This week was a week of learning, on site and off site. I have been learning the irrigation system in the garden with the help of Patricia. It takes patience to finesse the water system. It's been a dry summer, and longer watering times may be necessary. I've been learning about winter organic gardening and seed preparation with Helen, the Seed Goddess. The bees have been contributing to a pollinated garden, as well as a honey comb that we harvested for the community. Yum! I have been reading about permaculture and organic gardening and am trying to integrate it in practice. I look forward to being lead cook, Tuesday jul 7 where I will try to make a farmers paradise meal - 75+% of the food from the garden. What will be the food: Songaia Salad, Sauté, and sides. Specifics: The only major item that won't be included will be potatoes, but in a few weeks there will be so much more: beets, green beans, etc. | I harvested gummi berries, blueberries, raspberries, currants, and cherries from the garden and from an associate member's garden. Gummi berries: super food, bitter but sweet. Currants: offbeat taste. Cherries: sour. Near the cherries was the large intentional community Sharingwood, a Songaia like co-housing situation. Raspberries: normal. I look forward to make jam, jelly, dry them, roast them, or just eat them. I am not looking forward to the fireworks, which will likely scare the goats, keep us from sleeping in this already dry and polluted weather. There was time to relax too. Two interns were gone, except one for a few days who flame treated the weeds, but I've been having profound conversations with the new intern while weeding. The last item we did was building cob oven models. |
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![]() Hello everyone, Lately I have been working on an experimentation with biochar. I excavated five square meters of soil and filled the bed with a layer of charcoal. I'll see if the vaunted attributes of charcoal are worthy of the efforts I put into hoeing so much soil. Since eventually my goal is permaculture, I'm trying to grow food without the need to water it. I've had success so far with corn and tomatoes, which are both water-consuming plants. Although, I fear the heatwave sweeping all over France right now. In Dordogne and Gironde we're going to have temperatures topping 41°C (105°F), as though we were in Morocco, you know. But since I use a natural ground cover that gathers dew quite well, I think the plants have a great chance of survival. ![]() On the pictures you can see that I planted a hedgerow of Leyland cypresses. The goal is to have the trees act as windbreak. I've also planted bamboos at the Northern end of the property. I also have vines running on the façade of the house. They reduce the amount of heating in the summer and since they are deciduous, they allow the sun rays to warm up the house in winter. The well is also quite useful. Water is needed in large amount when I need to sow seeds during hot seasons, without having to wait for autumn and the wetter period. I think there's a spring running below my property that recharges the well, slowly but steadily. I wonder if I could have someone dig a little further to see if I can reach the water table underneath. ![]() The green lizard is a Lacerta bilineata and is found in almost all of France, Italy, and Northern Spain. He is an avid hunter and targets insects, including the infamous flea beetle. You know, that little sucker that cuts tiny round holes in leafy plants and vegetables. I set up boulders here and there so that he can bask comfortably while "taking care" of the beetles. That's it for now. Thank you for taking the time to read my stuff. Be well. Peace out, Ugo
The Summer Solstice has come and gone, but the days are still long and bright at Songaia. The garden team switched to an earlier start time to try to avoid working during the hottest hours of the day- making it a bit of a struggle to wake up in the chilly mornings. Fortunately for us, Steven has been concocting a strong coffee brew on the rougher mornings, and has even been kind enough to share. Staring bleary-eyed at bindweed at 7 in the morning is a little easier with coffee. The change in schedule has made the flow of the day more relaxed- time slips away in the morning hours as we wake up with the garden. There's time for breakfast with the full team a little later and we can start work on specific projects for the day. By lunchtime we've usually finished most of the heavy lifting and are ready for some light afternoon discussion and design curriculum. My memories of the past couple of weeks are dominated by awesome trips around the Northwest- sorry bindweed, you'll always have a special place in my heart, but this post isn't about you today. For the solstice, a small group of Songaians and interns made their way to Fremont (known by locals as the center of the universe) to experience the full glory of The Fremont Solstice Parade- complete with naked bicyclists, plenty of marching bands, lots of floats, and an assortment of people dressed in all sorts of interesting garb. A glorious day left us all quite exhausted and definitely in need of Steven's coffee the next day. ![]() This past week I had a chance to go hiking on the Olympic Peninsula with my dad and sister. After a light hike, and a rather steep descent, we ended up on Shi Shi Beach - North of Lake Ozette, and South of Cape Flattery, one of the Northwestern most points in the Lower 48. My favorite view is of the little islands off of Point of Arches- absolutely striking from afar, and pretty spectacular when viewed up close too. I was so distracted by the beauty all around me that I only took a few photos the entire trip- the rest just mental pictures that may one day fade away- but I'll just have to go back and visit again to refresh my memory. The contents of my mental photo album include many bald eagle sightings- including one catching a fish from the ocean just a hundred feet away, plenty of deer wandering about, and a plethora of starfish and sea anemones in the tide pools. In between these trips was quite a bit of weeding and some harvesting of cherries and fava beans. Some trellis construction for tomatoes and a bit of work mulching a hügelkultur bed. The goats have also been doing a lot of work on their little blackberry patch.
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AuthorGarden bloggers are community members, volunteers and interns at Songaia. Archives
August 2023
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