leila hamaya

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:
Also, I make Kirsch from the wild cherries we have around here. I don't know what they are: they are not the tart cherry but sweet cherries can't survive our winters in zone 4, so it is not a sweet cherry either. It is sweet enough to eat out of hand but does have a large stone relative to the flesh. The whole fruit is the size of an overgrown snap peas.
It seems to be a "prunus serotina": The timeline for flowering and fruiting seem to mesh. The immature bark looks like that too. However, in the liquor I make, I ground the flesh and the pits and the seeds inside them, and everything goes in the Vodka to make an extract. The Wiki says that the seeds are poisonous, just like the pits of apricots & peaches, but I assure you that liquor is pretty darn good and has not even given me the slightest tommy ache. Perhaps it is the Vodka in which it macerates for 3 weeks that kills the poisonous effect? I'm not sure.
Another thing that does not quite mesh with the Wiki: These trees are quick to fruit, like 3-4 years, abundantly from the get go [some trees look red/black from the house] and the mature bark doesn't look as furrowed as the photo they have here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_serotina
Next year, I'm hoping to try the same treatment on mulberries, as I expect to have quite a few, red/black and whites.

there are several different subspecies of prunus serotina, it is a very ancient tree and theres also many localized adaptations....theres also several types of wild cherries not in the serotina species, such as bird cherry, prunus avium or prunus padus

on a different track, i suspect many of your issues are coming from too much water, too much humidity or too much supplemental watering. this is just my useless opinion of course =) based on little info...but that is my first thought so i will share

i actually think this is a good idea, and yes i think it would work for what you are trying to do, though yes as you said it will me an epic months long, maybe year long process. but still it will help, i think its worth it.

one thing you could look into is Terra Preta  -->link for keyword terra preta
because it seems like this is basically what you are wanting to do. only this is generally made in a pit, you could do it in place, and further leave the mulch there and burn the mulch too.

the easy lazy way is to just burn a huge fire with scrap clippings and branches and random wood, keep adding "compost" more leaves and food waste and things that have some moisture, and then once it is going really well and starting to die down...pour a large amount of soil, screened native soil, or any other soil you want to sterilize some.
you can also sterilize your soil ...and solarization as mentioned above would also be something to try...but i like your idea of making terra preta in place. you would not need to remove the mulch unless you wanted too.

also maybe dont have to be that concerned about microorganism and such, yes it does set them back, but the land around it will just come back in and recolonize it as time goes by....but it does help to add fertility/finished composts/fresh mulch/compost tea or etc...at the very end to help that process.

James Landreth wrote:

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Hey James, thanks for posting this. I am definitely Gen Z as I was born in 1998. I am pretty much brand new to permaculture.

I learned about the state of our civilization and our planet around the end of last year and it shook me up quite a bit. For a few months I think I was depressed now that I look back on it now. My parents grew worried because I wasn't making all the dumb jokes I usually do and we eventually talked about it. From there I improved until I got to where I am today. Active Hope by Joanna Macy was and still is a big inspiration for me. "Hope is something you do, not something you have" she says. And she's right. The big change was going from waiting for humanity to do something to getting off my ass and doing something! I now consider myself a builder of whatever world follows this one. I see in my mind's eye of network of people fighting for our planet in diverse ways: some tell the story of ecological collapse or climate change, even if few listen. Others teach about how to survive and thrive in a changing world. Some fight to change or replace the corrupt systems that are in place now with something better. Many folks are getting to know local farmers, and starting to garden, and turning away from endless consumption. I see myself as just one tiny part of this growing network of people who are, in big or small ways, doing their part to love and protect our collective home. It's this thought that gets me out of bed in the morning and what drives me to do what I do.

As of now, I'm learning as much as I can about permaculture as possible. I am lined up to visit a permaculture homestead this summer and I am oh so excited to get my hands dirty and to soak up as much knowledge as I can. I hope some more folks respond to this thread, I am curious about how many younger folks there are out there.

They're out there, for sure (younger permaculture and activists in general)

I know a big challenge for our generation is access to land. But we've been coming up with all sorts of solutions to that across the board. Some people practice responsible guerilla planting. I volunteer to help religious groups set up food forests and pollinator gardens. Every bit helps, for sure. I've been so lucky to see as much progress as I have

agreed -access to land is a big hurdle, for sure, rising costs of land, and the rising inflation compared to wage stagnation for decades. it was an issues for me when i was younger, and continues to be, and sadly its only gotten that much exponentially worse, not better in my time.

some thoughts - obvious ones are community, co housing, land share...more autonomy and sovereignty than a proper "commune" ...not all in one pot.

maybe not as obvious - team up with older people. there can be some win wins here, older people have land and experience to share, but not as much strength and stamina, younger people need to learn and lack land. small scale or more intense...but even small exchanges...like keeping up some ones gardens for gleanings, or they let you use the space to grow if you kick down part of harvest...with like your neighbors...or even work small landscape gigs that turn into more potential like land share or work trades ...or even co housing with elder couple...that sort of thing.

yeah i'm trying to figure out if i can. i'm looking to move, and i am looking to move somewhere stupid cheap, and all those places are zone 6---> and down. seriously, this question has been on mind. i may just dive in and then see if i can hang, with the whole thing turning upside down if i decide i just cant hang?

i suppose on my side is that i grew up in new england, so i know what it is, i even spent 2 winters way up in vermont.
which was pretty extreme not just for cold, but for the time period of winter...where just after halloween it starts to turn into winter and your like WTF?
where i grew up in new england though its like the florida of new england =) a big south facing hill basically...that juts out into the atlantic, the south coast of mass. so we are 6b - 7a ...even some spots are 7b in growing zone. where i am looking mostly is western mass in the berkshires, and even southern vermont and new hampshire. i just dont know...if i really should just...make myself try and see if i can deal.
when i first decided i wanted...well all this =) homesteading, and growing food and living close to the land, and without a lot of resources to invest, or any !!! actually...well it made sense to me that meant go somewhere warm, warmer, definitely warmer than vermont. i did love living in vermont for that time...but yeah that extreme...it was a big part of why i felt i had to move on...and that was like...many years ago now.

so i have lived in zone 9 and zone 8...but like pacific north wet zone warmish juneary...and for the last bit been wintering in south coast mass, zone 6b. its ...well i am ok ish with it, but thing is ...gardening and farming and all outdoor stuff...well i am back to what i remeber from being a kid. you just...dont go outside unless you have to in winter, winter is for crafting and books and research and chatting with people, and of course, binge watching stuff to catch up on =)

strawberries are really easy and very forgiving, you should be good.

it really depends on what you like, as far as varieties. i could recommend a few but they would be less conventional. one is the simple wild strawberry. tiny berry, with all the flavor plus of a full strawberry crammed in there somehow =) super easy, spreads rapidly, nice ground cover, grows in shade, in sun, in wet and in dry.
but many people wouldnt consider this to be good, not a lot of strawberries, super tiny. they might even not like the taste since they are very strong flavored. theres actually 4-5 varieties, sub species within "fragaria vesca" var....one that is white, and a yellow ish one...and many localized differences, very subtle...but they are all good =)

one i love that i have grown is this hybrid - 'Marie des bois'. it seems maybe old timey, and in part since they are small medium sized like old school strawberries...but its actually a relatively recent hybridized strawberry variety.
i've grown a dozen other varieties as well, but nothing sticks out too much, they were all pretty good...but none where i was like wow! except for the marie des bois cultivar.

i believe theres some good ozark type strawberries...and usually your local nursery is good for getting stuff thats well adapted to your climate. i wouldnt turn my nose up at some big box store super cheapy deal either...though...and often times the big box stores get their strawberries from local ish nurseries...so they also are well adapted to local conditions...do pick carefully, they dont treat their plants well...you know places like home depot, costco, walmart, etc...but sometimes theres some good deals to be had.
plant in spring, or fall...though since its now...wait till spring...or keep indoors till you are ready to plant in early - late spring...

yeah those are good point, and good idea, that would make it simpler and more stable. so bigger roof, a less steep angle, and that roof is much wider than the underground part, with the row of roof trusses being supported by the undisturbed ground level soil, or top of the subsoil, and the underground part only being a small area underneath the squished A

nice, i have a fondness for the mallow family, its a very useful and beautiful family of plants. one of my preferred wild edibles is the wild "cheese" mallow, malva neglecta. seen it all over the country, its really everywhere, and i find the taste of the leaves to be great in anything you want greens for.

also like the pretty side of the family, rose of sharon, hollyhocks and hibiscus, and the even the musk mallows and semi wild ish malva sylvestris - zebrina mallows.... just for beauty's sake, bonus-  they all have edible flowers.

i played around a bit with the idea i was having earlier in this thread.

actually i've drawn a few quick sketches of a few versions...but didnt get too far with any of them.
anywho this is a bit off the side of the original idea, much more intensive ...and this is way too big too, needs scaling down, but...for anyones food for thought...

i drew some of my ideas out.... the AH FRAME , i will call it...with an H underneath the A to hold it up high.
an AX FRAME would also work, although not as good sounding =)

well there are regular grants, grants that repeat every year and grants that only come up once. a few times in my life i have tried my hand at writing for grants, although i havent gotten one yet.
used to be...grants were an essential part of what people trying to make their living with art were using...idk.

the NEA is smaller and smaller and grants are less and less...but you should research i suppose if you want to find them and give it a try. its a bit of a challenge just to write for them and apply, but worth a shot if you have some extra time.