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.