Future additions

I was thinking about listing out all the fruit and veg we have growing on a perennial basis, but then I figured it would be easier if I just name the new items I would like to add to our homestead. I find that when I give people the tour of the place, when I can, that most get glossed over looks because I name many things they have never even heard of. With that in mind, I'll keep adding my new and diverse types of edibles to expand our growing cycles but also place name plates on all the different plants to give a little bit of information on them.

Honeyberry (image from Gurney.com)

Starting off with replacements that were well loved by the chickens and turkeys: Aronia, honeyberries, pawpaws, pears, stevia, and jostaberry.

Veg and some fruit that I would like to add: Jujubes, loquats, chilacayote, chayote, oca, malibar spinach, yacon, taro, good king henry, salt bush, ramps, beach plums, sunchokes, scorzonera, yams, sea kale, achira, air potatoes, hibiscus, fiddleheads, chinese artichoke, edible daylily, moringa, and pepino melons. To start.

Of course this does not include spices/herbs we would like to add but that includes another longer list. We'll see what we can buy locally and what we can get shipped to our location. 

Most of those mentioned above fall into the veg category as our fruit section seems to be growing well but our perennial veg section largely consists of collard greens, eggplant, kale, chard, asparagus, cardoons, and artichokes.

I find that as more and more of the backyard gets covered with plants they help stabilize the soil for more plants to grow. If I can only find the right balance for the time being then I can get a somewhat forest system going to help feed itself so that the moisture retention would increase. As we receive more and more rain this year the plants are able to help hold onto that moisture for a little longer than in previous years and it takes less and less watering on my part to keep them alive. Of course I still need to water when it gets anywhere beyond the 104 degrees that tends to send all plants into shock and kill them, but with any luck the system will stabilize with age and even if we go into more years of drought they and their offspring will be able to survive on the water that is present.