Hello my name is Cat.  I love to be outside playing in the dirt.  Living in Maine, 25 years ago,  my  desire to grow vegetables to feed my family healthy homegrown food began.  I started researching how to  garden.  Growing up in a city I had no clue how to grow anything!  I began to love being in touch with the earth. Thoroughly enjoying researching and learning new things. Thus began my gardening career.

An ” Organic Gardening”  book at the local library piqued my interest.  What was organic gardening?  I had to read it and find out. I was hooked! Never again would I  use chemicals to grow any plant -  this is how it should be done.  Work with the earth and she will provide what you need.  My gardening skills improved.  My love for growing anything increased.

During a weekly trip to the library another book jumped out at me, ” Edible Landscaping”.  Now what was this about?  I read the book.  Once again, wow!  I really liked this concept.  Since we lived in the woods, the areas that we had cleared were small.  Why not  garden as efficiently and earth friendly as possible and be able to eat it all?  Thus edible landscaping became my focus.

Not just the garden area but flower beds and ornamental areas of  the property -  ALL could be landscaped with trees,  shrubs,  flowers, groundcovers,  vines, vegetables, herbs  – sun plants, shade plants  (even “weeds”) all with edible properties or parts.  How wonderful!  It looks beautiful and we can eat it.  Double duty became my motto.

As time continued “‘Sustainable Gardening” also entered the picture.  Helping the earth to maintain it’s ability to replenish life by responsibly landscaping to conserve water, sustaining and preserving biodiversity in the world around us is a worthy goal.

Your property can be delightfully landscaped.  Supplement your family’s food requirements.  If you have enough property you could be food self sufficient by planting edible landscapes.  Know exactly how your food is grown- it’s absolutely fresh!  Aquire satisfaction by growing it yourself.

Even if you live in an apartment you can do some edible gardening. Granted you probably won’t offset a lot of your food needs but you can still enjoy some fresh produce and beautiful plants.

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My husband and I live in Indiana now to be close to my mother so we can help her as she gets older.  We rent a house that has a small yard and I’m enjoying making this clay soil produce edibles.

Master gardeners here recommended planting in raised beds rather than mess with trying to get plants to grow in the native soil.  As I began digging and planting  in the clay soil I was impressed with the numbers of earthworms. There was always an abundance of earthworms in every shovel I dug up.  Obviously plants grow here,  as I was digging up ones I didn’t want.  The plants may not be growing as well as they could but surely putting in humus and amendments could only increase the positive qualites of clay.

Clay is very good at holding onto nutrients but tends not to release them to plants roots. It also holds onto water which is a useful property. We just do not want so much water that is drowns the plant!  Some porosity, air pockets between particles of soil, is definitely needed.  Clay needs amending to encourage the release of nutrients and water.  So began the trek of producing a quality soil  for my edibles using organic and sustainable methods.

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NOTE:  I am not adept at using the computer except for researching on the internet.  I guess I’m what you would call computer illiterate. Actually I  started this blog site rather accidently (I have been interested in expanding my knowledge of how to use the computer).  While researching something for my husband a site popped up that offered a one month hosting for a blog  for one penny.  I signed up, thinking I’m always reading blogs on the internet, why not give it a shot?   Uh Oh, I thought, what will I write about???

Maybe information that I could provide would be useful to someone else. Thus began THIS adventure.  I ask for your patience as I figure out how to use the site.  My desire is to give helpful information to encourage you to start growing and enjoying your own edible landscapes.

I would appreciate any help on improving the site .  Hopefully you find the information helpful and useful.

Thanks

Cat

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you would like to contact me please email

admin@catzediblelandscape.com

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