Feel free to constructively comment. Please note all dirt paths fill at least 1' with water akin but not exactly like a Chinampa. I'll answer any questions as best I can. All of this is due west. In this image South (sun) is on the left side, north is right side. The downhill (top) of the picture past the arbor starts the food forest with 5 plum varieties, multi graft pears and apples on trellis, currants, huckleberries, and more. A pond is dug in the above picture where the orange staff is sticking out of the ground. Thanks in advance, :bow:
Over flow from this pond will drain into the sunken walkways & flood thus watering the plants more. The pond will go west to another pond down hill, possibly more prior to leaving the food forest area. I do get over 8 hours of light in this area during the day starting in February. New housing (Cob, straw bale, recycled mats) will be going next to the right side of the image. I am standing on top of the roof of the duck / chicken house. 2 of the large beds in the south west have / will contain more sunchokes. There is a new 3 bin compost area. Behind the wisteria with arbor is an outdoor kitchen made of recycled mats, cob & a makeshift nursery.
Nah, this zone 1 has been 3 years in the making. The first year was all observation, and then I had to throw those findings out the window when 70+ trees got cut down and changed everything.
It just goes to support my own view... that is that a well made permaculture/productive garden also looks great. I reckon they look better than in most cases than all but the most well landscaped ornamental gardens
I added this today... This is part of my outdoor kitchen / nursery on the other side of the wisteria arbor. The water goes from the pond via pump to a gutter, capped on 1 side. Water goes under the containers to be kept cool. The containers have wicking cloth to the inside of the containers. Containers are 1/3rd filled with very wet wood chips that have been out over winter, filled with yummy microfungi, bacteria, etc. The upper 2/3rds is filled with soil. Planted in the 1st one is Pink Henderson's Tomato, & Genovese basil. The second container has "Envy" Soybeans. I am unsure what I want to companion plant with the soy. The back containers are awaiting materials and transplants, but are currently keeping the water cool as it flows under all the containers, again via the gutter, back to the pond which has "Black Cock" Iris, & "Sioux" water lily. The pond will be useable by the ducks once they feather and come outside. Lastly, the light was added as well to attract insects at night which attracts bats which is good for the whole property. We do not have the fruit bat problem of Oz, we have bats that eat insects and moths. It is solar and uses no electric. The pond pump is awaiting solar hook up. I also have 2 55 gallon food grade barrels getting ready to the immediate right of this along the back of the deck for additional plants. I hope to make a better pond by fall or at least before the frogs spawn.
The above aquaponics system is working better than expected. The birdhouse gourd has already grown 2'! However, that is not what the news is. Yesterday I went to South Slough Estuary Research Reserve and got educated about bats of the Pacific NW and built these: I know one is crooked, it has been since moved, but more importantly to me I learned that all our bats are insectivores & they eat between 500 & 1500 bugs per hour, per bat. That's a lot of guano no matter how it gets composted. Started to "wabi sabi" a fence system to keep deer out. It's getting annoying since they mowed the leaves off of the strawberries. Luckily they left some leaves and all the berries!
Nice bat homes! Is the black to trap heat? What is under them - presuming that there will be a pile of guano build up here. Perhaps a worm farm or a compost heap?
It's an eave to my new home in progress over the mudroom area, but they are moving to stack functions just like you are thinking. I was reminded that from each bat box the bats will circle a 2 mile wide area eating insects and scatting all over the forest. Yes, the black is to increase heat, and the wood at the entrance is rough cedar so the fingers do not get stuck trying to get inside. I am really taking Geoff's advice and focusing mostly on zone 1.
Ugh... This morning I awoke to ODOT "working" on the road that divides my cliff zone from the riparian zone 5 along the river. The thing is they are not working on the roads per sey, but rather dumping huge quantities of stone done my embankment covering all plants such as blackberry, and young willow trees. I really need to start educating my town about river health, but at the same time it is a huge touchy subject due to this. "County Enters Refuge Dispute" Interestingly one of the farms in question belongs to Ocean Spray, a company that provides a great many jobs via cranberry farming. My future around here is going to be interesting.
This wasn't intentional... ..but I learned a big lesson, this image shows it and it is in my own zone 1 garden. The Monoculture inset is growing in the chinmpa area, the polyculture garden was done later in the season more to the west. I am going out to get more buckwheat (and other things) and add more cover crops to some areas. :giggle: Lesson learned.
It is commented on like that daily by someone I am helping get back on his feet. Evidently, I am a very "technical gardener" because I have a reason for everything I do.
I am getting ready to do some seed balling for my first time, as I stated in the Planting subforum section. Here is the list again. Seed ball mix so far for this year. Claytonia perfoliata - Miner's Lettuce Purple Columbine (Locally collected) Petroselinum crispum - Parsley Lupin (Locally collected) Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly weed Linum perrenne - Blue Flax Cottage Wildflower Blend : Adonis aestivalis Calendula officinalis Centaurea cyanus Cherianthus cheirii Shasta Daisy Coreopsis tinctoria Cosmos Delphinium consolida Dianthus barbatus Digitalis purpurea Echinacea purpurea Eschscholzia californica Gypsophila elegens Linum perenne Papaver rhoeas Rudbeckia hirta Daikon Clover Not sure what else to add. :think: Any suggestions out there?
Onion -Evergreen, White bunching Swiss Giant Mixed Color Pansy Various Spp. - Edible Flower Mix (Territorial Seed Company) Annual & Perennial Thymus vulgaris - Thyme, Winter German Corn Salad Catmint Yarrow - Parker's Variety Viola - Johnny Jump Up Black Eyed Susan Cilantro Citrullus lanatus - Sweet Dakota Rose Watermelon (Heirloom) Nectarine White w/ Purple Columbine Black Plum Bean - Chinese Red Noodle (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company) Pink Banana Squash White Peach Honeydew Melon Acorn Squash Liatris Balsam Mountain Hoosier Melon (Pre-1937 Heirloom) Chamomile Gaillardia Multi-mix Sunflowers Austrian Winter pea Fall Cereal Rye