This is last Summer 2009. Breaking ground on the front yard FOOD FOREST. The first trees go in: Peach, Almond, Cherry dwarf and semi dwarves will create the backbone to this front yard guild.

Here we are now in Summer 2010..and that's just over a years worth of growth. Can't wait...to watch as this forest thicken up...and produce massive amounts of food!!

***Here’s a few things I’ve done to help the food forest GROW!!  As well as a year in pics…as the front yard food forest evolved.  I also threw in a few pics from the backyard FOOD FOREST, which has been growing for about a year longer than the front. ***

Every tree..or whatever I'm planting, gets a healthy dose of mixed rock dusts. Pictured here from left to right are: Greensand, Gaia Green Glacial Dust and Azomite

We also use LOCAL ROCK DUST. This is volcanic cinders, from an ancient volcano 20 minutes from our house. This material is amazing...LOVE IT!! So far...we've brought in about...15 truck loads of this stuff. It gets mixed with the garden soil. It's also used as a mulch and path cover.

Close up, of the cinders. It's very pumice like, which aids in drainage. I love the different sized particles...from pebble size...down to dust size.

I also add Mycorrihizal Fungi whenever I plant something. This is Paul Stamet's soluble Mycorrhizae. LOVE this stuff!! Very powerful!

..and then... the blossoms!! Almond blossoms have to be one of the most pleasant smells EVER!! This little bee was helping out!!

Here's another one of my garden helpers....they're everywhere around here. In all sizes. Great insect and bad bug control. Who needs sprays??

All in ONE dwarf almond tree

Here come the almonds...this was fun to watch...over the months

When the almonds pop open like this...they're ready to GO!!

Pure JOY...to open and eat your first home grown ALMOND!!!

The creamy white inner flesh.

One of the most interesting events of the season. Hummingbirds hatched and nested on the back porch. You can see the other ones little beak, behind its siblings. I watched them take their first flight too. This is the third year this nest has been occupied by these little guys. I wonder if it's the same birds...returning to nest...their offspring? Very cool either way...they LOVE the honeysuckle!!

My brother Gage, helping install the GROWING DOME. Behind him, you can see the backyard FOOD FOREST, before it got rolling. Just grass, and a few young apple trees.

The backyard FOOD FOREST today, Summer 2010. This is the furthest zone from the front door, in the backyard food forest...called zone 5. We also call it the land of OZ!!!

East side of the house, in Zone 5....that's honey suckle and hardy kiwi to the left...and a volunteer melon on the right, that decided it wanted to climb the support trellis. I have yet to identify the strain. Very cool!

This is in zone 5 (OZ) of the FOOD FOREST, looking back toward zone 4, the DOME ZONE!

Here’s a a video tour of the front and backyard food forest.  As well as a tour of the GROWING DOME.  Much more to come!!  Filmed this a few weeks ago…and it’s already changed quite a bit.  I’ll do a FALL UPDATE…in a month or so.

ENJOY the TOUR!

Have FUN…GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD!!

YOU…CAN DO THIS TOO!!

The BEST of TIMES….

..and of course, the WORST of TIMES….

Thank you…from our hearts… to those showing a new way.

So grateful..to know there is another way to live.

Goodbye…goodbye…goodbye…to the ways that no longer serve us.

Check out, Anthony Anderson’s site

RAWMODEL.COM

for more ideas…and solutions.

Here’s the video update from the GROWING DOME, as of a few days ago.  An update on the FOOD FOREST is coming soon…

The chard plants are getting enormous..as you’ll see.  I’m waiting for the seeds to mature…before I collect them.  Have you read this book??  It’s such a great tool, if… you want to learn to save your own seeds or just for a good read..!!  It’s packed with great historical references and useful info.  Great book!

It says…that… “SWISS CHARD (Beta vulgaris) stalks can grow a seed stalk 4′ tall and are usually harvested when the majority of the seed clusters have turned light brown.  These seeds have a different structure from other gardens seeds.  Each seed is actually a group of flowers that is fused together by the flower petals. This forms a multigerm cluster which usually contains two to five seeds.” –  Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth

Here’s the cool thing.  The chards in the Dome, are all heirloom varieties, which should have just pollinated each other…. because of the fans…and isolated environment…. resulting in some very cool new strains of

SWISS CHARD….I HOPE!!

Enjoy the tour….it’s time for tomatoes!!!!

This post has been a year in the making!  One year ago…Anthony Anderson…did a post on growing Goji and Incan Berries....check it out..here.  He challenged people to seek out Goji and Incan Berries and to GROW them..not just buy them online.  Thanks for ALWAYS inspiring us here in Utah..Anthony!!

Taking him up on the challenge was fun…and proved to be a great learning lesson that is now being applied to most of the things we’re growing from seed.

Here’s the photo journey that started about a year ago now.  These little ladies just want to GROW…but…we stacked the cards in our favor by providing them some HUGE minerals and lots of LOVE!!

There are many different ways to germinate seeds, like all things.  Here’s the method we’re using.  The goal was to get the plants to uptake as many minerals as they possibly could…creating VIBRANT, STRONG, and HEALTHY plants!!

One of the gojis, this morning, March 21st 2010

Have FUN…growing your own Gojis…or whatever you choose to grow.  The ocean water, in my opinion, is the secret sauce, in the whole process.  It gives them exactly what they need from the get go.  The rest of the process..is just a whole lotta fun…seeing what you can do to help the little guys GROW!!  They enjoy your company just about more than anything!!

Then again…you can probably just stick the little guys in the ground and they’ll grow just as well…hahaha.  Seriously!

Now..just two more years or so..and we might get some berries!!

It snowed this week…it’s seldom when this happens (not enough moisture in these parts)…so I took a few pics of the white splashes around the garden…and decided to make a GREEN JUICE…while I was at it.  There’s a video at the end…of this post…ENJOY!

It’s also been a week of spreading compost around EVERYTHING!  Found a great local source for fresh cow manure and composted cow manure.  So I LOADED up on the composted material..and started spreading.  Took me two days…to get it all spread, but with the new swales on contour…these nutrients and topsoil will now be staying on the property..instead of running down to the gutter!

Been enjoying fresh juice out of the garden lately..mixing it up with green smoothies.  LOVE mixing it up with different greens…SO FRESH!  You can feel the LIVING LOVE…oh how I love chlorophyll!  Doing a few juices a week right now…it goes really well… in combination with SUPERFOOD ELIXIRS!

The end accidentally got cut off to the video..whoops..but the juice was very TASTY…quite a zing with the lemon and ginger in there.  Have fun designing and creating your own food forest!

We don’t have our own water source here..we’re reliant on city water..and we aren’t allowed farm animals like chickens or goats…arghhh…I’d love to close the loop on self reliance.  We’ll get there..soon..very soon!

For now…I’m importing fresh cow and horse manure, to supplement the nitrogen component of my own compost.  Just not creating my own fast enough..for my current needs.  If I had a few chickens or a goat…this would be great…but I’ve contacted the city…and there’s LAWS against small farm animals around here…but they’re reviewing it…until then…just doing the BEST with what I have.  GREEN MANURES ..will work great too..but mid winter..hard to come by.

Bees are the next step…as they don’t make noise …just quietly go about their beautiful business!

About..two years ago…while living and working in Phoenix…I was offered an aloe vera plant from a friend.  So, I dug it up right then and there out of the Arizona soil, and brought it home with me.  She was one of my first plants… and made the looong drive north with me when I moved to Utah.  We’ve been able to start growing an aloe garden from many of the pups she’s offered us..which we’ve transplanted and you’ll see in the above video.  She…(the lovely plant lady I speak of)..is the LARGE one, I harvest leaves from.

She’s given us a lot of medicine over these last two years.  We use the aloe for cuts, scrapes, burns, bites, and for pulling out slivers.  It feels AMAZING on our skin and hair…and we also use it internally in our elixirs….talk about internal POWER!  It feels like a NECESSITY in our garden….we’ve grown close to each other!  Very Close!

I’m sure many of you out there already know of the polysaccharide power of ALOE..so I won’t go into that here..but for sure.. (if you haven’t already) ..check into David Wolfe’s book “SUPERFOODS“….his chapter on Aloe Vera is VERY educational!!!!!

David offers some great insights into the history of this SUPERFOOD, as well as some awesome growing tips and nutritional benefits…he really breaks it down!  He’s been growing and working with aloe for a lot longer than me..so the depth of the ALOE chapter, as well as every other chapter, offers INCREDIBLE research on every part of working with this superfood and others!

Here’s a few growing tips… that I’ve noticed work really well..in the last two years..

1.  Use a fast draining soil mix.  50% soil and 50% drainage material…like sand, perlite, vermaculite or equivalent.  You can buy these “cactus/succulent mixes at the store..or just make your own for HUGE cost savings!  If you make your own soil, throw some rock dust in there, like Azomite.  THEY LOVE IT!!!!!

2.  They like shade.  Ours thrived with early morning sun and afternoon shade.

3.  Don’t over water!  Let them almost dry out..then soak them till water comes out the base.  (if growing in pots) 

4.  Fertilize with dilute ocean water, using a concentrate like, Thalassa mix.  You can also use Dead Sea Salt.  With Thalassa mix I sprayed the soil down every couple months or so with the diluted mixture.  OR…instead use dead sea salt…every couple of months as intuited…add a little scoop to your watering bucket…. and water!  They need very little I’ve noticed….but they love the ocean water/dead sea salts!!! 

5.  Depending on your climate zone, provide them a microclimate for the winter.  That’s why we keep ours in pots, so we can put them under our deck through the winter…then move them around the yard in the spring!

This is a plant worth growing no matter…. WHERE you LIVE!