Blogspot - Interia Dezain

You may have come across small pinkish maggots in a plum before. The maggots are often found near the stone accompanied by tiny parcels of dark coloured material. These are Grapholita funebrana , the Plum Moth and more specifically, the caterpillar (larva) of the Plum Moth. The dark coloured material is their droppings (frass). Larva of Grapholita funebrana (Plum Moth) observed  in early - mid summer During this post we'll look at the life cycle of the Plum moth and some ways to prevent them in the biological garden. Whilst picking plums in late August from a plum tree in our garden I noticed that the Plum Moth larvae so frequently found in the early ripening fruit from July - early August were absent from the later ripening fruits. I assumed it must have something to do with the organism's life cycle and so embarked upon a little research to find out more. G. funebrana (Plum Moth) emerges from a cocoon as an adult moth from late May - mid July. The adult moths mate ...

I am currently working on a  Regenerative Landscape Design for a site in Todorovo, Bulgaria. The plan is to establish an Agroforestry system known as Alley Cropping wherein rows of mixed species edible trees and shrubs are planted at intervals with spaces for herbs, forage and/or grain crops to be grown in between. It's a dynamic system which is inherently diverse, providing multiple yields and excellent habitat for wildlife while at the same time being relatively resilient to a changing climate. The site design - Paul Alfrey  An essential component of the design will be the Nitrogen fixing perennial plants within the community of fruit and nut trees. These plants will be pruned at regular intervals to provide biomass for surface mulch and to release a biological source of nitrogen to the surrounding productive plants and soil life by means of root shed associated with top pruning.  When selecting plants for the Nitrogen Fixing component of this design, I was looking f...

A common and very reasonable complaint I hear of Agroecology (and by Agroecology I mean all the different brands and labels associated with this i.e biodynamics, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, regrarian, sustainable farming etc) is that there is a lack of research and experimental data to support the claims made by its proponents. There is, in fact, quite a lot of research undertaken regarding agroecological systems (see below) however it has not been disseminated effectively and is relatively difficult to access.  I have not been able to find any research relevant to small scale that addresses the simplest of issues.  I have been looking for answers to what I consider to be very simple questions, such as how productive is a four species annual guild in direct comparison to growing the same 4 species separately in the same amount of space with the same nutrient and water inputs. I decided this year to embark upon some self directed research, my modest efforts foc...

One of the things I love about living in Bulgaria is the abundance of herbs that are literally bursting out of the pavements here. This time of year the wild larder is stocked high with so many wonderful plants, this morning my attention was taken by Chamomile. Every year we harvest this plant and dry it for a supply of herbal teas. The first time I collected chamomile I was confused in trying to identify the plant . Browsing through herb books to look up the herb I found many names, both common and scientific. First of all the word chamomile is sometimes spelled camomile then there’s Roman (or English) chamo­mile, a perennial, and German (or Hungarian) chamomile, an annual. The German species might be listed as Matricaria chamomilla , Chamomilla recutita , or Matricaria recutita . Roman chamomile is referred to in some sources as Anthemis nobilis , in others as Chamaemelum ­nobile . To be bring some clarity to this issue I present the following. The currently accepted nomenclature i...