Passion Fruit
Permaculturists like to talk about “stacking functions” which means that we try to find multiple uses for an given thing. From that standpoint, Passion Fruit Vine is a dream plant. This incredibly hardy vine will grow on just about anything, so it has many great uses: Fruit: The tasty “maracuya” passion fruit has a […]
Broccoli! We have done the “impossible” once again!
They said it couldn’t be done, but our meter-high broccoli plants are proving them wrong. We have a couple dozen growing in various spots around the farm, and at this moment, two of them are sprouting broccoli heads, which are expanding daily. How to Grow Broccoli in the Tropics We’re located in the Southern […]
Galangal – the Ginger of Thailand
Galangal is a rhizome of plants in the ginger family its roots stemming originally from Indonesia. Similar to it’s brother ginger, though lighter in colour and stronger in taste it is high in fiber, sodium, vitamin A and C. They are available as a whole rhizome, cut or powdered. The whole fresh rhizome is very […]
Making an Herb Garden – Herbaceous Goodness (Part IV)
And then there were herbs… With the rocks in place, the next step was to start building up the soil. I dug a hole and filled it up twice with water to check drainage and found that it wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be. Still, we dug about a foot down into […]
Papaya Seeds: DIY Black Pepper
Papaya: low in calories, high in dietary fiber. Packed with vitamins and anti-inflammatory enzymes. Growing on the farm. Extra tasty with a squeeze of lime. Also nice unripe, shredded, in curries. Que bueno. But wait! Don’t forget the seeds: high in (“good”) fat and protein and a good source of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. (Source: […]
Making an Herb Garden – “Rockin’ It” – (Part III)
River rocks are very aesthetic– smooth and round and a beautiful gray-blue hue. Choosing rocks is like a puzzle; one challenge is lining up rocks such that their edges fit from the base to the top. We used larger rocks along the outer edges and slightly smaller ones lining the inner circle. When lifting heavy […]
Making an Herb Garden – The Design (Part II)
As one of the first volunteer projects on the farm we were given a rectangular plot of land and asked to create an herb garden. Geoff requested a formal layout for the garden, one that would be functional and hopefully productive as well as beautiful. I remembered from my Permaculture course a classic design called […]
Making an Herb Garden – Introduction – (Part I)
Making an Herb Garden: Introduction (Part 1) Check it out! We’re planting an herb garden. Our beautiful 8m x 15m space is a gentle slope adjacent to the volunteer house. When we lifted the black plastic protective sheet we found dried straw upon rice hulls upon a base layer of regular but hard-packed soil. Two […]
Godzilla attacks the farm
This vegetarian monster, known as a green iguana tried to get into our lizard-proof garden, and found a weakness, which was that one of the posts wasn’t covered with tin. He climbed it and ate many peppers before being discovered and captured. These can grow up to 6 feet long, and is even bigger than […]
Yellow Heirloom Eggplants
These beautiful eggplants are an heirloom species from seeds bought in the U.S. and are about the size of a baseball. They grew easily in bags and have been moved into well-composted soil in full sun during the hot dry season, and are producing well.
