About half of the honey locust seed did not respond to the hot water soaking. I then tried a couple types of hand file, and nail clipper but finally had success with a bench grinder wheel.
Just touch the seed carefully to the grinding stone or belt sander until a small patch of top layer has been removed, then soak in water until they are fully swelled.
Two seeds on the right hand side are half swollen, need more soaking time.
Hello! Not sure if this is the right group to post in but thought it a good place to start.
I recently moved to a property with a lot of rolling hills and more space than I’ve used to grow on. I’d love to find a way to contour farm instead of leveling the land. Terracing is also an option but I’m worried about material cost being too high. We’re in an area where wine grapes are produced along the hills so I’m not sure if it’s possible for what I want to do.
I’m not totally sure where to begin and would love advice so I can hit the ground running. I plan to grow vegetables, cut flowers and fruit trees / vines. We’re on the central coast of CA. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you!
Update from the Vellore farm (Tamil Nadu, India). A few weeks ago I wrote about a hailstorm we lost mango to. This week I want to write about something that worked. We had 1,500 Napier and CO-4 slips arrive after 4 days in transit, half of them pale yellow and stressed. The traditional Tamil protocol for situations like this is a panchakavya soak 12 hours, starting at 4 AM, stirred every 2 hours to keep aerobic. Sprouts appeared in 40 hours, faster than the textbook baseline. Wrote it up at length on the farm Substack, full protocol + the rain that arrived exactly when we needed it. Sharing for anyone working with stressed planting material in any system.
Hi everyone, I thought this would be worth posting on here.
I recently volunteered at a place called Plants For A Future in Cornwall, UK and I loved my experience there. I volunteered at the site to help Addy, one of the founders that started the 35 year old project, with weeding and general maintenance and will likely go back later in the year to help out with fruit picking.
Some of you might know their online database to look up edible, medicinal or useful perennials. Working behind the scenes made me realise how much love, work and dedication goes into keeping the database and the actual site with thousands of plants alive.
It’s completely non-profit and run by people who genuinely care about the planet. Since my volunteering has ended (for now) I wanted to keep sharing this knowledge in a bite sized format through instagram and share foraging tips, growing environments and facts.
If you love the database as much as I do, check it out or support their work through the website below (maybe even volunteer?)
Happy planting y’all
Website: https://pfaf.org/user/cmspage.aspx?pageid=28
Instagram (@pfaf_thefield): https://www.instagram.com/pfaf_thefield?igsh=cG9lc3JwZjh3NmYy&utm_source=qr
It's my 2nd harvest i have harvested 1weeks ago and it the 2nd there are few distorted ones but overall I am happy
I used to think black locust was the ultimate cold climate support species.
Fast growing, nitrogen fixing, drought and cold tolerant, coppices and pollards readily, produces incredibly rot resistant wood that can compete with treated lumber, bees love the flowers, they smell amazing, it thrives in terrible soil, etc. From a biomass and utility perspective, it's basically the perfect tree.
However, the deeper I looked into the toxicity of black locust, the less I started valuing it in my systems. What really surprised me wasn't just the toxicity itself, but how little the dangers are discussed compared to the benefits. Like if you watch videos about it on YouTube you'll only hear things about growth rate, biomass, long lasting fence posts, nitrogen fixation, bee forage, biomass, and resilience. Read plant databases like pfaf and they barely mention the toxicity beyond a short warning line, saying cooking or heat eliminates the danger.
Here's the thing though, there are multiple historical accounts of people boiling young black locust shoots during famines that led to mass poisonings and deaths. Horses or chickens dying after chewing bark or fresh sprouts. Children becoming violently ill after eating seeds or pods. Woodworkers and farmers getting poisoned from exposure to sawdust. Why do you never hear about this and why is it understated, I have no idea. I only found out a few days ago that there are many documented cases of severe poisoning and deaths associated with ingestion of or contact with black locust, and I've been doing this for awhile!
I'm not saying black locust is entirely bad because from a purely functional perspective, it is an absolute monster of a species. But what is the real goal of permaculture?
For me, permaculture is really about permanence, where we create sustainable human settlements. We learn about different agricultural methods in order to create these settlements. With that in mind, our systems should probably be safe no? I don't just want productive systems. I want places where people can exist carelessly without fear. I want children to wander freely, I want guests who know nothing about plants to be safe, I want a place that doesn't depend on everyone remembering a list of dangerous species, and I don't want the stress of wondering whether some black locust got into my animal feed and whether they're going to die or not. More importantly, I want to be able to raise a family without worry.
To me, a truly mature permaculture system should feel almost impossible to misuse, and for the kind of "bulletproof" human habitats I want to design, where people live in permanence and move through the landscape freely and unconsciously, I no longer think black locust really has a place in my systems, except for extreme cases of land regeneration/restoration.
Title says it all. I have clay soil and live in the northern part of America. Was really passionate about growing blueberries (have around 20 high bushes currently) and they have fought me the entire way.
I've planted them all on raise mounds to ensure good drainage due to the clay, amended with lots of organic matter and mixed in with native soil, have consistentently applied elemental sulfur to improve acidity, mulch with pine needles and pine shavings. Etc....
However, they are weak and pathetic looking. Some have been in the ground for 4 years and have barley grown. The only variety that seems to do somewhat well is patriot. Elliott seem to do the absolute worse. This spring I got so frustrated and cut 50% of them down the crown to hopefully get some sort of restart.
If I knew what I know now I would have just planted honey berries in huge quantities because they absolutely thrive in my soil.
Does anyone have any advice?
My next move is going to be propagating the honey berries I have and ripping out the blueberries come fall and replacing with them with the honey berries.
There's a lot in the neighborhood that was recently cleared and filled illegally, what are some ways that it could be rewilded, it is not buildable and I'm sure whoever cleared it and filled it is just going to leave it to grow weeds.
I have a fruit tree guild around a plumb tree. It fruited for the first time last year, so I was really excited for this year. Unfortunately it's not looking so good. The leaves are withering, some branches don't have them at all, though there does seem to be some branches doing ok. The Internet said to scrape some bark away and if it's brown instead of green it's probably dying, so I did that in a few spots and it seems fine.
The technical info you might want to know:
This is the tree's 4th year
I live in zone 6a
I pruned it in the beginning of February
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Hi I am going to try again: Has anyone used IBC totes as temporary portable cisterns? We are trying to establish brush islands in a larger pasture to create permanent habitat for songbirds etc. The pastures get rotationally grazed but the whole area (8acres) is too large for small birds to safely traverse. We are trying to simulate a natural prairie/brush land landscape that used to exist where we live. We have a summer drought of about 100 days and need to get plantings thru the first summer(s). All natives so eventually they should be fine- it's just getting harder to establish stuff with higher temps, more wind, less rain. Question:
Has anyone done this sort of thing? We can easily fill the totes with water during our wet winter month with rain catchment but I am wondering how feasible this is. Is there a problem with algae growth etc. Planning on using tree drip bags and other slow release systems to water the plantings - ideally just trudge our there once a week to water stuff. It's too far away from hoses and pond to run permanent irrigation. My math says two IBC totes could suffice for aproximatly 600 sqft of brush island.
I am not really looking for general advice on my plan- we worked with some experts from soil and water conservation on the layout but they had no working experience with this- so i am looking for practical experiences anyone might have with irrigation from water stores.
I’m new to this and to gardening in general. But I want to start building a garden starting this summer. I want a food forest that has its own ecosystem. Do any of yall suggest a book that can tell me everything I need to know and show me how to do it?
I prefer an easier read because I have a hard time comprehending things. But if the book has better information and more accurate then I would prefer that over an easy read.
Also if it has tips on what soils to use or what not to do for each plant that would be great. Even if it’s another book. When I looked up how to make the perfect raised bed for a garden it said to layer wood and then cardboard at the bottom for easy drainage. But then I discovered our tomatoes are dying because those bottom layers are taking up all the nitrogen and the soil we used is poor quality (Kelloggs). Now we know.
I am gonna try to use coco coir and perlite and other stuff to make the best soil for them.
Also we live in zone 9a. And if you do your garden like a food forest will it allow you to grow vegetables and fruits you couldn’t before?
Ever since I started renting a small field, I’ve been cutting grass at every change of season 🌱
Honestly, during summer, after hours of work, I can wring sweat out of my T-shirt and it pours like water.
My field is not very large, but when nature grows freely, even a small space can feel endless with only a hand sickle.
Before I realize it, I’ve often spent four hours silently cutting grass.
I’m trying to practice natural farming, so I don’t think cutting everything is right.
But deciding what to leave and what to cut takes time.
One day, as I slid the sickle close to the roots of the grass, countless pill bugs and ants suddenly came rushing out.
I realized I had destroyed their home.
Since then, I’ve often wondered:
What exactly am I doing here?
Humans grow crops in order to live, but in doing so, we destroy the homes — and sometimes the lives — of countless living things.
And if we include microorganisms, perhaps life itself is built upon unimaginable sacrifice.
Yet if I stop cutting the grass entirely, the crops struggle to grow.
When I think about how insects, plants, and microorganisms all live there together, eventually becoming nutrients for the next generation of life, I’m reminded that life exists upon many other lives.
The grass I cut is laid back onto the soil.
Microorganisms break it down, and it slowly returns to the earth again.
Nothing in nature is meaningless.
Everything simply exists for a moment within a larger cycle.
Insects, plants, and humans alike are only passing the baton to the next generation.
While cutting grass, nature keeps reminding me of how simple and clear this world really is.
We cannot live apart from the soil.
And every time I work in the field, I’m reminded that our lives are supported by countless other forms of life and sacrifice.
Nature teaches many things — from cutting grass to the cycle of life itself.
I think we need to recognize that simply being alive already depends on many sacrifices around us.
When people say, “I can live completely on my own,”
perhaps they are overlooking something important.
Life continues through other lives.
Rather than feeling only guilt,
I want to feel gratitude.
Thank you for reading 🙏
I have grew sweet corn for the first time in my 180sq feet land and I have simple a question in store it looks much bigger seeds and tastier but mine look small what should be the reason
I am giving my plan of my garden in the comments that I have created through ai
https://forms.gle/sagZ7maDtg27peCM7
Poštovani ljubitelji permakulture,
student sam marketinga i zaljubljenik u
permakulturni pokret.
Zadnjih nekoliko godina pratim, učim i divim se onome što
permakultura čini za ljude i planet - i odlučio sam tome
posvetiti svoj diplomski rad.
Sada mi treba Vaša pomoć.
Ako ste ikad čuli za permakulturnu, pratili je na društvenim
mrežama, čitali o njoj ili je primjenjivali u svom životu -
samo Vi možete mi pomoći da dovršim ovo istraživanje.
Ljubazno Vas molim da ispunite anketu! Anketa je anonimna, traje svega 10-15 minuta, i svaki Vaš odgovor direktno doprinosi mom radu.
Kliknite na link ispod i ispunite anketu:
I’d love to incorporate blueberries into my developing food forest, but my soil is quite alkaline. Is there anything I can do to sustainably create more permanent acidic soil? Essentially can I recreate the Pacific Northwest? Just plant a bunch of pine and water a lot?
Demostración de prensado para ladrillos con cáñamo y arcilla
My husband and I just purchased a 3.76 acre property in midcoast maine (zone5). It's about half wooded and half lawn, maybe slightlymore lawn, with a trailer somewhat centered on the property. The lawn has a dramatic slope, and there's really only one place that looks good for gardening due to light, leach field placement and a few outbuildings. Chatting with our new neighbors, we were informed that there's a granite ledge under that portion of the yard, as well as several springs. The ground is definitely saturated in some places (but it also just dropped several inches of rain a few nights ago). We had hoped to put in fruit trees and a kitchen garden in this spot, and now we're wondering how to proceed. I have never personally dealt with this combination of conditions and am wondering if anyone has suggestions for land management, or even just crops/plants that might do well in these conditions?
Hello!
This bag of soil has something white all through it, potentially mold?
I'm looking to grow veggies here, is this soil ok to use?
