Philosophy – Apocalypse Gardens https://apocalypsegardens.com Mon, 30 Sep 2024 16:37:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 223768039 The apocalypse of my chaos https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/09/26/the-apocalypse-of-my-chaos/ https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/09/26/the-apocalypse-of-my-chaos/#respond Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:50:21 +0000 https://apocalypsegardens.com/?p=469 This permaculture zoning project will either mark the end of the chaos or the end of the backyard garden. Seriously though, I have been shuffling my plans and my plants around now that I sat down to lay out the Fall 2024 Garden projects.

I’ve been relying on sites like this one and also this for my information rather than sending other gardeners on trips to Australia, New Zealand, and Jordan as of late. My wallet really has no patience for information being withheld for profit right now, and also this isn’t necessarily mission work in a backyard in Texas,

I will be adding videos for each zone as I finish them up. Hopefully they will be found valuable and create some dialogue. Zone 3 and 4 are about as mixed together as Zone 1 and 2 were. I am considering using some of the garden tour content in re-edits to show what was “wrong”. Wish me luck!

]]> https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/09/26/the-apocalypse-of-my-chaos/feed/ 0 469 Fall 2024 https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/09/02/fall-2024/ https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/09/02/fall-2024/#respond Mon, 02 Sep 2024 02:26:17 +0000 https://apocalypsegardens.com/?p=449 I have composed and published my Fall 2024 garden plan. It’s still subject to alien invasion and dogs laying in it, but there’s a point where I have to commit and move in my process or it never gets done.

I will be working off this list. It’s going to change. Things will not be pretty. An item will receive strikethough once it is complete. Some time will be needed for replacing some drip lines that I mended throughout the season. There is lots more to do while it is cooling down.

.So, without further rambling:

Fall 2024 Plan

Wish me luck!

]]> https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/09/02/fall-2024/feed/ 0 449 Hiatus https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/08/01/hiatus/ https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/08/01/hiatus/#respond Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:44:37 +0000 https://apocalypsegardens.com/?p=278 Season 4 is currently in the works. As I have explained in the past, we use the “Season” designation to introduce new features and concepts. Since August is when the temps come to a peak for the area, it seems fitting.

August is just a break in releases. It doesn’t mean I am not working on AG. Currently, there’s some editing to do on new intro and outro clips. (ooooh, shiny!). Also, more directly related to the website, I am learning some AI methods for the clipart. I’m not considering fake plants or any other crap like that. What this site needs is a little polish. I’m focusing on the stuff that doesn’t really matter like horizontal bars and tiny fleur-de-lis. The goal is more assistance than complete takeover. We’ll see.

Things can get a little chaotic during Season changes, but it will eventually stabilize.

Thanks for sticking around!

]]> https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/08/01/hiatus/feed/ 0 278 Living Mulch: Learning the art of the rice knife. https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/07/09/living-mulch-learning-the-art-of-the-rice-knife/ https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/07/09/living-mulch-learning-the-art-of-the-rice-knife/#respond Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:23:10 +0000 https://apocalypsegardens.com/?p=264 I have been working on techniques of composting in place lately, mostly from the inspiration of The Permaculture Comsultant, but also due to the demise of my compost bins this winter. I have begun mulching in place using blades. Last summer, I just kind of let the garden go wild and cleared out what hadn’t died at the end of the season. Establishing continuous production, the way nature performs in my climate is a challenge.

As I understand this method, there are several tiers to this method of weeding and mulching (stacked functions). You have a pocket knife for small touch-ups. You have a rice knife/sickle for medium jobs. Machetes take care of the chopping. Scythes are for bulk cutting of plants (e.g. grasses and other leafy things).

We had a hurricane to contend with on Monday. This is the prefect time to bulk up on plant matter.

]]> https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/07/09/living-mulch-learning-the-art-of-the-rice-knife/feed/ 0 264 The Form and Function of a Productive Garden https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/05/21/the-form-and-function-of-a-productive-garden/ https://apocalypsegardens.com/2024/05/21/the-form-and-function-of-a-productive-garden/#respond Tue, 21 May 2024 03:58:47 +0000 https://apocalypsegardens.com/?p=252 How often does the balance of form and function come up in our daily lives? Some will choose soft lines over performance in vehicles, electronics, and houses. Some will choose a car that runs, electronics that don’t break, and a “roof over their head”.

I think both are achievable if done correctly. The conflict between these two details is order of operations, not choosing between them. We make the framework first Apocalypse Gardens’ initial design started out as two 4×8 beds running perpendicular to an existing pergola. It was symmetrical. It was boring, but it allowed for expansion later once the pandemic was in full swing.

We made them both hugel mounds, burying every stick we could find in the twin beds along with a few logs. This was exactly the structure our yard needed in order to be beautiful later.

In the second year, mushrooms sprang up everywhere in the beds. The fungus was eating the limbs and any remaining chips. Tomatoes that I had normally grown on an apartment patio could produce in the ground. I remember growing Better Boy and White Tomesol. Our hatch chilies performed amazingly. Malabar spinach climbed to the top of cattle panel trellises.

We had our proof of concept. We also started to notice the shortages we normally saw during hurricane season started to become more common than when there was a typhoon headed for us. It was time to expand. We added two more beds, running along the back fence.

Everything happened exactly as the videos we watched said it would. By the third year, the soil was teaming with life atop several feet of Texas black gumbo clay. Moisture wasn’t just running off the yard over the top of that slick clay. Three more beds were added in front of the other row, because of potatoes, beans, and lettuce.

Then came the wood chips. Instead of proceeding with a full Back to Eden implementation, I latched onto the solution of throwing the beautiful oak chips we received in the pathways between our beds. This soaked up the mud our beds were causing. Everything in Texas has a price tag, because capitalism, but I was more than happy to pay the $20 a load for Chip Drop. Our HOA decided the second load stayed on the driveway too long and wrote us up for “trash” on the drive. My wife says I’m no longer allowed to order them for this iteration.

My point is the beauty will come. Give the garden some structure. Consider your next move. Maybe, even plan a little. Form and function can coalesce for you as well.

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