Nathanael Szobody

Way to go Thomas! Sounds like you are well on your way.

I've dabbled with aquaponics, but am no expert. I would encourage you not to give up on your outdoor space either though. 80 degrees is not that hot for most vegetables. I grow veg in much hotter temperatures; it's just a matter of selecting varieties. If necessary, a cheap arbor to provide partial shade could be made for much less than a greenhouse. As for soil, just start composting your kitchen waste and grabbing your neighbors' bags of leaves ;-) Between the two you can have great soil.

I've often wondered if there couldn't be a garden-aquaculture hybrid system where the aquaculture makes fertilizer liquid for the garden. If, for example, a pile of leaves were mixed with a little soil and watered with water from the fist barrel every day, then you would get soil. It would be a matter of balancing the fish with the added use of nutrient. It would essentially allow for more fish. Just an idea...

Great going Nic! Sounds like you've got the system down for your soil type. I have also found that swales are the way to go for clay soil. Mostly because its collection of organic matter which causes the biology to loosen the clay underneath and allow infiltration. The first year my swales were veritable stink ponds; the second year were marshy trenches filled with weeds; third year the water would completely soak in within 24 hours of a large rain. Now the swale has completely filled in with organic matter and soil, but the whole plot is now a giant sponge thanks to continuous mulching. So a combination of swale and organic matter is pretty much all that's needed.

I would recommend the same for your orchard: after digging swales, lay as much wood as possible on top of the ground around your trees and in the swales and the biology will significantly increase infiltration.

Your garden sounds like a "creeping Ruth Stout" method; nice way to implement a slow and steady solution. It seems you have Gaia's Garden in hand so you can't go much wrong. Good luck!

A line is never straight

Rufaro Makamure wrote:The female flowers on my pumpkin plant turned yellow before even flowering. I am putting a shade as its very hot these days and it could be the reason why. Both the female flowers had no bite or prick on them, also the white mould is not as much as it was, so it's encouraging.

That's very common in the hot dry season. If they continue to drop the fruit when your shade is over it,  then just eat the leaves :-)

They grow for many months, so if you keep it alive until rainy season it will produce.

I think permaculture is a great word and I use it often. I take Lawton's angle and describe it as an ecological design science. I think that covers it. Yes, it's an ethic,  yes, it's regenerative ag, yes,  it's a life and a lifestyle and a philosophy. But what really sets it apart? You can put any good thing in it,  because it designs the system. A design science.

Please do post photos!

Screws. With glue.

But for furniture: neither. Just tenons.

I think you need a nice neighbor who enjoys hauling mulch :-)

I know that's not helpful,  but I have been thinking alot about gardening into an age when my body just can't do the tasks I do routinely now. I think the goal is a food forest: by the time I can't weed, my trees with be shading out the grasses,  and I'll be harvesting fruit. Perhaps your garden beds need to evolve to ground covering perennials?

Love it Teresa!
Soundslike the thing for you would be a giant crock that you can pack with chopped onions and cover with salt water. Onion kraut. They would only get better over time!

So frustrating!!!

This week I lost beans this year that I had drying on the rooftop... to my own pigeons.

So I think tomorrow I'll eat some squab and get my beans back.