Wildlife Habitat

Found a couple good tips for creating bird habitat from the Audubon Society.

• Naturescape your yard: Plant a combination of native plants and trees to provide birds with cover, food and nesting opportunities. Group several of the same species together with the largest species towards the edge of the yard to create a songbird border. Include evergreens for cover, thorny species to create nesting opportunities and berry producing shrubs such a snowberry, salmonberry, red flowering currant and huckleberry to provide food.
• Create a brush pile: Pile up downed tree limbs to create a brush pile, a great source of cover for birds during bad weather. A 3' x 5' pile can also be good for reptile habitat.

I also came across some good info on habitat for native bees.

Bee blocks can be made by drilling nesting holes between 3/32” and 3/8” in diameter, at approximate 3/4” centers, into the side of a block of preservative-free lumber. The holes should be smooth inside, and closed at one end. The height of the nest is not critical—8” or more is good—but the depth of the holes is. Holes less than 1/4” diameter should be 3-4” deep. For holes 1/4” or larger, a 5-6” depth is best.

These nests should be placed where they are sheltered from the worst of the weather, with entrance holes facing towards east or southeast, so they get the morning sun.

One thing that I haven't seen is varying the sizes and location of the holes to make an attractive pattern. Not that the bees would care, but it would be fun for observers.

There are also notes for ground nesting bees (need dry bare ground) and bumble bee nests (7" cube).

A pond can also be useful for many species.

Multnomah Back Yard Section

In the back section we have fences all around which will allow us to introduce some helpful fauna: chickens, ducks, quail, and rabbits. We should also create welcoming habitat for mason bees, various birds, frogs, and beneficial insects.
The back yard slopes down from the house with a several feet of drop to the back fence.

I'm thinking the area behind the garage would be good for coops for the poultry, a greenhouse, and a place for an endless pool for us to exercise in.

The upper area would make a good Zone 1 for raised bed annual gardens. and a low deck off the back of the house (the current deck is too high which just gives a "better" view of the unsightly bits over the back fence into the commercial area of Sandy Blvd.)
If we add a swale before bellow the beds that will create an area for Zone 2 with perennials.
Then another swale and Zone 3 with fruit and nut trees, vines, and shade tolerant perennials.
One last swale before zone 4 with some tall growing evergreens: firs, coastal redwoods, and maybe a cedar. These will be as close to the back fence as we dare, layered with the tallest growing to the back (North) side.

Somewhere we need to work in a pond for the ducks, that will hopefully also be supportive habitat for frogs.

Along the fence on the East side it would be nice to set up some supports for climbing plants.

Excess rainwater, beyond what we can store, will be diverted into the swale system with level sills.

In the very North-East corner will be Zone 5, our little patch of wilderness.

Permaculture Planning -- zones, sections, goals

In permaculture planning it is useful to distinguish 6 zones:

• Zone 0: The built environment: house, garage, porte cochere
• Zone 1: Intensive gardening -- Annuals, finicky plants that need tending
• Zone 2: Perennial gardening -- Plants that produce year after year
• Zone 3: Food forest -- Fruit and nut trees, vines, understory plantings
• Zone 4: Forage forest -- timber (in 100 years or so)
• Zone 5: Wilderness -- leave it be

For planning purposes, I also think I will divide the property into three sections:

• The back: back yard, garage and area behind it, east side yard.
• The house: Front porch, trellis over porch, window plantings, indoor plants, back deck, rain catchment system.
• The front: planting strip, sidewalk, front yard, driveway, porte corchere and plantings west of the driveway.

With this division I can write separate articles focusing on one section at a time. Before I get into that level of detail, I should reflect on my overall goals:

1. Produce a lot of food for ourselves and our friends
2. Minimize inputs: fertilizers, purchased stuff, city water, labor
3. Maximize diversity: nurture a rich interoperable mini-ecosystem
4. Focus on natives: but allow for some well adapted species and strains
5. Contribute beauty: try for a balance that will quiet the eye and calm the soul

So, with those as organizing principles we can proceed to plan the sections....

References from The Urban Homestead

I Just finished reading The Urban Homestead. Very good book covering many sustainability topics for the modern city / suburban dweller. Here are some of the references from the book that caught my eye:

• Plants for a Future -- information on 7000 plants in a searchable database (the US version didn't work for me today, but the UK one seemed to be fine). It also has articles such as an interesting one on hedges.
• http://wormpoop.com/ -- if nothing else, this website has a cool name.
• The UC Davis IPM site -- searchable database of pests
• Raising quail -- "Raising quail is inexpensive, easy, provides very healthy low-fat white meat, and supplies the fertilizer you need for your home garden. The moderate start-up costs for raising quail are well worth it."
• Chicken breed chart -- amazing
• Solar food dehydrator -- plans. I gotta make me one of these!

There are many more sites and books that look interesting. But these were the ones that seemed to speak to me at the moment.

Mobile blogging

This is an experiment in mobile blogging.

Sent from my iPod

I need some froghopper eating spiders

The other day I noticed spittlebugs on my rosemary.

Spittlebug eggs are laid in late summer and are left to over winter on plant debris. The eggs will hatch in early spring and go through five Instars, or stages, before becoming adults. When the nymphs originally hatch in early spring, they will attach themselves to a plant and begin feeding. They are a wingless, green creature at this point and are almost invisible inside the spittle. [about.com]

I had tried just hitting the spittle with a blast of water from my spray bottle,

but they just came back a day or two later. So today I took a closer look and spotted the little light green nymphs after blasting away their protective foam. Then I was able to hand pick them.

Now I need to find some spiders to feed them to. Maybe they'll develop a taste for froghoppers and help me out.

Found a neat little summary complete with an example on a rosemary plant at the UC Davis IPM site.

Plant investigations

Listened to a podcast on unusual varieties of plants to consider in permaculture.

• Gogi Berry (also called Wolfberry)
• Jujube (Ziziphus zizyphus)
• Nanking Bush Cherry (Prunus tomentosa) -- not a true cherry, similar tart fruit
• Blue Honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea var. cauriana)
• High Bush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) -- not a true cranberry. The fruits, sour and rich in vitamin C, can be eaten raw or cooked into a sauce to serve with meat or game.
• Elderberry (Sambucus) -- many varieties. Multipurpose berries. Insect repellant. More...
• Clumping Bamboo -- edible shoots, wind break, doesn't run like many bamboo
• Filbert (Corylus maxima) -- nuts, can use for hedges