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.
To the left, three clover patches, each planted two weeks apart.
For the greater part of this year, the garden undertakings could be viewed as being half-arsed. By the same token, there was a great deal of eagerness in getting things in the ground. This zeal or impatience has proved to be to the detriment, rather than leading to bigger and better things. Good examples are the garlic and more so the onions. The latter appear thin and lank at a time when they should be standing to attention going into the new year. Unlike current economy policy, there shall be no retreat from the Laissez-faire approach. Apart from bug-poo, there have been no complaints from the kitchen. Continue reading
Four types of lettuce
The conga and chant made the episode “Lisa the Vegetarian” one of the most popular sketches. The Simpsons very rarely made more than a few minutes watching. As a teenager, I do remember the sketch and thinking rabbit food.
As with most things, growing some has really changed my opinion. Since there was some space between the spinach and cabbages, four different varieties of lettuce were planted. Every few days, prior to dinner the odd leaf has been cut, making enough with the addition of some spinach. I wish there was more. Eating a pile every day as a side dish doesn’t seem a bad prospect at all.
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.
jake: Night soil :)... the traditional fertilizer. 
Alan: Nice looking taters. Good color to them.
I fertilized mine this year with the used bedding from my chick brooder ...Alan: Isn't every year a mixed year in the garden? Gardeners are the best at taking the good with the ...
Ben: Didn't work. I have the Chinese version, maybe it's different? Who knows... (and yes, I've followed the steps ...
Esterkitchen » Archive du blog » L’ail noir d’Aomori: [...] aulx japonais : un peu leur ail rose de Lautrec, j’ai l’impression. Leurs gousses sont particulièrement impressionnantes, dans le ...