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Post by raphanus on Jul 23, 2023 13:56:19 GMT -5
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Post by raphanus on Jul 23, 2023 14:08:10 GMT -5
Haven’t had as much time to post progress of the permaculture orchard. It’s hard to get motivated to do garden work in the evenings at home after doing 8 hours of farm week in 100 degree weather all day 😅 but I finally spent a couple hours mowing the orchard and you can at least see the plants now. The grass was probably 3 feet tall. It’s becoming a food forest. The temperatures back there are 15 degrees cooler than the front lawn. The permaculture model looks messy but it’s very little work and every time I walk back there I’m just trippin over food and always leave with a full stomach. I don’t really have to plant much of anything back there any more, it’s mostly volunteers. Lots of volunteer brassicas, tomatoes, cowpeas, goji berry, Mexican sunflower, zinnias, strawberries, black nightshade, sweetpotato, basil, lettuce, those seem to be the most prolific in terms of self-sowing and establishing. I don’t have to water. The only thing I do other than harvest is pull weeds. I’m slowly working on getting mint and lemon balm to form a ground over and smother out all the weeds. I’ve been getting very into Masanobu Fukuoka and ecological farming or “do nothing farming” and anarcho / chaos gardens and watching all of the interesting ecological interactions, cooperation, and competition between crops. Not having to water or apply fertilizer has been nice. Just lots of cover crops. I only fertilize potted plants at this point, everything in the ground is usually lush and dark green but sometimes potted plants need a boost. The peaches right now are unbelievable. Squirrels got most of them but the ones I got have been just incredible U
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Post by raphanus on Aug 19, 2023 6:45:25 GMT -5
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Post by gardendmpls on Aug 20, 2023 0:18:37 GMT -5
What is that last plant?
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Post by raphanus on Sept 2, 2023 5:47:30 GMT -5
Guess! It’s a rare one! It’s in a tub of muck and I’ll probably have to bring it indoors in the winter. Might make some paper at some point 😂
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Post by raphanus on Sept 2, 2023 5:58:49 GMT -5
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Post by desertwoman on Sept 2, 2023 9:14:28 GMT -5
Was wondering how you fared raphanus, Good to know you were so lucky.
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Post by gardendmpls on Sept 2, 2023 23:01:03 GMT -5
Papyrus? Where did you get that?
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Post by ahntjudy on Sept 3, 2023 6:32:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the walk-around the yard tour, raphanusVery, very nice.
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Post by raphanus on Mar 17, 2024 7:18:46 GMT -5
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Post by raphanus on Mar 30, 2024 7:48:39 GMT -5
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Post by raphanus on Apr 7, 2024 12:23:03 GMT -5
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Post by desertwoman on Apr 7, 2024 17:01:31 GMT -5
Just curious: to raphanus, and anyone else who uses concrete cinder blocks to frame a bed- do the blocks (after absorbing the sun heat) warm up the soil, perhaps more than might be desired in some instances? especially in the summer?
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Post by raphanus on Apr 7, 2024 17:06:54 GMT -5
Just curious: to raphanus, and anyone else who uses concrete cinder blocks to frame a bed- do the blocks (after absorbing the sun heat) warm up the soil, perhaps more than might be desired in some instances? especially in the summer? They can certainly warm up soil if the beds are small and you fill them potting mix. When I used to build 4x4 cinder block beds and filled them with potting mix, they would essentially be hotbeds in the winter and it was a nice microclimate but the would need a lot of watering in the summer. But these cinderblock beds in my front yard are massive, like 25x4x2, and filled with compost, so they don’t overheat. Then again, I live in a really hot climate, so I tend to not plant anything that doesn’t like warm weather. I do a lot of citrus and peppers and eggplant and okra, they like it hot
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Post by emmsmommy on Apr 12, 2024 20:15:13 GMT -5
desertwoman, The only issue I've had with the concrete block beds is that if you plant directly in the holes, you'll often have to water. Last year was extremely wet though and my beans thrived in them.
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