Food Not Lawns by Heather Flores

Author:Heather Flores
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781603580830
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Published: 2006-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

I thought about listing all 50 principles, but instead decided to synthesize them into my own set—short, sweet, and easy to remember. I humbly offer you the results below and hope they will help and inspire you to solve design problems throughout every aspect of your life.

I will explain each principle, then list a few sample strategies that you can use in your garden. You will remember some of these ideas from the previous chapters—indeed, we have seen examples of each principle in every element of the paradise garden. Now we bring them together.

1. Emphasize Diversity on All Scales

Again we find diversity at the top of the list. Nature is not single-minded, and neither are we. This variety is our number one resource and, thus, our first priority. This includes using a diversity of resources and strategies, as well as holding diverse views and having diverse goals.

Work toward a diverse community, human and otherwise. Remember that diversity is alive, and that to conserve it, we must grow and interact with it. Simply, if you devote your landscape to growing as much diversity as possible, you will not fail in your quest for paradise.

Sample Strategies

• Build compost from many different ingredients to encourage diverse soil communities that will support healthy plants.

• Grow food in many locations in case one spot fails to yield.

• Establish multiple pathways.

• Eat many different types of food to encourage a healthy body.

• Work with different kinds of people to increase your understanding of other cultures.

• Create edges around the garden to enhance the diversity of species.

• Catch water at several points and direct it into different parts of the garden.

• Grow seeds of different varieties each year and save seeds for many reasons.

• Look for unusual ways to solve problems and look past the first or most obvious answer.

• Leave parts of your landscape wild to encourage nonhuman benefits.

• Never pull a plant you don’t recognize—make weeding an educational and intentional experience.

• Let every species in your garden go to seed at least once every few years.

• Grow things that yield in the winter or off-season to ensure a year-round food supply.

• Always look for new information and don’t get set in your ways.

• Meet needs with multiple resources, such as collecting mulch materials from several places.

• Make each resource meet multiple needs, such as using a greenhouse to grow plants, heat water, and store tools.

2. Recognize and Respond to Natural Patterns

The power of nature is far greater than the strength of any structure, so why not tap into some of that power and make things easier on yourself? Nature (including you and your garden) is not just a bank of resources; she is an ideal model of evolving ecological systems, and we can look to her for guidance at any phase of our planning. Inspired by nature, we offer our ideas and she provides the ways and means to vitalize them.

Many of the best examples from nature manifest themselves through specific, repeated patterns. We need

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.