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Growing community (and food) on a roof

May 30, 2021
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Community building, Gardening

This is a love letter to the roof garden community that has nourished me and helped grow my family over the past decade....

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By Kerrie
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About Me

Hi there, I’m Kerrie, and I created Trusting Wilder to share stories about experiments I've started doing in trusting my gut. In the photo above, that’s me, relaxing on a cushy bed of moss in the forest that was calling to me - a soothing invitation I would have ignored until recently. I’m super curious about what happens when we listen to and act from our wild inner voices! As my family moves from the city to our new, island homestead, I’ll share what I’m learning about sustainable living, homelearning, and wellbeing.

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It’s herb season! #homesteadharvest #perennials

It’s herb season!

#homesteadharvest
#perennials
#herbs
#forestgarden

These are our orphan chicks that momma hen wouldn’t adopt. But not to worry, they have great instincts for learning how to chicken!

These little ones are learning to dust bathe, which keeps their skin happy and mite free!

#chicks
#dustbath
#homesteading
#chickenmomma

And we have chicks hatching! Our beauty of a brood

And we have chicks hatching! Our beauty of a broody hen has done it again. So far 3 have hatched and there could be 5 more.

I love spring!

#chicks
#broodyhen
#regenerativehomesteading
#backyardchickens

Our soil is changing! Two years ago it was eithe

Our soil is changing!

Two years ago it was either sandy, dried out and devoid of organic matter or hard packed, impenetrable clay, depending on the spot. Those conditions also meant it wasn’t supporting much in the way of plant life, certainly not much we could eat.

This spring we’re seeing SO MANY MUSHROOMS! These aren’t ones we’ve seeded. They have just popped up on their own, likely supported by the wood chip pathways, deep mulch on beds, and no dig practices we are using.

These mushroom are a great sign that the web of life in the soil is regenerating!

#gardening
#soilhealth
#soilfoodweb
#permaculturegarden

I could say that I grew this garlic, greens, and r

I could say that I grew this garlic, greens, and radishes, but it’s not really true.

Seeing this happy little mushroom in the same bed with the crops I seeded reminds me that I am actually a soil farmer - my highest use is in recognizing that I am in relationship with all the life in the soil. And then my job becomes a support role. What can I do to allow the life in the soil to thrive?

That soil life will literally feed the plants that will feed me and my family.

I love playing on a team!

#gardening
#soilfarmer

April garden abundance. I’m loving eating the br

April garden abundance. I’m loving eating the broccoli and cauliflower we planted late last summer. It feels like sneaky free food because we planted it so long ago that my body allllmost forgets that we did.

#gardening
#overwinterveg

Developing. This is what a chick growing inside an

Developing. This is what a chick growing inside an egg looks like after about 10 days. It’s hard to see because we are shining a flashlight into a toilet paper tube with the egg in it and taking a photo in a very dark room. But it looks super cool so I wanted to share.

Do you see the lines/blood vessels on the left? And the darker part on right? There’s even a spot that’s even darker all the way to the right that could be the heart or an eye.

So far so good!

Let the countdown begin to some adorable, fluffy baby animals.

#candling
#candlingeggs
#regenerativehomestead
#broodyhen

Did you know, many modern hens have lost the insti

Did you know, many modern hens have lost the instinct to hatch their own chicks?

We humans have bred chickens for maximum egg production (or meat) and since hens don’t lay eggs when they incubate chicks, away those instincts have gone.

So we consider ourselves very lucky to have this brave hen, Constance, who does have the strong instinct to be a mama. She will sit on these eggs for 21 days, keeping them warm, while the chicks develop inside the shells. Once they hatch, she will also teach them how to chicken and protect them from others in the flock who might try to hurt them.

A big thank you to those who are keeping herritage chicken varieties alive. Shout out to our local, SSI herritage breed chicken superstars @eandefarm @poets_ode @julesnowell !! You are also keeping our local food systems resilient and we are so grateful.

#localfood
#broodyhen
#foodsecurity

Crunch, crunch! Wow is #asparagus straight out of

Crunch, crunch! Wow is #asparagus straight out of the garden delish!! No butter needed, though, obviously that would be yum too.

Although every day is really earth day, today I’m taking the invitation to pause and feel especially grateful to the Earth part of where we are privileged to live. It can grow such delicious food!

Thank you to all the plants who decomposed to feed the life in the soil. Thank you to all the microorganisms and fungi that move and grow and eat and die mostly unseen or appreciated by us who benefit greatly from them. Thank you to all the #gardeners who love and appreciate this earth that gives us so much!

Happy Earth Day!!

If singing is good for plants, then dancing must b

If singing is good for plants, then dancing must be too, right 😎?

#Permaculture made me do it! This design system that mimics systems in nature suggests it’s a good idea to #stackfunctions - do as much good with one action as possible.

Challenge accepted!

Gotta water the seedlings anyway, so might as well bring them outside for a bit of sunshine, and also place them on a spot I’m trying to re-seed so it gets watered too. And let’s do it with collected #rainwater please, cuz that’s fun. And speaking of fun, what if I just dance in the sunny sun cuz that makes the gardener happy?!!!

Happy gardener, happy garden.

Anyone else wanna #danceinyourgarden?

Little spots of sunshine - we all need um! Wishing

Little spots of sunshine - we all need um! Wishing you all the gift of finding something joyful, something nourishing, or something that makes your heart sing in nature today. 💕

#natureconnection
#observeand connect

It helps me to see how others have transformed the

It helps me to see how others have transformed their spaces. It gives me courage. I need to see that it’s possible!

It can seem maybe impossible that we could really just plunk layers of what many consider waste (animal manure, fallen leaves) on the ground, tuck in some seeds, water, and we end up with an abundance of food.

I was not sure it would work! But oh, did it!

These photos show what can grow in marginal places, places that don’t look like what we think of as farms.

We live in a forest with little flat land. And where’s there’s enough sun to grow food, our soils are either solid clay or sandy like a sand box.

But even these places can grow lots of food! 100s of pounds of tomatoes, dozens of onions, carrots, broccoli, plus kale, cabbage, celery, beans, corn, sweet potatoes, herbs, and so many pretty flowers loved by the pollinators! It all grew here!

If we newbies can grow this, in this place, you can too. It is sooo possible and also super fun.

#gardening
#firstseasongarden
#newgarden
#raisedbeds
#sheetmulching

This doesn’t look much like weeding, planting, b

This doesn’t look much like weeding, planting, battling pests, or shoveling soil. You know, the things we tend to associate with gardening. But, the feeling of laying on a cushy mossy patch is starting to creep into my daily garden play.

Want to come play?

There’s a system we can learn to tap into that flips a switch from effort to ease in our #gardening. Instead of us feeling like we are in control or responsible for allll of what will grow in a place, we can learn to read the land and build #resilient gardens that are less work because we see and work with natural systems.

Curious to learn more?

I’d love to share more of my #permaculture approach to gardening with you! Send me a message if you’d like to join our Growing Joy #beginnergardening workshop on April 20 on Salt Spring Island.

And if you live elsewhere, where would you like to feel more ease in your gardening?

#regenerativeagriculture
#lazygardener

Like the plants, I’ve learned to love when it ra

Like the plants, I’ve learned to love when it rains this time of year. All the new growth is so thirsty and all too soon we will be without the lush, dewy-ness of the rain.

Catching and storing #rainwater for our household and irrigation needs has focused my attention keenly on just when will the rains stop? We get plenty of rain, but it all falls in the winter so every spring rain it’s like we’re taking one last sip of inhale before holding our breaths until September? October? We can’t really know, exactly.

Thank you tulips and pear buds for reminding me of how precious the wet stuff that falls from the sky really is!!

How little work can I do and still get food? This

How little work can I do and still get food? This is an edge I’m trying to push. Plenty of times I think IIII, me, I need to DO it, control it, make it happen! But what if not? What if I could do less and get more?

So here’s an experiment to test that - existing wood chip pile, add mushroom spawn, wait, hopefully harvest mushrooms. I’ve located it in a shady area so I may need to water it from time to time, but I’ll probably forget 🤷‍♀️. Guess we’ll see!

#lazygardener
#mushroomfarming
#gardenexperiment
#kingstrophariamushrooms

A spiral of spring sweetness, foraged for our Apri

A spiral of spring sweetness, foraged for our April salad. Parsley, chives, broccoli, kale, and mallow I had a hand in growing. The maple blossoms, oregano and purple dead nettle were here before us and will likely be king after us too. I am so grateful for the beauty and nutrition the land can provide, even in early Spring.

#gardening
#springforaging
#spring
#saladfordinner

There’s so many benefits to #gardening - delicio

There’s so many benefits to #gardening - delicious, nutritious food, for sure, the calm and connected feeling I get, and I delight in creating spaces for other creatures to thrive.

Garter snakes are our garden friends! They eat slugs and other insects which like to eat our plants. They also eat frogs and worms which doesn’t necessarily benefit our gardens, but I welcome them as a sign of welcoming in the diversity of healthy ecosystems.

#gardeecosystem
#permaculturegarden
#permaculture
#gartersnake

Come play in the dirt with us! The next Growing Jo

Come play in the dirt with us! The next Growing Joy Gardening Workshop is coming up on April 20, 10 am to noon, on Salt Spring Island.

The topics this month are building garden beds and spring planting! We’ll build a sheet mulch garden bed, discuss seedling care & share resources to get your spring garden off to a healthy start. We’ll also continue practicing our observation skills, seeking patterns in nature. Noticing these patterns helps us design more efficient & beautiful gardens.

This series of workshops combines mindfulness practices with beginner gardening lessons in a curious and nourishing environment. We’ll enjoy a couple hours together creating and learning in our garden on Salt Spring. I’ll provide all the materials you need for the workshop, a yummy snack from the garden, and send you home with resources to get growing.

If any of this sounds fun or you have questions, message me.

I’ll be charging $20 for each workshop, but if the cost is a barrier, there will always be a seat saved for you.

#gardening
#beginnergardening
#permaculturegardening
#saltspringisland

Garden planning, kid style… Me: How many strawb

Garden planning, kid style…

Me: How many strawberries do we plant this year?

Kiddo: I want to grow so many strawberries that I can’t eat any more, like I might throw up if I do, and we haaaaaaave to make jam with the rest!

Me: Gotcha!

So how many is that exactly? I really don’t know, but suffice it to say we have more than doubled our space allotted to strawberries. And I will be experimenting with alll the ways to boost production in that space. Plus, we’re going to tuck them in and among our fruit trees and see how they do.

#gardening
#gardeningwithkids
#strawberries
#gardenplanning

I harvested ingredients from the deep freeze in th

I harvested ingredients from the deep freeze in the basement this evening.

It got me thinking that harvests look a bit different this time of year. This same basket, in another season, might be full of greens or beans or tender fruits, fresh cut from the garden.

But here in early spring the garden is just starting to provide fresh delights. So I’m grateful to the me of last September for putting these tomatoes away in the freezer for now! We also canned and dried tomatoes, but I lost energy to do more preservation in the fall. Freezing was a fast and easy way to preserve these garden tomatoes for our tomato soup dinner in March.

#preservetheharvest
#eatlocal
#tomatoes
#hungrygap
#permaculturehomestead

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