Dew, my terrace, tulip bulbs etc...

I'm back to taking some pictures then blogging a few days later. It's amazing how fast things change and given my freestyle gardening, how busy I get. I did a lot in back but I still need to sow more scarlet runner beans and some more beans in front. Todd made me watch some permaculture videos which is what I am leaning towards. Some videos came from the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. This is pretty cool stuff, makes me wanna pack up and find 5 acres somewhere.

Here's a dewy cabbage with dewy self-sown fennel. Self-sown plants are one aspect of permaculture. The bottom line is getting the most whatever it is you want with the least amount of effort. I did a post, Lazy Man's Way which seems pretty close to the perma culture philosophy. I am glad that this is catching on in some places.

One thing I saw a lot in the permaculture planting were terraces. Terraces can make passive irrigation pretty simple. This small terrace here isn't exactly set up to water itself, but it's true that I could water the top to overflowing and just let it filter down. This terrace has filled out quite a bit since I established it.

This tulip is not an example of permaculture. I decided to do the extra work of lifting my bulbs this year. Usually I leave them which leads to them gradually dying out. I really liked the flowers so I thought I'd try lifting them which give me the option of planting them in a different location. At this point I DO rotate my crops. I follow the simple rule of not planting brassicas, and plants in the tomato family in the same location consecutively. I'm not absolutely strict about that but it does makes me keep some semblance of structure I guess.

This tulip bulb has a smaller bulb that grew on the surface of the soil. Perhaps 6 of my bulbs had this going on. From what I understand tulips are native to a place that gets hot and dry after they bloom. Somewhere in Turkey? I'm too lazy to see if I am remembering that correctly. I guess that in the wild surface bulbs like this would break away from the parent plant and get scattered, hopefully to a nice new bed. Right now the bulbs I dug up are in a paperbag on my porch mixed with some vermiculite to help them dry up a bit. Then I'll store them in the basement til September. I hope this works out well.

I posted this picture because it has a cat in it. The bare spot of soil is where the tulips were. I intend to sow some beans here, maybe more flageolet. I probably should harvest the lettuce.