Slideshow presented at 2015 ACORN Conference PEI

1. Working with
Perennials
Fuel – Food - Medicine

2. The Homestead

3. Perennials on the
Homestead
! Mulch
! Habitat
! Food
! Medicine
! Fuel
! Infrastructure
! Shade
! Nutrients/Compost
Teas
 Ecosystem Services:
 Water filtration/
Erosion Control
 Nectar Sources/
Pollinators
 Carbon Storage

4. Plants that Grow Here
 Fruits/Berries: Apple, Hascap, Highbush Blueberry,
Highbush Cranberry, Northern Kiwi, Hardy Pear, Asian
Pear, Serviceberry, Currants, Elderberry, Plum, Sour
Cherry, Rose, Hawthorn, Gooseberry, Raspberry,
Strawberry, Chokeberry
 Nuts: Hazelnut, Chestnut, Oak, Walnut Family: Butternut,
Black Walnut, Heartnut, Buartnut
 Perennial Veggies: Asparagus, Horseradish, Jerusalem
Artichoke, Lovage, Good King Henry, Rhubarb
 Medicinal/Culinary Herbs: Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Winter
Savory, Echinacea, Marshmallow, Evening primrose,
Yarrow, Sweet Cicely, Comfrey
 Native Edibles/Forest Plants: Maple, Birch, Bluebead Lily,
Nodding Onion, Cattail, Fiddle heads, balsam fir
 Fuel/Infrastructure/Support: Black Locust, Alder,
hardwoods: firewood, fence posts, building materials

5. Design – Food Forest

6. Design – Diversity

7. Site Considerations
 Wet or Dry
 Hot or cold site/
microsite
 Shady or Open/
Windy
 Windbreaks
 Cold air drainage
 Soil pH
 Natural
ecosystem/site
scale/landscape
scale

8. Design - Guilds
Guild pic

9. Guild pic 2

11. Design – Planting
Considerations

15. Propagation - Seeds

17. Heartnut from Seed

18. Propagation - Cuttings

20. Propagation – Dividing
Roots

21. Layering

22. Propagation - Nursery

23. Potted Plants

24. Wildcrafting – Highbush
Cranberry

25. Wildcrafting – Bluebead
Lily

26. Wildcrafting – Maple

27. Medicine Making – Teas,
Tinctures, Salves,
Syrups, Candy, Coffee

28. Medicine Making -
Plantain

29. Medicine Making -
Dandelion

30. Medicine Making – St.
John’s Wort

31. Echinacea

32. Fuel - Firewood

34. HOT WATER! HEAT! COOKING!

35. Maintenance - Mulch

36. Maintenance - Water

37. Maintenance – Pest
Control

38. Re-cap
 Lots of perennial plants to grow
 Provides many functions on the homestead – mulch, building materials,
fuel, food, medicine, nutrients etc..
 Take time to design and observe:
• Food forests or small orchards
• Structural diversity – vertical layer
• Site considerations – exposure, wind, shade, frost, soil, drainage
• Guilds – companion planting
• Planting considerations – space, juglones, pollination, site and
microsite
• Design on paper and then implement
 Propagation
• Seeds – stratification, scarification, berries, heartnut
• Cuttings – hardwood, softwood, elderberry
• Root division – Echinacea, bee-balm
• Start a nursery
 Wildcrafting – wild plants
 Medicines – teas, tinctures, salves, candy, coffee
 Fuel – firewood, stacking functions
 Maintenance – mulching, watering, pest control and fencing

39. Booklet