It's been lovely to have some decent rain last week, to soak the soils, fill up the water tanks, and give the plants that vibrant green sheen. The rain, followed by warm sunshine, has everything growing profusely and the fruits are swelling on the shrubs and trees.
Here are some photos of the gardens this week.
Sophie and the boys planted out one of our raised beds with garlic in the winter. We plant out garlic about 10 cm apart in rows and can fit four rows spaced approx 20cm apart in each bed. We leave a little extra space between rows for sowing other crops.
In mid-March, Sophie sowed Dill seeds in between one row of garlic and a mix of carrot and spring onion seed in another row, and we also transplanted early cabbage seedlings into the middle row. The cabbages will get big, but by the time they need the space, we'll have harvested the garlic around them, likewise the carrots. The dill we are already using and we'll keep cutting it to prevent it from going to seed (which it likes to do very quickly in our climate). When all the garlic has been removed next month Sophie plans to plant some young leeks in the available space. It seems to work quite well so far The soil is very good in the beds and we added another 25 L of compost per m2 before sowing the garlic so there is plenty of feed for the plants.
In the forest garden, we've been experimenting with some new Vaccinium corymbosum cv. - Blueberry cultivars. Here we have Vaccinium corymbosum cv. - Blueberry 'Patriot' planted beside Elaeagnus x ebbingei - Ebbinge's silverberry with Allium ursinum - Wild Garlic flowering in the background at the base of the shrub. The Elaeagnus x ebbingei - Ebbinge's silverberry can be considered the Upper Canopy layer here with the Vaccinium corymbosum cv. - Blueberry as the shrub layer and Allium ursinum - Wild Garlic as the herb layer. We'll be planting some ground cover to fill the spaces between these plants (probably try some Alchemilla mollis - Lady's mantle) and adding so more Allium species (see below) into the area for year-round herbaceous cover.
Welcome to our Online Store where you can find Forest Garden/ Permaculture plants, seeds, bulbs and Polyculture multi-packs along with digital goods and services such as Online Courses, Webinars, eBooks, and Online Consultancy. We hope you enjoy the store and find something you like :) It's your purchases that keep our Project going. Yuu can also find our full list of trees. shrubs and herbs for forest gardens on our website here 
and here's a photo from the other side starring Allium ursinum - Wild Garlic with the Vaccinium corymbosum cv. - Blueberry and emerging Rubus idaeus cv. - Raspberry shoots in the background.
I never fail to appreciate the beauty and patience of Crab Spiders - Thomisidae but also can't help but feel a little annoyed with them as they use the flowers to attract insects for their benefit. Here's one lying in wait on Lunaria rediviva - Perennial Honesty flowers for some unfortunate invertebrate assuming they are about to tuck into some sweet nectar, instead are about to be tucked into!
The Allium nursery is doing great and within the next few weeks, we're looking forward to witnessing our new arrivals to the garden in full flower for the first time.
Here are the emerging inflorescence of Allium atropurpureum - Dark Purple Onion (right) and Allium amplectens - Narrowleaf onion on the left
Allium giganteum grows wild in Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwards into Russia but has become a common resident to ornamental gardens across the world. The plant has large edible bulbs, I've not tried them before but I assume they taste of Onion :)
Salvia officinalis - Sage starting to flower. Within a week they will be smothered with all sorts of bees, wasps, butterflies, moths and beetles.
I found this larva on the underside of a Schisandra grandiflora. I'm quite certain it is Amphipyra pyramidea - Copper Underwing Moth (thank you to Kostas Christofidis for the I.D). The larvae are minor pests of Apple and Pears and feed mainly on broadleaved forest trees and shrubs but very rarely in quantities that are disruptive. Copper Underwing Moth has also been known to feed on Kiwi and I think Schisandra spp. are related to Kiwi. This beauty will soon head to the soil to pupate, emerging as a Moth in July.
Morus alba - White Mulberry fruits developing nicely. This is a self-seeded tree that we've been encouraging to grow for the last 12 years. The fruits ripen white and are sweeter fruits than the other Morus alba - White Mulberry trees we have in the gardens. Probably perfect for drying which is something we'd like to get into at the project as we have so much excellent fruit that we cannot possibly consume, give away or sell, particularly from the Mulberry trees.
We have some great Mullbery cultivars available from our Nursery, click below to find out more.
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| Check out our selection of Mulberry cultivars available from our nursery this Autumn. |
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.
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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!
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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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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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