My progress in turning an unworked patch of the garden it into an organic mini-farm. Encounters with bugs, typhoons etc.
Being somewhat constrained in the middle of a city, the garden offers a decent start on the road to being self-sufficient. Whilst I’m no expert on gardening, I’m keen as mustard. Over the past two years, a variety of vegetables has grown without the use of chemical feeds, sprays, and potions.
At the beginning of the month, the peanuts were lifted and left to dry in the sun. Toward the end of this period there was a lot less sun, so they were given a bit longer; I found that a previous sample batch came out soft even after half an hour at 200°C. (continue reading…)
Winter veg next to the garlic
The last of the sweet potatoes have been harvested. Amen. Previously the bulk of the winter vegetables were planted. Despite the principles of permaculture, natural farming, amongst others being of great interest, the plants were laid down in bland uniform rows:
Even with a very limited understanding of the subjects, the understanding of others may be more the trouble if they were to look upon an experiment. (continue reading…)
Some of the harvest, kintoki at the back
In an effort to beat the bugs, the sweet potato harvest has been brought forward. Three fifths have been lifted. Working from the outside rows inward, the third row didn’t bear much. In addition to timing and lack of feed, it could be the rows were spaced too closely together or that I’ve been a bit too heavy handed on earlier pickings. However, those that were harvested were of good size. (continue reading…)
Elephant garlic ready for splitting
Garlic is an undemanding herb to grow. Sticking a few cloves in the ground and waiting should suffice. In spite of this, the title of this entry is perhaps equally a question. I wanted to jot down a few thoughts for reference; to clarify or simplify. My objective is to be self sufficient in garlic. Japanese grown garlic sells for ¥400 a head, it makes a valuable commodity. (continue reading…)
Masanobu Fukuoka passed away last month aged 95. He was the developer of the Fukuoka Method, known also as Do Nothing Farming.
Trained as a microbiologist in his native Japan, he began his career as a soil scientist specializing in plant pathology. At age 25, he began to doubt the wisdom of modern agricultural science. He eventually quit his job as a research scientist, and returned to his family’s farm on the island of Shikoku in Southern Japan to grow organic mikans. From that point on he devoted his life to developing a unique small scale organic farming system that does not require weeding, pesticide or fertilizer applications, or tilling.
Source: Wikipedia There’s a link at the bottom of the article where you can download two of his books.
For me his vision and approach is fascinating. I am also grateful to those over at Permaculture Reflections for their obituary.
Some of the garlic to be planted; Aomori, Elephant, and Shanghai.
Just as the mosquitoes had a productive time, I too can be pleased. Dodging the rain, I got the garlic out of the way. Increasing the width of the rows by a third to eight, the following was planted:
The bulk of what went in was from the earlier harvest. All of the Aomori lifted had not split into cloves, which was a disappointment. Overall much better than the dozen heads I bought to increase the flock. The latest garlic was labelled as Shanghai from Nagasaki.
Goodbye tomatoes
Towards the end of the weekend I thought I’d follow the crow’s lead and take advantage of the damp ground. A heap of weeds were brought together, rather like one of those Eastern European hay stacks fondly remembered. Elsewhere, more potatoes were planted; about half the amount of the previous lot. Once the tomatoes and cucumbers were removed, everywhere was dug over before a scattering of red clover seeds. There’s still a few pepper and chilli pepper plants that are good and the aubergines should last a bit longer.
Denise: Adrian, when I saw "Labour Thanksgiving Day", I thought your wife had given birth. :o)
I love the last line ...
Rick Rosenshein: Great blog, beautiful photos and articles. Very informative. Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work. Rick 
Robin Wedewer: How nice to find you and to hear your nice words about Bumblebeeblog.com!
As for the weeding, you know it can ...
Lucy Corrander: Dropping by through Blotanical. Thought I would say hello.
Lucy Corrander
LOOSE AND LEAFY 
Jon in France: 90° or 270°...surely it should be possible to tell depending upon which foot arrives first?
Nice colours. We're just getting to ...