Brainstorming A Garden Project

Didi (my wife) and I have long wanted to have a proper garden space and to finally landscape and design our outdoor space to make use of our ~1-acre land in the city limits. We’ve used raised-bed gardens in the past to great effect, but I’ve also been a passive connoisseur of permaculture-related topics – mostly through permies and Wheaton Labs

We are optimizing for:

• lower maintenance
• food production
• utilizing the permaculture principles
• food resiliency given the changing climate

Front Yard

• Herbs and zone 1 things. Cold frame
• Raised beds or hugelkultur
• Can we do perennials - bushes
• Remove silver maple tree
• Retaining wall - path for walking for us and letter carrier
• It gets hot/too sunny
• Arch over the driveway?
• We have deer, bunny, and vole/mole pressure/

Strip of Land

 * Ideally, make it productive
 * Shared space

• Dimensions:
• Hops?
• Deer resistant stuff
• Need to talk to our neighbor

Back Yard

 * Berries - Blueberries, black, raspberries
 * Thoughts on playset. Leveling and landscaping. 
 * Maybe goes away?

Trees - cutting down

Essentials to grow

  Hops
  Blueberries
  Blackberries
  Shrubs for soil retention 

Prairie Moon Nursery
Eastern Shore Nursery
BlackForager

What we’d love to grow

Vegetables

• Root Vegetables:
  • Carrots (multiple varieties)
  • Potatoes (red)
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Ginger
  • Horseradish
• Leafy Greens:
  • Lettuces
  • Kale (perennial kale)
  • Chard
  • Spinach
  • Good King Henry spinach
• Alliums:
  • Green onions
  • Shallots
  • Leeks
  • Garlic
  • Egyptian walking onion
• Brassicas:
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Kohlrabi
• Other Vegetables:
  • Pickling cucumbers
  • Peas (shelling and snaps)
  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers (sweet, mild, some spice)
  • Mushrooms
  • Asparagus

Fruits

• Berries:
  • Blueberries
  • Blackberries
  • Red raspberries
  • Black currants
  • Lingonberry
  • Elderberry
• Trees:
  • Apple tree
  • Pear tree
  • Cherry tree
  • Baby fig tree
• Other:
  • Hops
  • Rhubarb

Herbs

• Basil
• Dill
• Cilantro
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Mint