Here we find ourselves, on the 28th of October, 2014. The weather seems to be tipping more towards the winter switch. Fall doesn't really seem to exist in the Wilmington area, a week of mid 70 highs swinging to mid 40s for the lows seem to be the cycle instead. Either way, we have been actively preparing for the colder weather. Bushes being trimmed, last lawn mowing of the year, room being made on the porch for cold sensitive plants, covers being constructed for rows, aquaponics table frost cover, etc..

October 28th view of hungarian paprika peppers. They are just starting to get their red coloring. Hoping to dodge frost the next few weeks so they can ripen. These are sonic bloom effected, and boy does it show in size thus far! Collecting the SB effected seed of these huge peppers is my ultimate intention. However, we are perfecting a method to dry and powder them, as we use paprika almost nightly. Smoked paprika methods are still being conceived, but producing our own biodynamic spice paprika is a start!

October 28th view of the Celeste Fig. She has grown so fast and so much since being planted earlier this year, it is truly inspiring to witness.  Yes, she is starting to dwarf the rose arbor (poor roses, they baffle me).

October 28th view of the Parfianka Pomegranate. She was killed back to the ground by last ears intense freezing, but sonic bloom and biodynamics have certainly helped her recover strong.

October 28th view of the Craig's Crimson Cherry tree. Hard to recognize due to the amount of growth she has put off this year too! Like the pomegranate, it was frozen and killed to the ground level last winter. Now taller than ever, on the next fruit crop day with a descending moon I will prune her back for the winter. I must learn/refine proper tree pruning or natural methods now, as we prepare for our future homestead.

October 28th view of the Eucalyptus tree trunk.. yea she likes this environment for sure. Put a lego figure next to it and mistake it for a Baobab tree!

October 28th backed up view of the eucalyptus tree. Boy o boy has she grown too! Planted near the same time as the fig tree, she really seems to be happy.

October 28th view of the aquaponics table almost fully prepared for frosty nights. The back still needs to be covered, and seems checked/taped up. In the left tub, parsley and strawberries in the front. Pac Choy behind with red russian kale and cilantro hiding in there too. The right tub has pac choy in the front with chard in the back.

October 28th the cilantro row is starting to germinate and produce leaves. Not planning on covering her, as she can make it through frost.

October 28th view of the spinach row. Some leaves are ready for harvest already! Hoping to produce enough for the neighbors consumption too, but only time will tell. The hoops are over the row, waiting to help protect from the cold weather to come.

October 28th view of the red russian and dino/lacinato kale row. They love frost and get better with the increasing cold. Plenty of mulch and they should be feeding us through the winter, maybe the chickens too ;)

October 28th view of the pac choy plants, with dino kale behind. I may need to cover this half of the row, as pac choy may not be frost hardy. I enjoy the leaves in stir fry (my veggies aren't in the hot pan for more than 1 min, not much fry to them hehe) but I am noticing more than 3 or 4 plants is too much for just my consumption.

October 28th view of the chard row. The variety are ruby red and rainbow chard, mixed up unfortunately. They will need to be covered from the frosts when they start. Very nutritious leaves, the most neutral tasting of all leafy greens I consume, and a great substitute for lettuce when nutrition is the intention.

October 28th view of the garden space created this summer. I got tired of mowing the lawn and seeing the poor sandy soil struggling even to nurture weeds (which will grow and deposit their nutrients for grass to grow). I tried a less intensive, but more so than what I am learning to do still, to go about preparing the soil. I first plotted the space, then with a shovel and hand tilling tool (manual labor love) tore the top 6 inches of soil/vegetative growth up. I left it all where it was to decompose and let the microorganisms recover from the shock of being tilled. I added minerals to amend the soil per a local expert's recommendation after soil test results. Over the next two months I piled grass trimmings, plain (not shiny!!) tape-less cardboard over the entire plot.  Compost tea was added weekly to super charge the microorganisms and further prepare the soil. About one month in I added worm castings and home raised worms to the plot with weekly additions of juicing pulp (it isnt a 'waste' to juice if you correctly use the pulp and don't need the excess fiber in your diet).  At one point our lawn mower failed to work for a month and during summer here, the grass had reached knee high being untrimmed.  Upon mowing such tall grass, the to be fall greens plot had plenty of organic matter to absorb! After about 6 to 8 inches of this organic matter mix and 2 months of patient love, it was about time to hoe it up. So I went out and made four rows in an hour or so, mulched them with more grass trimming and straw, and started direct sowing and transplanting. I have been using compost tea and omri approved nutrients weekly.

October 28th view of the citrus orchard to be. From left to right, naval orange, key lime, lisbon lemon, and meyer lemon. All are dwarf trees and will hopefully flourish in our future greenhouse (rimolgreenhouses.com, northpoint 22'x48').

October 28th view of the meyer lemon tree. She is going to have a great harvest this year.. if we can fit her back on the porch as frost approaches...

October 28th view of the chicken feeders I constructed. We use Reedy Fork organic feed (Humble Roots Farm sells it locally in Wilmington) and it isnt the cheapest, but real food (feed) isnt when not grown yourself. Previous feeding methods seem to waste a fair amount of feed, from spilling, scratching, soiling (chicken waste), and rain. So I looked around, got a few ideas and devised a custom feeder from last year's greenhouse pvc waiting to be re-purposed. Still trying to decide if they can eat enough from the method (ie one or two chickens protect it from the others, can they get the food with a full 90 degree bend or does it need to cut off at 60 degrees, will the 90 degree hurt their heads reaching for feed inside tubes, or will the 60 degree spill to much inside the coop). I do know the feed flows freely down into the 180 bend if slowly poured from the wide mouth tops. I also know that two of the chickens, the older two, are using it. Next step is to perfect the feeders, and build a waterer for inside the coop.

October 28th view of the raised beds. Our first attempt to farm/garden here has run out of fertile soil due to poor crop rotation practices, or lack there of. I have taught myself  over the past month or two about cover crops, crop rotation, and soil fertility. Much has been done wrong, but much can be done to correct it. I have sown buckwheat a month back to try to help as the summer faded. Recently, I have sown a winter cover crop mix in hopes it will protect and revitalize the soil over winter. Not sure if I will grow more food in these beds come summer, or just cover crop the soil again to really give the soil time to heal.

October 28th more of the raised beds, with winter rye starting to sprout from the soil.

October 28th view of the genovese basil that has been sonic bloom loved for months now. We made jars of pesto, gave over two lbs to neighbors and still found ourselves with more than we could use. The leaves are extremely thick and aromatic. May have to bring her in to the porch from frost protection until her seeds can finish ripening... must propagate the SB effected genetics!

October 28th view of the starts to be homed still. Better to have too many than not enough when producing ones own food. Some for early christmas gifts in planters may be my path after filling in our rows of fall greens. Spinach, Chard, Cilantro, Red Russian Kale, Dino/Lacinato Kale, broccoli, and cauliflower starts.

October 28th view of the spiral garden, released from her confines within the fence. The oregano plant is doing fantastic still, while winter savory and rosemary make up the other inside corners. The catnip is doing amazing in the center mound with marigolds and turkish oregano. The spiral is planted with brassicas mostly as beans made up most of the summer and late fall planting. Broccoli, cauliflower, chard, kale, and mustard greens are thriving or newly transplanted and mulched. Some salvaged from compost piles at work, others started and struggled in the heat for a month.

October 28th update on the spring plot amending. This was the vine crop area during the summer, which produced a significant amount of squash, zucchini, and a few watermelon. This time, I will be doing the least labor intensive method I have used/practiced/learned... just lay cardboard, added leaf mulch, then compost, yard trimmings, organic matter, juicing pulp, worms, and soil mineral amendments for the space. It will rest and reinvigorate the life within over the winter and come spring, there might just be enough fertility to repeat the fall greens!

October 28th glimpse of nature and water's harmony. These plants had sonic bloom played for them this morning. May be a common occurrence, or may be special to the frequency exposure... either way, nature and the universe can be breathtakingly stunning if we just pay attention.

October 28th view of a wilting flower I have yet to identify, but hope to move a bulb or two with us. They seem to be unique to our 1825 built home(stead) and the neighboring poplar grove plantation. The purple/blue flowers are blooming with intense numbers this year as well. Not sure of their variety either, but the butterflies to be the pollinator of choice.

October 28th view of more of the local flowers blooming under the decades old muscadine vine. The vine and arbor are about to get a revamping in the next week or two, expansion, and pruning in hopes of getting one more 100+ lbs grape harvest next summer.

October 28th view of a butterfly making sweet flower love. Not sure if this is a monarch or not, but they are welcome to dwell here happily and harmoniously.

October 28th view of another patch of beautiful flowers and another butterfly.

October 28th morning bloom on one of Jessi's newly acquired tea plants.  This picture is dedicated to my gardening guru; may the sun rise and offer to you new blossoms of life daily as you continue on your path through this wonderful existence.  You will always be the first soul I think of (and probably run to with questions) as I reminisce on my own journey into biodynamics. You are one of the few kind souls who have helped nurture the spark of life and passion from within me. I am forever grateful our paths have been able to join as long as they have. Thank you, from the center of my soul.

  Strive each day to the find the beauty of nature and the cosmos in your daily life. When the day gets tough, stressful, tiring, exciting, saddening, overwhelming, boring, calm, or even bland.. stop, go into nature and find something beautiful... dwell with it, cherish its presence and existence in this current world. Lose yourself to 5 whole minutes of beauty and cosmic wonder, appreciating this human experience fully each day. -Craig

Wow how the perception of time changes so much. Much has happened since our last entry and July!! We have acquired land of our own, 4.81 acres!! We have been slowly withdrawing our energy here and allocating it towards planning our future homestead/farmstead.  Still, we do love our current home and will strive to leave a positive influence here for after we have moved on. For example, parts of the yard have been turned into an orchard, which is thriving now! Other parts were nothing more than sand and are on track to be cover cropped fertile soil sprouting volunteer veggies for years! Sonic Bloom has been doing wonders, from basil to reinvigorating the orchard.

October 3rd view of the Meyer Lemon tree. She has at least 2 dozen fruit, all getting closer to ripening by the day. I will truly have a hard time pruning her to bring her inside from frost this year.

October 3rd view of the Progressive Farms starts, finally germinating! August to late September was a nightmare trying to get seeds to germinate perpetually. Pictured are Ruby Red Chard, Pac Choy, Space F1 Spinach, Dino/Lacinato Kale, Red Russian Kale, and Santo Cilantro. The Pac Choy, kale, and cilantro are all 2nd generation seed we have saved. By third generation seed there is a strong possibility sonic bloom with positively benefit the seed genetics.

October 3rd view of the aquaponics table with fall crops. Summer was a bit rough with the evaporation of water and replenishment staying within ph parameters. Also, one problem with aquaponics in the pumps need to be checked on daily. I managed to have a week go by where I didn't see water pumping and didn'y think much of it. Unfortunately, my negligence to check on the pump resulted in my oldest koi dying (about 9 to 10 inches nose to tall). The nitrates were not being filtered by the plants due to the pump getting clogged. Easy fix, if one notices the watering not pumping. Pictured are Pac Choy, Chard, Parsley, and Red Russian Kale. I have sprinkled cilantro seed and sure some will volunteer from last year in the coming days or weeks. When pulling out the summer's cherry tomatoes, I was very pleased to see a healthy population of earth worms reproducing in the tubs on their own!

Sept 30th view of the Craig's Crimson Cherry tree really taking off this year! Sonic Bloom is doing wonders!

September 30th view of the Eucalyptus tree we put in this year to replace the key lime (still alive in a planter for the greenhouse of the future).

September 30th view of the Parfianka Pomegranate tree, mind you it was killed to the ground last winter and had to regrow from nothing this year. Sonic Bloom again has done wonders helping this tree come back strong!

September 30th view of the Celeste Fig. What can I say.. holy moly wowsers!! If one looks back over past entries, it is evident when this was planted in the ground 3 months ago (about) it was literally a 15th the size it is now. Size comparison is lacking, but if I stood next to this tree, the tallest branch is my height... yea, sonic bloom, native plant, biodynamic stirring and practices.  The Alberta peach is in the background, grew multiple feet this year and fruited enough for peach habanero hot sauce to be made.

Sept 30th view of the area I tilled up in hopes of planting garlic. A week or so after tilling we started to manifest our future land/homestead so the tilled area sat for a month. It had grass trimmings, cardboard, juicing scraps, a cubic yard or so of 'compost' (more like mulch), and worm castings/eggs/worms added to the mix over the almost two months it rested. Instead, I decided to plant our fall leafy greens and cilantro in the plot. In one morning, I hoed the plot into 5 rows, then leveled them off as best as I could. The next day I direct sowed spinach and cilantro while transplanting dino kale, red russian kale, pac choy, and chard. I hope to produce more than enough for us to eat, but also enough for our friendliest neighbors and good friends interested. The other garden plots have seed and transplants in, but need a nice round of cover crop and crop rotation before producing well again.

October 3rd view of the Red Russian and Dino Kale taking root. The straw/mulch was a pain to come by in the Wilmington area. Cardboard and grass trimmings line the rows to add more nitrogen and prevent soil erosion.