Category: Sustainable Agriculture

Natural Refrigerator: The Root Cellar in My Floor

When I built my house I noticed that one corner of the foundation was really deep, so I planned to make it into a root cellar. Now I use this space to keep the food I grow in the summer fresh through the winter, without refrigeration. It was a rather simple design feature, but it saves me a lot of energy in the long run and allows me to eat my harvest year round.

Our economy expends a huge amount of energy on refrigeration, not only to preserve food so that it can be shipped across the world and eaten fresh, but so that the food industry can recreate the climate conditions of a root cellar. Continue reading

Fossil fuel free scrubbing with the luffa

Why buy scrubbies and washcloths when you can easily grow your own supply from a small garden plot?  This season I grew two luffa plants and ended up with enough dish washing fiber for the next 5 years.  This unique plant has been selected over the millennia for its fibrous fruit and it should have a space in your garden if you want to be more self sufficient.  Easy to grow and prolific, the luffa provides an alternative to manufactured abrasive cleaning products, many of which are produced from or using fossil fuel.  And when the luffa reaches the end of its useful life, you simply compost it.

The luffa plant looks a lot like a cucumber and it climbs in the same way.  However, it’s more disease resistant and it requires a longer season.  So start the seeds indoors in spring if you want to get a good jump on the season.  Although it has somewhat of a reputation for its high fiber content, in some parts of the world it’s been selected for eating.  It’s only eaten when the fruit is young, before the fibrous skeleton has formed.

4 Season Harvest in My Hoop House

I’ve had a hoop house at Dancing Rabbit for over 5 years.  In that time I’ve grown thousands of pounds of salad greens, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers.  In this video, I take you on a little tour of my hoop house and its irrigation system.  It uses entirely caught rainwater, solar power, and gravity for irrigation. This hoop house has allowed me to extend the growing season and provide the community fresh local produce year round. Continue reading

Permaculture Fruit: My Espaliered Pear Harvest

Though the rain put a damper on my garden plans this season, it was a good year for pears.  I harvested over a bushel of pears from two of my pear trees.  One is a Bartlett espaliered against my garden shed, and the other is a standard Moonglow.  Both are only several years old and this is the first significant harvest I’ve gotten.  It’s great to be reaping the fruits of my labor!

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