The Summer Garden at Wild Rose

Summer is here in Southern Oregon and our permaculture gardens are exploding with fresh food and herbs! We grow all of our own Calendula and Yarrow in our annual veggie gardens because they are wonderful allies for our food crops. They attract beneficial insects, improve flavor and keep the soil healthy. 

This is a first year garden on our new homestead. We established this garden using the lasagna gardening method with the help of a couple loads of rich, USDA organic compost. Our compost is from Southern Oregon Compost, a local company that reclaims local waste and transform it into black gold.

Calendula is perfect paired with tomatoes. Our tomatoes aren't quite ripe, but we are sure to have an epic crop this year!

We also practice bio-intensive gardening which combines beneficial crops into the same bed to best utilize space and increase yields. Here, our early kale plants are using space not yet taken up by our young squash. Lettuce also fills unused space as the squash grows.

When establishing our garden, we left this large wild Yarrow patch intact. I was surprised to see it bloom in hues of pink - a color only found in ornamental and high elevation varieties. This beautiful bunch will provide us with Yarrow for many years to come!