My house sits near the back of my property so just about everything is right out the back door. In the summer the garden seems an extension of my living space. I dont have to go far to pick something for supper and throwing out kitchen water is easy. Across a short patch of "lawn" is a fence row full of easily picked blackberries. Bird planted trees give me privacy and shade. The back door is almost always open. I cant imagine living any other way.

Right now all I have is a nice swing on our patio and a coupla tomato plants, some chives, and marigolds and zenias growing next to the patio. My compost bins are back a little ways next to where I'm preparing my veggie beds for next year.

What I envision: An apple or cherry tree or two next to the patio to provide shade and fruit. Blackberries and blueberries growing along the west fence-line. A butterfly and humingbird garden along the west side of the house that carries along to where the patio is and gradually becomes a kitchen garden (catnip for our indoor kitty, too). Along the north side (rear) of the house a nice shade garden that I gotta figure out what to put in (any ideas?).

Still gotta sort out the rest of the backyard too. We can't have a toolshed or woodshed or shedshed.

The front yard has what I call the evergreen arboritum that the builders installed (and I can't think of many good reasons for it's existence and really don't care for it very much).

Kat

we have our vege' gardens including our small herb patch, the chook & goose house, followed closely by our food tree orchids.

I am guessing that the fruit trees are in the next zone out (Zone 2) in my scheme of living. The pond is far enough to be in Zone 2 also and I wish it were closer to the house since I feed the fish every day in summer. Once every thing is built and the chicken house and garden beds moved ... the pond will be moved too and be put in Zone 1 so I can enjoy it more. There is one catch to that ... it will not be as accessible to the wildlife (aside from birds) so I would have to make 2 ponds or have that one further out. Not sure about that part. The wood shed and tool shed will be out of Zone 1 since they would not be needed as often (hopefully) ... and I just want things set up so that the areas I visit one or more times a day are in Zone 1 and close in to the house.

Fireraven9
"The field's set. Let's croq." Alas 4/28/01

Kat I am curious about why you cant have a shed

Greetings, just outside kitchen door is a compost bin, salad greens, herbs, cucumbers, beans, nasturiums, chives and 2 glads.

Let me think ... I have my compost piles, four 55 gallon barrels for runoff collection (each overflows into the next one), fruit trees for shade (mulberries, peach, apples and cherries), herb beds, large veggie garden, blackberries mixed up with rambling wild roses (birds love the cover as much as I love the berries), garden tool shed, small pond, and cold frames. Hopefully we will add a small hoop type greenhouse this year. There is lots of things that are near the house (if not actually in the yard) for easy wild crafting like plaintain and yarrow for salves, wild mint and bee balm for teas, elderberries etc...

How far out does zone 1 go from the house? I'm in the middle of 66 acres.

GG

jessiecarole,

Against the subdivision rules (I forget what the rules are official called). Anyway, no sheds, no above-ground pools, no privacy fences (only split-rail or chainlink).

It makes it really difficult because we have lots of gardening toys and nowhere to put them but the (rather cramped) garage.

Kat

kathy,

would it be called a covenant?

Zones 0-5 are measured not in distance but rather in frequency of visit or more accuratetly need to visit. The herb garden would be a zone one candidate while the widlerness area would be in zone 5.

In zone 1: the water tap, vegetable and herb beds, 10 X 12 grass lawn for sitting, container gardens, in-use tool storage, berries and ferns, nursery area, shady gardens around some large spruces, driest firewood and wood splitting area,part of driveway (parcel drop-off), and two wooden shrines for icons.

Do you have planning laws in the USA that prevent you from having sheds?Here in the UK we ALL have sheds.My Victorian house has outbuildings and I have built a workshop ,on my Dad`s advice, as near to the house as possible.This minimises the distance between house and tools when doing jobs in the house and garden.As it is on the grid it also reduces the amount of wiring.As far as I can see Zone 1 is down to you .That which you visit most you put nearest to hand.In your system that could be what another puts in Zone 3.The rules are there to give you ideas ,but rules are to be broken!Permaculture is not exactly conventional,therefore you must think for yourself .

Most places in the US do not have laws against sheds. There are some Home Owner Associations that have restrictions and there are some setback (from edge of property) restrictions in most areas, but usually you can have sheds. We have several.

Fireraven9
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.

For us, zone 1 contains the culinary herbs, birdbath and birdfeeders, patio with strawberry tubs, the chicken coop and pen and an apple tree. Hoping to get two dwarf cherries planted next bareroot season and water with greywater next to the house.

Claire

right next to the kitchen door I have a row of orange trees, different varieties for cropping from november to late june.
It is as far as I can crawl in the mornigs to get my orange juice!
the orange peel and pulp go back on top of the soil under the oranges to make the next batch of oranges

depends on which door...I live in a basement apartment and outside my door are herbs and vegetables. Outside the front door upstairs are a patio for sitting and more herbs and out the back door are compost, worm bins and a woodpile. Unfortuneately, I can't have chickens here, or they would be near the apartment door too. A bike shed is going there instead. Most tools and other gardening materials are kept in the garage and basement.

FOR MY OPEN COMMUNITY GARDEN, I BUILT A LONG, LOW WOODEN BOX W/ HINGE LID & USED IT AS A GARDEN SEAT (ROOMY ENOUGH FOR 2-3 PERSONS TO TALK TOGETHER), THAT CONTAINED MY GARDENING TOOLS INSIDE...WOULD YOUR HOME ASSOCIATION ALLOW SOMETHING LIKE IT? GOOD GARDENING TO YOU,K.

Kathy_KY : Can you build a lean-to behind the garage or on the side of the house for storing things?