The Refuge Permaculture Center
At Tara Farm and Nursery
Tag: key plants
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A Cozy Read:The Refuge Permaculture Newsletter
Did you receive your email copy of The Refuge Permaculture Newsletter yesterday? No? I would be very pleased to add you to my secure email list and send you a copy. “Enlightening” may be a bit hopeful on my part, but “informative”, “supportive”, “interesting” work just fine. Send an email to tarafarmandnursery@gmail.com with “Newsletter” in
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Closer and Closer: Seeds for Spring 2025 -Sainfoin
The raspberry patch is so packed full of plants that it is difficult to open the soil for restoration. And the grape vines have been producing so heavily the last few years it clearly is time to do something other than lay compost or mulch on top of the soil. Some research and some conversation
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Bean Harvest Sutra Two: Drying
Bean Harvest Sutra Two: Drying Winter Food1. A light, gentle squeeze of the dry, pale yellow pods in the garden will create a quiet crackling sound. Not too hard..2. Cut shrub leaving roots in the soil. (See Bean Harvest Sutra One)3. Loop cotton or hemp string around the bottom of a bundle of cut shrubs.4.
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Native Chokecherry… All Seasons, All Pleasures…and a Warning
Pounded – seeds and all – and thoroughly dried it kept the First Nation’s people healthy through severe winters. Simmered low and slow on the stove until the fragrance of cherry fills the kitchen, with just a little sugar the juice becomes a perfect summer drink. Or add a little more sugar (not a lot!)and
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Special Order Plants for 2024: A Healthy Heart
Tens of thousands of people have participated in research of this plump, sweet, juicy fruit, and what were the results: one significant study showed that two teaspoons (10 mL) of pure grape juice every day for two weeks increased serum antioxidant activity and increased the resistance of bad cholesterol to oxidation. (1) And here we
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Everbearing: Time and Space
A humid, wet spring ends your hope for Red Currants, but a few warm, clear days gives you baskets of Black Currants. A monsoonal down pour destroys the Native Plum blossoms, but the tiny, hidden green flowers of the Valiant Grape give you pounds of grapes in August. Honoring diversity of plants and temporal and
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Observe Nature: Currant Patch and Bumble Bees
Observe Nature… that’s the class title for a class I’ll be offering later this year. But for now here is such a great example. That heavy spring snow bent the lower branches of the black currant down to the ground. With the thaw, and melt, the snow got heavier and pushed them into the mud…
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Special Order Plant 2023: Hardy Grape Vines
Homemade Wines, Cordials, Juice, Jam, Jellies. Canning is not necessary as long as you have a freezer. North American, native-based grape vines producing up to 20 pounds on a mature vine. Deep purple richness, full of immune support and home-grown flavor. Read on… I have stopped buying commercially made fruit juice. Every week I make
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Why Natives… when hanging flower pots of petunias are on sale… ugh…
Why Natives? The Wyoming SunflowerHelianthus maximilani or the Perennial Sunflower will soon be gracing everyopen space, every road barrow pit, and my garden. Why my garden? Nothing is like the warm, golden color of these natives. Fast Food for the Road: The flowers feed late pollinators, preparing themfor migration, hibernation or egg-laying. Seeded flower heads
The Refuge Permaculture Center 