Herb Spiral Thriving

This Spring I built an herb spiral at my parents house in Delaware.

This is just after planting the herbs:

This is a few weeks later:

I got some Parrots Feather, Water Hyacynth, and water-cultured Peppermint for the pond.

And here it is today, looking great!

I followed the plans here:

http://fuentesfarm.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/spiral-herb-garden-chart/

Soon I plan to build a smaller version with smaller bricks.  I also want to see how cheaply I can build this in a community garden in Philly with discarded cinder blocks.

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Herb Spiral Project in Delaware

Before and after the most recent work day.

Ive been working on building an herb spiral in my parents yard in Delaware. Its just about finished.

An herb spiral is a permaculture design that allows you to grow up to 16 different herbs all requiring different conditions, from watercress and mint to rosemary and oregano. The design channels water from the top of the garden to the small pond at the bottom.  The structure creates microclimates through variation in sunlight and soil moisture. Well place plants at the top that need less water, and plants at the bottom (near the pond) that need more water. The north side will have shade-loving herbs and the south side will have herbs that need more light. The idea is to grow a wide variety of herbs that will be available for the kitchen.

Its a good idea to place an herb spiral close to the kitchen. That way, if youre cooking dinner, you can easily cut fresh herbs for your recipes.

If you want to learn more, or build your own, detailed instructions can be found here: http://fuentesfarm.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/spiral-herb-garden-chart/

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Aquafarm 2 0 Review

A little while back, I was contacted by Alejandro from Back to the Roots.  He had seen my first Aquafarm review, and appreciated the review.  We chatted about our similar ideals and regenerative food production goals, and he offered to send me some updated parts for the Aquafarm.  The updated Aquafarm is in stores already, and included several improvements.  First, there is a new pump.  This is a water pump rather than an air pump.  It’ more efficient, and quieter than the air pump was.  There was also a new upper grow tray to accommodate the different pump and tubing.  Also included was an updated grow medium.  The new rocks are white in color, rather than brown, and they are more porous than the original grow media, allowing for more beneficial bacteria to turn the fish waste into plant food.

Overall, the update greatly improved the Aquafarm design.  I would hesitate to recommend the original design because of the loud pump, and the fact that the air pump died after a few months.  This updated version is definitely one that I’m now comfortable to recommend.  I’ve had great success growing basil and purslane under a daylight color lamp in a bedroom.  Here’s a quick video review of the updated Aquafarm 2.0 from Back to the Roots.  You can buy the updated Aquafarm at Petco stores, on Amazon, or directly from Back to the Roots.

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Herb Spiral in West Philly Community Garden

Over the past two weekends I spent some time building an herb spiral at a community garden at 37th and Brown St in West Philadelphia.  All the bricks were found in the surrounding neighborhood, and the soil from the Philadelphia Horticultural Society Community Garden next door.  This little garden is maintained by Growing Home, a non-profit organization trying to empower communities to grow their own food on the unused land in their neighborhoods.  This herb spiral was built entirly for free with reclaimed or donated materials.  Everything besides the corn was seeded, since we didnt have transplants available.  Hopefully in a few weeks Ill stop back and see how its doing.  Check out the photos!

After the first day.

Alex and Elissa from Growing Home

Corn Planted!

Heres the seeds that we planted

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Oyster Mushroom Kit from Back to the Roots

Some photos from the first flush of Oyster Mushrooms that grew in the Mushroom Kit from Back to the Roots.

Pinning

A day or two later

A day or two later

Harvest Day

These were started on May 11, started Pinning on June 2nd, harvested on June 6th.

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Stropharia aka Garden Giant Mycelium spawned to garden bed

My buddy Brian gave me some Stropharia spawn a few months back that I have been running out onto fermented woodchips.  The woodchips are finally fully colonized, and I spread them throughout the mulch around my garden.  Hopefully it will outcompete the Alcohol Inky Cap mushrooms in the garden, and Ill have some Garden Giant mushrooms in the Spring!  Heres some photos:

The woodchips colonizing in the burlap sack, buried in a small hole.

The mycelium is exploding with life!

So good!

Im hoping that the Stropharia will out-compete these inky cap mushrooms, which are edible, but toxic when eaten within 3 days of consuming alcohol.  Thats no fun...

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Kombucha

For the past few months Ive been brewing my own Kombucha Tea.  Kombucha is a fermented, sugary tea which many believe to have health benefits.  The sugar is digested by a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast), that weird spongey thing floating in the jars below.  The scoby is actually edible, but Ive never taken a bite!  Ive read that the pro-biotics in kombucha are good for digestion and gut health, and when I drink it, I feel a tingly, enjoyable sensation that is hard to describe.  It feels good to drink!  However, I have some reservations.  In an article that Paul Stamets wrote called The Manchurian Mushroom, My Adventures with "The Blob", he warns that Kombucha hasnt had in-depth studies to show its positive or negative health effects.  It contains usnic acid, which has anti-biotic effects.  Stamets warns that frequent consumption of Kombucha could have similar effects as over-use of anti-biotics.  Namely, killing off beneficial bacteria in the body, and naturally selecting the harmful bacteria that can tolerate the unnatural conditions and become especially adapted and difficult to treat.  For those reasons, I cut back my consumption to about 1 cup per day at most, which is the maximum that Stamets recommends to drink.  Stamets also warns that the sugary environment necessary for brewing Kombucha invites other, potentially harmful bacteria to grow.  All Kombucha brewing information that Ive found stress the importance of inspecting the SCOBY regularly for signs of infection.

Ive heard that the history of Kombucha is a mysterious one.  Its said that Kombucha was discovered in Asian monastaries in the mountains.  Apparantly monks would brew Kombucha, and had passed down the culture of bacteria and yeast from brewer to brewer.  Whatever the history, its an intersting drink, and a fun experiment!

The kombucha ferments in a jar for 7-10 days.

After the initial fermentationn, it is bottled, and then fermented again at room temperature for 2-3 days.  During this secondary fermentation, fruit and herbs can be added to infuse flavors into the brew.  After 2-3 days, it goes in the fridge and is ready to drink!

Heres a How To guide to brewing Kombucha at home.  And if anyone wants to try this out, let me know.  I have extra SCOBYs that you can start with!

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Another Herb Spiral

After seeing photos of the herb spiral that I built for my parents, my girlfriends parents wanted one as well.  While they were in Europe on vacation, we built one in their backyard.  Heres some photos of how it turned out.

My parents, and my girlfriends parents both expressed concern about how to harvest and use the herbs.  Im putting together an information packet that will describe harvest time, how to harvest, and how to use all the plants in an herb spiral.  Ill be posting that on the blog when its finished.

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