This post, I have to say, is for my sister – the Foodie, Permaculture fan, and Tiny-House living one. A couple of weeks ago she Shared a Post about a guy who was distraught about the City making him remove, what he called, an edible forest. Whereas part of me had sympathy for him, the other part was sure there was more to the story. Frankly, the photos showed a yard that looked like an abandoned lot with a spot carved out for a little table and chair. Not something I’d want to live next to either. Sorry, that’s just not an edible forest to me.
I thought about that guy the other day as I was weeding around my unruly ginger patch. Hmm, I’ll bet my neighbors aren’t entirely happy with it either – but it has secrets.
See, I love ginger plants – I think they’re so beautiful and tropical. The flowers truly exotic and smell wonderful. Yes, I even have the edible variety too. Who knew that ugly root at the grocery store could produce such loveliness!
That’s not the only edible thing in our HOA approved manicured landscape. You’ve heard about my adventures in eating weeds from the lawn,…no? Well check it out. And then there’s that blueberry bush that I keep in a pot.
As I look around, there are lots of things we eat here. The rosemary shrubs out by the pool? Oh, yeah I cook with it. The peach tree, that gave us all so much jam, is still going strong.
Now we can add one more to the list. Just around the corner from that unruly ginger patch, this weekend we noticed that our banana tree had fruited ! Wow – more edible landscaping!
When we moved from Brooksville, my husband brought along a couple of pups from the stand of bananas we had. They were HUGE. Since this was a completely different area (sun & sand), I didn’t give them much hope. But he did do one odd thing to help spur them along – dirt. Yes, he dug up a big bucket of the clay rich soil that they were in at the other house and put it around it. Apparently, they liked it.
They look so tropical in the yard. Each year they freeze and we cut them back. They don’t mind a bit, they just get bigger!
More to eat? Why yes, soon we’ll have pineapples…
…and that thicket of ginger hides a little secret, Shampoo Ginger.
What? Yes, those pinecones have a perfume/detergent smell and are the most unusual air freshener ever!
OK, so you can’t eat this one, but it’s still really cool to have. It may not be a complete ‘edible forest’, or pre-permaculture, but these plants are beautiful AND useful…edible even!
Now, I have to find a spot for a Loquat tree. I used to have one of those too, and I miss it’s fruit. What can you plant ? Don’t settle for just a pot of basil, although I highly suggest growing one. Find something you can grow and enjoy AND enjoy looking at.
