Backyard Living Space

Backyard Proposal by Amy Coffman Phillips for Liquid Triangle Sustainability

This is why I love having friends who buy houses - I get to think of fun ways to spend their money!  I have a friend who bought a beautiful home in the downtown area of a local suburb.  The lots are usually pretty small, but she found one larger than most and wanted to expand the living space back there to include an outdoor kitchen and fireplace as well as some additional seating.  I'm pretty happy with it - I hope she is too!

Happy Spring!

How will we feed ourselves?

Green Drinks - Naperville, an organization I help organize, has decided to delve deeply into the issues of local self-reliance and adaptability this year.  Every month, lectures will focus on the Transition Town initiative as we explore different ways that our community will adapt to peak oil and climate change.

This month's lecture was entitled "how will we feed ourselves?"  Steve Tiwald of the Green Earth Institute and Ron Nowiki of The Land Office discussed organic food production and permaculture, respectfully.

Highlights from Mr. Tiwald's lecture on organic gardening and community supported agriculture:

• There are approximately 6 billion critters in 1 cup of good, organic soil.  The use of petroleum based fertilizers kill these critters.
• 3 c's of organic gardening: Compost, Crop rotation, and Cover crops.  He likes red clover as a cover crop.
• Soybeans are now 80% genetically modified.  The organic seal forbids GMO.

Highlights from Mr. Nowiki's lecture on permaculture and Liberty Gardens

• By 2100, one-half of all species currently alive today will be extinct.  (We are in the middle of 6X, or the sixth major extinction our planet has faced.)
• "a child can only learn so much from a mown lawn"
• A 40' tree transpires 40 gallons of water per day +\-
• A linden or bass wood makes a delicious and flowery tea that is mildly sedative
• An AIA study determined that design changes alone can save 40% in energy costs. 
• Lemon grass makes a beautiful decorative grass in container arrangements with sage surrounding it.  Lemon grass makes a good tea. Ornamental grasses can be harvested and used as mulch under strawberries.
• Kwintis beans are a good pole bean.
• Another decorative arrangement is red cabbage in front of dinosaur kale.
• Tuscan kale - gorgeous tall fountain looking plant.
• Gooseberries for juice.
• Clove currant - fragrant plant with edible berry that doesn't taste that great.
• Apple service berry - gorgeous white glower tree with berry that looks like a blue berry but tastes like a seedy apple; autumn brilliance has a great fall color.
• Elderberry - mates a fritter; berry high in antioxidants, but invasive.
• Rhubarb grows in some shade.
• Hardy kiwi is a vine, also called grape kiwi; best when soft and mushy after a frost
• Neonicotinoids may be causing honeybee colony collapse disorder.
• Bird baths are popular and attract birds to eat insects.
• Succession of a mature landscape.  At first, mice and voles loved his permaculture yard.  Unitl a screetch owl moved in to help control that population.  
• Pesticides we use were evolved from chemical warfare from WW2.  Since production capacity was already there, it was just adapted to a new use.  But do you really want chemical warefare in your food?
• Victory gardens in 1944 produced 40% of produce consumed in the country.
• Compost, sand, and topsoil in equal parts make good soil starter.
• "Liberty Gardens," liberating ourselves from the industrial food supply.
• Sungold cherry tomato.
• Microgreens grow in the basement under lights.  Standard 4' fluorescent bulb almost as good as full spectrum lights.
• Forest gardening - martin Crawford; part shade gardening

References and Future Reading:

• Elliot Coleman, 4 season gardening and the new organic grower
• Rodale institute
• David Orr - Ecological Literacy
• Rogar Swang - Victory Gardens
• Liberty Gardens
• Hold to Nature
• Energy Bullitain

Holiday Decorations

xmas 001, originally uploaded by dgphilli.

I am loving my planters this year. Flowers in the spring, greenery in the summer, millet in the fall, and branches in the winter. I try to use real berries and plants outdoors to feed the birds (and squirrels) and mulch my garden when they're done.

Garden Gossip: 4th Week in September

Garden Gossip, originally uploaded by dgphilli.

Things are winding down in the garden lately. I planted new lettuce seeds which are now sprouting. The tomatoes are largely spent, but the dill remains vigilant even though I've cut it down to the bone once already. This weekend I will go out to harvest my last set of herbs before the frost.

Fall is a melancholy time for me. I love gardening and I love the summer, but I'm also enjoying preparing for the winter. I'm enjoying wearing sweaters and jeans after months of heat. I'm eating the greens from my CSA in various preparations, most of which are not healthy for weight loss. I'm bringing out the old slow cooker and making chili and soups. I'm getting our unfinished basement prepared for my 1yo boy and 3yo girl to be able to ride their bikes and play with their outside toys down there for the cold months. And, I'm drawing up plans for the four seasons room I hope to build this spring or next. Soon I'll start thinking about what I will grow next season.

And so the wheel of the year turns again. Welcome, Fall!

Happy Harvest!

001, originally uploaded by dgphilli.

Penthouse Terrace Garden

Seating with a View

This penthouse terrace was my view from our dining room in our Jersey City apartment in 2007. The terrace was approximately 12' x 10' and was on the 23rd story of a large apartment building. Its exposure was to the south-west, so our microclimate was very warm and very windy. I had a Rosemary plant overwinter in our USDA Zone 7 and we were able to be outside in the afternoon with short sleeves in March.

Small coffee nook

I am an avid gardener, as you may notice from my posts. I was not satisfied with a few pots of ornamental plants. I needed space to grow food, flowers, and space to sit and enjoy my view of the Statue of Liberty.

Concept Plan

Rooftop Garden

this rooftop garden was amy's personal sanctuary and magical oasis in the city.  the patio is 36' long x 8' deep and paved with bricks.  the only requirements were that plants were in containers and that there be space for a grill.  the final product is both functional and beautiful.  multitudes of herbs, tomatoes, strawberries, and raspberries feed the family.  decorative plant colors are kept consistent and pots grouped.  eating areas are screened from lounge areas by grouped evergreens.  and the bare concrete wall is screened with flowering vines.

vegetation will grow to screen the concrete wall

hanging baskets add vegetation to vertical walls

a small eating space

Small Balcony Retreat

concept sketch

for this small balcony on a highrise near chicago, the constraints are plentyful. the small triangular space measures only 5'x8' at its widest point, it is on the 5th floor in a city known for its cold wind, and nothing can be permanently adhered to the structure.

small balcony plan

the client has a bonsai hobby, so amy created a bonsai balcony complete with dwarf tree and contemplative bench. because ithe solid guardrail obscures any view while seated, the space is inward and contemplative. a flat riverstone pebble mat is mechanically fastened to the concrete floor and a flexcrete triangular concrete planter holds a dwarf evergreen juniper.

bonsai tree as focal point