I planned to make this post an entry in @kiaraantonoviche's #homesteadingchallenge contest... However, after spending two weekends working on location with a broken camera and a dead battery phone, I ended up with no relevant photos to share and also missed the deadline for the contest.
What's more, the really interesting and important parts of this project have already been shared in a detailed post I wrote will all my heart a few months back, hoping to find funding for the garden via the @pennsif's monthly grant scheme that was not to be, afaik.
So I thought I write a short update on our forest garden project - what's been done already, what's currently going on and what's been planned for the season.
In the autumn of 2017
- We collectively purchased and planted dozens of fruit trees.
- We continuously dug out seedling trees and root suckers from our personal micro forest and moved them to the community plot.
- I managed to visit my grandparents' garden and take many plants from there as well - hazels, raspberries, some perennial flowers, herbs.
- I divided and set to root plenty of the herbs in our family garden.
- We gathered and set to root dozens upon dozens of cuttings - mainly fruit bushes and perennial herbs.
In the spring of 2018
Spring is now in full swing. We celebrated Earth Day on location with a group picnic and got plenty of work done.
We inspected all the autumn plantings for damage and marked which trees have not rooted and are in need of replacement in the coming autumn. We weeded around the new plants and strimmed like an acre of grass and used that as a mulch. We watered as much as possible, considering there's a single well and no electricity, so we had to haul the generator to fill the water tanks.
Another group activity was broadcasting plenty of seeds of clover and other leguminous species that we plan to use as ground cover, mulch and for nitrogen fixation. We also measured, drew schematics and planned a future water transportation and drip irrigation system. This whole part of the project would have to wait another year as it seems, as funds are quite low at the moment.
During the winter we had planned some spring plant purchases and planting, even prepared a few spots, however we failed to gather the necessary funds. I kinda hoped for the monthly grant and also was willing to sell all my own SBD/Steem to add some cash to the pool. The price drop of SBD, however, (from USD10+ to below USD2) made the whole thing rather pointless.
For autumn of 2018 we plan to
- Put in the ground 100+ broad-leaf seedling trees like elm, beech, oak, black locust, etc. All those would be sourced locally and for free (read: dug up from a derelict part of a local park space full of seedlings).
- Take out all the rooted cuttings and plant them in their permanent location - an edible hedge, as well as put more and more cuttings to root in the ground.
- Collect perennial herbs from our family garden and start propagating them in the community space.
One of the herb guilds we started as a propagation experiment. Different gilds can be found in our family garden under each fruit tree.
So that's the end of my "quick" report that took me most of the day to write :) I hope it gets considered as a... unfashionably late entry in @kiaraantonoviche's #homesteadingchallenge contest.
More of my gardening posts
- Why are we growing chickpeas
- A garden is a school of life
- Slow and lazy compost
- Fruit tree herbal guilds
- Propagating currants
- Growing asparagus
To learn a bit more about my backstory, see my intro post. Also check out the blog of my wife and better half - Gerry.
Great work! A forest garden is a treasure to leave to future generations, that all will be sure to enjoy. I am glad to see the earth being re-beautified into a garden paradise, one small space at a time.
Ohhhh I sooo LOVE this @bobdydimitrov! I am also doing something similar here in @thereikiforest :) I've still got a ways to go before I get to start planting, though <333 Thank you for co-creating such a beautyfull space with Mother Earth. Much Respect!!
Браво! Поздрави от Сливенски регион :)
Ако те влече градинарството, заповядай на BezMotika.com, имаме и други от същия регион :) Поздрав!
Great to see those beautiful pics.
This pot would have fit right in with my SteemIt Community Garden Journal.
It's past payout, but there will be a new challenge each month, so you can see how your garden grows over time.
If you're interested, just keep an eye out for the #gardenjournal2018 tag :-)
Thanks for the heads-up! Will follow that tag!
This is beautiful and should be awarded some accolades. Your aim of cultivation may have been to enter into the #homesteadingchallenge contest, but what i see as beautiful is eruption of new life in an attempt to encourage afforestation.
Even if your project was not cash funded as expected, you'll surely derive great joy in watching this little nursery grow into a beautiful garden.
That was a lot of hardwork (both cultivation and creating this post) and i hope you get due credits for your work.
Great work @bobydimitrov
Good to see progress on the Community Forest Garden.
Alas the previous grant scheme received so little interest it wasn't viable.
I have now restarted the A Dollar A Day charitable giving project which is proving much more viable.
Have you got any development plans for the Forest Garden over the summer months?
Thanks @pennsif! Plans abound as you've probably guessed! However plant-wise summer it's not the best time to expand - the summers here are usually very dry and quite hot. So we usually plant new stuff in autumn and spring and set cuttings and do propagation in those seasons.
Work is continuing, of course. Last week about a 100 meters of HDPE pipe was dug in as a "main line" of sorts to deliver water from the well to other parts of the plot. Scraped some cash for that and did not leave much for fittings and hoses, but next month we'll try to make do.
We're also planning to gather funds to buy a backpack sprayer + some neem oil to spray the young fruit saplings, as this year we've got a heavy caterpillar infestation, which wouldn't bother me so much for a full grown tree but those we planted with our last collected cash in autumn and it would be a pity to lose them. I have very positive experience with neem as insecticide in our garden (which, by the way, is turning more and more into a nursery for the community plot).
Plenty to be said, not much time!
Your Community Forest Garden has been chosen to receive a donation of 15 SBD from the A Dollar A Day project - supported today by @pennsif, @aggroed, @cryptocurator, @danieldyemusic, @gmuxx, @goldendawne, @mother2chicks, @mountainjewel, @vibeof100monkeys
Contact @pennsif if you would like to know more about A Dollar A Day.
Aww I'm sorry you missed the deadline! I would have totally allowed it (I'm not really a stickler for deadlines) if I hadn't already posted the winning announcement! But thanks for the update - I love keeping track of all the cool projects going on!
Noted!! 😁
lol! As long as it is posted before I actually announce the winner, you're good ;)
Lol, I'll try to be on time! Well with spring here and all, I may not enter any contests or challenges so soon ... thanks for the heads up though.
Yeah thanks, no worries! :) Thank you for your work and continuous support of the homesteaders' community!
Ouch... missed the deadline!!!
Nice inspiring post @bobydimitrov hopefully we can be where you're at next year in terms of seedlings, cuttings and trees!!! Just a few weeks till we move off-grid to build a homestead!!!
Thanks
I'm a bit envious about your coming move but congrats nonetheless! :)
The work in a garden never ends and that's what I really, really enjoy. Whenever one is ready to start, it's always the right time :)
Thanks man, I really like what you said:
Waww... Nice story'...
Great idea awesome read
Good luck, and beauty. So wonderful your take this. Success always for you. From me @azroel
This is inspiring! Thanks for sharing.. I think I will start another homestead on the community park. Good luck with your project!
Love this. well done and best o luck.
blessings to you and all involved.