Spore Lore

20121123 Garden Tour (Earthworms in Bog)

Nov 242012

Earthworm Bin tucked away in the protective shade of a tree.

First a video re “Garden Tour (Earthworms in Bog)”, then some pics of earthworms from our Earthworm Bin (below the video):

Garden Tour (Earthworms in Bog) (video):

Earthworms from our Earthworm Bin (pics):

Earthworm bin harvest, rich with red wiggler worms, is added to a planting bed.

Earthworm Bin tucked away in the protective shade of a tree. Note the brick on top to prevent animals from feasting in the box. Evening primrose flower above; calendula flower below.

Pics and captions from Tony’s new book, Habitat It and They will Come :

Figure 4.143 Earthworm Bin Harvest. Worm bin harvest layer over planting mix. The worms and microbes will continue to feed on the organic matter like the eggshell and rhubarb stalk section shown. And when all those microbe and crawly critters take a break from eating, they might just breed, or die. The planting bed has been inoculated with Life — life that translates to nutritious and well-aerated soil for the kiwi vines.

Figure 4.190 With A Little Help From My Friends. Earthworm bin harvest to be placed at the crown of the tree. These red wiggler worms, a typical compost pile worm, may not stay in the tree mound and surrounding soil on a long-term basis but they will enrich and aerate the soil till they do leave.

Happy earthworm harvest and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121122 Happy Thanksgiving Pineapple Guava

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, 3- Habitat It And They Will Come -- Tony's book No Responses »

Nov 232012

First a video re “Pineapple Guava Harvest”, then some pics of pineapple guava trees and fruit (below the video):

Pineapple Guava Harvest (video):

Pineapple Guava Trees and Fruit (pics):

: Emergency transplant for pineapple guava tree. This tree was transplanted in a rough time of year – the hot, dry California summer. Limbs were severely pruned back to help the rootball establish itself. Note the new buds appearing six months after transplant.

Close-up of new buds on pineapple guava transplant. And growth continued! The large preserved rootball came back to show us what it could do.

Pineapple guava blossom. These "feijoa" evergreen shrubs or small trees are native to Brazil and nearby areas. Blossoms must be pollinated from another plant/shrub.

Picking a little bit of Paradise. The flower petals of the feijoa make a sweet treat, perfect to garnish a plate with. The petals are sweet morsels of joy AND removing them does not prevent the flower from being pollinated. Sometimes you can have your cake AND eat it, too!

Harvest time for these soft, juicy pineapple guava. Most people cut the fruit in half and scoop out the soft flesh. I eat the whole fruit – who’s got time to get a spoon?!

Pic and caption from Tony’s new book, Habitat It and They will Come :

Figure 2.5B Cricket on Pineapple Guava (feijoa). What will it be, Cricket, wait till September for the sweet fruit or enjoy the pineapple guava’s moist sugary petals now? Native to mountainous equatorial South America, pineapple guava is deliciously welcomed in our garden.

Happy Thanksgiving harvest and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121121 Patio Veggie Pots 7 of 6 (BONUS!)

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 222012

Day 7 in this 6-day video series (bonus day!): Preparing patio pots for winter veggie planting.

First a video re “Patio Planting Pots”, then some pics (below the video):

Patio Veggie Pots 7 of 6 (video):

Patio Planting Pots Sprouting Seedlings and Ripening Scarlet Runner Bean Seeds (pics):

Lemon Pot planted with pac choi. This is the patio pot that I planted the hugelkultur, a thick layer of weeds and greens, just above the drainage gravel.

Carrot seedlings in a large patio pot.

Scarlet runner beans continue to ripen on the kitchen windowsill. These beans were harvested on day 1 (6 days ago) and seem to be ripening (browning) well.

Happy planting veggies on your patio and see you tomorrow (Happy Thanksgiving!).

Tony

20121120 Patio Veggie Pots 6 of 6

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, 3- Habitat It And They Will Come -- Tony's book No Responses »

Nov 212012

Ground level (critter head height) entrance to Leaf Trench Highway.

Day 6 in this 6-day video series: Preparing patio pots for winter veggie planting.

First a video re “Leaf Layer Added to Leaf Trench Highway”, then some animal habitat pics (below the video):

Patio Veggie Pots 6 of 6 (video):

Leaf Layer Added to Leaf Trench Highway (pics):

Leaf Trench Highway with a fresh layer of tulip magnolia leaves. The trench along the walkway is three feet deep and filled with different organic/yard debris layers. The layers will break down and form rich compost in about 6 months to a year.

Leaf Trench Highway extends along the back corner of our yard to Salamander Resort (left). Besides storing organic material (twigs, leaves, straw, manure, pulled weeds), the trench also feeds the fedge (food hedge) along our property line. Pineapple guava, fig, and pomegranate trees, as well as annual veggies, grow in the compost-making veggie bed.

Critter level, perhaps the head height of a raccoon, skunk, or possum, of the entrance to Leaf Trench Highway. Personally, if I were a salamander, I would crawl under the leaf litter. Lots of tiny tidbit treats (FOOD!) under those moist leaves.

Kitchen dishwater ready for the compost pile.

Dishwater ready for the compost pile. Dishwater with soap and food (left bucket) is considered “blackwater”; rinse water is considered “greywater”. We pour blackwater directly into the compost where microbes and micro-critters will process it. The greywater rinse water makes a fine treat for most of the garden, with care not to pour it directly on fruit/vegetables.

Happy planting veggies on your patio and see you tomorrow (Happy Thanksgiving!).

Tony

20121119 Patio Veggie Pots 5 of 6

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, 3- Habitat It And They Will Come -- Tony's book No Responses »

Nov 202012

Anita dumps a new load of soil critter food.

Day 5 in this 6-day video series: Preparing patio pots for winter veggie planting.

First a video re “Patio Veggie Pots”, then some animal habitat pics (below the video):

Patio Veggie Pots 5 of 6 (video):

Soil Making in Leaf Trench Highway (pics):

Horse manure ages in leaf Trench Highway, on top of many layers of garden debris organics.

Mushrooms pop out of Leaf Trench Highway’s manure after the first rain. Good stuff! Having the fungi/mushrooms means the manure will break down faster.

Harvesting compost from Leaf Trench Highway.

Later that year, Tony harvests compost/rich soil from the trench.

Anita dumps a new load of soil critter food. These apples were “debris” for a neighbor that wanted under her tree “cleaned up”. The soil critters and we are sure happy to have the mess!

A short retaining wall is added to Leaf Trench Highway. The short wall of re-used fence boards will allow a higher pile of organics to be heaped into Leaf Trench Highway, yet keep the walkway clear. Note how the block keeps the sledge from splitting the dry fence board.

Leaf Trench Highway’s short retaining wall in place, holding back tulip magnolia prunings (limbs and twigs). Lichens, mosses, and algae so abundant! Does life get any better?!

Pics and captions from Tony’s new book, Habitat It and They will Come :

Figure 2.11 White Clover and Leaf Trench Highway. Leaf Trench Highway is about making soil — the 3 foot deep trench is filled with green mulch (for example, a whole lot of pumpkin vine prunings), then covered over with old (cool) manure and compost. Potato starts are dug in. Harvest, 6-9 months later, yields full-grown potatoes PLUS a long, deep trench of beautiful soil to use elsewhere in the garden. The white clover attracts pollinating insects to the potato flowers, adds nitrogen to green mulching, and is a sheltering go-between for critters to travel from one garden bed to another. Laying the slate pavers on soil, and not on sand or cement, allows soil fungi, microbes, and larger animals to pass through the soil, thereby assisting the growth of the clover cover crop.

Figure 3.37 The After of Salamander Resort. One year later and the resort is still operating. Driftwood creatures, a thriving beet crop, and Salamander Sunny Swimhole hide the goings-on eight feet below. See Figure 3.36 for “The Before”. Watering the pond waters the beets waters the compost waters the wood chips waters the oak rounds waters tank cavities waters Salamander Shady Shallows, AND waters the adobe clay earth surrounding Salamander Resort. Water + Cavities + Microbes + Mollusks (slugs and snails) + Worms + Insects = Happy Salamanders. The half wine barrel pond, with a 5’ x 5’ sheet of pond liner, was home this spring to Pacific Tree Frogs (and tadpoles). Many types of insect on the wing visit the pond. A salamander must be living somewhere in all that! Note some habitat features: clover on the slate path links this habitat to the rest of the garden, the pond’s surface rocks provide a critter rest stop, the “fedge” (food hedge of fig, pineapple guava, loquat, and pomegranate) along the fence provides flowers and food, and the compost in Leaf Trench Highway at the base of the fedge attracts its own ecosystem of soil makings and critters.

Happy planting veggies on your patio and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121118 Patio Veggie Pots 4 of 6

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, 3- Habitat It And They Will Come -- Tony's book No Responses »

Nov 192012

Pacific Chorus Frog (Pacific Tree Frog) in Oak Leaves.

Day 4 in this 6-day video series: Preparing patio pots for winter veggie planting.

First a video re “Patio Veggie Pots”, then some “celebrating leaf liter as animal habitat” pics (below the video):

Patio Veggie Pots 4 of 6 (video):

Celebrating leaf liter as animal habitat (pics):

Leaves, leaves, leaves -- habitat everywhere! The 4 aspects of habitat (food, water, shelter, and space) are all found in a moist pile of leaves. A lot of the fallen leaves will become the topsoil's newest, freshest, and most-microbe-infused organic matter.

Tulip magnolia leaves alongside path and deck. Some of these leaves were removed (please don't use the term "cleaned up" because they were not dirty in the first place!), and some leaves were left as is. Those left in the garden bed and around the edges of the path continue to provide habitat AND nutrition returning to the garden.

Pics and captions from Tony’s new book, Habitat It and They will Come :

Figure 3.44 Pacific Chorus Frog (Pacific Tree Frog) in Oak Leaves. Note the camouflage pattern to its skin, how well it blends in to the brown leaf layer. This frog species can switch from a green phase to a brown phase, but not immediately. Although the process is not instantaneous, the color scheme changeability comes in handy as the seasons change. The Pacific Tree Frog’s skin also helps us identify it — there is often a “triangular or Y-shaped dark spot on the head.” [Stebbins (2003), page 222.]

Figure 4.110 Found Treasure. Every day, run of the mill, unpretentious yard debris. Treasure to be found when wanting to create a natural look for your once in a lifetime, diamond in the rough, First Class habitat.

Figure 4.111 Secret Passageway. Yard debris is used to hide the habitat and loosely cover the gap under the fence. Remember that the organic yard debris is habitat itself, even before critters reach the Shangri La of Potato Bug Submarine.

Figure 2.28 Leaf Underpasses and Overpasses. pages 50-51 No, fallen flower petals and leaves are not leaf litter AND they need not be cleaned up. How did such a rich resource become so unwanted anyway? Especially if not too thick a layer, leaves left to return to the soil provide habitat for microbes and small animals, which in turn provide food for larger critters.

Happy planting veggies on your patio AND rustling in the leaves. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121117 Patio Veggie Pots 3 of 6

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 182012

Lemon Pot with hugelkultur layer under soil.

Day 3 in this 6-day video series: Preparing patio pots for winter veggie planting.

First a video re “Patio Veggie Pots”, then some patio veggie planting pics (below the video):

Patio Veggie Pots 3 of 6 (video):

Patio Veggie Planting (pics):

Lemon Pot with a thick layer of "garden debris" (if there is such a thing!) under the planting soil. The composting organics will eventually turn to soil and add some richness to the existing soil. The process of burying organic matter in piles to breakdown over years is called hugelkultur, a German term and garden art.

For a detailed discussion,

clear graphics, and lots of pics of hugelkultur,

Click to go to Paul Weaton's blog entry on Hugelkultur.

Click image to go to http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

see Paul Weaton’s blog at:

Happy planting veggies on your patio and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121116 Patio Veggie Pots 2 of 6

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 172012

Fennel Pond – a critter’s pondside dream resort.

Day 2 in this 6-day video series: Preparing patio pots for winter veggie planting.

First a video re “Patio Veggie Pots”, then some patio veggie planting pics (below the video):

Patio Veggie Pots 2 of 6 (video):

Patio Veggie Planting (pics):

Patio Planting Pots patiently wait for seeds and seedlings.

Fennel Pond sits high up in the clouds of fresh soil.

Fennel Pond (the spent fennel was just removed) sits high up in the clouds of fresh soil. Think like a critter!

Fennel Pond provides critters with water. AND, some microbes and aquatic creatures call Fennel Pond home!

LIFE comes to Fennel Pond, a critter’s pondside dream resort, in older times. Imagine you, the kneeling child, lost in the wonder of whirling Life in the shallow pool of Fennel Pond.

Happy planting veggies on your patio and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121115 Patio Veggie Pots 1 of 6

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 162012

Zone 1 Herb Garden means quick access for the kitchen.

Day 1 in this 6-day video series: Preparing patio pots for winter veggie planting.

First a video re “Patio Veggie Pots”, then some patio veggie planting pics (below the video):

Patio Veggie Pots 1 of 6 (video):

Patio Veggie Planting (pics):

A past life – a patio filled with non-native, non-food-producing plants. Most of these plants were eventually removed to make way for growing veggies; especially those pots on the left were replanted.

Zone 1 Herb Garden means quick access for the kitchen. Permaculture practice at work: the herbs are within easy reach. They will be used more often and will receive more love.

The end of the vegetable growing season in the patio pots. Note the fennel gone to seed. Also note the privacy trellis made of bamboo teepees, a fun course for vining snap peas.

Patio Veggie Pots in their glory with mature fennel and still-flowering scarlet runner beans.

Happy planting veggies on your patio and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121114 Amaranth Plants at Food For Thought

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, 5- Resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond No Responses »

Nov 142012

Food For Thought, Sonoma County Aids Food Bank, Forestville, California

Day 4 in this 3-day series of videos (BONUS video!!!) depicting amaranth seed collecting. Today’s video is a field trip to Food For Thought, the Sonoma County Aids Food Bank, in Forestville, California.

First a video re “Amaranth Plants at Food For Thought”, then some amaranth pics (below the video):

Amaranth Plants at Food For Thought:

Amaranth in Food For Thought’s Garden (pics):

Amaranth (red and green) along a fence. 8 feet high!

Close-up view of red and green amaranth varieties. Swayin’ in the wind, waiting for harvest.

Elephant head amaranth (Amaranthus gangeticus). This species grows 2-3 feet.

Close-up of elephant head amaranth in the Food For Thought garden.

Massive red amaranth with green stalk leans over. A shrub! Note the stalk's ridges which give it girder-like support. Also note the small offshoots that display the red flowers.

Amaranth with golden stalk and flowers.

Relaxing, restoring, rejoicing with amaranth, sunflower, and garden love.

Food For Thought, Sonoma County Aids Food Bank, Forestville, California. Food bank for the community, with a lush food-rich and critter-happy garden. http://fftfoodbank.org/

Want to learn about Food For Thought? Go to:

Happy amaranth and see you tomorrow.

Tony

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