YouTube - Sepp Holzer - Permaculture - Farming with Terraces and Raised Beds (Part 1 of 4)

YouTube
- Sepp Holzer - Permaculture - Farming with Terraces and Raised Beds (Part 1 of 4)

Good ideas on this video!

My Vegetable Seeds from A to Z

Here are the seeds I have bought for the natural planting method (i.e just scattering seed balls on top of a cover crop of white clover):

1. Amaranth (bronze and purple) 
2. Asparagus
3. Basil
4. Beans
5. Beets
6. Budgie seed (assorted)
7. Carrots
8. Chives (regular and garlic)
9. Corn
10. Cucumber
11. Dill
12. Lettuce
13. Millet
14. Muskmelon
15. Onion
16. Parsley
17. Peas
18. Perennial flowers
19. Radishes
20. Spinach
21. Summer Savory
22. Swiss Chard
23. Thyme
24. Tomatoes
25. Turnip
26. Zucchini

From what I read, the more varieties, the better.

The search for upland rice continues...

I have yet to find a Canadian supplier of upland rice. How can that be? Rice is sooo common! Does my reader know who sells upland rice seed in Canada?

Maybe we can grow vegetables naturally

Imagine finding an unused field with healthy fruit trees and vegetables growing among a tangle of grasses and weeds. What does this tell you? Maybe vegetables don't require modern agricultural methods and maybe... just maybe we can scatter all kinds of ground cover, herb and vegetable seeds randomly together to replace the grasses and weeds that come up in this unused field! Maybe we can grow vegetables naturally.

There is effort involved, though. We can't just sow seed, disrupt the natural cycle of things in this unused field and forget about it until harvest. We have to assume responsibility. There are natural patterns in the field. Seeds are sown in the fall and germinate in the spring; we have to do the same thing with our cover crop of, say, white clover...

YouTube - A Fukuoka Inspired Permaculture Garden Pt2

YouTube
- A Fukuoka Inspired Permaculture Garden Pt2

Natural predators of slugs common to Nova Scotia would be ducks, chickens, toads, frogs and snakes.

Pictures!

So... this is the plot of lawn my parents gave me to try the garden on. It receives good afternoon sun and reflection off the side of the shed. This seems to make the grass grow especially well in this area.

I just covered it over with straw from the edge of the woods; before that, it was just lawn. The wooded area is a perpetual source of nutrients for the garden. Fresh green grass, bits of sticks and rotten logs are good additions to any natural garden. I added a line of stones just to keep the straw from blowing off into the neighbor's yard (they are all for the idea of trying a garden - more lawn is just wasted space).

Growing Amaranth and Quinoa

Growing Amaranth and Quinoa

I just bought a packet of Amaranthus seed! I have heard about these for a fews years and now I will grow them. Yea!

YouTube - Seed Ball Story

YouTube
- Seed Ball Story

Excellent techniques on preparing seed balls.

YouTube - Farming With Nature - Permaculture with Sepp Holzer

YouTube
- Farming With Nature - Permaculture with Sepp Holzer

I recommend watching this nature/garden clip!!

The Natural Way of Farming

The Natural Way of Farming: "Kirby Fry"

I like how this author grasps the ideas of natural farming. It is a good summary of the basic techniques that should be practiced. The downfall is that he did not acknowledge the God who created the earth and all things in it (Acts 17:24).

Natural Farming Online Group

I just found this interesting online group promoting natural farming. You should see the many people all over the world email their thanks for learning about this farming method!

A Note on Tilling

A big benefit of natural farming is that there is no tilling.
Tilling loosens up the soil far too much and the soil loses a lot of nutrients. Natural tilling by thousands of beetles, worms and furry forest creatures is the best way! :)

Tree seeds

Now comes the fun part of buying seeds!

I was at a farmer's Co-op store and bought these really long (18") radishes, bush beans and five herbs (including chives). Yesterday I went to the Nova Tree Company and bought little $5 bags of seeds of Butternut, Pea Shrub, American Cranberry and Wild Raisin.

For an annual herb, these radishes should be excellent at drawing nutrients from deep within the ground. Beans are good nitrogen fixers and chive greens are nice to harvest early in the summer when still tender. Steamed chives with butter taste as good as asparagus!

I am planning to cool a few tree seeds in moist sphagnum moss for a month or two and sow the rest in the fall so that they have a proper cold period before germination. I am excited about the Pea Shrub, which is a legume tree species with edible pods.

This weekend, I will scatter some grass clippings over the whole area. That should be a good preparation for sowing white clover seeds early next month.

Natural Gardening

What is a natural garden?

A natural garden is a highly productive field or orchard that resembles a meadow or forest as closely as possible. In a natural garden, the soil remains fertile, diseases, pests and weeds are controlled and crop yields are maximized; nevertheless weeds are still present and insects and furry forest creatures abound.

The effort of the gardener is to progress towards a natural environment as opposed to away from one. There are lots of advantages with this transition. Many of the activities of conventional gardening are going further and further away from natural environments.

I am starting a natural garden on a 400 sq ft plot of lawn and hope you will enjoy the coming pictures this spring!