There's a hint of autumn in the air this week. Although the temperatures have been above 30°c at the time of writing this blog, there has been a cooler feel to some of the nights, and the evenings are definitely drawing in.
Still no significant rainfall, since the end of June however we're fortunate to have a perennial water source which reaches our garden and all the other houses in the village via channels diverted from a mountain river.
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| Raised beds laid out on contour with sunken pathways in the home garden |
Flood irrigation is generally used when a stream from a river can be diverted into the site and is what we predominantly use on our sites. We have designed all of our garden layouts based on the use of flood irrigation, positioning access and earthworks to distribute water across the site and slowly sink into the soils. We've found between is very effective, with the pathways doubling up as irrigation channels. not only does the water sink into the soils but capillary action also draws water up into the raised beds. According to some reports, 90% of plant death following planting is the result of not enough water, so having your irrigation plan and system in place on site before planting makes a lot of sense and is absolutely essential if you are planting on a large scale or running a commercial activity.
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!
Last week I mentioned fennel flowers stealing the show in regards to their ability to attract organisms, many of which are beneficial for our landscapes, particularly in terms of pest predation and pollination support. Here are a few photos of some of the visitors.
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Here Fennel the red husks of Zanthoxylum piperitum in the background
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Once the Zanthoxylum piperitum - Japanese Pepper Tree fruits have opened and shed their seed and it's a good time to harvest the red husks. They are easy to dry in a paper bag left on a window sill for a week or so and than placed into glass jars for storing. Pop the husks into a pepper grinder for a delicious spice on pretty much any savoury dish. Caution - a little goes a long way :)
This week the figs are coming thick and fast. I was planning to harvest some today, cut them in half, and put them on a metal baking tray placed inside my car, with the windows slightly open for circulating air. The fruits generally take a day or 2 to dry and ready for storing (depending on outside temps/humidity etc). Our weather forecast shows we may have a few cloudy days on the way, so we'll hold off for now. This is a very simple but also a very effective method, with the added bonus of being able to reposition the car occasionally to follow the sun's trajectory :)
The essential guide to growing figs will give you a good overview of growing and maintaining the plant, and for a list of cultivars that we'll have available this season see here. We have started taking orders now for autumn delivery.
Tagete sp. Marigolds are one of the support species we use extensively in our annual vegetable production beds. They self seed and tolerate drought pretty well, as well as attracting a steady stream of visitors. The flowers also make a decent cuppa.
What summer would be complete without the obligatory Sunflower photos?!
If you are would like to learn how to Design and Build A Forest Garden ,we have a webinar coming up on the Saturday, 28th of November 2020 - 19.00 GMT+3. It's a live session where we'll go through step by step what you need to know to get started and end with a Q&A session. We'll send you a recording of the webinar when it is finished along with our design spreadsheets and plant lists to help get you started with your own Forest Garden Design.
The webinar will be hosted on zoom and you can book your place here - Looking forward to it!
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!
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Support Our Project
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
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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