System Overload

Today I ventured up to Kula Hardware and added to the aresenal of plants. I bought 9 more packs of seeds, a blueberry plant and a dryland taro plant.

I'm very excited about the blueberry plant. It was a plant I thought I would have trouble finding, but to my surprise, it was very easy to find. I purchased a Southern highbush variety called "Sharpblue." According to many references, this variety has less chill hours, which is ideal for the climate I live in. I can't wait to have my own blueberries. Just hope I can keep them freeloading birds off my stash.

I am also happy to get the taro plant. I always wanted to make my own poi and now I have the opportunity. I have a dryland type so I don't need to keep it in a lo'i (like a rice paddy, but for taro). This is another plant I can't wait til maturity so I can try it.

Yesterday, I finished the sheet mulch square in the backyard. Added chicken manure and lots of water, then covered it with a tarp so the county water doesn't just evaporate.

Rainy Days and Manure Always get Plants Grown

Today was quite rainy on my side of Maui. It has been quite rainy lately, it being "winter" here, and quite cold too. As you can see from the map, I live in about the middle of the island. Pukalani is situated near the base of Haleakala. I cleared out the front, marked out the area for planting, added some nearby cuttings, and spread out some compost and conditioner. Before adding the compost I added some chicken manure. Wasn't too smart to do it in the wind. I watered it well and also let the rain do its work. It may be too soon, but I hope to be planting in the next several days.

Front Yard all cut up.

Permaculture Garden in My Backyard (and frontyard)

Front section dedicated to growing stuff. As you can see, it needs some work first.

Gonna start blogging the plans I have for my parents yard. I have done a few things such as mulch a spot in the backyard and clear the portion of the front yard that I plan to use. I purchased some seeds from a local organic store.

Seeds that I bought and hope flourish

Seeds of Change sells organic heirloom and rare seeds. I purchased 9 packs at $2.69 each, for a total of $25.20 (incl tax). Online site sells a pack for $3.29. I will experiment sowing the seeds of change.
On to a more technical issue: Am I allowed to use the term "permaculture?" Is what I am doing considered permaculture? I am taking my influence in design and theory from permaculture concepts I've read about in books and online, but I haven't been trained and therefore cannot legally use the term. I'll use the term Toby Hemenway uses in his book, Gaia's Garden: A Guide to homescale Permaculture. He calls what I plan to do "ecological gardens." Hereinafter, I will use the term e-garden to make it simpler to refer to. I may not end up being an e-gardener at all, and only reach the status of organic gardener. It may be beyond my scope to include many of the aspects an e-garden entails. All said and done, there may be no difference. Either way, I hope to have healthier and fresher foods to eat.
As I mentioned, I am not trained nor have much experience in gardening (apart from owning a few house plants) so you will witness a total beginner as he goes through the ups and downs of designing, implementing, and maintaining a garden, with the additional trials of living at home. Got tips, ideas, comments, or the will to share? Bring it on. Life is too short to learn the hard way.

Feeble backyard attempt at sheet mulch. Toby Hemenway said sheet mulch was forgiving. We'll just see how much.