20121210 Hugelkultur 2 of 4

Dec 142012

Today is my second posting of rebuilding hugelkultur Food Ridge West — all animal habitats get a name!

Go to Hugelkultur to see a description of this European garden art.

Today’s video starts with pulling apart an old firewood pile and some critters found in that habitat. One critter is relocated to the hugelkultur Food Ridge West.

Hugelkultur 2 of 4 (video):

From Tony’s project (pics):

A centipede on Tony’s patio; pic taken during another project day. Note the long tail antennae (bottom), how each body segment has one pair of legs (millipedes have 2 pairs of legs per body segment), and how shiny red the body is (a defensive “I look like venom” strategy).

Some images of hugelkultur.

For a detailed discussion,

clear graphics, and lots of pics of hugelkultur,

see Paul Weaton’s blog at:

Happy hugelkultur habitat making. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121209 Hugelkultur 1 of 4

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

Dec 142012

Hugelkultur is the piling up of organic matter, like wood stumps and prunings, to make a raised mound on which crops are grown.

Go to Hugelkultur to see more description of this European garden art.

Today’s video introduces Tony’s project — a hugelkultur on top of a previous hugelkultur. The original pile of prunings and soil has decomposed and settled and is now ready for another round of rounds (pun intended!).

Hugelkultur 1 of 4 (video):

From Tony’s project (pics):

The yard debris pile that we have converted to a hugelkultur (by adding soil on top) stands nearly waste high to Anita.

Last year’s hugelkultur topped off with straw before final soil layer. The hugelkultur was a good place to get rid of, “use”, some on-hand adobe soil. Ultimately, the layers of organic matter below and above the adobe soil will enrich that soil.

Last year’s hugelkultur, Food Ridge West, produced a garlic crop. Notice how much the soil-covered debris pile has settled – the vertical log that was buried is now poking through the central walk path.

The BEFORE to this year’s Food Ridge West hugelkultur project. The soil level has settled even more. The hugelkultur’s inner debris pile has broken down further – note the vertical log sticks out yet further than from last spring’s garlic crop pic, above. Piles of black oak branches and limbs are ready to add to the hugelkultur.

For a detailed discussion,

clear graphics, and lots of pics of hugelkultur,

see Paul Weaton’s blog at:

Some images of hugelkultur.

Happy hugelkultur habitat making. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121208 Harvesting Hachiya Persimmon 2 of 2

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

Dec 132012

Early morning sun on Hachiya persimmon leaves.

First a video re “Harvesting Persimmon 2 of 2”, then some pics of the project (below the video):

Harvesting Persimmon 2 of 2 (video):

From the project (pics):

The bounty of Hachiya persimmon from this year’s harvest. These picnic boxes and more!

Early morning sun on Hachiya persimmon leaves. These leaves have changed color (fall foliage) from their usual lush greens and are about to drop.

Our young persimmon tree grows alongside an established pine tree. Someday, we will climb the pine to harvest persimmon.

Happy persimmon harvesting and drying. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121207 Harvesting Hachiya Persimmon 1 of 2

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

Dec 102012

Close-up of harvested Hachiya persimmons.

First a video re “Harvesting Persimmon 1 of 2”, then some pics of the project (below the video):

Harvesting Persimmon 1 of 2 (video):

From the project (pics):

Our neighbor’s Hachiya persimmon tree, with its lower branches picked clean. What a treat to have fruit ripen so late in the year, on this December day.

Hachiya persimmon harvested on a frosty day. The green-before-turning leaves take on beautiful colors before the fruit ripens and are easy to press – perhaps placemats for your dried persimmon treats!

Close-up of harvested Hachiya persimmons. These almost ripe persimmons, with firm flesh, will soften to a near jelly state if left to ripen by a window.

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

Appendix 1, Habitat Match: C) My sugary fruit makes a nice meal on cold winter days when cousin fruit trees are empty.

Happy persimmon harvesting and drying. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121206 Bucket Watering Can DIY 4 of 4

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

Dec 072012

First a video re “Bucket Watering Can DIY 4 of 4”, then some pics of the project (below the video):

Bucket Watering Can DIY 4 of 4 (video):

From the project (pics):

New and Improved watering can (model 000000000000000002) has smaller holes. A smaller spout stream helps distribute the water more evenly and is less harsh on bare soil and fragile seedlings.

A look inside the watering can ready for application. Note the floating food particles that would clog up the spout to an ordinary watering can. THIS is no ordinary watering can!

Watering with finer spout holes. Mission accomplished – the new watering streams are less sloppy than the larger-holed watering can.

Happy DIY projects for your Habitat Food Forest. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121205 Bucket Watering Can DIY 3 of 4

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

Dec 072012

Watering the garden with our new watering can.

First a video re “Bucket Watering Can DIY 3 of 4”, then some pics of the project (below the video):

Bucket Watering Can DIY 3 of 4 (video):

From the project (pics):

Filling the watering can with dishwater (blackwater). Check out that water! It’s a mix of soapy water, food particles from our dishes, and pasta drain-off water. Here microbes, come and get it!

Diluting the dishwater with fresh water. We’ll get more coverage in the garden by adding fresh water to the nutrient “concentration”.

Watering the garden with our new watering can. Note the use of the fill hole as handle grip. It works! And, easy to clean.

Happy DIY projects for your Habitat Food Forest. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121204 Bucket Watering Can DIY 2 of 4

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

Dec 072012

Cutting a fill hole in the bucket’s lid.

First a video re “Bucket Watering Can DIY 2of 4”, then some pics of the project (below the video):

Bucket Watering Can DIY 2 of 4 (video):

From the project (pics):

Cutting a fill hole in the bucket’s lid. The large hole allows filling the watering can easily AND can be used as a non-moving grip while watering garden.

Finding center opposite the watering can’s grip (the fill hole). The bucket was then flipped 180 degrees to locate the center of the holes to be drilled.

Spout holes are drilled to both the right and left of the center mark hole. The more holes, the wider the watering row-of-streams will be.

Happy DIY projects for your Habitat Food Forest. See you tomorrow.

Tony

20121124 Garden Tour 2 (Salamander Castle’s Ant Colony)

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

Nov 252012

April 2011. Salamander Castle moved to back garden.

First a video re “Salamander Castle’s Ant Colony”, then some pics of Crossroads Compost (below the video):

Garden Tour (Salamander Castle’s Ant Colony) (video):

Crossroads Compost, a brief history (pics):

January, 2008. Crossroads Compost was yet to be born, but the straw bale at the back of the yard, next to the fence, was the seed waiting to be planted. That bale was allowed to age there, providing habitat for soil critters and enriching the soil as it broke down.

May 2008. Straw is stored next to the back fence .

May 2008. By now, we are storing straw next to the back fence (but not touching it) at the junction of our garden paths. There is a bale left intact as a seat, habitat, and future source of old straw. Other bales are pulled apart to create a mat over weeds we wanted to eliminate. Note how low ground level is and how young the plants are: currant (foreground), fig (left, supported by hoops), and the pineapple quava (back right).

May 2010. The ground level is still fairly low; I have not started to stockpile wood chips in Crossroad Compost yet. The currant is larger and sporting green fruit. Fig and grape vine hover on Kiwi Gondola trellis.

April 2011. Salamander Castle moved to back garden. This lucky oak stump was rescued from our nearby bike path, where the massive tree came down. Work crews cut the tree away from the path and left Salamander Castle off to the side, not knowing that its destiny was to become an animal habitat. Note the beginning of the wood chip pile covering the Crossroads, soon to be buried with other chips 3 feet deep – that’s a whole lotta nutrients and moisture for the fig, grape, kiwi, currant, blueberry, pineapple guava, apricot, lemon to enjoy. Salamander Castle was moved next to the currant stand and wood chips were piled against it.

Happy dusting ants off yourself (from disturbing their nest) and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121123 Garden Tour (Earthworms in Bog)

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

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

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

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