Flores Permaculture

COFFEE PRODUCTION Flowering Coffee shrubs. Ripe Coffee berries ready to be harvested. Soaking the berries in water allows the pulp to rupture and the seeds fall free to be collected on the bottom of the container.  After removing the seeds, they are allowed to soak longer until they begin fermenting and the outer coating disintegrates.  Next they are dried thoroughly. After drying in the sun, the seeds are slow roasted on the stove top in a large Wok. The seeds slowly change from a whitish color into golden brown. Finally the seeds achieve an even dark color and amazing aroma, indicating they are ready to be ground and brewed for a caffeine rich and healthy beverage. WINE PRODUCTION Freshly harvested grapes are collected and put into a large container, along with a hearty yeast variety. Within 36 hours the grapes are bubbling with activity and giving off a wonderful aroma. After 2 weeks, the grapes are fil...

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...

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 pr...

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 sol...

This year we had a great harvest season for Strawberry Guava. Odin and Mitra were eager to lend a hand to gather berries, one for the bucket and one for the mouth. We developed a good system with the boys relaying the full cups picked by our woofer helpers to the master bucket. Below Stan and Mitra team up to get the job done. Vince also lent a hand to gather fruit on our family farm. After a hard days work, Mitra puts his feet up to enjoy the biggest and best fruit gathered. And when there are enough fruits to fill a large vessel, we engage in the ancient and sacred art of fermentation.

Our Zone 2 is steadily growing and improving as we clear more jungle from the adjoining  Zone 3 and replace it with edible plants. Below Kristina transplants young seedlings around our newly established Golden Bamboo . We added 7 new Tamarillo trees in addition to the 5 that are now producing fruits. Below Konswan stands in a garden that was only underbrush earlier this year.  Already she has harvested from this land several times and now has freshly replanted it with Winter crops. Below is the upgraded garden that we began clearing last  April .  What was a scrubby mess a few months ago is now abundant in Eggplants. Another newly created garden has just had the onions harvested and is now replanted with Red Mustard and Shiso . Our  Mulbeery Trees  are thriving in the chicken enclosure along with the  Strawberry Guava , both excellent for humans and foul alike to eat. Konswan is tying up her plants in ad...