Our food forest garden

Dear Family & Friends

Our CEO was talking to a guy in Germany about our garden and after sending him a photo of it, he invited him over to be his guest in Germany for consultation on his vast garden. Then husband admitted that our garden is basically the 'wife's' project...so, I also got invited to be his guest. To be honest, I don't think I can claim to be an expert and therefore not keen on the offer. The truth is: although I enjoy gardening, yet I have no intention to be a slave to it since I just take an easy maintenance in the most natural sort of gardening style.

This is what our mid-spring garden looks like now - packed!

In Bulgaria, we have very intense dry summer...this last for about three months from June to August...long enough to drive me crazy. Over the years, I have to come up with a solution and that is to create a micro-climate. As summer heat is not normally accompanied with humidity, we can bring coolness by just planting trees to create shade.

some of our fruit trees were grown in recycled yogurt pots not too long ago

Our garden is not massive but it is big enough. By now, we have planted around 40-45 fruit trees within our enclosed garden walls. That's a lot of fruits to come. We are starting to reap the rewards. There's about all sort of fruits you can imagine - non-tropical ones of course...such as apples, pears,  peaches, plums of green, red and purple variety, sweet and sour variety cherries, quinces, apricots, mulberry, persimmon, pomagrenate, figs, almond nuts, hazelnut, chestnut...not including the rows of grapes, kiwi and berry bushes like gooseberries, raspberries, goji berries, aronia and strawberries. They are all self sustaining with very little maintenance involved. Growing trees is much easier than maintaining a grass lawn! The fact that we now took out the lawn in favour of a fruit orchard:) The best thing I've done!

not too long ago - trees were with blooms - they rapidly changed and progress on

My food forest dream have been created and it's not difficult to aim for. I go to the garden and I thank God for He basically makes them grow and sustains them for me. Our job is to harvest and enjoy the fruit of our labour...perhaps a little bit of pruning - 'IF' needed. As for making it fruit, well, that's not my job...the bees pollinate each tree one after another! As for fertilizing for the health of the trees, well, keep it messy, let the leaves drop without clearing them up and keep bushes around it to house creatures who will do the feeding for the trees.

now, the fruit trees are well into leave stage with  the flowers swelling into fruit form

Trees takes in their water from deep grounds. I don't water trees except when they were newly planted. No work - yet, they provide us all the shade to shield us from intense summer heat with their full on leaves, and by winter we get back all the sunlight to keep us warm as they drop all the leaves down and mulch their surroundings to keep the water they need from evaporation:) Amazing design!

trees are beautiful in every season - they change from stage to stage

No more garden secrets...all my dirty gardening habits are out...but I tell you..that's the best thing I've learned in life that makes sense - natural gardening:)

herbs such as chives, lemon balm grows along side with flowers of all sorts

Perfect spring time season...I'm off to enjoy some gardening work. BTW, we had -2C for two nights in a row last week (in mid spring!)...it burned the tips of my bigger potatoes, beans and tomato plants, including my mulberry tree that started budding after winter hibernation...- sad....but I don't worry about those things...they recover fast - back on track:)

In life, not all problems are really problem...so enjoy and always look to the good side:) I'm happy and you should be happy too!

Yours