The May Cottage Gardens are bursting into bloom for everyone to enjoy during the Spring open Gardena and Native Plant Sale on Saturday 11 May 2024 from noon-4pm.
Identifying the good and the bad can be hard. These slides are here as a reference to help make that experience easier.
September was hot and dry until Tropical Storm Ophelia arrived just in time for Fall Open Garden.
The first week of May is always special here in the Arthur Foodscape. So much of this seasonal display comes into full, glorious bloom in early May. It truly is a spectacular scene, meant to be shared. Of course I prefer LIVE AND IN PERSON tours, but virtual will have to suffice. I hope these photos inspire you to scatter some seeds in the fall and create a brilliant spring border using easy-to-grow annuals like Poppies, Larkspur, Nigella, Grains, Carrots and SO MUCH MORE!
The truth is you do not need to know much to successfully grow grains- I certainly didn’t. Until I started researching for this book, I did not know the difference between a seed and a cereal grain, let alone how legumes fit in. So just what is a grain? It is a fair question to ask in this twenty-first century, anti-carbohydrate world. I would venture to say very people would correctly define a grain without first consulting google.
Happy last Friday of April everyone! Its day 47 of quarantine for me, not sure why that number is sticking out, but I am trying to make the most of this season by spending a lot of quality time in my foodscape.
I am also devoting time and energy to HELPING OTHERS create their own foodscapes through-out the country through my Virtual Foodscape Consultation service.
If you are a do-it-yourself-er, check out this GREAT blog and podcast from Joe the Gardener where the Foodscape concept is explained in great detail.
Its my favorite time of year!! All of my garlic plants are trying to flower and it is my job to pluck their scapes off to ensure that the plant puts ALL of its energy into creating a large garlic bulb to harvest soon! Tonight I experimented making a foodscape fresh Cheesy Cauliflower, Garlic Scape, Potato au gratin dish. IT WAS DELICIOUS AND EASY TO MAKE. This is bound to a regular meal for us, especially as we are harvesting all the ingredients right from our yard!!
I hope this recipe will inspire you to go out and harvest from you home garden and make a delicious dinner!
In the spirit of celebrating gardening books, here is a a reading from the introduction of Gardening with Grains. T was writing this book a year ago at this time. I had no idea what the future would hold. Growing grains was just a passion project for me.
Now, life has changed, FAST. And grains are going to become more important than ever for the global population. I hope this will inspire you to consider growing something a bit unusual, practical all the same.
In the spirit of all thinks book related, I wanted to share a few of my favorite gardening guides with you. There are an endless selection of fantastic reads from recent publications to classics, and in this blog I have assembled a tiny portion of garden related books that I have found to be enjoyable, practical resources.
A few weeks ago we had a brainstorm. The mission “How can we help our neighbors?” The ideas started from simple things like sidewalk chalking cheerful messages to dropping off a roll of toilet paper to every house. Then the brilliant kids, Abby (10), Aidan (13) and Callie (5) came up with a brilliant idea… LETS CREATE FOODSCAPES FOR NEIGHBORS.
Are you looking for a good read? Or interested in connecting with gardeners around the state? You are invited to join us for a community reading of "The Foodscape Revolution" by Brie Arthur.
Foodscaping is a growing trend in gardening. It's an easy entry point for edibles but also a fresh challenge for veteran gardeners. With these creative landscapes you can enjoy the fruits of the garden, even in communities with dedicated homeowners associations. Whether you are interested in home food production, or just looking for a new way to connect, we hope you will join us.
THE GROUND IS TOO COLD TO PLANT TOMATOES IN CENTRAL NC RIGHT NOW. PLEASE RESIST THE URGE! Plant them in containers and transplant in a few weeks (or a month) when the soil actually gets to the appropriate temperate! This includes ALL summer crops: basil, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, melons, tomatoes, watermelons… you know ALL THE SUMMER STUFF!
Viburnum are a very hardy plants- many species will live in zones 4-9, which is almost the entire US! For best flowering, site them in more sun than shade. I have them planted in various locations, even in shade as a squirrel planted water oak has quickly grown and is converting a full sun border to dry shade. The viburnum in this area continue to thrive and bloom. I do supplement water through dry period, as the water oak hogs all the resources. Generally, once established, Viburnum are very tolerant of seasonal conditions and do not require much tending at all. THEY ARE THE OPPOSITE OF HYDRANGEA IN THAT REGARD!
This morning I was thrilled to find two new reviews about Gardening with Grains- a bright spot in this time of utter confusion and chaos. I am so grateful that people have enjoyed both of my books and find the information to be useful, especially now.
My deepest appreciation goes to Shelly Cramm of Garden In Delight and Sue Bowman of Lancaster Farming for these thoughtful reflection of Gardening with Grains, and for reminding me that my efforts to share practical gardening advice is not in vain. THANK YOU!
23 March 2020
Today really felt like a Monday, do y’all agree? The changing reality is setting in and the only place that makes sense to me right now is my garden. You see the plants are growing just like every spring, albeit a few weeks early. Of course we should not let our guard down, because a late frost would really be the icing on the 2020 chaos cake.
But to add some cheer and happiness to the world I did a quick lap around the foodscape for you to enjoy. My sincere hope is that I can share my gardening experience with new audiences regardless of your ability or space to grow. If you are stuck inside an apartment, I hope these visions of spring will brighten your day. If you have the space, my aim is to motivate you to look at your landscape with fresh eyes and see the possibilities that exist. Every landscape in the world offers an opportunity to cultivate beauty and bounty.
I hope to inspire you to join me in The Foodscape Revolution and start to grow meaningful amounts of vegetables in a practical way! From garden design and plant combinations to seed starting and sustainable practices I aim to share the knowledge I have gained through-out the past two decades of gardening.
Webinars will be offered soon, and in the meantime, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY BRAND NEW MONTHLY NEWSLETTER ON THE BOTTOM OF MY HOME PAGE! (I promise I will not spam you!)
Wishing you well in as we enter another week of trying to establish a “new normal”. Please enjoy the virtual tour below and #staysafe #stayhealthy and #stayHOME
The feed tank bed was planted with tulips to look like the bouquet emoji! All purchased last fall at Home depot. In a few weeks this will be a display of self sown poppies and larkspur. Hope Springs Eternal
I found some potatoes to plant!
The blueberries are bursting with blooms and bees! ‘Powder Blue’ is my favorite cultivar to grow in Raleigh, NC climate. It blooms reliable and sets delicious fruit in July. Remember you need two different cultivars for cross pollination.
I love the memories that plants can conjure. I won this Edgworthia ‘Akebono’ in the 2018 IPPS SR plant auction. It was a donation from the awesome Saunders Brothers Nursery and it reminds me of my dear friend Tom Saunders every time I pass it. This is its second spring planted and it has grown considerably and has a lot of beautiful red-orange blooms. I really like it with the backdrop of Daikon Radish and Forsythia blooms. THIS BRINGS ME JOY!
Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’ with Cercic chinensis ‘Alba’ and Camellia japonica ‘Royal Velvet’ on the north side of my house. These were all planted in the original installation of the foodscape in January 2011, when I was the propagator and grower at Camellia Forest Nursery. These plants remind me of my passion for ornamental horticulture and the opportunities that foodscaping represents. GROW EVERYTHING YOU LOVE IN THE SAME SPACE! Lettuce is an ideal ground cover paired with these shade loving shrubs.
Viburnum plicatum ‘Popcorn’ burst into bloom today! I adore this plant and would never garden without. I should propagate a few this spring to share with neighbors.
Looking down I discover the Arum italicum are starting to bloom as well. Soon these will go dormant for the summer.
And, of course, the Camellias are putting on a show like no other! I love gardening in zone 7 for a lot of reasons, but Camellias top that list! I will have to do a Camellia blog post soon!
Greetings from my home foodscape. With each passing a day a new social media awareness campaign is created, and to do my part I am sticking to educating people on how to grow food in a practical, abundant way. That is what FOODSCAPING is all about- making the most of your existing landscape! Really I am a farmer, but without a tractor or a field I have to be creative with how I cultivate my suburban land, with the goal of growing REAL FOOD that can really play a role in my families daily diet. Foodscaping is a lifestyle, because once you start you realize you don’t want to ever stop! It has made me a better gardener, a more thoughtful consumer and most importantly has opened my eyes to more effective ways to steward land.
Blissfully skipping through my spring foodscape in 2019… soon this border will erupt into bloom again, providing nourishment for pollinators and people! LEARN HOW TO CREATE THIS
When I started growing food for myself it was out of NECESSITY. I was HUNGRY and had a landscape that could offer me more than “green meatballs and open mulch space”. Frankly most of the landscapes I see are AWFUL and WE SHOULD BE ASHAMED for devoting resources for managing uninspired, PURPOSELESS spaces. I have been frustrated for a long time and yes, I am using this platform as an opportunity to RAISE THE BAR! We can do so much better.
My local Goodwill… What is the point of this???? Open mulch areas that will have to get sprayed with herbicide ALL THE TIME and shrubs that have to be sheared constantly. WHAT IS THIS ACCOMPLISHING???? NOTHING is the answer!
The same can be said for those who think the only way you can grow food is by investing in lumber. THIS IS NOT TRUE! Here’s the thing, EVERY sunny landscape in the world can be cultivated for food production. Regardless of your soil quality- that can be fixed! Regardless of your mammal browse issues- which we all have so stop whining! (I will be posting a blog and webinar on this subject soon.) Start thinking more critically about the space you already have around your house. I promise there is an opportunity to grow something you love to eat right alongside your roses, azaleas, camellias and more!
Okay, I am going to take on a controversial subject- raised beds. Remember this is MY BLOG and I am writing from MY EXPERIENCES, and I haven’t had the greatest success rate with traditional approaches to vegetable gardening. If you have ever heard one of my presentations you know my motto is “Foodscaping”, aka incorporating edibles into the ornamental landscape to make better use of open areas in convenient to manage locations. But, like most people, I started off as a “raised bed” vegetable gardener.
At some point over the past 30 years, home gardeners got brainwashed into believing the only way to grow food crops was to first invest in lumber. Obviously, this is great for companies that sell wood, but often folks blow their budget on the least necessary materials and then cut corners when it comes to buying quality plants and compost, namely Soil3. The idea that you need lumber to create a “raised bed” it totally untrue. If you don’t want to deal with your native soil, simply mound compost on top of the ground and get busy planting! Ta-da- you have a raised bed!
Before I make you feel bad, I am not saying you need to tear out your existing boxed beds. Honestly, we have ALL had them at some point and time. However, I would like to make the case for why you should not build anymore, especially now with resources in short supply! And you can watch me remove my last two raised beds earlier this season.
All the points I am sharing are reflections of my own circumstance and experience. I share these life lessons in hopes of helping others, who like me, want to cultivate a garden but not spend all their time and money doing it!
1) EXPENSIVE- Looking at the big picture, a few hundred dollars spent on lumber may not be a lot, but for many, that expense is beyond our budget. When I first bought a house, I was constantly facing unaccounted expenses. Everything from curtain rods to shower rings adds up fast and I simply didn’t have the extra funds to buy wood to build beds.
2) CARPENTRY KNOW HOW & TOOLS- In addition to not having much of a garden budget I also lacked basic carpentry experience and the necessary tools for building and installing big wooden boxes. Not to mention that I drove a small car. How would I even get the wood home?
3) LACK AESTHETIC QUALITIES - Most of the boxed beds that I have seen are not well maintained. Meaning, the wood was not stained or painted and over time it rots away.
ONE EXCEPTION- Joe Lamp’l! Joe has the only raised bed “farm” that I consider to be inspiring. His boxed beds are exceptional, made of cedar and built high enough to serve as a bench for garden visitors. His beds are spaced on a grid and have a charming fence surrounding the area to help keep browsing mammals away. Everything about Joe’s set up is beautiful. But as I said already, most people do not build their beds to his standards. Instead, these square or rectangular oddities get plopped into the middle of a lawn with no regard to design. I can totally see why an HOA would get offended by someone ripping out their front lawn and replacing it with strange wooden boxes full of annual vegetables that generally look messy. Frankly, this is an assault on the profession of landscape design.
4) DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN AROUND- Often people build two raised beds. In the process they forget one simple thing- spacing. Sighted too close together they can’t get a lawn mower between them and suddenly what seemed like a good idea proves to be BAD. But even in the cases where they are spaced appropriately mowing around 90-degree angles is hard. Let’s face it, no one wants to spend all their free time using a weed whacker.
5) WOOD ROTS- Hopefully if you have built raised beds for vegetable production you knew to buy untreated lumber. But the disadvantage of that is simple- it rots! Especially here in the southeast where it is hot, humid, rainy and we have termites. Most of the boxed beds that I have seen have not been painted or stained, which would help slow the decomposition process. If you really want to make your raised beds last, ditch the lumber and use cinder blocks. At least cinder block will retain heat, helping create a micro climate for winter gardeners, and you can get really create painting or adding a tile mosaic that will last for years and really up the “wow factor”!
6) LOCATION- Full sun, well-drained soil, easy access to water that see you EVERYDAY are the most important factors for successful gardening. So, are your raised beds REALLY in the ideal location? Do you walk past them when you get into your car? Or, are they somewhere in the back 40? From my own experience, locating your edibles in the most visible places of your landscape really will lead to success. It is simple- you see them. You notice when the plants are dry or have ripe fruit. It isn’t a chore to tend them when they are along your normal walking path. In contrast, when you have beds in a part of your yard that isn’t frequently visited, your food crops will suffer.
7) WATER WATER WATER- The taller your raised bed is, the more water you will need to apply. It is a simple function of gravity and drainage. I like a taller raised bed because at least it gives you some place to sit, however those ergonomic solutions will lead to a lot more water usage.
8) FIRE ANTS- Have you ever noticed how many fire ant mounds appear after a rain? They move up as the ground gets saturated and raised beds are their favorite place to populate! I learned this the hard way. Fifty bites and two swollen arms later I ran to retrieve the ant bait and gave up my dreams of organic gardening. As did my neighbors who had their entire raised bed fill with fire ants following hurricane rains last summer. They literally “gave up” trying to even harvest late season tomatoes and peppers due to the aggressive ants that took over their growing space.
9) CROP ROTATION- This should seem obvious, but it often is not taken seriously. To maintain a productive garden space, you have to rotate your crops each season to ensure that problem insects and diseases don’t build up in the soil. The problem with raised beds is that you have limited square footage to rotate in making it nearly impossible to follow this approach effectively.
10) MONO-CULTURE PLANTING- This is the main reason I want to encourage you to get away from boxed bed planting. Food crops do not represent much biological diversity. I am specifically referring to how many different plant families are included your veggie garden. Most of us plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and potatoes… we think they are all different, but they are all in the nightshade, or Solanaceae family. So, biologically they have the same pest and diseases. By isolating them in one concentrated area you are creating a mono-culture and should expect all the problems that go along with that practice.
Did you know that home gardeners generally only plant food crops from 4 plant families? It’s true! Through the cool season we plant veggies from the Amaranthaceae family, thanks to Swiss chard, and the Brassicaeae family which includes, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Collards, Kale and Mustard. Through the heat of the summer we indulge in beans, all in the Fabaceae family and the traditional nightshade crops.
Before you get too mad at me, please know I am writing with good intentions to make your gardening experience as beautiful and bountiful as possible. My goal as a horticulture professional is to encourage EVERYONE TO GROW SOMETHING, whether it is in the house, in the ground or even in a traditional raised bed. But I do hope to inspire you to think “outside the box” with some creative alternatives that just may prove to be better! Wishing you all the best in these truing time. Please stay safe, stay healthy and STAY HOME!!! Plant some seed and grow the food you love to eat!
One example of a failed raised bed at my house. It was productive in year 1, then became less and less successful each year following. I finally tore this out and replaced it with a feed tank fountain/ sitting pool and grow food crops around that with much higher yields.
The “feed tank bed” is now a source for abundant harvests and pollinator activity. Not to mention a great place to float on a hot summer day. Yes, that IS rice surrounding the pool! Alongside okra, coleus, peanuts and perennial butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa.
20 March 2020- THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING
We are one week into our lives changing forever. Covid-19 will certainly never be forgotten by anyone who is alive in 2020. At this moment, it still feels surreal, and making a blog post feels silly and pointless. So instead of waxing poetic, which I am not good at, I will simply share photos from my home foodscape tonight.
I don’t have the answers on how to deal with life, at all. What I can offer is practical advice for growing A LOT OF FOOD in a totally normal landscape space. I started growing food for myself in 2006 when I bought a house with a subprime mortgage and literally could not afford to grocery shop. I was able to use my horticultural knowledge to design and manage a landscape that was beautiful and HOA approved, while also providing meaningful amounts of food.
Now, more than ten years later, I share this advice with audiences across the US through my two books, The Foodscape Revolution and Gardening with Grains. I hope you can find my experiences helpful for you and wish you all the best in your garden.
Life is short, and we are all scared of the uncertainty of the future. I am here to help you grow and find peace and inspiration from the land that you steward. We are in this together and I wish you boundless success for homegrown harvests.
#StaySafe #StayHealthy #STAYHOME #GrowFood
Sincerely, Brie @Brietheplantlady
A FEW GROUND RULES:
1) I think people can be bullies online, and I have a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY. If you are an asshole you will be deleted.
2) I garden in USDA Zone 7B central (Raleigh) NC. I will be showing REAL TIME images from my HOME foodscape. Take inspiration and and figure out how to apply what I do where you live! THAT IS YOUR JOB!
3) I DO NOT BELIEVE LUMBER IS NEEDED FOR GROWING VEGGIES. Prepare yourselves, I will not be giving you advice on how to fail with raised beds. Stop wasting your budget on wood are start focusing on quality compost and plants.
4) We ALL have deer- and rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels, armadillo etc. STOP USING THAT AS AN EXCUSE. Get over it. We all have to deal with mammal browse. I will be offering Webinars on creative solutions. YES IT IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT TO LEARN!
5) Check Briegrows.com for online classes, virtual foodscape consultations and more in the coming weeks. Also, follow my YouTube channel for FREE tutorials.
Hi, I am Brie the Plant Lady and I am freaking out like everyone else about Covid-19.
Here I am standing in front of my front yard wheat wave that I sowed last December when everything seemed normal and growing wheat in a suburban landscape still sounded like something an insane person would do. Now, it doesn’t seem so crazy. Learn all about grains from my new book Gardening with Grains and watch my MANY YouTube videos on this subject.
This is what I call “Future Beer” aka Foundation Landscape Barley. Sown in late November the mild temperatures of the NC winter have allowed this to grow lush and green compared to past winters where temps were at least 20 degrees cooler. The long term goal here is to see HOW MUCH BEER we can get from this landscape bed? Any guesses? WATCH THE PLANTING PROCESS HERE
Another Grain experiment I am working on is HOW MUCH BREAD CAN YOU GROW IN 5 3gl Root Maker Grow Bags? The results will be tallied later this spring… stay tuned!
Grains are an ideal cool season grass texture for containers. Here, Barley has been growing since September looking dynamic with a mix of Carex and Tulips. This Barley will produce flowers and turn amber in the coming weeks. LEARN HOW TO GROW GRAINS IN CONTAINERS
I don’t just grow grains… I am a big believe in seeding winter hardy GREENS to reduce weed pressure and provide fresh salads from October-May. Here is a mix of self sown Kale and Mustard. The Mustard helps deter browsing mammals as its spicy foliage is not favored by deer, rabbits and groundhogs.
Winter cover crops, like Daikon Radish, are super important in my approach to growing and improving my native soil. I direct seed these in fall in areas to help suppress Root Knot Nematodes. This way I can cultivate susceptible plants, like heirloom tomatoes in this space through the summer. When you mow the daikon radish foliage back in place it will suppress RKN activity as it breaks down!
Of course ornamental plants are super important to me as a gardener and a horticulturist. That is the entire point of my book The Foodscape Revolution. I want everyone to understand how you can seamlessly weave edibles into the ornamental landscape. You can sow lettuce, kale, arugula and chard as a ground cover around winter blooming Camellias, like this variety ‘Nuccio’s Cameo’.
Speaking of Arugula…Did you catch my first “Foodscaping Tips” video? Here it is and explains WHY I LOVE THIS PLANT SO MUCH!
More than anything I hope to put a little joy and peace back into the world. Gardening is awesome and I hope the one thing that comes from this health crisis is recognizing how we can all be called back to the land and find purpose and goodness. One breathe of this fragrant lilac Syringa ‘Excel’ helps calms my anxiety- at least momentarily. May you find your place and steward it to the best of your abilities.
