We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. — Joseph Campbell
The rainy days are back!
Last month, major improvements came to the orchard, overgrown areas were cleared to give more space to grow fruit trees and other crops.
For almost a week until a few days ago, the scorching heat had tested my permaculture garden if it was truly hardy enough to survive drought.
The weather now is really unnatural, or am I just overreacting? Anyway, I strolled around the orchard and seen farmers reacting with the drought though some were lucky to have secured water from the irrigation canal.
Their rice paddies were easily dried up cracked, with this event, pests and diseases are common. Most of them are heavily spending on insecticides and rodenticides and are applied regularly until the harvest in October.
The after effects of the rain-less days in my permaculture garden were burnt leaves of the recently planted bananas in the open area, but no damage was found on most parts were there were taller trees that provided ample shade.
For three days already, thunderstorms formed and rained subtly, just enough to moisten the soil but not so much. It was better than nothing. If the weather didn't cool down, I would really grow more aloe veras and more dragonfruits!
Yesterday, I visited the farm and just slept inside the cabin until it was time to go home, though I was able to get some Taro offshoots to transplant at the orchard. I had the purple and the yellow varieties which will be grown using upland method.
Today, I had another achievement. Before the year started, I planned to plant 50 fruit trees before the year ends, and I thought of just making it to a hundred—right now I surpassed my goal!
The most recent additions were chestnuts and crabapples that I regrown from my sister's trees. Apples don't normally bear fruits in tropical countries, but found other growers in our country successfully fruiting their trees.
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I hope it isn't a hoax because I love apples and most imported fruits in our country are high in pesticides and fungicides to lengthen its shelf-life.
The fruit trees that I planted this year were spread around the orchard and will still take more than two years before they start become more productive. As they grow, their trunks will become permanent barricades during floods to slow down the undercurrent and to collect tree debris and sediments.
Once the fruit trees will become productive, the harvests compounds annually giving additional sources of sustenance and income.
But right now, while the seedlings are still young, I am making most of the open areas to grow vegetables and other crops on the raised beds.
I am practicing seed saving and making it a culture in our family because we never do, like our previous generations, we are so dependent with storebought seeds for every cropping season.
Saving seeds can help find varieties that are well adapted in our microclimate and soil type, and also potential varieties with quirky yet desirable traits.
Diversificatiin
The plan is to diversify my root crops, though to add real value, I still need to propagate what I already grown such as the sweet potatoes, cocoyam, taro, and Ube. I will also add drought-resistant Cassava on the sunny areas of the orchard.
Although the orchard is an older property, acquired about 30 years ago, versus our farm which was acquired just three years ago, the farm is very productive now, so unlike the overgrown orchard.
Just today, my Mama harvest the first batch of Malabaga red bananas which takes at least two years before fruiting unlike other dessert bananas.
We've been harvesting Copra, rice, bananas, root crops, and vegetables from the farm for more than a year now, hoping that all of over other properties become productive as well.
I still have a long way to go before the food forest in the orchard becomes truly self-sufficient, but each day, as much as possible, I try to add something to the orchard. In this way, every inch slowly becomes productive even with less effort in the near future.
How about you, what crops are you adding into your garden? Share in the comments down below!
PINNED POST
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About Me
@oniemaniego is a software developer, but outside work, he experiments in the kitchen, writes poetry and fiction, paints his heart out, or toils under the hot sun.
 | Onie Maniego / Loy Bukid was born in rural Leyte. He often visits his family orchards during the summers and weekends, which greatly influenced his works. |
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Brilliant approach. the more diversified the better.
even within the same variety, diversifying genetics is great for resilience.
also, different varieties of one fruit will allow for a longer fruiting season.
keep up inspiring me ; )
Just a small but long-term project, it's great to inspire more people to make forest gardens for sustainable sustenance and also helping the local ecosystem revive. So far, I got two people now doing permaculture and I hope to make more locals to do permaculture too.
Thanks btw, I'm trying different things to make gardening more fun 😅
You have a variety of plants there and it seems you are working on to make it sustainable even for generations to come as you're growing fruit trees :)
The red banana is interesting. I've yet to encounter one in the market.
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Thank you! I'm so excited for the guavas but it will still take 2+ years hahaha
Two years will be quick. It will come before you know it :)
Es fascinante la variedad de frutos que poseen. Todo muy bien cuidado
¡Gracias! Mi jardín ya tiene un año, espero agregar cultivos más rentables pronto.
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Great work in there, keep it up!
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