What's goin down on the farm

Things have been going good on the farm, Saturday I graduate from my permaculture design course, I've got carrots coming out of my ears, the lizards are whoring around the neighborhood, my apple tree graft has sprouted along with the passion fruit vine, I have never eaten an artichoke, I'm counting my tomatoes before they're ripe, and my banana tree was showing some promise.

4 years ago I started a garden which led to a compost pile which lead to a couple fruit trees which lead to a grey water system which lead to permaculture. Saturday I will graduate from my permaculture design course, I have to say I am a changed person and better for it. If you want to change your life and the earth for the better I recommend taking a PDC.

Everyday for a month I've been pulling carrots out of the garden, I'm almost sick of carrots I'm thinking of pulling the whole patch out and giving them away. You wouldn't believe the strange looks you get from people when you offer them free carrots!

When we first moved into the house there were no fence lizards. It was really strange. When I was a kid I was professional lizard catcher, I had a 20 gallon aquarium full of fence lizards in my grandpas back yard. After 4 years of living here we have more fence lizards then you can count. I blame permaculture, if you hang out in the backyard for any amount of time, not only do you see giant fence lizards, you see alot of fence lizard sex. It starts out with a male latching onto a female by biting her tail, ( sound familiar)?

This has to be one of my proudest moments. Remember my apple tree graft, well it took and my Sundowner apple tree is finally growing. 

The Passion Fruit Vine is flowering, it's the prettiest flower you'll ever see. The fruit is super sour, to be honest with you I don't even care about the fruit as long as these amazing flowers keep coming.

The Artichoke plants have taken off this year, to be honest I've never eaten an artichoke before, I've always enjoyed the flowers. This year I'm gonna eat one, how many do you see?

This years tomato crop is huge, I've got green tomatoes everywhere. Growing my own from seed was awesome. I know I shouldn't count my chickens before they're hatched but it's looking good out there. I also passed out a bunch of left over plants I had, to anyone who wanted them, and I'm getting positive reports back on those plants. 

Finally my banana plant was doing great until the wind storm today which snapped the new leaf coming out of the main trunk. DAMMIT! Oh well it's still worth a BOOYAH!!

WHAT'S GOIN DOWN ON THE FARM

I've been real busy lately between, the PDC design course I've been taking, volunteer work, and getting my spring/summer gardens in I haven't had the time to post it up here. So here's what I've been working on.

3-18-13 I put in this vine garden. I planted mamoth sunflowers across the front of the bed that way the vines can grow up the sunflowers and chain link fence I planted Armenian Cukes, Louffa Sponges, Pickling Cukes, and Yard long Beans, companion planted with radishes and carrots.

Finished bed minus chickens.

3-20-13 I planted my tomato starts Prudens Purple, Silver Fir Tree, Juliet Hybrid, Super Sweet 100, Glacier, and Better Boy companion planted with basil, and sunflowers.

Finished bed, I've recently heard that you should have your tomatoes in the ground by February 1st. You're supposed to plant and protect from frost for a bumper crop I'm gonna try that next year.

I thinned my apple and peach trees, I let my little Dorset Golden keep 2 of it's apples.

Thinned Florida Prince Peach full of peaches.

Sunshine Blue Berry full of berries.

My bearded iris's are starting to bloom.

The almond tree is full of almonds I'm crossing my fingers hoping these hold on over the last 3 years I've gotten 1 almond.

3-31-13 Here's the melon patch Honey Dew and Crimson Sweet companion planted with sunflowers and Lemon Balm.

4-5-13 Sweet Potato patch to get potato slips you simply start a sweet potato in a glass of water when the leaves emerge from the potato and are about 4 inches long peel them off the mother potato and place in a glass of water when the roots form up your slips are ready for planting.

Boysenberry vines are coming up along with artichokes both perennials from last year. Fruits and vegetables that return every year are great for lazy gardeners like me.

3-30-13 Bush Bean patch companion planted with fennel, rosemary, and sunflowers. See that stick in the middle back of the picture it's an Apple Banana tree I got from a banana/bamboo grower Phil Gardener.

3-30-13 Okra companion planted with marigolds.

3-30-13 Eggplant and Green Chili patch companion planted with sage, tarragon, and sun flowers.

Monukka grape leafing out.

Thompson Seedless leafing out.

Red Flame Seedless Grape leafing out.

Finally check out this crazy looking bug I found by my compost pile.