Polyculture Farming

Here at Pun Pun, almost every inch of land is used to grow something useful. Passion fruit vies grow on trellaces covering the walkways and Citronella surrounds the meeting hall. Terraced garden beds are sculpted on contour and are filled with dozens of different vegetables and herbs. There are also many plants with which I am totally unfamiliar. For the most part their thai names escape me, but we refer to them as 'calcium plant' and 'protein tree' and many that just plain tasty. It's really great to see the things we are growing served in the dining hall. The connection of food to the land feels wonderful.

So far, I have been able to list the following fruits and veggies growing on the property:

passion fruit, papaya, bananas, guava, kefir limes, mangoes, avacado, mulberry, jujube, pineabpple, dragon fruit, pomelo, jack fruit, star fruit, jam fruit, watermelon, cashew, kale, chinese cabbage, tomato (currently 28 varieties), peppers, chinese chives, basil (sweet, spicy, purple...) morning glory (wonderful edible greens), yard-long beans, pumpkin, squash, macademia nut, sticky rice, loufa, tuneric, celery, coriander, mint, dill, and i keep learning about more. Many things have fruits which I can't identify. Every plant here is edible, except for the leaves of the cassava, so it's great to go around and try all sorts of leaves and veggies.

A food forest is also underway, in which bananas (not actually a tree, but the largest herbacious plant) is used for shade and 'chop and drop' mulching, which is turn providing the appropriate climate for the young jack fruits, mangoes, and longan trees to get a hold. We take showers, do laundry and often make our compost piles right in the midst of this area.

The pictures below show are area at the highest point on the property, which had a cover crop of black sesame through the rainy season and we are now turning into productive beds.