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Organic Gardening

Starting on Tricky Places : Gardens that Fit Your Lifestyle like a Glove.

December 31, 2016

rice-14-blogWhew. Its taken a summer like 2016 when friends and family had calamities, passed away or got really sick to make me appreciate my garden and health even more… and then the specter of scary local fires burning thousands of acres in our treasured Smoky Mountains which made me appreciate our fragile ecosystem.

This blog is a personal note is to myself to review everything in Dargan Landscape Architects book of work to help my friends, their home environments and interface with nature. Like holding hands with fragile yet resilient gloves that fit perfectly.

Hugh and I have been in practice as landscape architects for over four decades. Our client’s now lovely landscapes were tricky places to make behave: with thin soils, complicated topography, owners large wish list, zoning issues, too much or too little shade, too much or too little water, not enough space, too vast a canvas, weird parking, insufficient walkways…the list goes on!  We are blessed with the honor to coax, bend and collaborate with the owners to get the best designs built, and we thank them for sharing their private worlds.

My goal is to inspire homeowners to get the best out of their precious home environment. Design it to yield healthy wellbeing, inspire you to be your best and to provide nurturing spaces. Once we finish this work together, your garden will function like a well-oiled machine, which in itself is a stress-reducing factor.

Photographer, Sarah Valentine of Highlands NC,  shot beautiful dawn shots and late summer portraits of many of our local gardens.

Stay tuned as the book progresses!

Filed Under: Appearances, Lectures and Shows, Atlanta Garden Landscape Projects, Bloom Where you are Planted, Climate Change, Dovecote, Dovecote Garden Talk Salons, Fairy Gardens, General Landscape Commentary, Horticulture, Instagram, Landscape Architecture Projects, Landscape Design Tips, Mary's Events, Organic Gardening, PlaceMakers, Poppy's Environmental Tips, Poppy's Horticultural Tips, Poppy's Project, Uncategorized, Videos Tagged With: garden design, mary palmer dargan, sarah valentine photographer

Researching Heirloom Gardens in Western NC : The American Kitchen Garden

December 31, 2016

hodges-apple-closeup-blogThe prospect of saying yes…not a decision taken lightly.

The invitation extended to chair the Jan Wyatt Symposium 2017 for the Cashiers Historical Society, by Ann McKee Austin ( from whom it is impossible to decline a volunteer invitation) and president, Connie Haire, was a surprise.

Do I shoot myself after saying yes?  NO.  I’d promised my family not to take on more projects. But the tantalizing nudge to dust off a topic thoroughly covered in my first draft masters thesis is 1977 is impossible to resist. Rafts of info laying fallow in the storage unit, mildewed and unloved, has been slowly maturing…waiting for airtime.

One does not lightly throw something together that could impact a visitors perspective of history.

On the suggestion of Macon County Librarian,Karen Hawks, a spin and TRX buddy, I hired the wonderful librarian, Emily Crowell, to type, type, type.  YIKES! The old manuscript was a dot matrix printed, accordian-paged, non-digital manuscript. Emily DOVE IN with glee on her day off from work and is quickly modernizing the document.

WE HAVE A TITLE: The 2017 Jan Wyatt Symposium The Heirloom Gardener hosted by The Cashiers Historical Society.

WE HAVE A LOCATION: The Zachary Tolbert House Grounds c 1850.

WE SET A DATE: June 21 2017.

SPEAKERS SAID YES:

Eric Jackson of Old Salem to talk about historic plant materials

Ila Hatter, wildcrafter supreme, to demonstrate cooking methods of our forefathers

And me, to demonstrate what a garden might have looked like in 1850 when Alexander Zachary built the house in Cashiers, NC.

WE HAVE A STORYLINE and I meet with the tent man next week.

DIGITAL COPIES OF ALEXANDER ZACHARY’s journal appeared (primarily apple notes, but useful nonetheless!)

Whew…stay tuned for schedule and logo next!

jpegzachary_000

Filed Under: Appearances, Lectures and Shows, Atlanta Garden Landscape Projects, Bloom Where you are Planted, Climate Change, Dovecote, Dovecote Garden Talk Salons, Fairy Gardens, General Landscape Commentary, Horticulture, Instagram, Landscape Architecture Projects, Landscape Design Tips, Mary's Events, Organic Gardening, PlaceMakers, Poppy's Environmental Tips, Poppy's Horticultural Tips, Poppy's Project, Uncategorized, Videos

Show Us Your Garden Vegetables

August 11, 2015

LettuceKale

Here’s a snap of our fresh lettuce and kale! Nothing makes a gardener happier than seeing greens reach their full potential.

If you missed our Garden Talk Salon with John McCarley, here is a short video on organic vegetable gardening. Watch by clicking below:

What have you been growing in your garden this summer? Take a photo and share it with us.

Looking for gardening landscape expertise? Look no further than here. Call 404-231-3889 or click here for a free, 30 minute consultation.

Filed Under: Dovecote, Dovecote Garden Talk Salons, Organic Gardening, Uncategorized, Videos Tagged With: Dovecote, garden, Garden Talk Salon, John McCarley, mary palmer dargan, Organic Gardening, organic vegetable garden

Are Retiring Boomers Shaping the Permaculture Movement? Mother Earth News Thinks So…

April 14, 2015

Right On, Mother Earth News Fair.  From planetary awareness in 1970’s, to being the most hip and cool thing in sustainable home environments today, you rock!  

APril 24 SM

 

APril 11 MENews Branded

This weekend, 18-20,000 showed up in Asheville NC for 2 days of back-to-back lectures about sustainable living and all its components: permaculture/sustainable gardening, housing alternatives, energy efficient cars and really, really good food.

Last year chickens were hot, this year worms, and next year goats are predicted to rock the charts.

I remember when Mother Earth news debuted and mesmerized a particular granola-eating, intellectual, alternative lifestyle ’70s student. (That would be me). The hip and cool, bi-monthly magazine took me by the hand into the realm of renewable energy, clean water, clean air, sprouting, homemade bread, environmental awareness and women’s rights. I learned I could have my cake and eat it too; and thanks to Mother Earth News, that cake would be organic!

Yes, I think retiring boomers are shaping the sustainable gardening/permaculture movement in America. Does this matter to you? If so, read on.

Permaculture for home environments is gardening in concert with nature. It involves site planning with an eye to the future while resting lightly on the land today.
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So, when I received an invitation to do a permaculture demonstration at the Mother Earth News fair this weekend in Asheville North Carolina, I raised my fist and said, “Yeah baby, right on!”  At The Mother Earth News Fair, my lovely booth was soon surrounded by baby boomers of all shapes and sizes, sexes and hairstyles, outfits, smiles and notepads… They had actually done their homework before coming to the demonstration.

 Screen Shot 2015-04-13 at 10.35.08 PM
Interested? Watch this live performance at the Mother Earth News Fair, Asheville, NC 2015.
How do you do this permaculture thing and how does it relate to the regular joe?
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Not everyone is a designer, so I created a crash, short-course on the topic of Permaculture 101. It will be April 24 and May 15 at Dovecote in Cashiers, NC.
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So what is Permaculture? It is a large topic weighing-in on the health of our small planet. Without a doubt, sustainable gardening, a component of permaculture, will improve your home environment, your health and happiness.
Did you know your home environment can support your lifestyle and nourish you, so you can flourish to meet your highest and best goals in life? I didn’t.
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As a seasoned landscape architect, I invite my clients to make a program of their needs and describe their lifestyle. As much as I hope to grow them into fully empowered, sustainable gardening homeowners, it will not be everybody’s bag.
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The best-practice sustainable gardeners tend to be the baby boomers on the cusp or fully retired. 85% of my clients are truly interested. They think it would be good for them to embrace sustainable gardening and be outside more, but don’t:
  • have the time in their busy lifestyles
  • know which end of a seed to plant
  • have a clue how to organize their properties to be nimble and efficient sustainable gardens
  • know where to start
Does this sound like you? So whether or not you are baby boomer, eat granola & sprouts or wear sandals and live in a yurt… join me for Permaculture 101:  A Crash Course in Sustainable Gardening.  Early Bird Discount ends April 18.
In 3 hours, we’ll study lifelong landscape design, define your personal permaculture program elements, define available space for improvements on your property and solve functional problems.
For more please visit Dargan.com/dovecote-events or register here:
APril 24 SM

Filed Under: Organic Gardening, Uncategorized

Permaculture Videos from Asheville North Carolina

April 13, 2015

Permaculture Vide

 

 

Mary Palmer Dargan appeared at the Mother Earth News fair last weekend — and gave a workshop on Permaculture. Here’s some highlights:

Part 2:

 

 

 

Filed Under: Organic Gardening, Uncategorized, Videos

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