Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Obtain a Yield

For some reason, this permaculture principle is difficult for me to live with. So I'm writing about it. I know I do obtain a yield, but somehow, I don't know, maybe it's the wording. It sounds like an order. You Must Obtain A Yield. You Must Succeed, Dammit. Do Not Stray From The Path. Is beauty not a yield? Or pleasure, or even exercise? What about failure? Could not failure yield learning, yield determination? Calling it Enjoy Your Harvest might speak to me more. Or Understand Your Yield.
Anyway, I want to acknowledge my yield. It's so small, and so intermittent, and just never seems like much. Maybe in the writing it will appear more substantial.
My primary and most essential yield is visual privacy, here on a city lot surrounded by apartment buildings. And a sense of residing within Nature. But I also have sprecific useful yields.
Starting in the southeast corner, there is the apricot tree. One year it had a wonderful crop of apricots. Mostly I was away that year. This year we got a dozen or two. They were excellent. Is that encouraging or demoralizing? I don't know.
There were iris flowers this year for my vases. A small harvest but I enjoyed it. And I culled some plants, so that was useful.
Even though the squirrels got at least three quarters of my feijoas, I had plenty for the kids and some for myself.
The three peonies that bloomed were repeats from previous years, many have not yet blossomed. They were gorgeous and lasted a while, and the ones I didn't pick have set seed. Which theoretically they don't do, being hybrid (except for the ostii).
Rhubarb, a small quantity. But I don't use it much, so that's fine. And some transplants. I guess new plants are a harvest.
Roses, a few, brilliant. 
Are seedlings a harvest? I dug up several dozen pawpaw and white sapote seedlings to plant out and give away. The harvest was better connection with my community to whom I gave plants and garden tours.
I ate currants, buffalo and clove, and concluded I don't much care for them.
The kids and I ate fuschia berries. They ate the bolivian in quantity, I ate the ornamental, one or two at a time.
The squirrels got all the figs.
The mountain papaya has started dropping papayas. They are boring & when it dies I will not replace it.
The plums are falling in plenty, both eating and brewing quality.
I got a mulberry or two.
I ate burdock greens. They were excellent. Not nearly as bitter as I feared. Nothing to cardoons.
There was plenty of poke, but the only part I needed this year was big leaves for a compress for my daughter, and those were in short but scroungingly-adequate supply.
There were dandelion greens in adequate quantity or more every time I wanted them.
Lemon balm was available as desired.
I got several meals of favas and fava greens.
Last summer I got purple string beans. They were suppposed to be perrennial, but I have not seen them this year. I got a few scarlet runners, and two of them have come back.
I ate nasturtium leaves and concluded they are inappropriate in quantity.
I ate collards. They're supposed to be indestructable, the purple tree collards. But they don't much like it here.
There was chickweed. Yum. Just a little. Never saw it here before.
Got a couple of artichokes.
Got my first local apple.
Tried splitting the bees, but it didn't work. Harvested some honey while the hive was open. Also last year's mead was quite interesting.
Pruned the pine, and got needles for weaving. Sometimes also harvest bermuda grass and iris leaves for basketry.
Looks like there will be a walnut this year.
I never think to harvest the pellitory, it's too far away to notice. I guess I do have zones.
Bay leaves (california, which I prefer, having been raised on it).
Both pear trees that have not borne until now are holding young fruit. The one that bore last year is bare.
Two cherries from three trees.
A few spears of asparagus. I don't think they get enough sun. I try to keep up the water, and it's about the only place I fertilize.
Strawberries! I must be watering better. One or two, every few days, in the summer.
The cardoons are sparse this year, but I don't need much.
Peaches. But I am cutting the tree back. Poor climate for sweetness, and it's crowding the new avocado.
A lime or three at a time for months. Enough to make marmalade for christmas gifts.
Honking big lemons, a few left after the passersby get most.
Plenty of rosemary for the tea I use for colds. Though I have to go steal the lavendar from the neighbors.
Lemon guavas. Sometimes they all disappear, sometimes there are handfuls left for me.
Coupla mandarins. Tiny but sweet.
Coupla white sapotes. Vernon is the only variety that's bearing yet.
Poha, until it died.
Oregano.
Olives. Enough to make a big batch even after sorting out three quarters because of fly larvae. Thinking of using clay spray this year, but probably too lazy.
A few grapes, grape leaves, tendrils.
Mushrooms. Not so much this year, maybe a few oysters, but several meals and jars of dried of wine caps a couple of years back, and turkey tails for immune support.
Maybe that's it. Not quite 50 things. Some with several uses each, that's maybe a dozen or so uses of things per month. Real stuff from my yard twice a week. Significant.





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