Summer Gardens are growing well with all the Sun

We are taking a break from construction to return to the gardens this week.

Above, Alex clears the jungle that is encroaching on the Banana Patch.

Good ventilation is crucial to minimize fungus and rot on the newly forming fruits.  This year we have about 150 trees and we will continue expanding as we clear more jungle.  Everyone adores bananas.  We always run out no matter how many I harvest.

 

Estrella, Samantha, and Alex remove the weeds that are choking out the Taro Patch and opening new land to expand the existing patch.

The Swiss Chard is going strong still, providing a tasty and healthy green leafy vegetable to eat daily.

Everybody lends a hand to remove the weeds before topdressing with fresh compost in the Zone 1 gardens.

Nadine hauls weeds from the gardens to the compost bin, where they will be recycled until next year.

Jasmine is organizing the Zone 1 gardens with fresh compost, irrigation,and seeds.

My boys, Odin and Mitra, lend a hand in the Wetland Taro Patch.

Nadine shows some Cana Rocha who is in charge!

Samantha sorting through the Taro Tubers to decide which are for dinner and which are for replanting.

The sweet potato and tomatoes are thriving in the summer sunshine.

Springtime at Flores Permaculture

Spring is nearly ready to turn into Summer as the Solstice arrives.

The gardens are nearly all planted and soon construction on the house continues.

The Japanese Blue Sweet Potato flowers are blooming.  The cuttings are in the ground and hopefully will produce a bountiful harvest in the Autumn.

We are now harvesting Flores Yellow Sweet Potatoes that were planted last year, as well as Bananas and Taro.  These three crops are the staples that allow us to survive yearly.

"Cozido de Porco" is a house favorite using the Kale and Sweet Potatoes, alongside island raised Pork.  

Hopefully, we will keep our own pigs next year.  In theory we have enough surplus to feed two pigs, we only need to build the housing for them.

The Sugar Cane is growing very well in the Tropical Micro-climate.  In the future, it can be used to help the fruit wine achieve a higher ABV.  

The African Yams have sprouted and are now getting planted out in the Tropical Micro-Climate also.

Both the Apple and Pear trees are full of flowers, so we should get fruit this Autumn.  If not, they are still beautiful to gaze upon.

The Coffee Bushes are full of ripe yellow fruits and will soon be harvested and processed into a power packed brew!

This year, we took cuttings for rooting.

The Coffee Cuttings are placed into a heated humidity dome to help them grow roots before being planted out.  They should make an excellent edible hedge to stop the winter winds.

 

Our new lamb arrived.  The boys have named her LambyKins and she is very fuzzy and cute.

Our yearling goat arrived also for weed control and future meat production.  The boys have named him Goaty McGoatface 2.0.

Upgrading Drainage to Control Storm Damage

After another heavy rain, we nearly had another disaster like the 2015 disaster.

We had already built a spillway to accommodate the thunderstorms that seem to be increasingly frequent in the last 3 years.

However, this was not enough to keep the rising flood waters away from our gardens and home.

With the help of Fiona and Elisa, our two young wwoofers from France, we increased the drainage systems downhill from the spillway.

After the soil is piled downhill of the new trenches, we planted the new berms with Taro for both erosion control and edible functionality.

Taro Expansion Summer 2017

I have been steadily clearing boggy areas of our property and planting more Taro.  I think I have enough plants now to feed the farm and visiting friends year round on these tasty vegetables.

The original Taro patch is below.

My boys enjoy playing under these massive leaves, a good way to stay cool in the summer months.

I am now incorporating Water-cress into the Under-story of the Taro with great success.

Below are two cultivars of Taro with Water-cress thriving among them.  In the periphery is Nasturtium, another summer salad favorite.  This is my second Taro Patch.

A closer view...

Below is the newest Taro Patch, it is still filling in, but soon it will be larger than the previous two patches combined.

Below is another view of the Third Patch with Sweet Potatoes growing in rows in the drier areas of the land.

New Tropical Micro-Climate Garden

Magnus has been working diligently to remove the jungle and debris from a great location on our farm for several years.  

The first steps were taken in earnest last year and recorded at this blog post from 2016.

With the help of AviChai, Magnus managed to get the "Super-Bowl Garden" cleared of large trees that had accumulated over the years.

This year with the excellent help of Anne and Matts, the garden if functional and beautiful.

Above Anne uses cut Canna Rocha (Hedychium gardnerianum) to mulch around freshly planted Taro.

While Anne mulches, Matts pulls all the cut wood out of the stream bed and stacks it for future compost.

Above, the scope of the garden can be seen, with a beautiful spring fed stream running through the center.

Banana trees are planted near the mountainside, with Taro in the boggy areas and fig and avocado in the dry areas.

Young Taro transplants are growing their true leaves now and harvesting the solar energy.

The cool spring water creates an ideal climate for the Taro to thrive.

 Clearing a bed for the water to follow was a huge priority.  Before we cleared the channel, the water spilled over the entire area and created a boggy mess.

With Matts help, the stream runs free and clear now, allowing us to harvest water as needed.

The garden is located in a natural depression in the land, giving it amazing sun catching abilities.  As more stones and cliffs are uncovered, the area will retain the solar radiation and become more Tropical than the surrounding forest and gardens of our property.

Clearing Jungle to plant Taro

Odin and Mitra are showing off our latest harvest of Taro, the super nutritious wonder food that thrives on our island.

Their favorite way to eat it is fried, but we like it steamed also.

We discovered a natural spring that feeds a boggy area on our land and decided to clear it for propagation of a large Taro zone.

The first phase was to cut the trees and underbrush and then burn it to create a nutrient rich ash to spread on the area. 

After the bog was cleared it was planted with young corms to begin growing in their new home.

We have several cultivars planted to find out which ones thrive in wet soil and which thrive in a dryer soil.

The boys inspect the work with Magnus after the fire burns down and the plants are in the ground.

Colocasia esculenta is thriving on our farm

Magnus has been steadily clearing and planting a boggy area on our land for the last few years. The ideal crop for this sunny, protected and wet location is a local favorite,  Colocasia esculenta, or Taro.

This amazing plant has been cultivated by humans for over 28,000 years.  Taro is the true Paleolithic Staple  food. 

The starchy root grows quickly and is an ideal permaculture plant.

Our wwoofers, Anjelika and Hannah, helped to weed the area and plant young corms into surrounding land that had been cleared earlier.

Renault took a break in the taro patch to enjoy cool spring water and bask in the shade that these majestic and ancient friends.

According to fitday, "Taro root is often used in a similar fashion to a potato, but in fact has better nutritional qualities than a potato. It has almost three times the dietary fiber, which is important for proper digestive health and regularity. Fiber can also fill you up and make you feel less hungry with fewer calories. Taro root has a low Glycemic Index, as opposed to potato which has a high Glycemic Index. A low GI means that taro effects blood sugar levels slowly, without the peaks and crashes of a high GI, which lead to increased hunger later on. Eating a diet of low GI foods can also help prevent diabetes.  Taro is nutritious, and is an excellent source of potassium, which is an essential mineral for many bodily functions. Taro also contains some calcium, vitamin C, vitamin E and B vitamins, as well as magnesium, manganese and copper."

 Mitra gave Daddy-Magnus a helping hand to harvest these giant corms....

....and lent a hand to clean the corms before processing.

After the outer skin is removed, the taro corms are cut into slices.

The corms are then steamed in our Hydro-Electric powered Slow Cooker for several hours to cook thoroughly.

After being steamed, they can be pan seared in home-rendered lard to make a tasty snack.

All the boys love taro.  Daddy likes to wrap it in garden leaves, but the boys prefer to dip it in ketchup and mayonnaise.

The local Azorean milk adds the protein, along with grass fed Flores beef.

Eating locally is so much fun and tasty too!

Stay tuned for fermented taro (poi).