Wild boar attack!

We had a wild boar attack in the permaculture garden we have close to the house where we live. It was a big disaster. They destroyed the whole garden and left only few things behind, mainly onion.  It was really sad, because it was a two year project of one of the guys living here destroyed in one night. Though, it was almost destiny, because the day before we were told by Darren Doherty (Known for Holistic management and permaculture design) that the garden in the Nido uses too much water on the garden and should stop doing it now where we have the new productive garden.

The garden before the attack:

  The garden after the attack: 

They turned the soil real good ;)

Mula, dog and wild boars in the garden!

Mula Transport

Finally i got permission to ride the Mula/Mule/Muldyr to the garden! So now i have transport to the garden and I don't have to walk up hill! Her name is Silvia and she is great! As you see on the first Picture it is possible to ride her without a bridle. She is very clever and understands what to do just from sounds and small movements.

Dog against wildboars

We just got a dog in the garden and an electric fence around it to keep out the wild boars. His name is Gitano and he will be able to walk around when he gets more used to being in the garden. I am unsure how much he will actually have an effect on keeping away the wild boears, because he is very lazy and did not react when I saw the wild boars right outside the fence the other day. The wild boars are definitely not shy. When I saw the wild boars for the first time in February there was maybe 10, but now in May there is at least 30! They grow super fast! 

One day where i was riding back home on Silvia, she was a bit nervous and i didn't understand why. Then we saw a fox and i thought that was it, but then i could hear and then see some wild boars and suddenly around 30 wild boars, very different ages and sizes, ran right out in front of us! I am sooo happy that i was on Silvia and not walking alone. My legs were like spaghetti!

The Brown spots on the Picture is wildboars that me and Amaro saw one morning when we were cutting down cañaeja, a plant that are poisonous for the sheep

Harvesting

We had our first harvest the 15^th of April and so far we have been able to harvest the herbs, salatmix, Tuscan kale, turnip, radish, beets, kohlrabi, swiss chard and spring onions. It is so cool and delicious to be eating fresh food from the garden! The food goes to the Hotel of La Donaira and to the people Living in the volunteer house.

Soilblocks Rock!

Soilblocks is the shit! It is so good! So easy and without plastic! I can recommend everyone who wants to do seedlings to do it with soilblocks. With the right mix of substrate the seedlings in the soilblocks has all the best conditions to grow and will germinate very quickly with good aeration and humidity all over. The blocks hold the water like a sponge and the blocks make it possible for the roots to grow straiter and not spin around like in a pot or in the plastic "crates". When you are ready to transplant into your beds they are easy to separate and chuck in. We use one part compost, one part peed, half a part pearlite, two different types of rock dust and blood meal (to provide a slow and continuously supply of phosphorus). 

The soilblocks are available in various sizes for different seedsizes and for the different stages of the plants growth. 

Our delicious salatmix growing beautifully in the soilblocks

Easy transplanting of Kohlrabi

The Garden

The garden consists of 15 beds that are 30m long and 75cm wide and then we have the greenhouse consisting of 5 beds that are a bit shorter, 20m, but also 75cm wide. Having the same sized beds makes it possible to use the same tools and covers for the whole garden.

Andrew, my garden master has planned everything in the garden himself and before I arrived the placing of the garden was decided, and the area was broad forked. They mulched the edges with straw to later plant different plants to function as a hedge and windbreak. When I arrived in the beginning of February, they had already started removing the perennial weeds like quack (couchgrass), but we continued two months more also doing other small things in between. The real fun started when we began planting things in the hedges and seeding in soilblocks in the greenhouse.

Developement of the garden:

Development of the greenhouse 

In the beds we are growing:

Various types of lettuce for salatmix: red and green oak leaved lettuce, Endive, Rucula, Misuna, Red mustard, Spinach, good gardener lettuce, Russian kale and romaine. We also have also planted: Spring onion, onion, sweet peas, Broad beans, Turnip, Radish, Purple Kohlrabi, Carrots, potatoes, squash, aubergine, Tuscan kale, cauliflower, broccoli, Swiss chard, beets, cucumber, cantaloupe, hot peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes. Some herbs: Dill, Cilantro, parsley and purple and green basil.

In the hedges of the garden we planted: 

Chamomile, lemonbalm, artichoke, calendula, sweet corn and colorful native corn from south America, various flowers, sage, thyme, oregano, lavender, rosemary, asparagus, fresh garlic, trees: hazelnut, fig, plum, almond. We also planted some beets, kale and cilantro for seeds. We also have an exploding amount of fungi (fiunny Guys) in the hedges!