The weather has affected me in a similar way to many growers around the country, but has not ‘wrecked’ the polyculture experiment completely. Autumn sown onions are ready to lift, along with garlic planted at the same time. I felt that it was a little early, but a check back through old blog posts suggests that this is a similar time to last year. Some of the sunflowers in the polyculture have been wrecked by slugs, but most are OK. Pictures below. The worst damage has been to the grain, much of which has been blown over. Again, pictures below.
Category Archives: experiments
Polyculture Update May 2012
Alright, alright, it’s been a while since my last post, but it’s hectic. I thought that I would post a few pictures of my polyculture experiment, to show you how things are progressing, which on the whole, is well.
As you can see from the picture below, the Bonfils grain growing has been awesome.
As you look at the picture, the spelt is on your left, and the rye is on your right. The rye is already flowering, and continuing to grow. In this picture the rye is already above my head, and the spelt has put on another 6 inches of growth in the last week, since this picture was taken.
Playing with Compost
Today I spent about eight hours building a compost heap. That seems like a long time, but, in true permaculture fashion, we never only do one thing, and every element should perform more than one function. So what was the big deal? Well the start point was this.
This picture was taken yesterday. The right bay was finished compost, the center fairly fresh, and the left is still a bit rough, but will be OK for potatoes, squash, and other summer staples.
This is the last of the finished compost. I could have left it in place, and put the new heap in the middle bay, but the lack of rain has left the top of some of the raised beds dry, and adding the compost will help to stop any topsoil from blowing away.
Compost, Green Manure, and Intercropping
It’s been a little while since my last post, and for most of that time I have been contemplating the detail of my vegetable/grain polyculture, how the crops will be rotated, and how I will incorporate compost, green manures, and intercrops into the system. I waited, in the hope that I could post the finished article, but have to admit, that I still have a bit of thinking to do.
The problem has been trying to get the PERFECT system, whereas I may have to compromise on perfection, and settle for just pretty good. It hasn’t helped that I’ve learnt more during the process, which has added some complexity.
What I hope to do is explain what I’m aiming for, why I’m doing it, and outline where I am now. What follows is for my larger vegetable growing area.
Polyculture Pictures. late October 2011
These Polyculture Pictures have been waiting for a week to publish, but I haven’t had time.
The picture above shows the chicory seedlings that were sown recently. The warm soil has allowed them to germinate, fairly easily. They are in a mixed Polyculture of Beans and Echinacea, with the beans as the primary crop.