A few years back I noticed a couple of gigantic rhubarb plants growing in one of the garden spaces near the dining hall building. The two rhubarb plants were planted by someone sometime in the past, before i came to live here, have continued to come back year after year with zero maintenance.

There was a similar situation with black berry bushes behind Walt’s home. While I don’t have much of a taste for rhubarb, I do have a liking for berries of all kinds.

raspberry cuttings coming back in the spring

Two years back, I had a strong desire to help to increase the productivity of the land by growing plants that required little upkeep and that I desired to eat. Since well over half my daily dietary intake is fruit from frozen smoothies, I looked into establishing raspberry bushes, blackberry bushes and apple trees. If I could have these plants around the property it would help reduce the amount of money I spent at the grocery market and ensured I would have local access ingredients for my meals.

For the blackberries, over the course of a couple of months, I was able to propagate the blackberry canes using air layering, potting the sliced area of the cane in soil, and keeping it moist until roots began to grow. I did this for 12 canes and about 10 of them succeeded and I was able to plant them in a prepared bed behind my living space. The following spring nearly all of them survived and shouldn’t need much upkeep apart from watering every week or two. Though, I do intend to start trellising them when they grow large enough. With this success, I have the option to do this again when I want to.

three year old blackberry growing strong

The raspberries plants were bought from local sources on Craigslist. Two years ago, I planted them in three different areas and ultimately a couple of canes from two of those three areas lived through the winter and began multiplying. With the root system having survived the cold winter and well establishing itself, the plants came back last season and again this spring. Now, these too, can be propagated again and again should I want to expand the resource more.

It’s definitely worth mentioning that this whole food growing effort is a long term project. Many people are dissuaded from doing projects like these specifically because of how long the endeavor takes in total. It will be many years till I get a substantial yield from any of these plants but like with the rhubarb plants in the garden, even if somehow I am no longer around, these plants will benefit those people who live at Windward regardless of my presence.

apples growing from seed

In a small way, these plants will be a legacy of mine that will continue to enrich the people of Windward long into the future. These trees can potential live for 50+ years creating infinitely more value than the single humble apple I bought at the store years ago. It’s just crazy for me to think of all the apples being consumed by the population that aren’t being flipped into the creation of entire trees and orchards. This project of mine to create recurring future food sources for this community is a testament to the ability to life to multiply all on it’s own and to the natural tendency of the world to create abundance for those who take the time to encourage it to happen

apples growing in the kitchen’s solar window