Our Garden in 2023
One thing at a time
Planning is an important part of any process. And converting a garden into a little food forest supported by native species is no different.
It requires a lot of research! Understanding the lay of the land with shade patterns and wind direction are important. And understanding what each species requires and provides to help maximize success.
The year it all began
In January 2023 we moved into our new home. Our home of the 5 years before that did not have the space, and we knew we would not live there for long. We had a 5-year plan!
Now that we are here, and we have the space, it was time to get to work. 2023 was the year for us to get used to the new home. Time to figure out what we already have, how the sun travels across our property and start dreaming.
Not knowing much about the local fauna and flora, we paid a consultant a fee to come out and give us some advice. Helping Nature Heal specializes in growing food forests and rehabilitation of lands, with a strong focus on native species.
The consult did not cost a lot, and the information we received was invaluable! It gave us some direction and was well worth the few bucks!
Composting
One of the first things we did in the spring of 2023 was to make our first compost bin. Having a compost bin was a priority for us! We wanted to stop sending compostable items away with the garbage collection and start producing our own black gold.
The previous owners had left a few extra garbage cans that we had no use for. So, we turned one of them into a little compost bin – the little blue one.
Later in the season we went to a yard sale and found the black one for dirt cheap.
To read more about how I turned these bins into a no-effort, no turn compost bin, check out this post.
Mushroom logs
The dream of growing our own mushrooms! We have big dreams, haha!
In early fall a storm came through and the big maple tree in our friend’s garden lost a big branch. We helped them cut it into smaller pieces and in return collected a few logs for inoculation.
We decided to go with shiitake plugs. Once inoculated we placed them in the little piece of forest on a pallet.
Later that same fall another storm took down a tree in our neighbor’s yard. She did not want the wood, so we took a couple of pieces and used the rest of our shiitake plugs to inoculate these logs.
And we wait and wait.
Fast forward to the summer of 2024 and we noticed something growing on the first batch of logs. Sadly though, it was not shiitake mushrooms.
From what I could find out, it is a fungus also referred to as black mold. I am not sure. But, if you know what this could be, please let me know.
So, it is doubtful we will get shiitakes on these logs. But there is still hope for the other two. They are a lot larger in diameter and will take longer to fully colonize.
I am not giving up yet! Once I have seen some positive results, I will share it.
For the rest of 2023 we did not do much outside. We removed a small patch of overgrown blackberries and some small patches of other invasive species. Planted some bulbs in the fall. But that is about as far as we got for 2023.
If you want to see what we managed to achieve in 2024, click here. Thank you for following along!
