Food Forests NZ

Comment

Comment by Tim on August 12, 2011 at 10:47am

Thanks Robyn, would love to drop in.  We moved to a new place in an urban setting about 9 months ago.  lots of tree planting going on right now so will be sure to post photo's as progress is made.  Cheers

Comment by Kathrina Muller on August 11, 2011 at 7:18am

If you want mushrooms in your food forest, have you considered the woodear fungus, or Jews ear as it used to be called. It is native to NZ and grows on dead wood. In fact it used to be collected and exported from NZ to China in the late 1800/1900 see http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/mushrooms-and-other-cultivated-fungi/2
or http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/taranaki-region/9/6/1
I have had it growing on dead Erythrina wood, on a sick golden elderberry and on branches off the elderberry. Does anyone have better ideas than just piling up cut branches next to where it is growing.
The following is an article from our seedsaver newsletter
Health Benefits of Black Fungus (Ref: hubpages.com)
Black fungus is a very common and inexpensive ingredient on Chinese dinner table. It also has been labelled as a medicinal food for
thousands of years because of its nutrient content such as iron, protein, vitamins, polysaccharide, and other minerals.
Flavor: Black fungus has no flavour of its own, but absorbs the seasonings it is cooked with.
Other Names: Black Fungus (Auricularia polytricha) is also known as cloud ear; tree ear; wood fungus; mouse ear, and jelly mushroom.
Health Benefits in Chinese herbal medicine:
Black Fungus helps in nourishing the lungs, liver and stomach. It alleviates
dryness and promotes circulation in the body.
Black fungus has a reputation in Chinese herbal medicine for increasing the fluidity
of the blood (same effect as in aspirin) and improving circulation. It is given to
patients who suffer from atherosclerosis.
Black fungus contains iron. Iron contained in black fungus is indeed one of the
highest among all the vegetables; eating regularly can enrich blood and prevent
iron deficiency anaemia. It is a much better alternative to pig liver as a
good source of iron, containing up to seven times of iron compared to pig liver.
Black fungus contains polysaccharide, this compound not only inhibits tumour
growth and prevents cancer, and it also neutralizes the side effects of chemotherapy
and radiation.
Black fungus is a good “absorbent” and “scavenger” of toxic substances in the body, thanks to its pectin that can absorb dust in
lungs and digestive system and then excrete together.
Black fungus is a good source of calcium, reportedly containing twice the amount of calcium compared to milk.
Black fungus is also rich in protein, vitamins D, B1 and B2.
Availability: it is mostly sold dried but is also available fresh.
Shelf life: If stored in an airtight container, they should keep for up to a year.
Preparation: Before using, soak the fungus in warm water for at least 15 minutes. It will expand to several times its normal size. Then
rinse the fungus and trim the stem where it was attached to the wood of the tree (cloud ears grow on trees such as the mango and kapok).
Once the cloud ears have been cut up into an appropriate shape and size, add them to a dish near the end of stir frying, so that
they do not lose their crunchy texture.
Note: Kathrina might have some Black fungus growing in her garden and she would not mind sharing with us!
Phyllis Wu….

Comment by Robyn Guyton on August 8, 2011 at 7:54pm

Thanks Tim

 

Have you photos of your garden?  I like the fact that no two gardens are ever the same in permaculture as we all have different conditions.

If you are ever down south come and visit us!

 

Comment by Tim on August 8, 2011 at 3:21pm

I love the photo's of your food forest Robyn.  Very inspiring!  Hi everyone, Robyn's asked me to include a link in this group to my journals.  The permaculture practitioner journals series, a resource developed for those interested in healthy and sustainable food production in your own back yard and orchard, is something I’ve been working on for a few years now. They can be downloaded from my website http://www.piginthemud.com/ I hope they can be of some value to you. cheers

Comment by Robyn Guyton on July 28, 2011 at 9:35am

I think one of the best things about permaculture forest gardens is that they are ultra three dimensional.  The layering you can achieve on one small patch with every root and top in it's own space.  Every 4 square metres you can have a fruit tree, 3-4 berries, herbs in between, and bulbs and tubers underground.   Add in some nitrogen fixing plants and a vine winding up the tree and even some perennial vegetables.  Makes the separate orchard then the berry patch then the herb garden look like a waste of space as only one dimension above and below ground is used.

Comment by Robyn Guyton on July 27, 2011 at 3:11am

We have done that with shitaki mushrooms  - what other ones does he suggest? Must try and read his book.

Comment by Christy Ralphs on July 26, 2011 at 9:23pm

thanks robyn... slowly but surely...

re fungi, i meant more edible fungi, by inoculating stumps or logs in the forest garden.

Comment by Robyn Guyton on July 26, 2011 at 8:28pm

looks great Christy you are definitely on to it! 

Fungi in Food forests... we have learned that every plant has a symbiotic fungi.  They attach themselves to the roots and convert nutrients into a form those  roots can absorb and in return they get the sugars they need.  

Comment by Christy Ralphs on July 26, 2011 at 6:45pm

...just picked up 'creating a forest garden' by martin crawford from the library, looking forward to reading. particularly interested in the chapter 'fungi in forest gardens' - has anyone tried doing this?

Comment by Christy Ralphs on July 26, 2011 at 6:41pm

Thanks for the pics Robyn - inspirational, and has motivated me to get back out there and keep developing mine. Some pics below:

This is a 'before' picture of the area I decided to convert. There is some existing citrus and a loquat.

 

This is as of yesterday, photo taken from approx same place. the shade cloth knee high fence is to keep the ducks in. This is the end I started work on first.

 

closer up view... the plants in there that are for 'chop and drop' need to be cut back. Most successful edible ground cover has been a spreading 'wild' strawberry. latest edition is a 'proper' duck run in far right corner, where I am currently shutting them away at night so I can collect their eggs, and when there are ducklings they will be able to be protected from our predatory pukeko.

Another before photo...

With the after photo not looking quite so impressive - have a lot of work to do!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• Next ›
• Page