Planting Perennials

One of the things that has come up over and over again in our reading up on sustainable food systems is the cultivation of perennials. While we happily plant seeds for an annual garden, we are also trying to establish long-term food sources in the form of perennial trees, shrubs, and plants.

There are the usual suspects of pears, peaches, figs, avocado, an almond, a couple of blueberries, a few blackberries, and a couple of boysenberries coming out of dormancy from last year.

And then there are some other guys like the above elderberry and the hardy kiwi below that we will be experimenting with.

There’s also the ten autumn olives (pictured below) we have been planting around swales as well as the mayhaw trees, Siberian pea shrubs, timber bamboo, and the lone satsuma orange tree.

Most of the trees, shrubs, and plants have come through the mail, either from local Texas nurseries or somewhere else in the country. So whenever a large box arrives it is a busy and fun time of planting which usually starts with Papa and the boys picking up their shovels and me and Annabelle following later on.

We’ve also been planting perennial herb seeds for both culinary and medicinal purposes – rosemary, thyme, spearmint, chamomile, lovage, mullein, comfrey, and many more that have yet to make it into the ground. These are all down in what we call the “pallet garden” as pictured below.

Many of these will take years to produce, so we are trying to start them early and keep this year’s resources, water, and time focused on them first, followed by the annuals we are also working with.

We are thankful for the trees, shrubs, and plants that the Lord provided and for planting days that end with the whole family sitting and twisting chicken wire cages while the sun goes down.