Busy time ahead

I have recently been studying the world of permaculture. I had heard the word being used for a while but had never really known what it was. I just thought it was one of those buzz words that get bandied around. But when I sat down and started reading about it, I realized that it was something I had been trying to do for a while.

Basically it is a design concept that you use to get the most out of your garden or homestead without using up the natural resources. Using recycling, positioning and sustainability, you can keep a property feeding you as well as making it a clean and natural place at the same time.

We are awaiting the arrival of fifty native fruit trees that we will plant around the property to use as a food source, attractant for the wildlife and as a natural boundary. We have also ordered some Oyster Mushroom spore to grow in spent coffee grounds. There is a good example of recycling waste and reaping the benefits by growing what is a staple food in this house. Once the myceleum has eaten all the coffee grounds, it will be put on the compost heap to carry on the recycling process.

I have just finished building the top bar bee hive and it will go out on the edge of the property on the other side of the orchard. Now I have to build a trap hive, which is a smaller version of the main hive. I t will be set in a tree on some property that a friend of ours hunts. He has seen bees there and if I can get some free bees out of it, then I'm all for that.

We have also got to order some fruit trees for the orchard. These will be apple, pear, and plum. I was going to order some grape vine cuttings, but a friend gave us some from his garden. These are black concord grapes and I look forward to making some nice red wine from them.

One other thing I have been reading about is aquaponics. This involves keeping fish in a tank, pumping the water from it up to a growing bed where we will grow vegetables. The action of flooding the growing bed with the dirty fish water will feed the roots of the vegetables and then draining back into the fish tank as clean water. I f I can source all the parts, I am going to give this a try.

So as you can see, our family is going to be pretty busy this spring.