Welcome to The Urban Farm. Growing gardeners into farmers the easy way. Urban farming, backyard farming, balcony farming, permaculture and more.
Phoenix, Arizona
Joined April 2009
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I signed up for a permaculture design course expecting garden tips.
Walked out with three things I never asked for.
34 years later they still run my whole life.
permaculture.net
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3. It moved me past sustaining and into rebuilding.
Permaculture asks how a yard or household can leave the soil and the people better than it found them.
That shift stuck with me hardest.
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The odd part is I still can't fully explain why it reorganized so much beyond the garden.
It just did.
If you've been circling the idea of a course, this is me holding out the invitation.
Step toward it when you're ready.
permaculture.net
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Your fruit tree needs to eat every day.
You feed it three times a year.
In this heat, that math falls apart fast.
The tree gets hungry between your visits and it can't tell you.
So it just quietly does less.
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Heat is where this really shows.
Summer stress hits right when a few calendar feedings run thin.
A tree sitting in living, mulched soil rides it out.
A tree in bare dirt waiting for its next scheduled meal struggles.
fruittrees.org
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Once you have the rhythm it's easy.
Granular quarterly. Liquid drench twice a month.
Mark it twice on a calendar and the tree stops waiting on you.
34 years in, this two-part schedule is still the simplest fix I know.
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What finally worked was deciding where the cool spot would be before the tree ever went in.
East side of the house or a taller tree, so it gets morning sun and afternoon mercy.
Living ground cover over the roots instead of bare ground.
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The ground cover part surprised me most.
It shades the soil, holds moisture, and feeds the tree as it breaks down.
One choice at planting time that keeps doing its job every summer after, with no work from me.
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A tree planted in a spot I designed to be survivable barely notices a heat wave.
Fifty years of trial and error, and that placement rule carried most of the weight.
I share all of it free at fruittrees.org.
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Walk through world-class permaculture farms virtually.
Most people never step foot on a real regenerative site.
That means most learning stays theoretical.
Books are great.
But seeing a system in action changes everything.
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Don't just read about soil health.
Don't just imagine swales.
Go look at them.
Technology is bridging the gap between curiosity and capability.
Start exploring.
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