Garden log 310509

The garden is coming along nicely , the tomatoes , bean and zucchini doing very well though only the zucchini has any fruit , lots of flowers on tomatoes .


Zucchini living up to its reputation of being a fast mover , giant blooms , took me my surprise .

Planting log 130509

The garden is picking up, well sort of . It still isn't overrun by plants but gradually we can see some greenery . And considering the state we were in , if we produce food this season , it will be a big bonus .

The herb patch on the Hugelkultur bed , lavender , sage , basil and a tiny tomato seedling.


The Hugelkultur terrace, logs of wood held in place with metal stakes , actually scrap iron bars , filled with goodness of rotting wood .


Greywater tank filter with the salvaged mulch


Tomatoes ..


Beans for some nitrogen fixing . I took a handful of organic store bought beans and threw them all over the place .



The almond..


The plum..


And zucchini , the only plant that seems to understand the urgency .

Is it a bird, is it a ..........

This guy ain't saving no energy by using a bike but one cannot let this pass by .
Awesome.

Homegrown Revolution

For the last couple of years I have been following the online journal of a family in urban Pasadena that decided to convert their one-tenth acre garden to a Urban Homestead . Over the years they have diversified a lot from growing food to a lifestyle of being self sustaining , at least as close one can get to in an urban area , effectively minimising their ecological footprint . Their internet and media footprint has increased considerably . They have created sites like Freedom seeds , Freedom Gardens and have been the subject of many news clips and documentaries . The film Homegrown revolution featuring the homestead , has been screened in a number of green film festivals . In a couple of months the family will be coming to Israel and would like to screen this movie . I am sending out this message to a number of groups hoping that someone can organise a community screening of this movie along with the Dervaes family . Their journal can be accessed here at Path to freedom

In the midst of a densely urban setting in downtown Pasadena, radical change is taking root.

For over twenty years, the Dervaes family have transformed their home into an urban homestead. They harvest nearly 3 tons of organic food from their 1/10 acre garden while incorporating many back-to-basics practices, as well as solar energy and biodiesel. (Film's Runtime 15:44)