Can't quite believe it's late spring already, with trees full of cherries and mulberries, and shrubs full of currants and raspberries - there is no denying it :)
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Last week we welcomed Daniel and Emilce to the project who have escaped the winter in Argentina to join us :) It's quite an international polyculture project crew pictured above with Angela - South Africa, Daniel - Austria, Emilce - Argentina, Elise - Holland and Victoria - Belarus :)
The Perennial Polyculture Garden - Ataraxia
Emilce and Daniel chop and dropping one year growth of a green manure trial we started last year where we were assessing the most suitable method for bed preparation. You can find out more about that trial here and we'll be publishing the results of that trial in the upcoming summer newsletter next month.
Installing the pond in the garden last spring caused inevitable disruption to the soil and plant life in the area. It always amazes me how fast these systems repair and with what elegant grace and beauty they carry out the process of secondary succession. Just one year on the disturbed soil is teaming with a diversity of flowering annuals and establishing perennials that are attracting a wide range of flying and ground dwelling invertebrates among other wildlife.
The dominant plant that has emerged this season is Orlaya grandiflora - White Lace (thanks Victoria for the ID) a beautiful annual that I assume the seed of which has been lying dormant is the subsoil awaiting a chance to resurface. The only wild processes that I can think of that would cause such a disturbance to expose these dormant seeds are a tree uprooting during a strong wind or a herd of wild boar tearing through the top soil.
Si tu id aeficas, ei venient. Ager somnia - "If you build it, they will come" Pond life quickly moves in and around the pond.
The pond overflow swale we made during last years Regenerative Landscape Design Course is also developing well with the Trifolium repens sown into the basin forming a dense blanket of cover and the new plantings including Sideritis scardica - Ironwort , Rubus × loganobaccus - Loganberry, Rubus idaeus cv. - Raspberry, Morus alba - White Mulberry and Ficus carica cv. - Fig settling in well.
Sophie mowing the pathways between the raised beds. The pathway vegetation consists of the original plants that inhabited this field before we established the beds. We mow the paths every 1-2 weeks in the growing seasons and use the trimmings for mulch. They appear to be a great source of biomass but the cuttings should be composted before applying directly to the beds to avoid spreading seeds around.
The Forest Garden
In late spring the living larder that is the forest garden is starting to stock up well.
Fig tree planted on the drip line of a mature cherry
Blackcurrant in the under story of a plum tree
The Mulberry trees have started to ripen. We have two Morus alba - White Mulberry trees in the forest garden, one lives up to name with white sweet fruit when ripe as seen in the photo below. The other ripens lavender purple. The tree with purple fruit is remarkable in that the fruiting period can extend all the way through to late July if we don't have too many windy days. For more info on Mulberry tree see a previous blog post here.
Nimble juvenile Homo sapiens Archie and his pal Kaloyan browsing cherries in the garden.
I've mistakenly identified the below plant as Cytisus scoparius for many years but thanks to Daniel who joined us last week I learned that the round stemmed shrub is most probably Spartium junceum, commonly known as Spanish broom, a close relative to the other brooms in the genera Cytisus and Genista. Cytisus is distinguishable by the square stems.
Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course
Want to learn how to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes? Join us for our Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course from May 1st to Sep 13th, 2023.
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
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| Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course |
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
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If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
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- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
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| You can also register for our online training, services, and products directly here. |
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