Expanding the Gardens

We finally got a tractor over to the land to finish tilling the remaining part of the garden! And just at the perfect time, some wonderful travelers seemed to drop from the sky...Willow and Palle from Canada, and Pete from Washington. They came for just a couple of weeks, but, were so vital in helping us get ahead at this stage of the garden. We derocked the beds, began defining the new beds, created burms and swales for water diverson, cover cropped with a variety of New Zealand clover, snap peas,pole beans, and marigolds. We are testing to see which cover crop will add the most beneficial micronutriants as well as nitrogen and compost, and to see how much longer it takes for the pole beans to break down as opposed to the peas and clovers. The marigolds are added in with the cover crop for clearing out any harmful nematodes- as we are hoping to plant up a variety of salad and cooking greens in the new mandala beds. We will also use a section of the new garden as trial gardens/research gardens where we can test different seeds, cover-crops, amendments, and companion plantings.

We are continuing to expand our hot-sauce garden as we can barely keep up with the demand for the hot sauce...more pineapples, Hawaiian Chili Peppers, Papayas, cilantro, basil, onions and chives. We are beginning "farm day"- once a week permaculture hands-on lesson days followed by lunch from the garden...so I am excited to have more hands join me in the gardens each week. All are welcome to attend, please check in at the stand for updates and times. ALoha!