Flores Permaculture

We are getting nothing done on the farm, and are behind on many projects 😞 Many seedlings have been sat on, stakes have been bent, peas have been destroyed, and gardens have been dug up. These two are to blame: Many hours have also been spent coaxing them away from the open deathtrap that runs along our home 💧. We love these two little fuzzballs, at least they don't eat my plants unlike the sheep.

The four huge Eucalyptus trees in the Zone 2 gardens (what we call - the wwoofer gardens) are no more, as motivated by the hurricane we just experienced. We wanted to get the trees down, before the hurricane did it for us. We are officially a category 2 hurricane proof farm. The cabana is fine, the animals are fine, and our structures are fine. Some of my plants got damaged, but i'm experimenting anyway - no harm replanting. The Eucalyptus sadly halved our banana patch, but it had to be done as it has vastly increased our potential garden space. The trees will remain in the ravine for many years, so we need volunteers to come help clear and plant around them - we will carve stairs into the trees to make it easier. We still have a few monster Eucalyptus to drop, but we are focusing on one space at a time.

Our most recent Wwoofers, Grace and Milena from Germany, stayed for a week on our farm. Although they were only here for a short time, they were a much needed addition to our farm as they showed interest in our projects and were committed to the tasks we gave them. We only wish they had stayed longer 💚. They renewed the Taro patch, helped remove an invasive herbal plant that is slowly spreading across our Zone 1 hillside, and went on a trip with Magnus to the local lumber mill to fetch some more sawdust for the compost. Whilst there, they collected some scrap wood to build a porch for the cabana. Now, after a hard day of work clearing jungle in the forest, our volunteers can relax with a view without the fear of our rogue rooster invading the cabana. Just watch our for the pesky blackbirds, they might fight with the cabana mirror.

Now we must build our lemonade stand for the tourist!

We cleared new jungle land in April. We planted them with Ambo Potatoes. July we are eating well. Potatoes for 6 people all the days!!!

A huge thank you to Vanessa who stayed on our farm and left a dragon for my boys in their bedroom.

Sweet Potatoes. carrots and Leeks. A few Jumbo sized carrots for the boys. Scallions and chives. Brussel Sprouts.  Guinea Fowl eggs.

Chris and Bronwyn did a fantastic job turning our steep mountainside into a functional and safe pathway using Eukyliptus logs and iron stakes. First they removed the top layers of soil from the mountain to find the clay layer that would support the new pathway. Then they used the branches from a tree on our land to make the steps. Odin and Mitra tested the steps out and give them their full approval.

We had to expand our drainage system to accommodate the heavy winter rainfall.  This resulted in quite a large gully in the middle of the primary pathway to our house. We used saplings and off-cuts of lumber to build a simple, yet strong bridge that spans the spillway comfortably . The new bridge makes it much easier to carry the 50kg sacks of cement that we need to continue building inside our house, as well as groceries.  

I planted some pineapples years ago and they finally made fruit this year.  Sadly, they were planted in a windy spot and the fruit stalk buckled and the fruit fell before it was fully ripe. The fruit sprouted many new heads and the mother plant had many suckers, all of which were ready for transplanting. I located a perfect location for them in a tropical micro-climate zone of my farm, but first we harvested the purple sweet potatoes that had been growing in the garden throughout the summer. Next we planted the new pineapple heads in raised beds.  Hopefully this warm and wind protected location will allow the plants to thrive and produce many tasty fruits for the future.