Blog
A visual diary...
Digging up sea buckthorn (espinheiro marítimo) shoots and planting them along the east fence.
Digging up sea buckthorn (espinheiro marítimo) shoots and planting them along the east fence.They are prolific spreaders and quite spiky, so they should make a good fence. They also fix nitrogen and (are supposed to eventually) produce very healthy berries.
The increased flow worked: duck pond almost empty, top pond overflowing into the south pond, which is also almost full.
The increased flow worked: duck pond almost empty, top pond overflowing into the south pond, which is also almost full.
Upgraded the pond pumping system to increase the flow out of the duck pond.
Upgraded the pond pumping system to increase the flow out of the duck pond.It used to have 25mm hose throughout, now it starts with 50mm (what the pump is designed for) and continues with 40mm (what we had lying around and could reuse).
Written for you...
Making Milk Kefir
If you are looking for a recipe, you should get it right away. Milk Kefir benefits and background story are below the recipe. Enjoy!RecipeYou will need:1 liter of milk, preferably whole cow milk, pasteurized but not UHTMilk kefir grains1 jar with at least 1,2L...
Making Olive Leaf Powder
Olives are such special trees. They live long, are full of meaning (religious and not), they have character and make any plot look wonderful. Some people like to let them wild, others prune reasonably, while others are turning them into bonsai projects. In any case,...
Baking adventures
It began with a bread maker. We were happy with the fresh warm bread from Coop but I somehow got it into my mind that homemade would be better. The research for a good bread maker uncovered an intriguing tidbit: many people only ever use their bread maker a couple...
Getting ready for Spring
The Winter has been unexpectedly dry, but it has been cold, particularly at night, hovering 0ºC. Some plants are showing bugs and blossoms, or new leaves. The ground cover has taken on very well in some parts of the plot, although some areas still present a very...
(Not quite) Instant Garden to kick off the growing season
We are totally sold on no-tilling and avoid disturbing the soil as much as possible. We believe that it helps the soil life thrive and while we don't get fertility boosts, we benefit from a steady soil growth, season by season. To support this ongoing improvement, we...
Winter drought
Long term, the hope is that the food forest will establish and grow such that additional water inputs will be minimal or not needed. Capture and infiltrate as much water as possible during the rainy season, then minimize hot season evaporation by covering and shading...
The joy of crafting imperfect things: chess set
I like doing things well. Planning, measuring, following instructions, iterating until they're as good as I can do them. I also like making progress quickly – continuously, if time allows.Starting to dabble with woodworking has introduced me to a different world....
Winter Chop And Drop: Seeking a balance between cover crop growth and protecting young trees
After we planted roughly 1000 trees in the fall, and seeded plenty of cover crop everywhere, we are now faced with this incredible growth. It is winter, and we are going through the coldest month of the year. We had some frost, and the north wind leaves no doubts...
Friendly mothers…?
I am a little excited. This afternoon, a mother with her two kids is coming to visit. We haven't met before, but wanted to meet other families and children to befriend our own.This must be somewhat similar to what blind dates feel like. Some signals indicate that we...
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