Tag: landscape

  • 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

    Read more

  • Soil Sutra 1: “…bird by bird, I have come to know the earth…” ~ Pablo Neruda

    “I am here because you are here.”   Every morning and any time I get too wrapped up in my head or with the human comedy and drama. Sometimes lie down right on the dirt in the garden. And I rest there for a few minutes. My agreement with the planet. Dirt, soil, earth first. Let’s

    Read more

  • Not Touch, Not Singing…Unless You Are Very, Very Close

    Its very simple really. – although, the class that led me to this revelation is not. Dont touch, Dont sing, Just breathe. Deeply. Did you know that some plant leaves die after a very limited touch by a human hand? Did you know that the plant has no way to register, accept sound and incorporate

    Read more

  • Special Order Plants: Just Breathe…. Elderberry for Heart and Respiration

    From the rich, deep blue-black of the ripe berries to jam simmering on the stove…from full, lacy umbrellas of tiny, creamy white flowers steeped for tea, this native is so beautiful in texture and color and grows amazingly well even in the Wyoming salty clay soil. The Elderberry shrub is native to the entire northern

    Read more

  • Simplify Spring Activity: Mulch

    Our part in garden life is to bring together the conditions necessary to maintain or improve the living beings there – plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, microbes, and us. When the plants are big enough, they provide their own winter blanket…falling leaves. Mulch: maintains soil moisture; insulates the earth above the roots from weather extremes;

    Read more

  • Simplify, Simplify, Simplify: Spring Clean Up; FINALLY Tours!!

    I love a gentle, gray, misty rain. So good for everything. Breathe in that cool, misty air.  Reminds me of the Motherland… the San Francisco Bay Area. And it is absolutely the best weather in which to get outdoor winter clean up done. The List has many things crossed off: move native soil to all

    Read more

  • 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

    Read more

  • Refuge in the Wind: OLLI Permaculture Classes at Casper College for 2025

    Permaculture Classes for 2025:These classes are offered through the OLLI Program at Casper College (Call if you did not get a catalog 268.3401) Please join me for as much support as I can offer – by way of presentation, tons of information, and yes, wierd and shocking stories from Laurel’s life and landscape experience! If

    Read more

  • Native Bee Houses: Give Them Shelter; They Give You Food

    Many moons ago I purchased an organic-looking, sweet little native pollinator house. I will not go into the price I overlooked to have what I thought would be a natural, rustic addition to my garden. I found what I thought was a good spot and mounted it near some shrubs. Nothing that year, but maybe

    Read more

  • NEW SHORT COURSE for Fall 2024  Finding a Refuge in the Wind: What Is Permaculture & Dirt to Earth Natural Soil Improvement

    The best start for your Spring garden is your Autumn work. Please join me on Saturday, October 19, 2024 from 10:00am to 2:00pm at Fort Caspar Museum Meeting Room Casper Wyoming, for two brief introductions to the nature-based garden practice of Permaculture. Drawing on my training and research, but more from my experience applying that

    Read more