A living laboratory where permaculture meets modern culture.
Located on 1/5 Acre in Northgate Park, Durham, North Carolina. The project's mission is to serve as a living example of permaculture...not just as an agricultural method but as a philosophy.
We really love mulch. At least, I do. I believe it to be one of the single easiest things you can do to improve your soil if it’s needed (and it’s usually needed.)
Here are the other reasons I love mulch:
- It helps retain moisture for plants
- It breaks down into earth, rebuilding topsoil & bringing in a mycelium (mushroom/fungus) network. Basically plants and microorganisms create a network and mycelium can channel nutrients to plants.
- Great for simple paths. This is an easy way to put down for a quick and relatively easy path. The path will ultimately break down and need more or be replaced by something else.
- Can be FREE and a great way to utilize a “waste” that may have made itself to the dump.
We need to learn as a culture that all waste should and can be recyclable and reusable.
Our mulch pile (surely, you’ve seen it if you live in the neighborhood) we acquired from a local tree service that would have paid to send it to the dump. I believe it’s pine mulch meaning the tree was a soft wood and breaks down rather quickly. The pile has slowly been spread about the yard wherever it’s needed. Before this, Gatlin and I found a craigslist post for free mulch that wasn’t very far so we spent a week or so shoveling a huge pile into our little Ford Ranger.
It was a workout and well worth it for mulch heaven. We REALLY should have put down cardboard or newspaper to smother out the weeds because the wiregrass continues to wave their littler green middle fingers at us as they come up through the mulch. Experiencing it’s persistence to live in our yard is sort of commendable. Sort of.
Chickens were our first farm animals to house in the backyard.
Not only are they cute and entertaining to watch, but they also provide eggs, pest control, and good ol’ poo for our compost piles.
We started out with five chicks that we bought from a local breeder. Four were Australorps and another a Barnevelder. The latter and two of the Australorps turned out to be males. We couldn’t keep them since our city ordinance doesn’t allow roosters and they’re a bit hard to hide with the crowing and all.
The first month of the chicks lives were spent in our bedroom closet under a heating lamp.
I did a lot of experimenting with their bedding in this time. From leaves, towels, and newspaper, to packaging paper, pine shavings, and straw. I used whatever was available. Most chicken owners don’t recommend slippery bedding like newspaper for day old chicks because they’re prone to getting something called ‘spraddle leg’ from slipping around on the paper. It results in the chick not being able to stand. No fun. Mine did well on the newspaper but I watched them very closely. The shavings/straw mix needed less changing than the newspaper which was great, but I switched back and forth with whatever was around and could be added to our compost pile.
I’d also periodically let them chill outside for a bit mostly to see what they would do and to give them some much need exercise.
Once they were feathered enough to sleep outside we decided to use an old dog house from the backyard to create a make-shift coop. We still have way more customizing (and enlarging) to do, but for now it does the job.
This is the first and second draft of our design for the backyard. There is so much left to implement and plenty of changes to make as we learn. The third draft has been started!
(Source: appletonpermaculture, via farmlust)
