Flores Permaculture

We currently have 20 laying hens, 2 roosters (because one always needs a spare cock), 2 helmeted guinea hens, and 2 helmeted guinea cocks. We now have a fenced in area for the fowl, so we can find all the eggs they lay and keep accurate records.  Every time we purchase a new bag of chicken feed, we start a new column of  eggs collected daily.  Below you can see the results of 5 sacks of 50kg chicken feed.  We average between 10 to 20 eggs daily. The chickens seem to enjoy their habitat and use the laying boxes as well as the fodder crops to hide their eggs.  Below is a clutch of eggs hidden inside the Perennial Kale crop.  We planted Tagasaste and Kale for them to eat and to provide shade during the hot summer months.    Both crops provide a high protein seed and leaf combination that is ideal for fowl consumption. We also planted White Mulberry trees, which  produce a protein rich fruit for the fowl to en...

Magnus has been working steadily to stabilize the bridge that connects the farm to the rest of Flores Island.  Using a cement mixer and some help from friends, the project is stable now. A special thank you to  José Carlos,  Elisabete,  and Fernando  of  our local government  for providing materials and transport of those materials to our site. Over 6,000 pounds of sand, gravel, iron and cement were placed to create a massive spillway in times of flooding.  This is a continuation of  the spillway project  previously blogged. Iron reinforcing bars binds the concrete into a single mass to resist erosion and allow heavy vehicles to pass safely over the tubes. Odin and Mitra are happy to apply water to the curing concrete while  it hardens. A temporary stairway allows easy passage to the gardens. The project is nearly finished, only a bit more materials to fill in the exposed tubing and to guard ag...

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...

What can you do with red radishes, daikon radishes and other vegetables in your kitchen? Natural lactobacillus fermentation, with whole mustard seeds, juniper berries, julienned butternut squash, carrots, sliced onions, minced garlic, sliced red mustard leaves, salt, tiny bit of cider vinegar, tiny bit of brown cane sugar.