Corn is up

Corn is up.

Corn needs to be planted in blocks for good pollination. I usually plant four rows minimum. The inside of the beds are kept well mulched.

Frogs

Frogs in the pond are an indicator of life.

Life in that the land is healthy as they are very sensitive animals.

Life in that the weather is warming and I need to get a move on with summer plantings. When the frogs start singing every night I know it is time to strat planting straight into the warming soil.

Kumara beds

Succession at work.

This is my overwintered Kumara bed.

Mustard to clean the soil, feed early wakening pollinators and build up ladybird, parasitic wasp, and hoverfly populations.

Wheat for carbon rich mulch and mychorrizal connections.

Both to keep soil covered and keep weeds at bay.

Next step is to sythe the wheat, broadfork the soil, pull out wheat roots, plant tipu and then mulch with wheat tops. Done.

I only prep a bed when it is ready to plant.

Native hedge

Even though this hedge is in the middle of a busy area (Zone 2) there are no perennial edibles.

It is amazing how fully tuning into the context can give unexpected form. I think this space would have been totally different if I had not used Living Design to allow it to unfold.

This is to be a thick screen to stop eye contact between road and private space. It will be better without people harvesting or even looking for food. Some food plants have been used in the gardens succession but eventually is will be a garden nobody will notice as it supports the many happenings that take place around it.

Entrance design

To do the design we first decided on happenings. Then we mocked them up.
To carry two buckets easily. A gradual stiffening throughout the day. The pictures tell a lot.
Patterns were helpful too. Talking path -so people can easily see where to go.
Shedding path so as you go you can unload vegies to be washed, dirty clothes at tubs, gumboots at back door...........

Raspberry mulch

Rasberries like their mulch acidic. 

These guys were lucky enough to be planted on land that had been grazed holistically for years. I just loosend soil with a broadfork where we were going to plant each cane. Planted rasberries and a little comfrey and then sheet mulched with old fridge boxes an pine needles.