the annual garden area is our current food source as the food forest develops into production. despite dry summers, raise beds allow for gopher protection and keep the winter plantings out of the swamp like conditions that winter rains create. over time as the soil and plantings up-slope from the annual garden improves and works to hold more water the raised beds will give way to mounds and paths.
the ground cherries this summer were very prolific, where as the year before they were a no show. clearing the beds for fall plantings produced several buckets of fruit. These I tossed into the food forest for self seeding as a ground cover and food source. and although the chicken don’t seem too interested in the plants and fruit, their scratching the earth will likely keep the number of plants to a minimum. the bed is now full of garlic and fava beans.
no frost yet.
i started with a layer of wood chips to help hold water and then, over the next year I layered in green wast with pine needles, kitchen compost, fall leaves and lama poop with bedding. i turned it all this weekend with the help of a girlfriend. i’ll tell you… it looks fabulous! the soil is teaming with life and is almost black. one earthworm was ten inches long. my girlfriend also gifted me four blue berries plants and I picked up a few more from grocery outlet. seven in all; two south moons, two pink lemonades, and three something else. on Monday night I popped them out of their pots and into the ground, without disturbing the root ball, before the rains came on Tuesday night. i’ll need to mulch with pine needles this weekend to keep the weeds down because blue berries don’t like their roots disturbed by weed pulling.
FarmGarden Permaculture 