Dreamy dreams...

I've been reading "Gaia's Garden", an introductory look at the permaculture concept of forest gardening. On a small plot of land, a roof top, a front yard, one can plant trees, shrubs, perennial ground huggers and vines that interrelate and help one another, thus obtaining a great deal of food with a minimum of work as the "forest" helps itself.

Of course, this triggered a visit to some of my favourite blogs, Edible Estates and the Path to Freedom project.

And of course, I found pictures to spark yet more ideas, and have visions of my children happily playing in the soil or picking berries or making messes with me in the kitchen as we learn how to can.

I'd like to try a permaculture approach to most of the front and back yard, with a couple of raised beds or grow heaps for annuals that I simply refuse to do without, like melons, members of the squash family, and tomatoes. I recently learned, however, that one can make a simple tee-pee or two in the front yard as pretty focal points--tomato-growing as yard decoration! How fun is this! I'm seeing a whole new horizon of escapism opening up... Bonus points for this particular form of escapism resulting in no work for my beloved yet beleaguered husband.