The Fukuoka Farming website

*The Fukuoka Farming Website* *Beatrice Gilboa*
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In Udim, Israel

I was born in north of France in Ardennes and lived there 20 years. Then moved once to Brittanny (the most western, windy coast of France) then for 15 years, in the Alpes near Geneva. In 2000 I started to live part of the time in Israel, and now its most of the time (except to visit my family in France). Last november, I was given a small piece of land in Israel to garden. It is a very bad situation located between two hangars, with a sandy soil on the surface and hard red clay deeper. For the moment I don't really expect to harvest anything, but enjoy experimenting and observing.

I don't really know this completly new climate and its rhythms very well yet. I started by sowing with almost no preparation of the soil what I had available at home: broad beans (egyptian one and another kind), kohlrabi, nasturtium (to deviate caterpillar from the beans), raddish, battavia, potatoes, and let grow various local wild plants for which I don't know the english name, but that I suppose is good for the soil.

Soil: I'm just adding all my organic waste ... constructing slowly a bed with a large layer of mulch. I'm using a mix of everything organic that I can find as a mulch, including what you call 'pomace'. But I've had only a very little experience of only one season so far.

Watering: Since November, I've been collecting rain water from the 2 vast roofs of the hangars that gave me more or less enough. That is much easier than when I first started because I had to carry buckets of water from a water tap 150 meters away.
The large amount of rains that occured this winter helps the garden look so productive now.

All of the wild land in the area is also looking very green and flourishing at the moment (March), but during the summer it gets very dry and burnt, except for cactus types of plants.

I have not decided what I will do then. My garden will probably need much more work during the summer time because of the heat and dryness. To think like Fukuoka, it seems that for this first short experience the mulch bed may not be sufficient to keep enough moisture, even if I have climbing plants to provide shade for the other plants. Also, the hangars will radiate even more heat then and I don't know what to do yet. I think that I may have to continue watering but I don't know if this is natural. I am still hesitating about this. It will be very interesting to see what happens then.

Beatrice Gilboa
Udim, Israel
(family website showing some of my potteries, etc.)

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