ALOHA…made this video a few months back..to share how I amended the SOIL in our square foot garden beds, after the summer crop.  So..it’s a little old, but still relevant.  I’ll be shooting some Winter updates soon..and show the GROWTH!!  They’re all GROWING again..now that the sun is rising higher in it’s path each day.  VERY grateful for the SUN!

The cold is fine..but no SUN…makes it hard to grow much at all!!  Glad it’s back up there!  Digging swales and planting seeds again!

SO many ways to tend your soil..this is just one of them.  Hope everyone’s having fun tending to theirs.  I’m going to keep playing around with different things like greensand, kelp, the list goes..on!  Such a fun experiment..and the plants love you…and you feel LOVE…while playing with them!

Things used to amend the SOIL: 

AZOMITE
(Great ROCK DUST that..adds trace minerals back..the worms love it!)

RED WIGGLERS
(Beautiful Bacteria!)

COMPOST
(make your own..throw some worms and Azomite in there..to help you work the pile..!)

OCEAN WATER
(diluted 2000)ppm  …adds all “known” and ”unknown” trace minerals/ormus minerals back!

….for more info on SOIL…creating it…amending it and tending to it…

YOU’LL LOVE…both these books!!  SO much info..the kind of books you can read over and over and over..and still catch new insights every time!!

EDIBLE FOOD ON THE PROPERTY.. so far.. THIS SUMMER  (2009)

Apples Trees = 6
Peach Trees = 5
Apricot = 1
Cherry = 2
Asian Pear = 3
Pomegranate = 2
Almond = 2
Fig = 4
Lemon = 1
Lime = 1
Mango = 1
Avocado = 1 
Blueberry = 5
Raspberry = 6
Strawberry = 10
Grape = 5
Gooseberry = 6
Serviceberry = 2
Wolfberry = 10
Blackberry = 5
Boysenberry = 1
Cherry Bush = 5
Currant (Red and Black) = 2
Aloe Vera = 20
Agave = 5
Prickley Pear = 1
(the trees are mostly dwarf and ultra dwarf varieties)

….and to go a long with this fruit, berry, nut tree list…..we experimenting with growing traditionals like corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, potatoes, onions, garlic, broccoli, cabbage…and tons of different herbs…some fun ones for our drinks like Stevia and Tulsi and Astragalus!!

but… our staple is the green leaves, for green smoothies, like kale, collard, lettuces, chard, and so on..so we’re learing to create microclimates to attempt to allow these more heat delicate crops to grow.  We’re using arched PVC pipe with shade cloth draped over it in the summer time and construction plastic draped over it in the winter….it worked really well last winter!!  Check out the “GROW GREENS YEAR ROUND“ post…to see what I mean.

square foot gardens...blue hopi corn...and in the other box... are the brassicas..kale, cabbage, broccoli, and LOTS of swiss chard!

The white cloth is AGRIBON..covering the Brassicas from invaders

No bugs munching on these leaves...

 

more greens/flowers and herbs coming up...

Far southwest corner of our property looking back up toward the gate.

Composting operation to the right...and looking east down the backyard..you can see the vertical grow boxes.

 

The vertical gardens.. the first two beds are tomatoes..vining up yellow twine..

First Mr. Stripey coming on....

For the last vertical bed...we're experimenting with nylon netting...muskmelons of all types are just peeking up. There's a stepping stone in the middle of each section, so we can step into the box and harvest from all sides.

 

 I  Spent most of May, like many gardeners… outside…taking advantage of the awesome warming weather…..which, before I started gardening and eating live foods, I never took too much notice of the weather….except how it affected my weekend or travel etc…

Now, I’m constantly observing its rythms and natural flows…..like the sun’s ever changing trajectory in the sky, and how it affects shadows in the garden etc….and I of course check weatherbug.com quite a bit! 

You can also take the ”May” video tours of the “backyard” and “growing dome”…..check them out below…..

HAVE FUN……GROWING YOUR OWN!!