Be sure to check for varieties
> that have a low temp tolerance (I think max is about 15-20 F). Rosemary
> doesn't spread in the sense that I think you mean. It doesn't drop seeds
> that

Yup. Lettuce, now that stuff spreads! It's hilarous but in my back yard,
some of the 'grass' is lettuce. I'm about to replant one bolted container
set now and put in butter lettuce. I don't need to plant more baby lettuce
as it's now growing up around the bricks where the planter was ;-)

Edible landscaping
 

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:13:12 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Leonard wrote:
>
>>> Rosemary seems to grow easily around here, so I'm thinking of trying to
>>> plant some as ground cover in a side yard. But I don't know how quickly
>>> it would spread. How many plants would I need to start off with? Does the
>>> soil need to be more or less acidic? How often does it need watering, and
>>> how much water should it get when I do water? Really, I know next to
>>> nothing about gardening, and that's why plants die under my care.
>>
>> I don't know if rosemary spreads. I grow it in a pot. It looks sort of
>> like a tiny pine tree and doesn't seem to spread within the pot. I ought
>> to google for sure. I know it gets bigger than ground cover. It might even
>> make a tree if given the chance. Somebody reading this knows. My thyme
>> seems like good ground cover. It's three years old and about ten inches
>> tall in the pot. Real gardeners here can tell you if I'm full of it.
>> OTOH, plant a cheap tiny container of rosemary somewhere in the sunny
>> side of your yard and see if it takes or takes over ;). Then ignore it.
>> If I can grow it, anyone can. I live in whatever climate Northern Nevada
>> close to the Sierra is in. Usually not below zero and not above a
>> hundred, although we broke a hundred and soundly busted a 1919 record,
>> yesterday.
>
>I'm on the other side of the mountains from you, though we routinely break
>100 degrees here. This summer has been cooler than usual, for which I am
>grateful.
>
>I got the idea that rosemary might be suitable for ground cover because (1)
>a local automall uses it for ground cover and (2) the guy who runs my CSA
>had rosemary as ground cover in the house he used to occupy. I just don't
>know how much trouble it is, and whether it would stay alive under my care.
>It's not that I forget to take care of plants, it's just that I go out
>there, see that they aren't doing well, and have no idea what I need to do
>to make them do better. Watering them often makes things *worse*.
>
>Bob

I grew rosemary successfully when I was living in Yuma AZ and it got
into the 120*s there. I don't remember it being hard to grow or care
for. Anything I plant is going to have to thrive on loving neglect.

koko
--

There is no love more sincere than the love of food
George Bernard Shaw
www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 08/09

Edible landscaping
 

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:34:34 -0700 (PDT), in rec.food.cooking, aem wrote:

>On Aug 21, 2:24*pm, "modom (palindrome guy)" >
>wrote:
>> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home? *
>>
>> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>>
>> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>> "Edible Estates" series:http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>>
>> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
>> --
>Well, we read Rosalind Creasy years ago but couldn't get past her
>wrongheaded notion that kale is a) attractive and b) good to eat. We
>have citrus trees and two veggie raised beds but they are separate
>from the so-called landscaping, which needs a lot more attention. -
>aem

We use kale for the color.

Doug
--
Doug Weller --
A Director and Moderator of The Hall of Ma'at http://www.hallofmaat.com
Doug's Archaeology Site: http://www.ramtops.co.uk
Amun - co-owner/co-moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Amun/

Edible landscaping
 

Doug Weller wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:34:34 -0700 (PDT), in rec.food.cooking, aem wrote:
>
>> On Aug 21, 2:24 pm, "modom (palindrome guy)" >
>> wrote:
>>> Do any RFC-ers practice edible landscaping at home?
>>>
>>> http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1255.html
>>>
>>> Fritz Haeg did a project down in Austin last year as part of his
>>> "Edible Estates" series:http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/init...ates/main.html
>>>
>>> Am I alone in my interest in this idea?
>>> --
>> Well, we read Rosalind Creasy years ago but couldn't get past her
>> wrongheaded notion that kale is a) attractive and b) good to eat. We
>> have citrus trees and two veggie raised beds but they are separate
>>from the so-called landscaping, which needs a lot more attention. -
>> aem
>
> We use kale for the color.
>
> Doug

Kale does make a pretty plant...

Edible landscaping
 

"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote in message
...
> Leonard wrote:
>
>>> I'm *extremely* interested! It's just that I recognize my complete
>>> inability
>>> to keep plants alive.
>>
>> It's not a complete inability. It's a lack of passion. I'm cursed with
>> it too. You ought to see my lawn. If I killed the dandelions, I'd have
>> to reseed and pay attention. Not likely.
>
> It's more than that; it's also a lack of knowledge. See below.
>
>
>> I put a tomato plant in my front flower bed this year but neglected to
>> support it. Well... I supported it with a piece of rock. I got a couple
>> of tomatoes out of it, but most were beaten to death against the rock
>> during wind events.
>
> I didn't know that tomato plants *needed* to be supported. That's what I
> mean by lack of knowledge.

Tomatoes do not need to be supported, commercial tomato farmers do not
support tomatoes... imagine the price of a bottle of ketchup if millions of
tomato plants needed to be supported, and then the support removed for
mechanical harvest. Commercial tomato varieties support themselves, with
some help from hilling. And commercially grown salad tomatoes are picked
before they ripen, they are so firm they need no support. Only home
gardeners support tomatoes because they typically grow varieties that are
not self supporting, and they don't want to accept the waste of like 10%
rotting from touching the ground.


>> Where I live, I could make a border of rosemary and thyme without
>> effort. They're perennial in my outside flower pots, so I assume they'd
>> be perennial otherwise. That'd be a border of rosemary and thyme between
>> one patch of dandelions sparsely grassed and another.
>> Say la vee or something like that.
>
> Rosemary seems to grow easily around here, so I'm thinking of trying to
> plant some as ground cover in a side yard. But I don't know how quickly it
> would spread. How many plants would I need to start off with? Does the
> soil
> need to be more or less acidic? How often does it need watering, and how
> much water should it get when I do water? Really, I know next to nothing
> about gardening, and that's why plants die under my care.
>
>

Rosemary is an evergreen shrub/bush that grows upright, it wouldn't be used
for ground cover, it's often used for a hedge... you're likely confusing
thyme for rosemary... there are many varieties of creeping thyme that makes
a nice ground cover. Thyme has nice flavor, rosemary smells and tastes like
retsina, blech.

Edible landscaping
 

On 2009-09-07, brooklyn1 > wrote:

> not self supporting, and they don't want to accept the waste of like 10%
> rotting from touching the ground.

So, are those upside down tomato thingies a viable alternative?

BTW, shel, howzatbout trimming up you posts and adding some
formatting. Yer starting to come off like an Ital fresh off the boat.

nb

Edible landscaping
 

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> On 2009-09-07, brooklyn1 > wrote:
>
>> not self supporting, and they don't want to accept the waste of like 10%
>> rotting from touching the ground.
>
> So, are those upside down tomato thingies a viable alternative?

That's an entirely different concept, mainly for folks who don't have land
for a garden.

> BTW, shel, howzatbout trimming up you posts and adding some
> formatting. Yer starting to come off like an Ital fresh off the boat.
>
>
I'm beginning to tire of trimming everyone's trash, I especially am tired of
trimming everyone's attributions (see above). And lately I've noticed that
certain people are removig all attribution so there is no way to know who
wrote what.

Edible landscaping
 

"brooklyn1" > wrote in message
...
>>
> I'm beginning to tire of trimming everyone's trash, I especially am tired
> of trimming everyone's attributions (see above). And lately I've noticed
> that certain people are removig all attribution so there is no way to know
> who wrote what.
>

not many people ever took the time to learn proper usenet etiquette. i
always trim but i never leave attributes as i am responding primarily to the
direct message i am responding to meant clearly for the responder than the
op.

toodles