Hugelkultur in Los Angeles

I've been reading here on permies for a while. This year I really tried to take on more action in permaculture. I started a website about urban growing here in Los Angeles.

http://LAFOODFOREST.com

We've got a few articles and videos up that I thought might be interesting to the readers here. We have focused heavily on hugelkulturs as well as community education. We've tried to document a lot of the most interesting things we've done. Although a lot of the work we have done does not amount to massive food forest establishment yet, but it is something that we are always trying to keep within our scope.

I am open to anything you fine folks have to say. I have never made a site before this. Wordpress rocks for this.

-Brandon

Nice site, Brandon! And a nice looking loquat tree among all those pics.

One thing that you can do along the coast in Southern California (and inland too, if you are careful about frost protection) is to create hedges and espaliers for hot peppers. Jalapenos, serranos, tabascos, all manner of hot peppers can be trained up against buildings to provide a year-round zing to the kitchen.

Another nice hedge plant is the natal plum. It's very common in Southern California landscaping, but few people know the fruits are edible. I don't like them raw, I'm not into fruits and vegetables that ooze white latex thank you, but cooked they have a taste in between a plum and a cranberry. Just simmer them with some lemon juice, maybe a bit of sugar, for 10 minutes on low heat.

Thanks John. I really appreciate the feedback. I have not heard of people doing this to peppers! I would love to try it! I have seen natal plum growing everywhere growing up here. I have never known until now that they had much food value. I always assumed that because the sap was milky white and there were a ton of thorns, that I should not go there. The next time I see some, I will definitely snag them up. I can safely assume that most people around here don't know what to do with them.

Great job man it's nice to see this stuff happening all over the country and world!