Come Join Us at the Food Forest this Saturday!

Michelle | June 2nd, 2011

We will be working at the food forest on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month from 10am-12pm. The food forest is located at 4700 Irvine St in Hazelwood. It was 4 adjacent vacant lots owned by the URA and now hosts a diversity of edible and otherwise functional tree, bush and groundcover species.

Please come on down, bring a friend and have some fun working in community! Thank you to all of you who have been down this season. Your help is vital to making this a productive and useful space.

There is so much to do and so much that can be done! This week, Saturday June 4th from 10am-12pm, we will be:

Weeding (but of course, gotta keep the knotweed down!)

Mulching- we have a huge pile of wood chips to spread out on the front path

Making sun tea! As long as the sun is shining. We have spearmint on site that is just waiting to become tea.

Pondering the plant landscape and changes that have taken place since last year. Not only the changes that we have instigated but also how the plant community itself has responded to our work.

In other news, the food forest is open to hosting projects. We have some specific areas that we would like to partner with interested people on, including soil and plant testing, soil remediation, understory design work, front entrance design work, and more! Please contact Michelle at mczolba@yahoo.com if you would like to speak further about the opportunities.

Hope to see you at the food forest on Saturday at 10am!

Permaculture Design Certificate Course

Juliette | December 29th, 2010

This is a reminder… exactly one month until the PDC, register NOW to join us at the Phipps Garden Center!

6 WEEKENDS (January to April 2011):
Jan 29-30; Feb 12-13, 26-27; Mar 12-13, 26-27; Apr 2, 9:00am to 4:30pm

– Earn your internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certification!
– Share 6 weekends immersed in a fun, supportive learning environment!
– Increase your understanding of local ecosystems and your confidence in ecological design
– Experience a thorough, on-site, permaculture design from start to finish for a historic landmark
located in an urban setting
– Learn practical skills to nourish your landscape, home, community
– Visit rural and urban examples of permaculture systems
– Empower yourself to create positive, regenerative changes in your life, your landscape, and your
community

Course Topics:
Permaculture Ethics & Principles
Observation & Ecological Design
Site Analysis & Assessment
Edible Forest Gardens
Water Harvesting
Natural Building
Compost & Soil Building
Greenhouse & Bioshelter Design
Mapping, Surveying, & Presentation
Group Design Projects & Design Charettes
Transition Town Movement

Fee:$770 members, $850 non-members

Lead Instructors:
Darrell Frey of Three Sisters Farm and Bioshelter
Elizabeth Lynch of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Juliette Jones of Pittsburgh Permaculture

For more information or to register, call the Garden Center at (412) 441-4442 ext. 3925. Or visit the Phipps website to download a registration form.

Be your own landscape designer! This intensive weekend course will teach you the secrets of ecological design; learn how to garden like nature! Capture and store water on your site, reducing irrigation costs; build soil and use plants that mulch, reducing your need for artificial fertilizers; and design more sustainable garden systems, reducing your maintenance and maximizing the yield and aesthetics of your property. Visit local examples of permaculture design, use mapping and site analysis tools and complete a guided design project. This course will challenge both beginning designers and experienced gardeners alike.
Permaculture design is rooted in agriculture and horticulture, yet is far reaching and interdisciplinary in nature, making connections to city planning, ecology, architecture, and appropriate technology. This course covers the foundations of ecological design and addresses how these concepts can be applied to both urban and rural settings in order to create regenerative landscapes.

The Art of the Homemade Graft

Troy | May 17th, 2010

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A utility knife was my primary tool, however, my blade was brand new and sprayed with a bleach/water solution.

A very technical diagram of how I cut the receiving tree and the scion for the graft.

Black electrical tape serves to hold the graft union together and resist moisture loss through the open wound.

The Gala scion grafted to the McIntosh tree as it was in late March.

The graft as it is now in May, about a month and a half later. You can see the buds breaking and new leaves forming.

To scroll through the slideshow click next above the picture.

So… last year we bought a McIntosh apple and promptly filled up the rest of the yard to the point that we didn’t feel like we had enough space for another semi-dwarf tree, nor do we need that many apples. The problem is that apples need a different variety nearby in order to set their best fruit and we aren’t sure if there are any other apples or crab apples that would be close enough to do the job (sweet cherries, pears and others have similar needs).

The solution?…… Two varieties on a single tree! Continue reading The Art of the Homemade Graft

Pittsburgh Permaculture