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!!

Here’s the Winter update..in photos and video.  So many plants to play around with!!  Getting ready for Spring..by amending soil in current beds, creating more soil for future beds and selecting, starting and planting more seeds and seedlings!!!  We’re also building swales on contour.. and putting in more nitrogen fixers.

oh..and.. I did a lady bug release last night..in the dome..go get em ladies!

Have FUN..GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD!

Here’s the update..from our “growing dome” as of the beginning of August.  There are so many ways to grow food…but these “growing domes” are SO much fun…and provide a TON of food year round!  Instead of just posting a video of our dome this month…I’m posting videos of a few other dome growers showing their projects.

 In the two videos above, Anthony Anderson..from rawmodel.com..shows us his 22ft. growing dome and ”Eco Village” permaculture project in Minnesota.  Anthony’s passion for growing foods and being self sustainable has inspired us from the very beginning.  Without his amazing website and sharing his research with the world…we wouldn’t have even known anything about ”Growing Domes.”  

If for some reason you found your way to this site…and haven’t seen Anthony’s site…check it out!!  It will take you weeks to sift through all the content available there!  We’d like.. someday soon…to care for bees and a more extensive garden and “Eco Village” on a few acres like Anthony’s..SO inspiring!!

In this video.. grower..Breigh Peterson from http://buckhorngardens.blogspot.com ..shows us a 52ft. Growing Dome in Colorado.  Our dome is 18ft. in diameter..so you can see how big these things get in height as well!!  Very beautiful!  These domes are being used in altitudes/latitudes as far north… as Sweden and Alaska…with amazing results! 

Last but not least..here’s the hub and beginning of it all. 

Udgar and Puja Parsons from growingspaces.com explain to us why they started growingspaces and show us a few domes and growers in the Rocky Mountains.  They’ve been living this lifestyle and working with this technology most of their lives.

Check out their website for many photos and videos of growing domes around the world.  We especially love what their doing with schools….and helping children.

It’s April and things are finally warming up! 

Outside temps will reach almost 80F. today!  It actually snowed..or rained a frozen mix a few days ago, temps were down around 33F….so hopefully that’s all behind us now….we’ll find out!  Either way, we’re planting tomatoes and melons this week..outside in the grow boxes you’ll see at the end of this video.  We’ll cover them with Agribon 19..just in case!  The other boxes covered with Agribon in the beginning of the video were just planted with Blue Hopi Corn! 

This is TOO much fun!

Here’s the source for the Heirloom Nasturtium I eat in the video…and here’s the source of the Heirloom Freckles Lettuce seed…..loving both these strains!  Here’s the seeds we used for the Tulsi. 

and…..here’s to the best growing season ever!

This is the the growth update since the last video in January.  The major update other than growth, was the addition of the tomato bed in the middle.  Also, lots of peppers and herbs like basil, lavender, fennel, dill, cilantro and of course the leafy greens and edible flowers and fruits! 

The plants seem to be loving the “Sonic Bloom!  Just found this great video on how Sonic Bloom works..worth checking out!  We’re also foliar spraying with diluted ocean water…from growgreens.com, every couple weeks, in the morning, as the Sonic Bloom plays.  There’s a whole chapter dedicated to Sonic Bloom, in “Secrets of the Soil.”  This book contains amazing insights from farmers and growers… from many different cultures around the world! 

Just wanted to mention the Growing Dome itself…which if you’ll notice in the video above…has amazing light that diffuses through the shapes of the Growing Dome.  It creates an atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re swimming in light. 

We purchased it as a kit, from growingspaces.com.  We went with the 18ft. diameter kit, because it would fit perfectly in the space we had in our backyard.  There are many different sizes though…all the way up to… I believe 52ft. in diameter and as small as 12 ft.  The Tree of Life has a Growing Dome also…  Courtney Pool posted a cool picture on her blog…here.  Then there’s Anthony Anderson’s Growing Dome over at rawmodel.com, who was our original inspiration to get a Growing Dome…he’s completely amazing us with his, “model for living permaculture project”…which we’re following very closely.  Worth checking out for sure, he has a 22 ft. diameter Growing Dome!

The plants are starting to grow quickly now as temperatures are increasing outside….we just planted cucumbers and melons which will be in the next video.  Having lots of fun!