Ali is one of my heroes!!! She’s been growing her own food for quite a few decades now…and she’s doing it all organically….and beyond!! No chemicals…..!!!!
Here’s some…of what Ali is growing on a tiny 1/4 acre: 48 fruit trees, 3 of them are nuts. Aside from the fruit trees, there are: 17 grape vines, a boysenberry patch, raspberry patch and triple crown
blackberry patch, ohhh…and 5 Strawberry patches all different varieties.
There’s also a large asparagus patch and a currant patch…and so many veggies you can’t count..! SOOOO INSPIRING!!!! She also keeps bees…so they can tend to the flowers.
The coolest part in my opinion?? She’s sharing HOW…to do this for ourselves!! Ali offers FREE CLASSES!! Check out her website for more info. My gardening hat is off….in deep gratitude for all she shares! Thank you Ali!!!!
Come take a peek at her little patch of paradise. These photos were taken a few days ago…as fall began creeping into our southern Utah valleys. The videos at the bottom of this post, were taken in spring. Thanks for the tour Ali…and thanks for sharing SO much info…and passion…with the world!!
For those interested, Ali offers some of the best gardening goodies in southern Utah. Heirloom seeds, rocks dusts, kelp, mychorrhizal fungi, plant starts, and tools of all types….THE GOODS!!
Looking from the street at Ali’s garden, orchard and greenhouse.
Visiting this place every week…is pure JOY!!!
Ali’s retail store. She sells heirloom seeds, tools, fertilizers like rock dusts, kelp, compost…. and so much more!!
So much life!!! Looking north into the veggie area.
The veggie patch
The most amazing grape arbor I’ve ever seen!!!
Apples galore!!!! I think these may be Liberty cultivar. She has many cultivars growing!!
The greenhouse. Used for year round growing and sprouting. She intelligently built cold frames on the south side of the greenhouse, with automatic window vents! Brilliant!!!
Caught Ali working in the greehouse!!!
Ali surprised me by showing me a few of the residents of the greenhouse. She had to look for them under the growing table.
Salamanders!! They make a great team with Ali!! Keeping slugs and other unwanted guests to a minimum in the greenhouse.
Cool lookin’ dudes!!! There’s two of them…and they seem to love Ali.
Ivy and Fern…Ali’s goat and cow. They also love Ali..immensely!! Every little creature that lives at Ali’s just LOVES her…it’s evident she loves them too!!!
Ivy jumped up on her perch to show me her beauty.
Casper the cat….he’s old…and extremely loving. Yup…going to ali’s place is like going to visit Dr. Doolittle!!!
The chicken house. Squirrel bait….one of her old roosters is out front saying hello to the ladies.
This is brilliant!! It’s a portable quail tractor!!
Poppy and Lily…Ali’s goose and duck duo(security guards). Behind them…the quail tractor. Ali just pulls it around the fruit orchard..letting them scratch and deposit poop!!
Beautiful little quail egg!!!!
They are a tiny little breed of quail.
Poppy…the security guard. She likes to rest her neck on Ali’s shoulders…it’s adorable!!
I filmed this video a few weeks ago when the pine pollen was falling in the food forest. Powerful stuff! I love it!! I love holy basil even more…it’s my favorite plant to graze on. Come check out the garden and I’ll show you my method for planting holy basil..and some other ideas for growing healthy plants.
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!
This is right after last summer’s planting….nice and cozy. Ready for winter. You can see the stakes, and the orange paint on the grass. This was from blue-stakes. In our town, it’s the law, to have the utility lines staked out, before one shovel of dirt is displaced. Glad I did, or I would have planted these guys right on top of a gas line. I was amazed how many utility lines there are..tucked all into one small space. You have to allow a 2 foot setback on each side of the lines. HUGE FINES, if you don’t call and hit a line. I fit them all in juuust fine! Check them out at www.bluestakes.org
Gave each tree a big ring of compost..and mulched HEAVILY…with straw around every tree. That’s a dormant volcano in the background. This whole neighborhood, sits on a lava bed. In my backyard, about 4 feet down, is PURE LAVA ROCK.
During the winter months, I worked on digging a nice swale on contour…and then mulched it…with about a 6 inch layer of straw. The raingutter, on this side of the house pours right into…this swale.
In early spring 2010, came large doses of compost…SPREAD EVERYWHERE. Front yard and back..and in every raised bed. Two full trailer loads. I also spread tons of mixed clover seed.
Dug one more swale near the sidewalk…to catch and hold extra runoff. Didn’t want ANY water…running down into the street.
…then came the buds. Here’s almond
..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.
Southern Utah is one of my favorite places on Planet Earth..so many options for adventure! I love it!! Nature just “sings” in this area. I’m so grateful to be able explore the local canyons in search of springs and plants…it’s an ADVENTURELAND…for the senses…on every level!!
Here’s a few clips from one of our recent runs up to get wet, in one of the local spring fed canyons!! Barefoot running and being barefoot, really is a joy, and has amazing health benefits. If you haven’t read Christopher Mcdougall’s book, “Born to Run” yet…pick up a copy ASAP, gripping…from beginning to end!! Also, YouTube…David Wolfe and Barefoot Technology. Great info..coming out of the barefoot world. My shoes hardly come on anymore..I LOVE IT. Gardening barefoot is a..MUST!!
In this first video..check out the size and growth of these berries. They grow right up the side of the cliff, slurping up cold spring water under neath them. Gotta love that spring water!!
Hard for me to believe, this is the desert. The Native American people and other early immigrants to this area grew strong in these parts, thanks to the water, volcanic soils and climate. In these last two videos you can see and hear the power of a true spring. Smiles just leap onto your face when standing in places like these.
So grateful to be able to play in this area of the world!! This is in one of the canyons not far from Zion National Park.
Thanks for coming a long on the adventure.
More updates coming from the garden and growing dome…next week, lots of changes!!
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
Been on the lookout on my hikes around these parts, hoping this is the year…to find that elusive, yet ever present GOJI BERRY. In the video, you can hear David mention 15 varieties found in the southwestern deserts. I’m seeing them listed in local herb/plant books too! This video will show you what you’re looking for….
For the Utah wildcrafters, some of the varieties mentioned a lot, areLYCIUM cooperi, LYCIUM andersonii, andLYCIUM pallidum, keep an eye out, and if you spot one, shoot me an email…!!! Would LOVE to grow the local strains a long with their Asian brothers.
