Winter 2009 Newsletter

Pattern Understanding Towards Sustainability

Sustainability requires more than applying a new technique to an old pattern of thought.  If we seek to solve real environmental challenges, we must begin to address the underlying pattern behind our current problems.  As Wendell Berry notes in his essay, "Solving for Pattern" there are three ways to deal with a problem: 1) Solve the initial problem, but create another or a series of new problems. In many landscapes throughout the southwestern United States we want outdoor spaces with shade.  The natural green approach is to plant a shade tree.  However, if that is the extent of our thinking a shade tree could get placed on the south side of our home in front of a window.  This might not seem like a problem initially as we get shade in the summer as intended, but come winter when the sun is at a lower angle and we want the sun to heat our home it is unable to as the tree is in the way.  As a result the home needs more fossil fuels or other sources of energy to heat it.  As the home is heated with these high carbon emitters it then leads to the problem of global warming. 2) A solution that immediately worsens the problem it was intending to solve. Most landscapes are designed to drain natural rainwater away from them.  To then get water to these plants we must install a drip system.  However much of the municipal and well water throughout the southwest is high in salts.  Salts prevent plants from up-taking water and as a result we have to irrigate more with municipal water, which causes more salts to build up, which means we need to irrigate more with municipal water, which causes more salts to accumulate.  This is a downward spiral that leads to more than just wasting water. 3) A solution that solves the initial problem as well as a number of others. This is the approach that we at Eden on Earth strive to achieve.  For example, if we are trying to create an outdoor shade zone, we can place a shade tree on the west side of the home.  This approach not only leaves the south side of the home open to the winter sun and thereby minimizes the energy needed to heat the home, but it also shades the hot westerly sun from beating down on the side of our home in the summertime so that we also minimize the need for air conditioning.  In addition, if the tree selected is a fruit tree, we benefit from healthy and local food production.  Planting the tree in a way that it gets watered from the roof runoff can ensure that no other irrigation system is needed.  So in addition to lower water bills we are not adding more salts to the soil. It is this third approach that creates lasting ecological solutions.  Remember it is not the specific elements of a home or garden such as solar panels or a composting toilet that are sustainable.  It is how we link each of them together that leads to patterns of sustainablity.

Rainwater Tank Specials

Eden on Earth is excited to offer a diverse array of rainwater harvesting tanks and components for every situation.  Whether you want us to install a tank for you or do it yourself we can provide everything you need to start harvesting the rain.  We offer rainwater tanks in many different shapes, sizes, materials, and aesthetics.  Winter is a great time to start harvesting the snow and rain to be used in the Spring and Summer.  In addition to the $1,000 Arizona State Tax Credit, Eden on Earth is offering $150 off any Rainwater Tank installation of 500 gallons or more. For more information about our rainwater harvesting tanks and components click here.

Tips for the Ecological Garden

Flagstaff Area:  On a recent exploration through my garden I discovered a few seedling of what will be this year's first salad greens amongst some rocks where the snow has melted.  My amazement of this January wonder has led to me to begin preparations for this years' garden. As the snow recedes, we can continue to mulch the soil and conserve the moisture long into the spring.  In addition, it is a good time to plan for a summer veggie garden.  Leah and I have been ordering seeds of some of our favorite veggies and creating a seed planting timeline so that we can start our plants and get them ready for the short growing season.  We prefer to order heirloom and other open pollinated seeds so that we can save them year after year and save a bit of money as well as preserve a bit of our heritage.  A great place to order high elevation and cold hardy adapted seeds is from our friends at Seeds Trust.  Along with veggie seeds, it is also a great time to think about ordering some special bareroot fruit trees and shrubs.  The nurseries in town offer a very limited selection of the thousands of fruit varieties available.  Ordering bareroot plants opens up the fruit potential to numerous currants, gooseberries, grapes, and others that can add variety.  Raintree Nursery in the northwest offers many unusual selections of plants found nowhere else.  Sedona and the Verde Valley: Yesterday I trimmed back the abundance of prickly pear cactus and its cousins in my yard in West Sedona.  I noticed that deciduous leaves were collecting underneath the lower pads and creating a rich, dark, fertile soil there!   By simply trimming the gangly cactuses, I solved several “problems” with one solution: I nipped the prickly spines back from the pathways, improved the yard’s appearance, made room for new growth, and got a rich source of nutrition – the fertile soil and leaves under the cactus -- for my veggie beds.  As an added benefit, I can look forward to eating the young cactus pads (nopales) in the spring!  In the Spring newsletter we’ll share how to prepare nopalitos, a delicacy made from the nopales. In Sedona, now is the time for pruning fruit trees, planting bare root trees, visualizing your 2009 garden, and taking advantage of the remaining rainfall before the dry spring months are upon us.  You can do this passively, by shaping the soil to “slow, spread, and sink” the water into the ground, and actively, by storing rainwater in tanks.  Now is a good time to scatter cold-hardy seeds like garlic chives and last year’s wildflower seeds, and by February 15th you can begin planting peas, radishes, lettuce, spinach and arugula.  Be patient with early plantings; germination generally takes longer in cool weather.  Try to prepare the soil with minimal tillage, so that you have less weeds to pull later on.  Mulch well!