Thursday, 25 April 2019

Miracle Fruit

It's Autumn, Ignore the not so attractive Australian Sweet Lime, ripened off the tree, but check out the Miracle Fruit berries. Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) so called for its ability to make sour fruit taste sweet after chewing. 

I almost missed this first crop of berries on our 2m bush. 

Why pay $50 for the dried fruit in capsule form when you can grow your own in a food forest.






Monday, 15 April 2019

Why the Fernmount Food Forest can look overgrown at times.

The percentage of nursery and soil improving trees and shrubs can be as high as 95% when a food forest is first established, gradually reducing as food bearing trees and plants mature. This excellent, recent video clearly describes the layers of planting: canopy; understory, bushes and shrubs; herbaceous; and root layers.





Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Kwai Muk

The Kwai Muk, is related to Jack Fruit. It has a pleasingly acidic taste. We love the tartness. These fruit were discovered on the leaf-carpeted ground. In the picture, smaller fruit are still to ripen. Perhaps they will ripen off the tree although I read fruit ripens best on the tree.

Kwai Muk
 The ten year old tree is now about 8m high with a spreading canopy. I will dwarf the tree by cincturing the trunk as explained in the video link above.

Hand pollination of Dragon Fruit brings success.

White fleshed Dragon Fruit (Pitaya)

And aren't they luscious. The fruit developed surprisingly quickly. Excess shade wasn't the problem. A lack of natural pollinators was.


Tuesday, 19 March 2019

Ornamentals are the icing on top of the cake. Making a food forest attractive to work in.

There is no reason why a food forest based on permaculture principles cannot be attractive. Flowers and foliage attract the pollinating insects and birds and make it a pleasant spot for us to visit and work, .... it works for us anyway. The actual time taken to care for many ornamentals can be minimal.


Bougainvillea - Wikipedia


Sunday, 10 February 2019

Our Food Forest in February, 2019



When Paul from Barefoot Backyards trims our front hedge it makes such a difference.

Thursday, 24 January 2019

Another Midsummer post in the hottest of weather in mid north coast NSW

Even in the hottest of midsummer with heatwaves pounding Australia we have produce available and an exciting garden to explore. We only aim to produce a variety of food for our family, hence we plant a number of fruit and nut tree varieties; or we plant the same tree variety in different locations on our acre to create different ripening times. 

So you will not see a row of custard apples but you will see a custard apples planted on the high side, the low side, in shade and in sun. In addition to planting location variability is the variability of the plants themselves, being seed grown they have slight genetic differences.



A capsicum with a bite
Perennial Capsicum with a bite

Sunday, 16 December 2018

A tropical low is not unusual and welcomed.

We have had showers over two days and now seven hours of continuous heavy rain. We expect more rain. Parts of the district have had over 100ml. Our landscaping copes well with such rainfall events. Our sloping acre of food forest loves the rain and the warm days that follow.

Food Forest: Heavy rain but our landscaping copes well.