While in Florida this time I started some jackfruit from seed and planted a few trees before I left. In this video, I demonstrate the super simple process and reveal some tidbits about this delicious tropical fruit. In only 2-3 years you can have a jackfruit tree that produces fruit if conditions are right.
Last year I made a video about planting comfrey in my vineyard as a living mulch between the grape vines. Well, the plants have had some time to get established. So what were the results? Will it work to keep down grass and eliminate the need to scythe around the grape vines.
Trellising tomatoes can be a lot of work, and the typical tomato cage you can buy from the store is always inadequate for holding up a tomato vine. Long ago I learned about this tomato cage that is built to last and is sturdy enough to hold up the biggest fruit laden tomato plant. You should try it yourself.
Permaculture is all about stacking functions and creating symbiotic systems, and I try to follow these tenets in how I keep my vineyard. I intercrop my vineyard with vegetables, flowers, and green manures, not only to make use of what would otherwise be empty space, but to reduce competition with the grape vines and to cut back on the need for mowing and other maintenance.
I’ve been doing some experimenting with my low tunnel this season, not only planting crops under it, but adding wheels so that I can easily move it on and off the bed. It’s great for season extension and for protecting the crops from rabbits and deer, and it fits and moves perfectly between the rows of grapes in my vineyard.
In the past, I’ve planted onion starts from seed every spring with mixed results. I got kind of sick of dealing with cold early spring temps, damping off, and waiting forever to get plants big enough for planting out. I wanted the convenience and reliability of onion sets, but didn”t want conventionally grown sets from the store, which are often sweet onion varieties instead of the long storage ones I like to grow.
So last year I made a video about making my own organic onion sets, and this season I planted them out. This video takes you through the the season of growth and we get to see how they did.
Now is the time when in the dead of winter everyone is ordering seeds or just looking through their seed collection and deciding what to grow next season. Everyone’s champing at the bit for the cold to go away and the ground to green up so they can start a new season in the garden.
This video is really for the avid gardener and seed saver. I go through my 25 year old seed collection and tell the stories of how I can to be saving certain varieties.
I’d love to hear your seed stories too, so leave a comment in the comments section if you have a good one.
