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.

Vernal Equinox 2018 Farm Update

Spring is upon us once again.  Time to shake off the cold and the cobwebs and get back to work.

The Guinea Fowl that were bred last year all survived the winter and are healthy and noisy as ever.  Watch the clip below for an earful of their amazing alarm system. 

Our first woofer for the new year arrived, Sofie.

We taught her how to catch trout in the front yard of our farm, along with many other skills.

We butchered our Sheep from the previous summer.  Very tasty mutton.

Our second woofer joined Sofie to help clear some jungle and plant new gardens.  Sofia and Sofie, what are the odds?  :)

As usual, Odin observes the work and offers helpful observations.

The strawberry patch overwintered well in the newly cleared jungle and is ready to explode with growth now.

Sofia and Mitra plant Kale in a sunny location that was jungle a few weeks earlier.  The large trees are left to decompose on the ground and provide fun walkways.

Sweet Potato slips are planted in the freshly dug soil.

We are STILL harvesting Sweet Potato from last years plantings.  We have steadily been feeding 4 adults and 2 children with last years crop since October.  Below is one of the areas that we have not harvested Sweet Potato from yet and their foliage is still lush and now is sprouting many new slips.

We grew 5 varieties last year, and this year we will try to grow 6 varieties.  Below is an assortment.

Sofie helps to harvest some ripe Bananas.

Citrus Season is upon us also.  We have more oranges, lemons, and limes than we can eat.  The orange trees are also great fun for climbing.

The Sugar Cane is sprouting new growth and soon will be able to spread into a huge Sugar Cane Patch.

One of the perks of jungle clearing is getting to make Bonfires from all the tree branches!

Sweet Potato Harvest

This year we managed to clear the largest flat area on our farm and plant it with Sweet Potatoes.
I planted five varieties and all did very well.

Above the brush fire is still smoldering as we turn the twigs into ash for fertilizer.  

In the photo above you can see the massive Eucalyptus trees that still need to be cut down. For now 'ring-barking' them makes the leaves fall off, allowing the sun to enter the gardens.  

A freshly harvested row shows the fantastic forest soil we begin with, now just to keep the natural balance intact and the gardens will keep giving forever.

Sabrina helps to unearth more rows of yummy food.  The leaves are also excellent to cook with.

Mitra is a huge help at gathering all the sweet potatoes as they are unearthed and gently placing them in a bucket for transport.

We dry them in the sun for a day or three, until going into storage.

At the present we have to store them inside our house, which is rather full of food this time of year.
Our future project is to build a storage house in the backyard that will be cool and dark year round.
Above is about 10% of our total harvest.  We have enough to feed 4 adults and 2 children daily for 6 months now, and still more left over for a pig in the future.
Next year we have a new variety to try and then we will have 6 different varieties growing at once!

Sweet Potatoes

Last year I had a good Sweet Potato harvest, but not nearly enough to keep my family fed through the winter.  This year I have cleared more land and planted about 500 slips of 5 different varieties.

Above the forest trees are cut down and then the exposed roots are cut to kill the tree.  As it dies and rots it will feed the soil for me.

Above is an experimental patch using recycled cardboard as a pathway mulch and fresh cut grass to mulch the Sweet Potatoes.  

Another forest patch above.

Above is the Super Bowl garden with Figs and Banana on the hillside and Sweet Potatoes on the drier level areas before the land drops into a boggy Taro garden.

A row of a new experimental variety is above.

The tools of my trade.  I am an OG (original gardener) .  A mattock and a hoe are all I need to take virgin forest land and transform it into fertile beds, just like my ancestors before me.

A steeper garden cut into the mountainside is above.  In theory the steepness will allow me to leave the crop in the ground until I am ready to harvest.  The rain should runoff and not rot the Sweet Potatoes.  One of the problems I have is storing all the food I produce, my house is not large enough.

Above is one final shot of the newly cleared forest and some of the gardens that are visible now.  Still much work to do and some great Winter Solstice burn piles to ignite!

Guinea Fowl are Reproducing

The 20 Guinea Fowl eggs that I ordered on the internet 2 years ago, hatched four healthy keets under a broody hen.  This year the four adults are breeding well and are giving me 2 fertilized eggs daily.  There was a power play by the males, and now one male gets both hens and the other male is lonely.  Those guys fight rough!  I thought the loser was going to die for sure.

Above are my two year old adults and genetic starting point for my new flock.

The guineas boss around the chickens, but the rooster still gets his fair share of food.

So far, I have 8 new keets and hopefully more coming before summer ends.  I keep them in their own cage to be sure they do not stray into the jungle and get eaten or lost.

Above the keet pen is seen within the larger adult fowl pen.

The parents patrol the area, keeping  threats far away.  Apparently they can take on snakes, rats, cats and dogs.

I had a fun surprise in the genetics with several white keets mixed in.  Soon I hope to have about 100 adults free ranging in the second part of the day and winter times.

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.