Our Food Forest in Midwinter

A walk around the food forest in the bright, midwinter (late July) sun is always interesting. Citrus are providing buckets of fruit. The odd Custard Apple still hangs on and we collect the pumpkins before the bush rats can attack them. As far as our plants are concerned Spring is almost here and the peaches are coming into flower.

Pumpkin in tree

Recipe: Bunya Nut Cake

Our local Seed Savers group provided this recipe to utilise Bunya Nuts from the Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii - Wikipedia).

 

 

A few mid winter edibles that provide even when neglected.

 After a six week absence we returned home in mid-winter to see these four vegetables flourishing and providing. With no actual frosts, despite the sometimes near zero temperatures, and watered by only a few showers of rain these green vegetables in raised beds just continue to thrive. Despite the benign neglect this glut of greens could feed a large family and will provide smoothies and greens for stir-fries for months. No person need be without a green vegetables if they have a couple of square metres of land or a balcony that will hold a few pots.

Gold Passionfruit

Mid-winter colour, Japanese Maples and Acalyphas

Acalyphas provide all year round colour in our warm temperate/subtropical garden.

Japanese Maple

Early Autumn at The Fernmount Food Forest

The days in May (our Autumn) are rapidly growing shorter but there is still plenty of activity in our food forest.

Sea Grape

Green Banana Cakes

Green Banana Cakes
 

Oven baked green banana savoury cake

• Boil and mash sufficient green bananas (or plantains) to replace the meat in a traditional rissole recipe.

• Blend with plain flour (wholemeal, half wholemeal is preferred), an egg if you like, crushed nuts, finely chopped vegetables, seasonings (cumin works well) and herbs of your choice until you have a mix that can be shaped into small rissoles.

• Fry in a frypan using coconut or olive oil or bake in the oven to avoid oils. These little savoury cakes go well to nibble with pumpkin soup or serve with a savoury sauce.

Midsummer in the Fernmount Food Forest

Temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsious have burnt off a few leaves but generally the plants are growing strongly.

Our three year old, perennial capsicum, a capsicum with a bite, provides sufficient chili flavour for our meals.

Perennial Capsicum

The Guardian: Using food forests to prevent floods and hunger

Permaculture in Malawi: using food forests to prevent floods and hunger

   Read original story

"Permaculture projects in Malawi are developing sustainable food systems. It is time the development sector took this ‘marginal hippy movement’ seriously."

"Forests regulate water flow and protect topsoil. Restore the forests and you will go a long way to preventing flooding. Design the forests along holistic permaculture principles and you will achieve much more: water harvesting, fuel wood, high-quality timber, indigenous forest restoration and highly diverse food production. In a country where almost half the children under five are malnourished and chronic hunger is common, any holistic solution must consider food sovereignty."  

Phil Dudman spoke on Pruning and Propagating Fruit Trees at The Fernmount Food Forest

Phil Dudman presented on a large screen TV

Twenty Bellingen Seedsavers had an excellent guest speaker experience when Phil Dudman (writer and presenter from the Organic Garden and ABC Garden Show) visited the Fernmount Food Forest to speak on Fruit Tree Pruning, propagating fruit trees, and much more.

Very early Summer in the Fernmount Food Forest

A wander in the Fernmount Food Forest at present is refreshing. We have had some good falls of rain and the weather is regularly between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.

Cranberry Hibiscus

 The Cranberry Hibiscus is putting out new growth. In very wet weather a pruning cut will quickly turn rotten. Some complain that this plant seeds wildly, but not here. Only a few seedlings pop up close by and they are welcome. The raw leaves add a lemon taste to salads. This plant can grow to three metres tall in our food forest.