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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Calliandra surinamensis: The Pink Powder Puff
A drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing shrub known for its silky pink powder-puff flowers: Calliandra surinamensis.
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Honeysuckle: The Bee-Loved Fragrant Vine
A guide to honeysuckle, prized for its fragrant flowers and its benefit to bees - identity, permaculture value, and how to grow it.
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Self-Heal (Prunella Vulgaris): A Small but Versatile Garden Plant
Self-heal, botanically Prunella vulgaris, is a small plant spreading on its own in my garden, notable both as a ground cover and for its traditional uses.
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Acer Palmatum 'Emerald Lace': A Dwarf, Weeping Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum 'Emerald Lace' is the opposite form of Seiryu in my maple collection: a weeping, dwarf cultivar. A detailed look at its leaf structure, color, size, growing conditions and landscape use.
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Acer Palmatum 'Seiryu': A Rare Upright-Growing Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' is one of the pieces in my maple collection. A detailed look at its leaf structure, fall color, size, growing conditions and landscape use.
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Soapwort: A Natural Cleaning Plant That Foams with Water
Soapwort is a plant that genuinely foams when mixed with water, traditionally used as a natural alternative to soap. We planted it in our garden both for its looks and for this use.
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Amaranth (Black Cockscomb): A Plant That Grows on Its Own
Amaranth now grows on its own in our garden, no planting needed. Its flowers are stunning and the seeds are technically edible, though we haven't tried them ourselves. What we love most is that it keeps coming back with zero intervention.
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Satsuma Mandarin: The Citrus That Survives Even at -10°C
Satsuma, also known as Rize mandarin, is seedless and very juicy, and it has fully adapted to our garden. Even after seeing -10°C, the shrub survives without dying.
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Kumquat: The Dwarf Citrus That Fruits Reliably Every Year in Our Garden
Kumquat is a dwarf citrus that fruits reliably every year in our garden. It's currently in full bloom, here's what the plant is like and my own experience with it.
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Goji Berry: A Fruit That's Grown in Our Garden for Years, and I'm Still Not Convinced
Goji berry has been growing in our garden for years, but the yield has always been low and the taste never matched expectations. An honest look at a berry that tastes more like pepper.
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My English-Style Naturalistic Planting: A Dry Garden Experiment
In one corner of my garden I'm trying an English-style naturalistic planting approach, working only with perennials and planting nothing new. Right now it's in its dry-season phase.
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Cudrania Tricuspidata (Che): A Fruit Tree You Don't Need a Pair For
Cudrania tricuspidata, or Che, normally needs a separate male and female tree to fruit - but mine has a male branch grafted onto the female cultivar, so a single tree does the job. The fruit is still green now, but ripens into something that looks like a red raspberry.
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.