Slowly the first food forest is growing. Thanks to the help of enthousiastic hard working workawayers.
We are working on two swales, made with the help of an A-frame. Swales not to catch water, but in the hope to spread the water over the whole meadow instead of only two areas.
In these swales we have thick branches or thin beams, like in hugelculture. This wood inside the soil will be able to take up water, to give in turn to the plants growing in it. And when the wood brakes down, nutrients will be released in the soil.
Not easy to choose which fruit tree where to plant, when you know it can be very wet in some areas. That is why we plant all trees on a small hill, so part of the roots are above the water level. Time will tell.
I am looking forward to taste the first Dutch cooking pear Gieser Wildeman one day in the future. Thirty of these trees are going to be planted, grown from seeds this year.
Next spring all these little fruit trees will be cut down to knee height, 50 cm, to create little fruit trees, which will be easy to prune and harvest without having to use a ladder.
The red plants above are Amaranth, full of proteins in the leaves as well as the seeds. The seeds will be given to the chickens. The leaves you can use in a salad or cook shortly together with other veggies.
View on the lake from the flag pole near the main house.
After work done, it is good to rest on a warm day overlooking the lake or on a cold evening enjoying dinner in a nice warm 'moon suit'.
