Permaculture · Sustainable Living · Circular Farming
Touching the soil
changes everything.
For 10 years I've been transforming my garden with permaculture. Honest notes on rare seeds, cuttings and circular living.
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Golden Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea): Identification and Growing
Golden bamboo, Phyllostachys aurea: its origin, appearance, spreading habit and growing tips for Sakarya's humid, mild climate.
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Che Fruit Has Ripened: The First Harvest of the Bumpy Pink Fruit
The fruit on our che tree (Maclura tricuspidata) ripened this year, and we started picking and eating it. It tastes somewhere between mulberry and fig, with a sweet, juicy interior hiding under that bumpy red skin.
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Eryngium Yuccifolium 'Magical Silver Globe': The Drought-Tolerant Perennial I Brought From Sweden
This plant I found and brought back from a nursery in Sweden is Eryngium yuccifolium 'Magical Silver Globe' - a multi-purpose perennial with silvery, globe-shaped flower heads. Its deep taproot lets it stay standing even through drought.
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Chinese Yam: The Vine's Real Identity - Not Apios, But a Cinnamon-Scented Yam
I initially mistook this vine for Apios, but its real identity turned out to be Chinese Yam (Dioscorea polystachya). The bead-like growths in the photo aren't dug from soil - they're aerial bulbils forming at the leaf axils. It's an interesting edible plant, but one that also needs careful handling.
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Pawpaw: Our Kentucky Champion Gave Its First Ripe Fruit - A Flavor Between Banana, Pineapple, and Pudding
We ate ripe fruit from our pawpaw tree for the first time this year - the cultivar is Kentucky Champion. The flavor was genuinely striking, something between banana, pineapple, and pudding. Researching why such a good fruit isn't in supermarkets turned up an interesting story.
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Black Madeira Fig: Its First Fruit, But It Couldn't Ripen This Year
Our Black Madeira fig tree gave its first fruit this year, but it couldn't ripen because of rainy, cool weather. Researching the cultivar helped me understand why - it wants a late, warm season. We'll see if it delivers next year.
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130 Kilograms of Rain: A Diary of the Record Day We Lived Through in Sakarya
It hasn't stopped raining in Sakarya for the past three days, and on September 29th, 133.6 kilograms of rain per square meter broke a record that had stood since 1999. In this diary entry I'm sharing both the numbers and what an extreme weather event like this stirs up in me as a gardener.
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Giant Elephant Garlic: Not True Garlic, But the Garden's Giant Star
These massive cloves coming out of our garden are elephant garlic. Botanically it's actually closer to leek than true garlic, and that's exactly why its flavor is so much milder and sweeter.
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Chandler Walnut: A Trendy Cultivar That Turned Into a Big Disappointment in Our Region
We had a big disappointment with Chandler walnut. Once the trendy cultivar of its era, Chandler is now planted everywhere, but in our region it keeps getting sick and there's almost no harvest - anthracnose, stink bugs, and humidity are all working against it.
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Sari Lop Fig: Our Native Fig That Shines When Dried, Not Fresh
Being honest about Sari Lop fig: I didn't love its fresh taste, and it cracked quickly after a bit of rain. But that just means we were looking for this treasured native Turkish fig's real talent in the wrong place - because Sari Lop's true strength isn't fresh, it's dried.
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Italian 258: One of the Most Beautiful Figs Added to the Collection
Italian 258 gave its first fruit while still a tiny sapling, and it's now joined our fig collection. The deep red flesh revealed when we cut open that first fruit immediately explained why this variety is so loved among fig collectors.
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Vaki and Viki: From House Mascots to the Garden's Breeding Pair
Vaki and Viki came to our home in June and were our house mascots for a while, but they grew so fast that we had to move them from the house to the garden. Now, as a pair we believe to be one female and one male, we've reached the stage of planning to collect their eggs and raise ducklings.
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Jujube Harvest Has Begun: Li Abundant, Chico Few But Incredibly Delicious
Jujube harvest has begun this year. Both Li and Chico cultivars fruited, but very differently - Li was abundant enough to weigh down the branches, while Chico gave only a handful of fruit, though that handful was incredibly delicious.
Read more"Keep the cycle, the future is in your hands."
— HE-QA Garden
Permaculture for me is not just a gardening technique — it's a life philosophy. To repair the soil, keep the cycle and leave a richer nature for future generations. Every seed is a trust, every cutting a hope.
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Letters from the Garden
Seasonal planting calendars, rare plant introductions and permaculture tips. Once a week.