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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Dasylirion longissimum: The Drought-Defying, Winter-Hardy Landscape Statement
Dasylirion longissimum — Mexican Grass Tree — is one of the most structurally striking drought-tolerant plants for the garden. At HE-QA Garden it sails through summer heat and Sakarya winters with no fuss at all.
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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.
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Miljska Fig: The Sapling I Brought From Montenegro and Planted in My Garden
I brought this sapling back from my trip to Montenegro and planted it in my own garden, and now I'm harvesting from my own tree. As I researched it, this deep purple fig's name turned out to carry an unexpected story and a tricky identification process.
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Ravika Fig: The Taste Serdivan Carried Across a Bridge of Memory
We've been harvesting from this tree for two weeks and still can't get enough. But Ravika fig isn't just a delicious fruit - it's a name woven into Serdivan's identity, carrying the story of a migration.
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Batumi Pear: A Regional Delicacy Passed Down From the Caucasus Migration
This year, we made our final harvest from this tree. Batumi pear is known in my family as a regional delicacy, a pear variety that takes its name from the city of Batumi in the Caucasus.
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Rudbeckia Triloba: Not Black-Eyed Susan, But Its Much More Floriferous Cousin
I thought this plant was Black-Eyed Susan, but the fact that it branches so much and blooms so profusely was the real clue - it turns out to be Rudbeckia triloba, a much more floriferous member of the same family.
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Coreopsis Tinctoria: The Flower I Mistook for Black-Eyed Susan
I first mistook this yellow-maroon flower for Black-Eyed Susan, but the leaf structure and flower pattern actually point to Coreopsis tinctoria. It's a true annual that self-sows from seed.
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.