Subject: Re: TH: 17th Annual Community Gardening Conference / Sep 96. (fwd)

From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 19:36:26 -0500

It is certainly a good idea to plant more trees in community gardens. There
is a good strategic question concerning the proper mix of edible and
non-edible woody and non-woody plants in community gardens. Of course, these
are decisions to be made by the gardeners themselves; yet those of us in
community gardening organizations who try to help groups garden at urban
sites need to be clear ourselves as to what to advise. Annual food plants
(vegetables) grow fast, produce results, and their production techniques and
propagation techniques (seeding) are much more widely known in the population
than are fruits, and mistakes are less costly. People practice plant skills
as easily on beans as on grapefuits with less costly errors. Also, shade
trees in urban areas such as ours (Houston) make the growing of fruits and
vegetables more difficult, and this encourages depend3ency on food imports
from distances. Thus, the issue of mix and more importantly effective
dissemination of information on fruits and nuts that do well in an area with
little training are important considerations that many community garderners
wrestle with continually. In any case, our conventions would benefit from as
many permaculturalists as possible.  Bob Randall, Urban Harvest.

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 19:36:26 -0500

---

From: [email-masked] (Gib Cooper)
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 20:57:43 -0800

Some gardeners find bamboo to be the ultimate companion plant to the
garden. What other plant can grow upright, screen from view, act as a
windbreak, provide a steady supply of garden stakes, and provide edible
bamboo shoots early in the spring. More gardeners should be using this
plant wisely.

>many permaculturalists as possible.  Bob Randall, Urban Harvest.

  /H\\H                             H                               //H
   H /H \  Gib Cooper               H\   Voice/Fax: 541-247-0835     /H\\H \
  /H  H  Tradewinds Bamboo Nursery /H    [email-masked]    / H HH  H\
   H\\H\  28446 Hunter Creek Loop   H \                             H\H\HH\ H
   H /H\   Gold Beach, OR 97444     H                              /H H HH  H
  /H\HH \\               http://harborside.com/bamboo/              H H HH\\H\
   H HH                                                          // H H HH /H
     H                                                                H H

---

From: [email-masked] (Gib Cooper)
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 20:57:43 -0800

/H\\H                             H                               //H