A small, yet energetic, group of gardeners manned shovels in the glorious sunshine to put into place the garden's pathways. Gone are the temporary cardboard paths and in their place is a network of tree-trunk 'biscuits' and reclaimed brick paving stepping stones. All the vegetables and herbs are now within easy arm-reach! The pavers have been spaced to ensure children can easily wind their way around the beds and adventure through the food forest.
Can you imagine little feet stepping their way through the fabulous food forest?
The back garden bed path is a mixture of log 'biscuits' and reclaimed bricks
Spring is in the air
Spring is so close we can feel it and there is evidence of the change of season everywhere in this new garden. The plum and apple trees and the berries are 'waking up' in their new homes and are beginning to bud. The broad beans and potatoes are shooting and the many perennials we planted in July are growing well. Whilst some of our seedlings have prematurely gone to seed after being too long in trays, others, including the celery, onions, beetroot, kale and silverbeet, are celebrating the hint of Spring with healthy new growth.
It is one of our last chances to plant fruit trees and a loquat, pomegranate, dwarf pomegranate, and a cherry guava have all been planted with a good handful of Dynamic Lifter and a Seasol chaser. Improving the soil in the food forest and future 'berry bed' is an ongoing task, and we were pretty excited to see some earthworms over the weekend, indicating that we are on our way!
Among the more interesting plants in the garden is a spectacular looking and smelling Cuban oregano plant which has gone into the back perennial bed. It has distinctive fleshy, slightly hairy, pale green leaves with an amazing minty-menthol aroma. Apparently it has many culinary and medicinal uses. See if you can find it when you visit the garden!
Some yacon tubers have also gone into the garden. Yacon are also known as 'apples of the earth' or Peruvian ground apples and have crisp, sweet taste. From the three tubers planted we should expect to harvest up to ten kilograms of yacon next Autumn. More information about yacon can be found at Yacon - Green Harvest.
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