A big weekend - part 2

So here are the results of the second day of back breaking work

So another massive load of grass and then off to pick up some mulch and spread that around and viola!  The planting doesn't look like much in these pictures, but I've planted two mulberries that I grew from cuttings from a friend's profilic tree, a davidson plum, a tropical peach, two strawberry guavas, some salvias for colour and three pepinos on the slope as they like to spread downhill.  In case you're not familiar with pepinos, they are are small bushes that produce yellow and purple striped fruit that would fit in the palm of your hand and taste like rockmelon.  We have one in the food forest already and it seems very happy, so why not.  I also broadcast woolly pod vetch under the mulch as a green manure.  I did the same when I planted out the swales two years ago and they are fabulous nitrogen fixers that self seed and have gorgeous purple flowers that the bees love.  I've also found in the areas where I've cleared that nasty grass and mulched, the vetch has gone crazy.  So the seed are still there, despite me disturbing the soil quite a bit when taking the big chunks of grass out.  So hopefully this new part of the forest will flourish.  I've also put in the path and started mulching it.  Paths are a good practical place to start but also help you chunk up the areas you plan to plant out, making it manageable.  I've put in a huge stump that will edge the path as well as being a great bench to sit and enjoy the forest and the view over the dam.

This is the view from the other end of this part of the forest, to give you a vision of what it should look like in six to nine month.  I've taken out all the grass here, planted plum, peach and pear, as well as cardamon, tamarillo, pumpkin, sweet potato an the vetch has popped up on its own.  I far prefer this approach to your standard orchard.  It looks great and is much more productive.