For years I have occasionally drove past an area in Poway, CA on Ted Williams Parkway and noticed an orchard-like planting of about 100 citrus trees that sits within the road's right-of-way. I often think about how our local government could be planting drought-tolerant fruit bearing trees instead of the non-fruit-bearing trees they almost always plant. We could be getting food for free!
Seeing this public orchard makes me very excited every time I go by, but it's placed in a location where there is nowhere to pull over - how are you supposed to get to the fruit? Finally this past month I visited the site by parking in a nearby street and walking over.
As I neared the trees I noticed the first fruits were grapefruit - a fruit I tend to avoid. I walked further to find other varieties but to my surprise I found that every single tree was a grapefruit! They only planted one kind of citrus - and the worst kind in my opinion!
Not only that but the hill was so steep we could barely walk on it. How were they expecting people to harvest this fruit?
As I neared the trees I noticed the first fruits were grapefruit - a fruit I tend to avoid. I walked further to find other varieties but to my surprise I found that every single tree was a grapefruit! They only planted one kind of citrus - and the worst kind in my opinion!
Not only that but the hill was so steep we could barely walk on it. How were they expecting people to harvest this fruit?
Many of the trees were dying, especially the ones on the south facing hill and trees that were high on the slope were there is less plant-available soil moisture (all the water moves down the hill). You can see in the above picture that they installed culverts to specifically move water away from the orchard area!
In San Diego County's Mediterranean climate these water intensive plants need supplemental irrigation. Building healthy soil and harvesting rainwater in the soil reduces the amount of supplemental irrigation significantly, but citrus likes a lot of water.
Check out our blog about plants appropriate for Mediterranean climates which we planted at our permaculture education and demonstration site in Ramona, CA (San Diego County).
In San Diego County's Mediterranean climate these water intensive plants need supplemental irrigation. Building healthy soil and harvesting rainwater in the soil reduces the amount of supplemental irrigation significantly, but citrus likes a lot of water.
Check out our blog about plants appropriate for Mediterranean climates which we planted at our permaculture education and demonstration site in Ramona, CA (San Diego County).
Next to the orchard we found a variety of edible and useful plants including:
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
CA Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
White Sage (Salvia apiana)
Artichoke (unknown spp.)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Growing edible and useful plants in public spaces is a no-brainer! Why have plants that you can't use when you can have pants that you can??? What's important is to plant the right plants in the right places. Plants that use a lot of water should not be in places that don't have a lot of water. Plants that require harvesting should not be on extremely steep slopes, etc.
These simple design parameters found in permaculture and ecological design allow us to build regenerative systems that take care of themselves, saving you time and money while also getting yummy and healthy food AND creating healthy ecosystems for a healthy planet!
Like us on Facebook to get notified when new blog posts are up.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
CA Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
White Sage (Salvia apiana)
Artichoke (unknown spp.)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Growing edible and useful plants in public spaces is a no-brainer! Why have plants that you can't use when you can have pants that you can??? What's important is to plant the right plants in the right places. Plants that use a lot of water should not be in places that don't have a lot of water. Plants that require harvesting should not be on extremely steep slopes, etc.
These simple design parameters found in permaculture and ecological design allow us to build regenerative systems that take care of themselves, saving you time and money while also getting yummy and healthy food AND creating healthy ecosystems for a healthy planet!
Like us on Facebook to get notified when new blog posts are up.
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