Permaculture

per-ma-cul-ture - noun

The development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient.

My husband is still aggressively working on turning our 5 acres into a permaculture wonderland.

I think that I mentioned a couple weeks ago that he was waiting for some worms to come in the mail.  Well, they did and he put them in the worm box that he had built, per youtube instructions.  However, after a few days he opened the box and was attacked by millions of fruit flies and a horrible stench.  So he had to re-think the worm situation and now he has them in a re-designed worm box and in the 10 foot deep hole near the back of our property (which he says will be perfect because they need to be kept cool).  You might ask why we have a 10 foot hole available to receive worms.  It was originally dug for an underground shelter, but that's another story.

Worm ledge covered with stuff that worms like.

There are a couple worms in the middle of the photo.  They usually like to stay underground.  It's amazing how much lettuce they can eat.

Hy-dro-pon-ics - noun (used with a sing. verb)

A method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil

He's been thinking about trying a hydroponic garden for some time.  He's using a large, plastic container, with dirt built up on the sides to keep it cool.  It will be filled with nutrient-rich water with a pump and air-stone.  The plants will be started in little cups that sit in holes cut into a piece of styrofoam that sits on the top.  I'm not sure what he is going to grow yet, but, I can't wait to see what happens.

And then, he re-purposed a couple old pallets to create raised beds.  He nailed some wood on the back and sides, drilled drainage holes, filled them with dirt, planted the seeds - voila, raised beds.

He planted several different types of lettuce.  They are covered with plastic until the seeds germinate and pop out of the ground.

 He is using only heirloom seeds and only natural methods of fertilization and pest control.