Pittsburgh Permaculture » Experiments

Come Join Us at the Food Forest this Saturday!

Michelle — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:23:22 +0000

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 [...]

Permaculture Design Certificate Course

Juliette — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:54:30 +0000

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, [...]

The Art of the Homemade Graft

Troy — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:12:08 +0000

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 [...]

Stacked Worm Composting for $15

Guest — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:49:14 +0000

Our Worm Factory(TM) breaks down our food scraps fast. These typically run $80 or more. Fortunately a friend gave it to us, free!

Valentines day was coming up, so I decided to get my girlfriend a worm bin to compost her kitchen scraps in her apartment–I’m a true romantic. She had [...]

Inspirational resource and fab mature design

Guest — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:40:58 +0000

I had the chance to attend the PASA conference last week. The schedule was pretty diverse and there were a lot of workshops on topics related to permaculture and backyard farming on property sized less than one acre. It was pretty cool to include small scale and urban ag at a farming conference. It [...]

Cat Poo: 2

Troy — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:22:36 +0000

A quick update to the kitty litter composting experiment:

I have continued to add newspaper and fresh kitchen scraps to ensure a healthy diet as the worms embark upon their maiden voyage. The small bin has been host to thermophilic bacteria, resulting in higher temperatures than the ambient air. This has also resulted in [...]

Michele’s Introduction

Michele — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:35:39 +0000

My name is Michele, and I am a gardenaholic. My sister thinks I need an intervention and a 12 step program! I live and breathe trying to figure out what else I can fit into my moderately sized backyard! I like to call it my “Edible Landscape.”

Backyard Left Fall/Winter

I live in South [...]

Funky Feline Fecal Fun

Troy — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:16:54 +0000

Lane, the culprit, and his litter, World's Best.

If you google ‘cat litter composting’ and bother to read all of the forums, you’ll find a lot of opinions. A few people are actually doing it, some people are too afraid to even think about it, but there does not seem to be [...]