Lotus Permaculture Homestead

22/04/2025

Happy Earthday, we are fixing the soil as we grow along!

We are just the curators of the land doing the best we can, not my saying read it somewhere once🐞🐝🐛

20/04/2025

It always rains over the Easter weekend but we are not complaining. Chosa harvested our first Mustard Greens he will share with 8 of his friends, what a blessing. It's exactly 2mths since planting the seeds on the 20/2 & the start of the market garden.

The cattle egret reminded me yesterday of the importance of growing trees, they all settled on the tallest one available. They usually arrive when the "free range" cows are roaming close to the fence, Roy then always starts barking. Nature is amazing, they feed off the insects & play a role in the ecosystem.

We are enjoying the Roselle jam & the Sauerkraut I made at the fermentation workshop 3wks ago.

18/04/2025

What to look for when observing land Discover Permaculture with Geoff Lawton

16/04/2025

Sow, Grow, Harvest: From the garden yesterday, Brinjals, Tomatoes, Green peppers, Roselle, chilli variety, tiny Pumpkin & Butternut. Echinacae, Holy Basil & Orange Marigold seeds.

15/04/2025

Calabash: Thanks to African Marmalade for the introduction a few years ago, she sent me a variety of indigenous food seeds I will be saving some to share with others. This is my first meal I cooked, curry of course & it was delicious. Most of the ingredients came from the garden, Onions, Tomatoes, Garlic, Chillies, Curry leaves & Coriander.

12/04/2025

The Autumn sky is Grey today with light showers, there is a season for all the fruit. This is the last of the Pomegranates & the first Roselle, will make some jam later. It's perfect weather for Sago pudding, will add the recipe to the pics.

I bought some Garlic & Ginger from a backyard grower at the Mowbray monthly market, I used the sprouting tip he gave me see the pic.

11/04/2025

Chosa takes care of the Bananas, we learn from each other🙏 🍌

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11/04/2025

Our 1mth old market garden after the rain, it's a beautiful sunny day. Chosa topped them up individually with homemade compost yesterday after spraying a Neem blend, the Guinea fowl pop in for a treat sometimes.

09/04/2025

Zones & Sectors in Permaculture: Sectors are energies/external forces that come from outside & out of your control. It could be wind, water, weather, fires, pest control, invasive plants, security etc. All of this needs to be considered when planning & designing the Zones.
There is a 5m servitude along the South fence managed by the private company who supplies dam water from Nov-April. We've had repairs a few times close to the gate, lots of big rocks are left behind these were finally moved.

Our market garden loves this rainy weather, it keeps the Grasshoppers away that love the Chinese Cabbage when it's sunny. We filled all the other available beds with the last seedlings, the cabbage moth has arrived & we are busy making a Neem mix.

Waiting patiently for enough Roselle to make jam & cordial. I made some egg muffins for the first time, scones, bread & Red lentil soup so ready for the weather. While the garden is happy the Grey skies interfere with our electricity.

03/04/2025

Harvesting the rain: Living offgrid we depend on the rain, we have no borehole. We have access to dam water for 6mths from Nov-April. Winter starts in June, that's our rainy season.

We get power from the Sun so perfect weather to clean the roof & gutters, we bought the pressure cleaner 1yr ago.

01/04/2025

Early morning pics in the market garden. We planted Chinese Cabbage, R**e & Mustard Greens with herbs & flowers inbetween, they should be ready in 1mth. We found a few white worms that attack Chinese Cabbage heads at this early stage & removed by hand, Chosa has this experience fortunately.

I attended my first Seed Swop on Saturday at the Oude Molen Eco Village Cape Town, love my swop it's included in the pics. I was asked to do an introduction to Fermentation workshop with the growers group, making Sauerkraut & pickled Carrots. Lots more people are aware of gut health. I had Cabbage left over & made some bredie, a popular local dish with Ostrich neck.

27/03/2025

Sunset pics 1hr ago while watering the new garden, Chosa saw a mole & Roy loved the challenge. He added a shadenet windbreak, it makes a big difference.

I made some Rosemary cuttings & used the trimmings to make Shortbread biscuits for the first time. It was delicious with the Pomegranate cordial I made today, I'll add the recipes to the pics.

25/03/2025

Hugelkultur & no dig beds, Banana Circle: We planted nearly 500 leafy Green seedlings in the new no dig beds finishing last night. 4 x Roselle plants started flowering, they change overnight & it's amazing to watch in the Hugelkultur bed. Lots of new fruit growing in the Banana Circle, hopefully they will be ready before Winter.

We started our garden nearly 4yrs ago after rebuilding the house, we learn as we grow along too. All pics taken today, Grey skies mainly with light showers.

24/03/2025

No dig beds in the Mandala garden update: We had overcast weather with light rains for 3days so perfect for transplanting 50% of the seedlings, the planting process is with the pics.
We managed to find just enough horse manure to finish the last beds. Gathering enough resources like manure, mulch, cardboard & compost takes time. We used grass clippings & dried Vetiver when we ran out of mulch, we buy hay bales usually but this time it's not available from our regular supplier.

We will continue planting this evening before sunset, the beds are all ready.

21/03/2025

Calabash & no dig garden update: It's overcast with rain on the way, Chosa is determined to finish the last bed. We ran out of Horse manure just before & busy looking for more. Planting starts tomorrow, first mulch after a good soak.

We had our first Calabash today, it's surprisingly delicious cooked before the skin has hardened. Steamed with salt & nothing goes to waste.

19/03/2025

Just a little update on the no dig market garden installation since Monday, the beds are all on contour using a homemade AFrame.

17/03/2025

Homemade products: It's cool overcast weather, perfect to make Body Butter & hair balm I desperately needed. I have dry curly hair & the hair balm is a prewash, it's like a conditioner before washing. Body butter is a luxury I can only really afford to use lavishly if I make it myself. I added Sandalwood & Geranium EO I received recently from India, I'm happy to share my method. I buy carrier oils from Oyile Africa, becareful when buying essential oils sometimes it's blended.

The seeds I planted 6days ago has started sprouting, the trick is to keep it moist spraying a few times daily when it's hot.

15/03/2025

It's Pomegranate season & I finally had enough to make some cordial, 7 made 3 cups of juice. We are having the best harvest this year, nearly 4yrs after planting the tree from a cutting I made. I picked a few more today, the recipe is with the pics.

The contour lines are pegged in the new garden, we are using the same AFrame Chosa made nearly 4yrs ago when I introduced him to Swales. Most of our no dig beds are on contour. We're on a slight slope, this slows down rain water runoff soaking the beds at root level.