 Felder's Front Yard |
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FELDER'S FUNKY STUFF
Green/Lazy/Cheapskate Garden page
New Slow Gardening book is FINALLY OUT!
For a short video on Slow Gardening click here
THE TRUCK GARDEN
Planted in1988 and
driven over 500,000 miles
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ELBERT TAYLOR
Felder's first horticulture guru
from Indianola, Mississippi
"Chief" taught me everything about plant propagation, and a LOT about Life...
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Relaxing on my front porch...
(Figure made by Felder and Rita Hall for his Scarecrows and Other Yard Folk book)
Green Roof fire station in Kosciusko, MS
JIM POWELL
TRANSCENDENT
URBAN
GARDENER
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF JIM'S GARDEN
(WARNING: Nudity, Violence, Obscene language, Drugs, AND MORE)
TO ENTER you must agree that YES you have an adolescent/bawdy/off-color sense of humor
CLICK HERE
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Well, well! Glad you're here!
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| I am a Southern gardener with way too much book learning and travel experiences to suit my laid-back style, so when I am not on the road lecturing, I'm knocking around the celebrated garden surrounding my little backyard cabin in Mississippi with my brown dog named Rusty, or living part of the year on a cottage farm in rural Shropshire (in the western midlands of England). So I work hard at relaxing and having as much fun as possible - with as little effort as practical. When it comes to the "left brain" of horticulture science, I have my bases covered (see the Biostuff link). Plus, I had renowned landscape architect Rick Griffin guide me through developing my garden spaces, and progressive architect Jeff Seabold design large "green" construction projects, so I can enjoy my efforts year-round without a lot of huffing and puffing and off-site resources. It's an overstuffed cottage garden with plants both common and rare, and plenty of, er, "accessories." But when it comes to the "right brain" of just having a fun, pretty, and productive garden - with as little effort as possible - I am a charter member of the scattered tribe called "dirt gardeners" who plant what we like, where we like, and for whatever reason we like. Because we are opinionated REAL gardeners, some folks like us and our approach, others do not. (SHRUG) Take a few minutes to browse around. E-mail me if you have some comments (keep 'em clean). Here's hoping you have fun in your own "guarded area" - your garden. |
Photo taken at Terra del Madre,the biennial Slow Food event in Turin, Italy
Felder during 2010 winter solstice
Darwen Tower, Northern England
(photo by Matt Donnelly appeared in Lancashire Telegraph newspaper)
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Scroll farther down for Felder's
2011 winter solstice at STONEHENGE
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Judging hanging basket competition in Claverly village
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Felder as a Green Man
For the Green Man link
scroll halfway down the page
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Felder's version of the ultimate viewing site
for the winter solstice:
PEG HENGE
(feel free to improvise your own, and send photos)
including the 2011 winter solstice at STONEHENGE
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The art of boogering up a plant well
Click here for examples from around the world
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COLD HARDY KALE
one of the most nutrituous veggies
for the winter garden
Nero di Tosca or Tuscan Black kale
Red Boar or Purple Kale 
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Carolina Snailseed
(Cocculus carolinia)
fantastic native vine with brilliant winter berries
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(It ain't just a trashy Mississippi thing)
Click here for photos and how-to
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FELDER'S FRONT BACKYARD
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Rusty and I live in a one-room cabin behind my family home,
which suits us fine. The garden is tiny, but includes many
dozens of different plants and garden art. There is a
flagstone and raised wooden walk all the way around
for better enjoyment in all weather.
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ELEMENTS OF A SOUTHERN COTTAGE GARDEN
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Easy WATER GARDENS
Felder's Front Garden
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ORNAMENTAL GRASSES
FOR A FEW OF FELDER'S FAVORITES
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A call for a practical approach
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Listen to Felder Rushing and guests on MPB Radio every Friday at 9 a.m., and rebroadcast Saturday at 10 a.m., on
The Gestalt Gardener
Radio Program
"...gardening is as easy as frying bologna..."
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Gestalt Gardener Haikus from Listeners:
No rain out west here
Central Texas drought again
watering pumpkins
- Matt Evans, Austin Texas
"Crape Myrtle & Company" by Diana Shaw, Mobile Alabama:
High-born pink inks the
Blank green leaves below it, thus
Publishing its blushes.
Nine in the morning,
Waiting for Felder to come on.
Okra in the pan.
- Ken Brown, Grand Bay, Alabama
Tomatoes netted.
Squirrel invades, is run off.
Leaves fertilizer.
- Alison Steiner and David Reynolds, Jackson
Rotting pine tree falls,
Brown bark splitting off, decay.
Stillness on the ground.
- Ken Brown, Grand Bay Alabama
I compost with glee,
dirt under my fingernails.
These are not travails!
- Hilary Shughart, Oxford MS
No rain for twelve days.
In the birdbath fat doves splash.
Daylily hides the cat.
- Linda Campany, Columbus MS
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NATIONAL HEIRLOOM EXPOSITION
Here are a few shots I took in early September between my lectures at the National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa, California, including gourds, tomatoes (including a variety-tasting I conducted), and a vegetable-carving chef...
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Giant pumpkins
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Tomato tasting
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Giant tomato
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Chef carves veggies
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Squirrel Scare device
by Jim Barnett of Natchez
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GLASS FOREST
blows bottle trees away!
While living in England this summer, I made a side trip to Germany to photograph
a stunning forest of trees made entirely of glass (with some supporting metal and
fasteners). I had read about this for years, and finally just "up and went" -
rented a car out of Munich, and headed off into the Bavarian Alps to the little
medieval village of Regen where this fantasy has been constructed.
Click on this link to get more photos of a real glass forest!
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GOT BEES?
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For information on beekeeping, check out the
Mississippi Beekeepers Association website:
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NO BEES? Here is how to hand pollinate squash:
Find a male flower (grows on a simple stem), peel off the petals,
and dab its pollen in a female flower (on the end of an immature squash).
This works on all kinds of squash, cucumbers, and melons.
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*DISCLAIMER
Neither Felder nor MPB receives compensation, products, or services
in return for anything mentioned on this site or on MPB's Gestalt Gardener program.
Any promotion done on this site is soley at Felder's discretion,
based on his honest, unbiased experience or observations - with no strings attached. Really.
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GESTALT GARDEN "WORD of the WEEK"
Terroir - French word used in wine and coffee, denotes how characteristics of a place (soil, climate, etc.) impart themselves onto something...
It's what gives something (gardeners, gardens, garden styles) our special "Sense of Place"
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"Most gardeners are daunted, not dumb."
"Lightening up doesn't necessarily mean lowering your standards."
"I DO care what the neighbors think... it just doesn't MATTER!"
"Doesn't matter what you do, or how you do it, your neighbors are gonna talk about you ANYWAY." (this quoted aloud and credited to Felder by Martha Stewart)
"Life already has so many boundaries and pressures - why add more in the garden?"
"Salsa is good for your body; tomato gravy is for your Southern SOUL." (Plus, a little grease in the diet helps you slide through the humidity better.)
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GENERAL PHOTO STUFF
(updated every now and then)
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GREEN MEN
Carvings of mysterious foliate faces
are found throughout Britain and western Europe,
mostly in churches and cemeteries
for more Green Man images click the photo above
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Felder's Mississippi Winter Garden
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Felder's rented English Farmhouse in Winter
the cottage (circa 1800)
scene from bedroom window
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shrubs outside door and along the ancient hedgerow
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snow covered cemetery cherub and "hoar" frost
(strands of frozen fog)
along the hedgerow footpath to Pattingham village
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Gaudi's cathedral, Barcelona
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Fabulous 'Graham Thomas' rose named "World's Favorite Rose"
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WORM COMPOSTING INDOORS
LIRIOPE
GREAT VINES
FOR SOUTHERN ARBORS AND TRELLIS
Clothespin Tombstone in
Middlesex Vermont
ROADSIDE "FLOWERS" IN NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA
TRUCK CROP ON EASTERN LONG ISLAND NY
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WATERMELON FESTIVAL
IN MIZE MISSISSIPPI
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SEED SPITTING
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FELDER AND THE QUEEN.
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University of Tennessee - Jackson
Succulents Garden
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Wanna See a Little Lawn?
Click HERE for Felder's New Lawn
Doris Foscett's Agave in bloom - Canton MS
Can't we all share with one another?
More Agaves from Felder's Photos
Zoe and California Agave
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Felder's variegated agaves and bronze Dyckia
and the agave atop his "green roof" arbor with blue bottles
Felder's "Green Roof" Entry Arbor
(for details see link at upper left)
Felder's "Rain Harvester" Porch Roof
(for details see link at upper left)
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Rusty the Howling Spaniel
that eats my hats
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Important message from Klaatu and Gort
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PARTLY PERSONAL
There are tens of thousands of highly intelligent, well-raised, educated young men and women - their names are not important here - who are real heros because of what they suffer day after day overseas in our military.
Few can imagine what they are going through, especially considering that they are there as volunteers.
These men and women find rest whenever and wherever they can.
I am asking that you think about them as unique and beloved, individuals as real as any son, daughter, father, mother, husband, or wife.
And please - perform whatever ritual you have at your heart's and soul's command to bless all these young men and women at their job, and wish them - and their loved ones - comfort as well as strength.
Whatever it takes for them to finish their terrible work and come home safe.
And remember: They are real people. They are not numbers. Who they are, and what they are doing right now, is precious.
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