Zone 2 Progress

The last of the Eucalyptus in Zone 2 is felled, and we now have a clear skyline and full sun. That's around 10 dropped, so we can have this beautiful space to spruce up 😄 Without being able to cut all the huge trees, this land would be useless. Now to tackle the aftermath of tree felling... 

The Greenhouse is almost finished, we just need to tighten the cover on a hot summers day and add better snap clamps, before the September windstorms. We have reinforced it as much as we possibly can. Much of what we used is recycled materials, which means the greenhouse may not look idyllic but it functions. We built a wind break out of pallets on the side that will get most hit by strong winds. This acts as the hub in these gardens, where I can hide from the rain and have all my seedlings for that area. It also means we will have a very long tomato season, staggered through to December, and it will make seed saving of specific crops every year much easier too. 

Only a year ago, much of Zone 2 was covered in 'Hedychium Gardnerianum' (Cana), Strawberry Guava trees, Incenso, and False Tobacco. The Cana and False Tobacco very quickly return without consistent weeding and planting of the area. The volunteers that have helped do the initial clearing of this land have done great work, but there are many areas still with large roots that need to be removed to make way for garden space. In terms of simplicity, it is difficult to design a food forest without being able to see the land. So, it is easier to turn the space into gardens so we can really see what we are working with. 

Typically, this grows in 3 months.

You never know what logs are buried! 

Cana roots must be pulled out (I prefer to use a pick axe) and stacked in a way that avoids re-growth.

I have finished clearing the last garden that I have time to plant for this season - squash garden number 6. Seems the harder it is to clear the land in an area, the better the soil is. Given we have had constant full cloud cover and wet conditions, some of my squash seeds have rotted. Though, I have discovered a better germination system using recycled plastic (see below) and should have at a minimum 40 squash plants. That doesn't include the 2 pumpkin plants for the boys (for halloween), the watermelon, luffa, and the zucchini. 

Once covered in Cana, Tobacco, and Guava, with many branches stacked also, is now home to 8 squash plants.

Use a little cow manure to make the ring

Squash varieties: Crown Prince, Marina Di Chioggia, Vegetable Spaghetti, and Butternut. 

We also have 10 Butternut Waltham plants in Zone 1, on the slope by the house, which we will be able to save seed from. 

I have less land cultivated than I would have liked, but working without volunteers means there is only so much we can do and care for over the summer. As we don't anticipate selling vegetables to tourists this year due to Covid, we are honing in on self-sufficiency mode: storing all the veggies we can for the lean seasons. Probably a good thing, given we have had what seems like constant full cloud and wet conditions: perfect for fungal diseases. 

It's also time to get a sketch pad out and plan the gardens, inch by inch 😄