In our endeavor to produce a highly diverse and rich compost for regenerating our soils, we have included an advanced technique called “Johnson-Su Bioreactor”. We explain how it works and how to build one!
Advanced composting process – The Johnson-Su Bioreactor Read More »
Our extra virgin olive oil is not filtered. This is the reason why there may be sediment or even a gelatinous substance at the bottom of the bottle or canister.
My extra virgin olive oil has lees, should I be worried? Read More »
Every year we aim to enhance the quality of our extra virgin olive oil. Through regenerative techniques, we are increasing the amount and diversity of microorganisms in the soil.
How to recognize a good or bad olive oil? Read More »
In permaculture, a guild refers to a carefully designed and interconnected group of plants, animals, fungi, and other elements that work together synergistically in a sustainable and productive ecosystem. The main principle behind guild design is creating a diverse and resilient system, where each element performs multiple functions and supports the overall productivity of the ecosystem. A permaculture guild typically consists of several key components: Central Species: At the core of a guild, there is usually a main plant or tree species that serves as the focal point or primary provider of resources. This central species is often a long-lived perennial (for example a tree) that forms the backbone of the guild. Companion Plants: Surrounding the central species are a variety of complementary plants, known as companion plants. These plants are carefully selected to fulfill specific functions that support the overall health and productivity of the guild. They may provide additional resources such as nitrogen fixation, pest control, pollination, nutrient accumulation, or shade regulation. Beneficial insects and animals: Guilds incorporate beneficial insects and animals that play important roles in pest management, pollination, soil aeration, or nutrient cycling. For example, certain plants may attract predatory insects that control pest populations, while flowers can attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. Soil Enhancers: Guilds often include plants or organisms that contribute to soil fertility and health. Nitrogen-fixing plants, such as legumes, convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that other plants can utilize. Dynamic accumulators, like comfrey or yarrow, draw nutrients from deeper soil layers and make them available to shallower-rooted plants when their leaves decompose. Mulch and / or Ground Covers: Ground covers and mulch plants are employed to protect the soil from erosion, conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and provide organic matter as they decompose. These plants, such as low-growing herbs or spreading perennials, also serve as living mulch, creating microclimates and optimizing resource utilization within the guild. By carefully selecting and arranging plant species and other components based on their functional relationships, we aim to create self-sustaining and low-maintenance systems that mimic the balance and efficiency of natural ecosystems. The exact composition of a guild will depend on the specific goals, climate, and local conditions of a particular site. When it comes to guilds with olive trees, there are several companion plants that can be beneficial in enhancing the overall health and productivity of the olive tree ecosystem. Here are the companion plants we chose for our olive tree: I. Comfrey (Symphytum spp.): Comfrey is an accumulator plant and known for its deep taproots that can mine nutrients from deep in the soil. It accumulates minerals and makes them available to other plants, making it an excellent choice for almost any type of guild. Its huge leaves create lots of shade and help suppress unwanted weeds. Note: We have placed the comfrey in the shade of the olive tree (north side) as it still is difficult to grow comfrey in our climate. Comfrey generally prefers half-shade and cooler temperatures. With a thick woodchip mulch layer, which is reducing surface temperature considerably, we hope that the comfrey will thrive here. II. Lavender (Lavandula spp.): Lavender attracts pollinators and beneficial insects while repelling pests. Its aromatic foliage can also help deter pests from olive trees. III. Thyme (Thymus spp.): Thyme is a low-growing herb that can act as a living mulch around the base of olive trees, suppressing weeds and conserving moisture. It also attracts pollinators and repels certain pests. IV. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis): Rosemary is a hardy herb that can thrive in the same conditions as olive trees. It attracts bees and other beneficial insects while providing some shade to the soil around the tree. V. Ballota (Ballota acetabulosa): The flowers of this herbaceous plant are attractive for bees and when big enough, the leaves will work as a ground cover. VI. Incense (Plectranthus madagascariensis): Incense attracts insects, pollinators and butterflies and therefore also birds to the garden.The leaves and branches of this species give off a strong scent and are sometimes used to ward off flies. We\’re hoping to keep away the nasty flies that puncture the olives! VII. Sugar melon (Cucumis melo): This melon is an experiment – we are very curious as to how well annual vegetables can do around an olive tree. So far, the plant looks quite happy, growing a first little melon. Remember to consider the specific growing conditions, climate, and region when selecting companion plants for your guild. It\’s also beneficial to choose plants that have similar water and sunlight requirements to ensure they thrive together.
Compost production is at the heart of our regenerative practices and having a proper space to produce it seemed an important milestone in our journey. It all started from the wish to professionalize our compost production. At the beginning, we were making our compost outside, having to protect our piles from sun, wind, and rain. A fully covered area would give us the benefit of working in the shade and protect our fresh piles and the finished product from too much heat, wind or humidity. All of which contributes to a better product in the end: a rich, dark compost, that is full with microbial life. So, the task at hand was to construct a spacious, covered area that would allow us to have more control over the entire process while making our lives a bit easier at the same time. We always try to design our systems with a permaculture approach – each element performs many functions. Thus, the new building should not only help us to produce compost, protect us and the compost from the elements but should also integrate in the existing systems. That’s why the \”relative location\” of each element is crucial. By placing it right next to (and one terrace level up from) the main garden, we can choose to gravity-feed our veggie garden by connecting the liquid compost tank to the irrigation system. This way, we save ourselves a lot of time and effort.Future plans involve adding animal stables right next to the compost area, which is another example of a \”relative location“. The need for fresh manure in our compost production makes the placement of animal stables right next to it a smart choice. The building process After having found the right location, we started out with a rough sketch, some measuring, and the help of many volunteers. We had to select the right logs for the pillars, shave the bark off of them and bury them 1m deep in the compacted clay soil. Now that the pillars were in place, we started to connect them with horizontal crossbeams. On top of these connectors, we had to fix other logs using simple joinery. Even though it was basic woodworking, the irregularity of roundwood has got its challenges. Nevertheless, we were determined to spend as little money as possible (as opposed to buying more processed – meaning square – pillars and beams) and we simply love the \”rinky-dinky\”-style of building with roundwood. As soon as the main structure was up, we could cover the roof. We decided on rough boards from locally sourced Douglas firs. To protect the roof from rain, we used overlapping rows of tar paper. We heated the tar paper at the edge where the rows overlap in order to glue them together properly. Finally, it was time to take care of the work area itself. After some debating whether to use cement or not, we’ve decided to pour a cement floor for half of the building. We wanted a flat and clean workspace for storing the finished compost and more importantly, placing the brewing tank for our liquid compost production. We boarded up the walls on the two \”wheater sides\”, to protect from winds and precipitation from north and west. Leaving enough space on top of every wall would grant us enough natural light and also lessen the wind pressure on the structure. All we had to do now was installing water and power lines and build a wooden platform to carry our 600lt tank. We’ve also included a ladder and service platform on top of it to be able to easily access and clean the residues inside the tank after each brewing process. We’ve already used it many times and it works perfectly! The elevated platform provides some altitude to empty the tank without any pump or power, simply using gravity. In the future, we’re planning to install a wind turbine and batteries to hopefully generate enough electricity for the air pumps, which are needed to produce a high-quality liquid compost (tea & extracts). Another future project is to harvest the rain water from the roof to further minimize the environmental impact in our compost production. Surely, we’ll be looking for the best possible \”relative location\” of the rainwater catchment system to ensure that it’ll be also adhering to the permaculture principle of \”each element performs many functions\”. For now, we’re super thrilled to be able to work efficiently and produce one of our main assets, a dark, rich, microbially active compost in larger quantities. This will speed up the regeneration process of all the parts of our land, be it the olive groves, the food forest, or our veggie gardens.
Building our composting area Read More »
In 2020, the biggest walnut tree on the land started to show some signs of weakness. We noticed that the bark was highly damaged by insects and through the premature autumn colouration and leaf drop we confirmed that it was seriously sick but we couldn’t identify the reason.In autumn we found a cluster of yellow to honey-colored mushrooms at the base of the tree which gave us a first clue. We found out that the tree was infected by a fungus called Armillaria Mellea, commonly known as honey mushroom or mushroom root rot. This was bad news as Armillaria Mellea is a common worldwide pathogen of trees causing root rot, root-collar rot and butt rot. It’s often lethal for the tree especially in trees stressed by other factors. Given that the signs of a weakened tree were quite obvious, our chances to save the tree were small, but we had to try anyway. We got in contact with our colleagues from the Soil Food Web School and Dr. Elaine Ingham herself to start a treatment with another fungus called Trichoderma. This fungus is an effective biocontrol agent for a number of plant and tree fungal diseases. The interesting particularity of this fungus is that it eats other fungi so it can help in removing Armillaria Mellea. In fact, Trichoderma is the only known treatment against a honey mushroom infection – there is no other substance or commercially available fungicide to effectively combat Armillaria Mellea. According to the advice from Dr. Elaine Ingham, we first had to isolate the infected root system from the rest of the land by digging a 30cm deep trench around the root zone of the walnut tree as Armillaria Mellea can disperse naturally through the spread of rhizomorphs (rootlike structure) in the soil. Once a host is dying, the fungus will look for another host to colonize its root system. Unfortunately, the tree was already in its final stage of life when we started applying Trichoderma and we couldn’t save it. Nevertheless, the tree gave us a gift: A more deepened understanding about a widely unknown aspect of the kingdom of mushrooms and some experience on how to fight Armillaria Mellea in a natural way. Some months later, a friend put us in contact with Salvatore who is having problems with his olive trees. The way he described the symptoms of his olive trees suggested that he could be faced with the same problem. We paid him a visit to examine the trees and take some soil samples. From all the data and information collected, we found out that the olive trees were indeed infected by Armillaria Mellea. Salvatore told us that a couple of local agronomists went to the land to check the trees and they suggested uprooting the trees, burning them, and planting new ones. They also recommended disinfecting the infected area with lime. He was clearly upset and disappointed as ¾ of his olive trees are affected by the pathogen and he wouldn’t be able to afford a labor and cost-intensive solution like that. We elaborated a report explaining the data and suggested an action plan including a treatment with Trichoderma spores (pictures at the top and below). Our suggested plan was split in 3 phases: Defense – Attack – Recovery During the defense phase some actions are required to stop the spread of the fungus and protect the tree. For example to reduce humidity at the base of the tree by removing weeds and mulch around the trunk. The next phase is to apply Trichoderma spores to grow the only known fungus that can attack and eventually kill Armillaria Mellea. The treatment is done by pouring water containing Trichoderma spores in a trench around the drip line of the affected tree. This way, we target the most active part of the root zone where Trichoderma spores have more chances to establish a connection with the root of the tree prior to starting looking for other fungi. Last but not least, we will need to bring back to the soil the beneficial organisms that are responsible for providing nutrients and water to the tree and strengthen its immune system. This is particularly important in the case of beneficial fungi (mycorrhizal) as the Trichoderma treatment simply kills every other fungus during the treatment. We feel grateful for Salvatore’s trust and we will continue working together to save his olive trees. At the same time, we keep learning about this sort of pathogenic fungus and we implement regenerative practices to restore the soils. A win-win situation. We will keep you posted on Social Media and through our Newsletter about the progress 🙂
Fighting the honey mushroom (Armillaria Mellea) Read More »
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