Category: News

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”  Albert Camus

As Jubilee Farm winds down from the holidays and heads into a new year, we dream of blossoms and blooms and turn our thoughts to garden planning. By planning, outlining and picturing how we’d like this year’s permaculture garden to shape up, we can begin our 2025 growing season with greater focus. In addition to being a practical, fun way to use our time indoors, this head start will help us get right to the task in the spring. 

Many of the steps we take can be applied to every home garden, and by sharing what we’re doing in preparation for this year’s growing season, we hope to inspire you to try new plants and new methods at home. 

To begin, we revisited the things that worked and the things that did not in last year’s garden. We’ve analyzed the success or failure of various aspects of our garden to determine what bears repeating for this year. We took stock of the types of seeds we used, how we started them (greenhouse versus direct planting) and we noted what helped or hindered their growth and yield. We identified specific challenges we faced and how to address them. 

Once we completed this general brainstorming, we then plotted out a diagram of our garden. Dividing the garden into smaller sections will help us pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses that lie within the overall garden. For example, we can see that comfrey grows very well in a certain part of the garden; however, there is a physical point where it becomes less fruitful. Noting topographical changes in the garden helps us transition our planting and allows us to utilize our space to its greatest potential. 

We then took a look at the types of perennials we planted last summer. We examined placement, watering frequency, methods and yield. This helps us decide what perennials we want to plant again this year and which ones we want to avoid. Taking stock of how our perennials performed helps us consider new varieties we’d like to try. 

Planning for this year’s garden now gives us time to retool plans as needed and to purchase seeds and arrange for any hardscaping we need to install.

Whether your garden is large or small, you, too, can plan and apply these ideas to your space. With a little foresight, we trust that our garden can be even more beautiful and fruitful in this coming season, and we hope yours will be, too. 

          As our first year of permaculture gardening draws to a close, we reflect on all we’ve learned about this method of gardening and are eager to begin planning next year’s garden. The fruits of our labors have been many, and much of what we’ve learned can be applied to your home garden. By sharing what we’ve done and learned, we hope to inspire you to try some new things as you plan next year’s garden.

          We’re harvesting our herbs to create a variety of products for home use. We’ve found several herbs, such as chamomile and basil, will re-seed themselves for next year’s crop. Calendula is extremely hardy, and when the flowers die and are dried, they render a significant number of seeds we can use next year. We’ve been astonished to see our comfrey plants happily burst forth and produce beautiful purple flowers enjoyed by bees and hummingbirds. We have been drying the comfrey leaves; the plant’s anti-inflammatory properties will be useful for making a salve. We’ve also been pleased to learn that while lavender flowers are the most desirable part of the plant, the leaves themselves have multiple uses and can be enjoyed long after the plants have flowered.

          In addition to our herbs, we’ve had a vegetable harvest that includes eggplant, cucumber, potatoes, tomatoes and more. The unusually hot weather was a challenge for us, and we are developing solutions to help us increase our yield next year. As with any garden, weeding was a daily task. While somewhat tedious, weeding enabled us to identify changes to the garden on a daily basis and trouble-shoot as necessary.

          In the coming weeks, we’ll prepare our garden for the winter. Fall is every bit as busy for gardeners as the rest of the year, and that holds true for us. In the coming weeks, we’ll plant wildflower seeds for slow germination over the winter. Additionally, we’ll protect our perennials by spreading farm-made mulch, as well as taking stock of our lasagna layered areas. As winter sets in, our time will be spent planning future expansion of the garden, reflecting on lessons learned and continuing study.

          It’s been an exciting time in our garden, and thanks go out to the volunteers who helped us and gave us pointers along the way. We will carry our knowledge and experience into next season, and we’re confident our garden will be bigger and better in 2025.