That's funny. We are planning on moving back to ND this summer because of family health issues. However my wife is a little hesitant since she is a native Floridian...Ha haha...
Hey Wyatt. I grew up about 50 miles north of Grand Forks.
I live in Florida now but my parents still live up in the Grafton area.
My family and I are planning on a visit in a few months and we are sure to be spending some time in GF.
Hey Permies folks.
I'm not sure where to post this thread because I wouldn't consider this a personal project per say. I didn't quite see a thread for advancing permaculture technology, but I wanted to get thoughts on this idea.
What do you all think about using something like Google Glass as an observation tool? My thought is if there was software that could be developed for GG that would work passively with the permaculture designer during the observation process to collect and store data about a site they visit. Hopefully the software would cross-reference various data from the internet about plant and tree species and their characteristics in regards to permaculture design. Also things like slope and geography as well as climate history sun angles and such. These things could be uploaded to your computer where the data could be easily accessed for designing.
Not sure what the feelings are about this. I posted this on the Geoff Lawton 2014 PDC Facebook page but wanted to expose it to some more people out in the permaculture world.Who knows, maybe someone could take the idea and run with it to help speed up world domination for permaculture.
Thanks for all the useful info David. My wife's family lives in the Davie/Hollywood area so next time we head down that way I'll have to check Spyke's out.
Sorry the name is confusing. I'm not in North Dakota. I grew up there but live along the treasure coast of Florida now. I'm in zone 9-10 so I think taro might do well here.
If anyone knows a good resource for tropic and sub-tropic perennials please send me a link cause I am not sure what I want to do yet. I am reading through "Gaia's Garden" right now and it is quite inspiring but since Toby wrote it with more of a temperate climate in mind the tables in the appendix don't give me a lot of options.
I had seen the video Geoff did with Toensmeier and Bates. They truly are masters of the microhomestead. Such amazing diversity on such a small piece of property just baffles me. I haven't read "Paradise Lot" yet but have heard it referenced several times as a good source of info.
I'm planning on taking Lawton's online PDC next time it's available as a way to better understand what possibilities are here. I am also going to start going through "Gaia's Garden" (which I know Paul recommends for a suburban size permaculture system) to give me a better understanding of guilds and companion plantings. With a smaller space I know I don't have the luxury of doing as much so I want to make what space I do have count.
Again, the suburban area isn't the ideal place for us to be, but this is where we are for now so while here I am going to get my hands in the dirt. We are very limited on what we can and can't do though, due to us not owning the property. It is a family property but they are somewhat reluctant about doing anything drastic with it like...Growing food However they're slowly starting to like the idea of having fresh food to eat. I hope that by doing what I can and proving that permaculture systems work, it will convince them to give us creative control.
I'm not sure why it didn't show up under my name (not sure if there is a privacy setting I missed or not) but I'm on the east coast of Florida zone 10.
I consider myself to be a novice in many things (including posting on forums), and permaculture most definitely falls into that category. I try to live by the philosophy of , "Grow where you are planted." meaning, wherever I am, that is where I am to be and so I need to make the best of my time while I'm there.
A few years ago before getting into permaculture, my wife and I moved onto a small piece of family property (roughly an acre) with a smallish duplex on the front half of the property with the back half of a gnarly tangled mess. At the time I still believed in the divisive paradigm of the hollow political rhetoric in the mainstream and was comfortable in my ignorance. While being swept away downstream of the flowing sewage of that paradigm, a branch was extended out to me, metaphorically speaking of course. This was the branch of preparedness and modern survival.
I happened to come across The Survival Podcast, and my world was thrown into upheaval. Listening to Jack Spirko and hearing about the reality of the world around me was like waking up from a deep sleep. As I continued to travel deeper down the new found rabbit hole I came across permaculture and have been enamored ever since.
I started with a small garden, maybe not very permaculturesque, but that knew I needed to take action and do something to help me and my family to be more self-sufficient. Then I heard about urban permaculture and like a floodgate opening I found myself looking at my backyard in ways I'd never seen before. There was a blank canvas for me to experiment on, albeit an overgrown canvas. I knew it was time to ramp up my efforts to make it a thriving space for me and my family in these uncertain times.
Presently, I am slowly, while in between working full-time and a family, clearing the overgrowth and trying to actually get a feel for what is back there. This weekend some progress was made but there is plenty left to do. I have high hopes for this place and while I'm here I can gain experience and skills as well as preparing a place for my family and I to hold out if need be.
I know that this isn't my ideal place to be but it is what I make it out to be. I have many great ideas and am eager to implement them. I just hope I can get things going while there's time.
I just cleared out (pushed back the edge) roughly 10-15 feet of overgrowth in the front portion of my urban forest garden. I am in Southern Florida(zone 10) and am looking to get some things started but want to get some ideas from you all.
The ground was very moist (partly due to the rain we've had the past few days and the artisan well that's present) and there were a lot of ferns growing back there which means acidic soil if I'm not mistaken. I was wondering if potatoes and berries would be good to plant in those areas or maybe it's too moist? I know sunchokes are supposed to grow well in acidic soil but I'm in zone 10 so I'm not sure if they would handle the heat.What type of potatoes do well in acidic soil, all or only certain varieties? We would prefer to grow sweet potatoes or yams if we can. I also know blueberries like acidic soil but what else would be good here? In the wetter area I would like to just dig it out and put a pond but the land isn't mine, so I was thinking maybe using it to grow sugar-cane or if I could possibly use it as a rice patty?
I will be posting the video of my progress soon and would love to hear your thoughts on where to go from here. You can see the first video of what it looked like below.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune, Jocelyn.
Hope you have a speedy recovery, and as little pain and discomfort as possible.
I'm sure that Paul and the rest of the folks there are taking good care of you in the meantime.
Get well soon.
Started a little shaky in the beginning but once you got comfy up there you stole the show. The rocket heater portion was amazing and hope it peaked some interest.
I grew up in Pembina county, northeast ND, Near Grafton. I moved to FL about 15 or so years ago and now my wife and I are considering moving back to be near my family. It would be great to have more Permies around to hangout with if we do head back up there.
When you say, difficult to get rid of, do you you mean difficult to cut down, or difficult to keep from coming back?
To this I say both. They are a multi-trunked species. The trunks of fully grown trees are between 4"-8" in diameter. The branches however are the issue. They tangle amongst themselves and nearby trees making a very dense web of branches. Another problem is that the roots must be destroyed to prevent the tree from regrowing.
Regarding clearing whatever brush, it is hard to beat someone from a part of the world where they use machetes. You won't believe how fast they can clear it.
The branches are cut easily with a machete if they are still green and fresh, however when the tree has gone through it's life cycle, (they seem to be an edge species.) the dry branches are very tough and a machete just seems to bounce off.
Goats are a possibility, if they will eat the stuff, especially if they like the bark. Not sure about pigs.
True, however I'm not sure if they would be edible since these trees are poisonous and in the same family as poison oak, ivy and sumac. I don't think I'm even allowed to burn the dead trees because I've heard the smoke is a toxic irritant.
@ K: That's definitely a good point. I guess that's one way to turn a problem into a solution
Here is a video I sent in to Paul and the rest of the admin. at Permies. This will give you an idea of what I'm trying to deal with.
What are my options here? I am attempting to establish a suburban forest garden on a half acre that appears to be completely overgrown with Brazilian pepper trees. They're a highly invasive species and it's difficult to get rid of. On top of this the trunks and branches tend to become very intertwined, making it an extremely slow and difficult process to hack your way through.
Wondering if any one has any ideas on an easy cheap and fast way to get rid of them. I know this property has some potential but I'm a one man operation with a family here. I also work full time and don't have the time or large budget to work with. I was thinking of getting a couple of piggies and possibly a goat to tear it up out there but not too sure since I'm only on a half acre. Plus being in FL (zone 10a) I have some apprehensions about what kind of nasty things the pigs might come down with. Of course the thought of fresh bacon might be enough to tip the scale though
WOW! All these gardens are so beautiful. This is my first year gardening and it is going so-so. I hope to learn much from this forum and one day post more beautiful garden pics of my own. Keep it up all.
Would love to come to one of his workshops someday. I really like, and want to support what Farmstead Meatsmith is doing. I'm also looking forward to Brandon's interview with Jack (as well as Paul's) coming up soon on http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/
After watching Farmstead's videos I can't bring myself to buy pork, or pretty much any meat for that matter, from the local grocery store.
Love what you guys are doing and may the empire continue to expand
I feel your pain. I live on the treasure coast here in FL and have a half acre of property that I want to turn into a forest garden but it is over run by Brazilian Peppers. I am slowly making my way through them but I'm having the same troubles. Guess it's just a matter of being more persistent than the tree.
If you find anything that works out please let me know.
