City Corn

We came across this smart use of space on State Street in Charleston, SC, this past weekend. Here we have some young corn. You can barely make out the round leaves of the Eucalyptus growing underneath it, and there's a Rosemary bush planted on the other side of the Palmetto trunk there.

Evidence seems to indicate that the Permaculture Phantom may have struck here.

I think there may have been residences in the building at this address. Let me explain why this plot shows efficient energy planning. It uses space that would otherwise go unused, but the best thing about it is it's probably in the gardener's Zone 1. That means that the gardener isn't going to have to travel far to grab a handful of Rosemary if it's needed, so the chances that he/she will burn dinner while he/she is gone is minimal. This corn looks much less shriveled than its relatives in fields outside Charleston, so it's probably getting some water here and there, which is also easy because it's planted close to the house.

I suspect that the gardener planted the corn's companions intentionally, too. Eucalyptus and Rosemary oils are commonly found in organic insect repellents. They both have a strong, clean smell that bugs seem to hate, so they may be protecting the corn from those nasty worms that get in under the shuck sometimes.

Plus, it's pretty.