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Subtropical to Tropical
Food Forest
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Started with sandy, dry land, with a high water table.
Turned it into a thriving beyond organic food forest.
We knew growing in pure sand would be challenging, there was barely any organic matter and nothing to keep the nutrients from washing away every time it rained. Luckily, we have experience when it comes to growing in sandy soil and increasing the organic matter content. We always begin collecting materials from our land and composting right away.
It's all about mimicking nature.
Challenge Accepted!
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Starting our Food Forest
We began the process with chopping and dropping in place. We made piles of brush, and grass, cutting back only where we planned on planting and walking. We also spread wood ashes and activated biochar made from the woody material generated from the initial site preparation.
1st year we planted many trees, most of them we started from seed or cuttings.
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We prefer seed-grown trees over grafted trees. They have many benefits and advantages over grafted trees. One important benefit is the communication a tree has with its roots vs a grafted tree that has been separated from its roots. We have seen seed-grown trees grow faster, produce better, and handle stress way better all while looking healthier than grafted trees.
Harvesting from the food forest
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Nothing is better than enjoying the rewards of your hard work. You can't buy this nutrient-rich food from the store and nothing compares to the taste and flavor of freshly picked produce.
We plant several kinds of crop species in the same area. Our goal is to imitate the diversity found in the natural ecosystem, while still being able to access the plants for easy harvesting, and managing.
Polyculture in the Food Forest
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After planting this coconut tree, we topped it with compost, added sea salt around it, watered it with pond water, and then covered the base with mulch. A few years later it is still growing strong!
Planting our 1st mature coconut tree
We will always remember when our 1st banana began to fruit
