Well, I just spent the last hour looking at spectacular(sp questionable) gardens. Thank you Bernd for that link. It is now on my favorites,great to have since we in the PNW are now snowed in. I can't even get out on my deck, too slippery. And we are just above freezing so it is all melting and will do so until evening when it will all freeze again. An unbelievable amount of snow and ice for us. (well for a few years anyway). But Bernd's link has helped alot except that I added eleventeen(new number) plants to my want list! Can you believe some of those gardens? Like I said Thank you , Bernd!!!!

there really is not a lot of easily found information about permaculture or the things we have been alluding to in this thread. Skooby's videos were great because it was a bunch of information all in one easy place. since i finished the videos, i have looked for more of the same, but there really is no good source i have yet found. i have ordered a few books through the library, but don't have them yet. much of what i found on the web is not much more informative than this thread. it is like you have to know what they are talking about to understand. i think this is because permaculture is not so much a technique so much as it is a philosophy. there are several techniques that are permaculture, but permaculture cannot be defined by them. an example would be forest gardens are permaculture but permaculture is not forest gardening per se. from what i gather permaculture is about sustainable agriculture (and living) and self sufficiency as individuals and communities. it uses systems to create easier, healthier and more efficient and sustainable food production. some people take this as going off-the-grid and becoming hunter gatherers, while for others it is just gardening a little differently and using natural systems rather than artificial means to keep aid in production. as much as i would like to go off-the-grid and live in a forest, it is not practical for me. but i do grow a large portion of my own food in a very small area. i plant plants that have edible parts before those that do not and rather than practice monoculture by planting in rows of one species i mix them up as little forest systems where companion plants help each other perform better. i want to add a few chickens, bees, solar power and a cistern to have a little more self sustainability, but i started with a forest garden. the thing that i liked the most about the videos were a few gardening techniques that filled in the gaps in application for what i already practice and believed. they are: plants work better in systems of many species. gardens can have multiple layers like a forest to maximize production per square foot. animals, insects and flowers are as important as the fruiting plants for a healthy and productive system. nothing needs to imported into a system including fertilizer. nothing should be exported from it. raised beds. mulch. less water. micro climate creation with ponds, hardscape and shade. biodiversity in species as well as varieties. last saturday i prepared a few beds for production with a technique i saw in the videos. you prepare the soil for the last time. i mixed in a bunch of compost from the dump. then you mound the beds. my bed was already part of a terrace. it takes the run-off from part of my house, garage and driveway. so i created a swell (channel) to pull that water through the bed to spread and store the moisture. i then covered the mounded areas to be planted with cardboard (this was the new technique i learned) and then mulched heavily on top with more compost (chipped wood and yard waste) from the dump. i will be planting heavily with everything from artichokes to zucchini and will research which plants work best in systems and put them together. i will mix in flowers. the result should look like a riot of texture and color like an english flower garden, but much of it will be food. i will probably produce several hundred dollars and months worth of food in just a few hundred square feet and without tilling, poisoning, fertilizing or exporting any waste and using much less water to boot. not going to change the world, but it helpsi think that is the essence of permaculture. it is a true think global act local sort of movement. i have not found any how to books or websites. most of my searches ended with come sort of commercial design service or class. i hope the books i reserved are more of the how to and hands on sort of info. if anybody has any recommendations i would welcome some advice. would also like to here more about what others have done alone these lines. wikipedia has a good article tha links to a "companion plant" spread sheet i found useful.

Here are the photos. I had no idea what Rosetta was until I noticed this one rose growing strangely. I looked it up and found it as Rosetta. The whole thing had strange growth and there were big bright red stalks growing. So, I took it back to an unnamed nursery and they gave me a replacement. I thought the problem was over, but then later I had gone to Regan thinking I would get some roses at the going out of business sale. I bought four roses and now two of them are showing signs of Rosetta. The other two I am watching very carefully. I can not even say if somehow the first rose did make the other two sick, but the over lap between the two events was no more then two days. In other words if the Regan Roses got it from my inflected rose, they got it in just two days.

Just an FYI, I am looking at both Barkers and Scherrs for doors to IKEA cabinets. I haven't decided yet which one to use. I have determined the following for doors (excluding the trim). Barker - cheaper but limited to certain door styles. They have two white paints, clear coat and espresso stain. Barker does not have IKEA measurements and you must use their website to get and estimate which can take some work. Scherr's - more expensive but many more door styles. They will paint any SW color or clear coat. They will stain Oak doors only but use any SW stain. Scherr's will make doors specifically for IKEA and IKEA hinges. They will estimate based upon IKEA layout. Both have SW Dover White, but Scherr's sample came and it was much more yellow than the Barker sample. So in a nutshell, Scherr's is easier but more expensive. Hope this helps.