May 19, 2019 Its a warm Autumn

Orange leaved deciduous Fuyu Persimmon

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.

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.

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.

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

February 27, Late Summer, Garden Activity (in a time of some global heating)

Flowering, fruiting and leafing in a summer ending with a climate change induced heatwave.

Our Food Forest in February, 2019

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

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.

Perennial Capsicum with a bite

Midsummer Produce from the food forest and garden

Sweetleaf or Katuk