Category: Self reliance

mushroom shelter – improved irrigation

In a recent post I mentioned that mushroom production in my mushroom shelter has been poor due to inadequate watering.  The system I installed had a 0.5" diameter water pipe run from a nearby slightly higher rainwater collection tank to the ceiling of the mushroom shelter from which the water flowed via bubblers onto the spawn impregnated logs.  Water flow was weak and the bubblers often clogged. I rectified this by replacing the 0.5" diameter pipe with a 1" pipe and by eliminating the bubblers Read more [...]

tasks for Fall

I am preparing for winter. cover crops - I cleared the tomatoes and weeds, added compost and sowed winter rye and crimson clover.  A few years ago I used hairy vetch, which worked well and next year I will order more since the local supplier, who originally sold me the seed, no longer carries it. firewood - during the year I cut a new 5 foot wide route through the woods and I steered the path to avoid the larger trees.  I had to uproot and remove smaller trees and I cut their trunks Read more [...]

earthworks – terraces, contour ditches and tree trunks

My permaculture readings have focused me on developing an edible forest garden and earthworks figure prominently in my designs.  Although I already have a number of different fruit trees in my orchard I decided to expand the selection and expect, by the end of November, to receive 2 goumi, 2 pawpaw, 3 kiwi (2 female, 1 male), and a medlar, aronia, sour cherry, and juneberry.  With these pending arrivals I have been at work preparing their planting sites on the side of the hill. The earthworks Read more [...]

rainwater harvesting – vigilance needed

As a matter of principal (or is it pride) I try do all my irrigation with rainwater collected in storage tanks.  Total storage capacity exceeds 6k gallons.  The design is fairly simply - I collect directly into 3 large storage tanks and then pump to two temporary tanks at the top of the hill, from which the water gravity feeds to the watering areas (see tab at top of website for full details).  I also collect rainwater at two remote locations (the chicken coop and tractor building) and pump the Read more [...]

unintended consequences – Bermudagrass, vegetation in contour ditches

When I began planting my vines and blueberry bushes in the field, Bermudagrass (also known as "devil grass" because it can be an highly aggressive difficult to eradicate weed) was not a problem.  Yes it lurked among the broad bladed tall grasses but it was one of many.  Now it is a major problem and it can thank me! Bermudagrass is a wiry perennial (easy to cut your fingers if you are pulling hard on it), and is low-growing (hence easily checked by taller grasses) and it spreads by above ground Read more [...]

gumption and the intermittent failure

If the South's summer heat and humidity bear any consolation, it is that I have to seek shelter in the house for much of the day and thus am able to extend my reading. I enjoyed the first third of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Pirsig but struggled as the protagonist ascended higher into the mountain and into rarefied philosophical issues for which I was not prepared.  Now in the last third of the book the running is easier.  His thoughts on gumption and practical issues of machine Read more [...]

ideas from the past – the kang

I am reading the F. H. King classic "Farmers of Forty Centuries: Organic Farming in China, Korea, and Japan" written in 1911 and there are so many nuggets of useful information, including the "kang". He observed the  kang  during his visit to Mongolia and his commentary  made me think of the rocket mass heater (now popular in permaculture circles)  with which it shares a number of features. He describes several kangs - in one case it was 7ft by 7ft and about 28" high and "could be warmed Read more [...]

DIY and its virtues

I just read a good essay in the New York Times - "A Nation that's losing its Toolbox" by Louis Uchitelle (July 21, 2012).  He laments the loss, not only of factories and good manufacturing jobs, but also "mastering tools and working with one’s hands is receding in America as a hobby, as a valued skill, as a cultural influence that shaped thinking and behavior in vast sections of the country. "  He says that manufacturing is important, not just to create jobs and reduce the trade deficit and help Read more [...]

a little pond

When I purchased the woods I had dreams of a 1/4 acre lake/dam and invested time identifying a locale and internally promoting the feasibility.  After all, what can be more satisfying than a sheltered expanse of water nurturing fish, a watering hole for the wildlife, a solace for the stresses of life.  And so on.  But, apart from a good watershed which flowed plentifully during heavy storms, which we get over here,  there was no ongoing supply of water such as a spring.  And then I heard of Read more [...]

“Paradise Lost”?

So, some time has passed since my last post and that's because my focus has been distracted.  Reality has a way of intruding on the cocoon we build around us.  It may be sudden severe ill health.  Or, as in my case, an intrusion. In my "battle of wits" post last month I mentioned the advent of the fox which seized my favorite chicken.  A predator from the outside.  Well, a few weeks ago, another predator surfaced - the human kind, and one evening, when I was away from the property, they broke Read more [...]