"The tragic reality is that very few sustainable systems are designed or applied by those who hold power, and the reason for this is obvious and simple: to let people arrange their own food, energy and shelter is to lose economic and political control over them. We should cease to look to power structures, hierarchical systems, or governments to help us, and devise ways to help ourselves." - Bill Mollison

Friday, January 1, 2010

Reflections of the Past, Looking Forward to the Future

A couple videos showing part of our early July garden bring back many fond memories but what I am really looking forward to is the garden and foraging adventures of 2010. Happy New Year!

The north end of garden plot #3 taken with my little camera, please forgive the picture quality and music that is covering up my neighbor's backhoe noise.



The other end of plot #3.:)

34 comments:

Diane@Peaceful Acres said...

I love looking at your garden! They are beautiful works of art!

It's me ...Mavis said...

Holy Crap Mr.H....how many people are you feeding over there? You have enough food planted to feed a small village...It's AWESOME!

I must of counted 27 bean varieties in just the first video alone:)

You are a garden growing rockstar!...

Mr. H. said...

Diane,

Thanks, I can't wait to get started on next years garden. I guess that starts in a few weeks when we begin to get our flats of leeks and onions started.

Mr. H. said...

Mavis,

We are feeding an army of 2 1/2 people. Those are cabbages not beans in the first video.:)

Sylvie said...

incredible - and stunning! and so inspiring. Thank you, Mike

In the first video, what is the plant at 1 m 14 s into the video? I can't seem to recognize it...

Ayak said...

Unfortunately I can't see the videos but I'll use my imagination.

Happy New Year!

daylesford organics said...

Happy 2010 Mr H and family! Thanks so much for inspiring and educating us on the other side of the planet. Its often great to see what's going on in your world and start thinking about our next season. Thanks so much too for your kind and thoughtful comments over on our blog. Wishing you a bountiful, fertile, productive and happy year.
Love Kate and Bren

LynnS said...

Mike & Micki, Thanks so much for the tour of Plot #3! Oh, what would it be like walking through your gardens! My hubby watched your videos, too, and he was definitely impressed. We both think you are secretly feeding a small country, but we won't tell a soul....

Your hens look great, but aren't you a teaser with veggies planted right up to the chicken yard fence!! ;-) Are the nutmeg-colored hens New Hampshires?

In the second video, what is the purple leaved plant growing about 2 feet high?

I loved seeing Nasturtiums everywhere! I spotted a purple blooming plant and wondered if that was Lobelia?

Beautiful, beautiful garden.

Mr. H. said...

Sylvie,

Thanks! I think what you might be looking at are our Purple Peruvian potato plants. Garlic and a few, just emerging, cilantro are on the right and carrots to the left.

Mr. H. said...

Ayak,

Happy New Year! You are not missing much as I filmed the plot with my shaky litle camera.

Mr. H. said...

Kate and Bren,

Happy 2010. I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to be able to peak into your warm world of growing and green while ours is covered in snow...or in the case of this season mud and water puddles.:) Have a wonderful season on the farm.

Mr. H. said...

Lynn,

Thank Micki, she made me post the videos. I promise that it is just the two and 1/2 of us eating all this food and that the rumors of the commune are not true.:)

All of our chickens are Rhode Island Reds and very spoiled. They have a little roost and water dish under the tree in the video and like to hang out there and take dust baths when it is hot. It is also where most of the tasty weeds and garden scraps get tossed.

In the first part of the video are some purple brussel sprouts (Falstaff) that I grow for the chickens as they never give me any sprouts but the chickens absolutely love the leaves, especially if I toss them the whole plant. The purple plant at the end of the video is a little patch of volunteer Amaranth.

Yes, you saw a little pot of lobelia and dwarf snapdragons that Micki grew from seed.

Heiko said...

Right, so this was the north and the south end respectively of plot #3. So are you telling us there's also a plot #1 and 2 and maybe 4 and 5? I am soooo jealous, in fact I'm green! And all of that so nice and flat, no climbing up and down terraces.

Keep up the good work my friend in the new year and may it be at least as bountiful the last one.

Mr. H. said...

Hi Heiko,

We have four plots and # them so my much better half can find me easier, or vice-versa. "I'll be in plot #4 honey"...you know what I mean.

Plot #1 is our salad, raspberry, and flower garden, #2 is our fairly new little fruit tree orchard that also hosts quite a few of our tomatoes, #3 is the main garden, and #4 is a blackberry/blueberry/raspberry patch that is also home to our turnips, or was this year. It's not as big as it sounds but more than enough to keep us plenty busy.

I can only imagine the difficulties of a terraced garden but do envy you as well for your "normally" warmer winters...and, and well for all those darn wonderful olives that I will never have in my own neck of the woods.

2009 was an extraordinarily good year and if 2010 is half as good I will be most pleased.

Silke Powers said...

Mr. H, this is incredible and so beautiful! Most of all it makes me realize once again how very hard you and Mrs. H. work all the time!! It sure is good that you love doing this! I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labor now this winter! :) Silke

randi said...

with another foot of snow having fallen in the last couple days I must admit that your garden tour was refreshing.. The plants look so healthy, (and green).. Bravo!

Mr. H. said...

Thanks Silke,

We have been enjoying a little too much of the fruit of our labors of late and without numerous feet of snow to shovel all day everyday like last season we will be starting a serious exercise program this coming week. Wish us luck!:):)

Mr. H. said...

Randi,

All of our snow has melted...what's up with that? I may be jinxing myself but so far we are set to have the mildest winter in years. What a nice break! Thanks for taking my silly little garden tour.:)

miss m said...

Wow, that was quite an eyeful ! Your grounds are simply amazing Mr. H ! Crop perfection !
Great videos and musical tracks ! Please tell who does the instrumental in #2 ?

Wishing you a great 2010 season !

Mr. H. said...

Thanks miss m,

Isn't that just the best composition. It was composed by the Greek artist Yorgos Kazantzis and is called "The Waltz of Utopia." I thought this particular waltz would be a fitting attachment to my choppy/swaying video.:)

Ruth Trowbridge said...

I am back!! What a tribute to the power of human beings. You both should be so proud, truly I have never seen such a productive home garden. I watched the clips on the new ice age. There weren't necessary though, my husband (who has never been on the internet) has always said this is the future for 15 years now (that is why he is a willing participant in my self-reliance obsession). We finally had 6 inches of snow, but now 6 inches of rain have washed that almost away. You always say you are feeding 2 and 1/2, are you guys expecting? Your soil is so red, I think your garden is magical. Peace for all

Mr. H. said...

Ruralrose,

Your back! Thanks for you kind comments. Perhaps some day you will have to write down some of your husbands thoughts as his perspective would be interesting.

The 1/2 in 2 1/2 refers to our grandson who spends quite a bit of time with us. He could almost be considered a 1/4 though as he does not consume all that much...yet.:)

The little bit of snow that we have received has also melted away, this mild winter has been a nice change for us.

Sharon said...

Beautiful garden Mr.H! What an inspiration. We live in Northeast WA so must share a similar climate but my garden pales in comparison. Thank you for your wonderful site and for sharing your information and experiences.

Mr. H. said...

Hi Sharon,

Thanks for visiting our little blog and for your nice comments. We are learning as we go and enjoying every minute of it. I hope your winter weather has not been too harsh this year, ours has certainly been rather tame so far. Happy gardening!

Mike

Sharon said...

Don't ya just love those redheads! I have 12 redheads we raised from day old plus 4 other hens we call the "big girls". They have a cozy house & prefer to stay close when weather is cold. Our days are getting a little longer though & egg production is picking up. They get kitchen scraps plus greens every day but my goal is to grow the greens myself - love your winter growing techniques. Thank you for sharing your ideas whether success or failure!

Frugilegus said...

Amazing. What a paradise - though obviously lots of hard work too. Video was great to really get a sense of your plot - and the music worked very well. You must definitely get your greens from that lot.

Mr. H. said...

Frugilegus,

Thanks, we do indeed get our greens and the chickens get theirs as well. Sorry about that first bit of music "Blackbird Pie." I promise that no such things take place around here.:)

Mr. H. said...

Sharon,

Our egg production is picking up as well, just this week.:)

kitsapFG said...

Well it took me a while Mr. H to find my way to your blog but my timing was good in that I arrived in time to do this video garden tour! Excellent work. The garden is a thing of beauty and of utility. Thoroughly enjoyed the visual walk through.

Mr. H. said...

kitsapGH,

I'm happy that you enjoyed the tour and thanks so much for visiting the garden. For the last few years I have filmed the gardens so that I can easily see where I had things planted. It helps to evaluate the next years rotations.

Erin said...

I had to post because I just thoroughly enjoyed your videos and choice of music to accompany them. Your garden is so well tended and organized, very much impressive!

Mr. H. said...

Erin,

I had a lot of fun trying to find music that would match. Thanks for your kind comments.

farmer said...

Wow! Beautiful!
Just wondering the size of your garden? how long and wide are the rows?
You should be super proud,stunning!

Mr. H. said...

Farmer,

Thank you for your kind words. Our vegetable gardens are in 4 different plots and all told add up to about 1/2 an acre or 22,000 sq feet. This supplies us with 100% of the food we need, although we do cheat and buy a few uneccesary food items from the store from time to time.:)

Our rows are anywhere from 25-60 feet long and about 4 feet wide.

Thanks so much for visiting our little blog,

Mike

Related Posts with Thumbnails