On the homestead: Perennials

We’ve lived at the little house on Pine for nearly 5 years {officially 5 years in August}.

The first two years, we focused on updates to the house: new shower, lots of painting, fixing pipes, working on insulation, adding a vapor barrier to the crawlspace, adding a half-bath and walk-in closet to the master bedroom, and making lots of energy updates {programmable thermostat, LED lights, automatic lights, tankless water heater}.

Around the third year, I started shifting my focus to the yard. Before planting anything, we had 1/4 acre of almost all grass. It was a pain to mow, which is one of the motivations for planting so much and creating spaces like the bog garden/pond.

I was also beginning to consider energy and food production, and gained a strong interest in local food culture. I had the urge to create the conditions for a food system at home.

Check out my garden in the first year, and see a list of what I planted!

Shane, on the other hand, was more interested in perennials. At the time, I didn’t understand his obsession with planting trees and other perennial plants/bushes, but now I do.

Perennials are the framework for an ecosystem. They continue to produce year after year, and build intricate root systems that hold soil in place. Without perennials, soil would erode.

On the homestead now:

Trees
5 paw paw trees
2 pear trees
2 hazelnut
2 apple
2 peach
1 pomegranate
1 cherry
1 persimmon
1 fig
1 pecan
1 nectarine
1 orange (brought indoors for winter)
1 lime (brought indoors for winter)

Berries and other perennials
2 chokeberry/aronia
2 grape vines
2 blueberry plants
2 rhubarb plants
2 kiwi plants
1 raspberry
1 blackberry
several day lillies
several hostas
2 azaleas
butterfly bush
yucca plant
prickly pear cactus
mint (contained in a pot, but kept outdoors)

The addition of a small apiary on the homestead this year will help our efforts to encourage a flourishing permaculture environment.

Next on the horizon for the little house on Pine:
– more herb development
– rock wall with large raised bed space for planting more perennials
– a back deck with built-in spaces for planting herbs and annuals

We also plant plenty of annuals, too. I’m keeping much better records of the annuals this year, and will be sure to post photos and progress!