Annie Daellenbach

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since Aug 23, 2015
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Biography
I am a mom of 3, on a regenerative farm adventure.  I love to grow food and ferment, study and forage for mushrooms, learn about herbs.  Will come to your house and help set up a garden if you need help and aren't too far away.  I do soil microscopy and have EM brewing at all times, and will happily share.  Enjoy building with cob.  Forming community is the top of the list: we've got work to do, lets go!   
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Sandpoint, ID
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Recent posts by Annie Daellenbach

Ugh, In our haste to finish our sauna before winter, we bought a double barrel woodstove on craigslist.  
This stove is a place holder, to dry the cob walls,  the eventual stove will be rocket-ey, but it will be the first one we build and may take some time.  We set the chimney and then noticed a sweet smell coming from the double barrel... ah dang it's galvanized.  needless to say we uninstalled it, coated it in a paper mache newspaper and clay slurry.  Going to attempt to get it hot enough in a bonfire that the yuck will burn off.  I've read it can be removed with a weak acid (although it has to be scrubbed to remove the zinc oxide)  I'd prefer to not do that, as galvanization includes lead and making dust seems like not a good plan.  

My question is:  Is the 'burn the yuck off the barrel' technique only for removing the paint?  would you experienced rocket mass heater folks use galvanized after it gets red hot?  Or just scrap it and start over?
Thank you!
1 week ago
I am dealing with mold in our attic, due to the soffit vents being blocked by insulation.  I have been down a rabbit hole of research and, despite many opposing voices I have come to believe that any biocide is counter productive, due to the fact that killing mold spores breaks them into MUCH smaller pieces, called mycotoxins, and adds to the VOC load of the home.  These are more difficult to remove and can have even more detrimental health effects.  I would recommend you look up John Banta, a leading researcher on all things mold remediation, and home environment.  His website is a little clunky, look past the book info to his blog and articles!  but there is excellent information there.  There are also a few really good video interviews.  

The better health guy: https://www.google.com/search?q=john+banta+yourube&oq=john+banta+yourube&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKABMgkIAhAhGAoYoAHSAQg0OTA2ajBqN6gCALACAA&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:96367ef2,vid:i1sES9VWz_U,st:0

Good luck and keep us posted on the bathroom!
8 months ago
Pasta is one of the ways I got my kid into chef'ing.  He loves to make noodles.
Over time I have found some inspirational videos, to keep us on our toes.
This one is fun:

5 years ago

I recently had the incredible luck to be able to see John Liu speak.  I got to meet him and his wife and am a big fan of them, and the outstanding work being done by the ecosystem restoration camps.
It was a very positive experience.  
Thanks for sharing this!
5 years ago
Hi Denise,

This looks like Alyssum to me, at least the flowers do, from here...  Can I see a picture of just the leaves?  <3
5 years ago

It didn't smell bad and the dog ate it...



Oh, my dog would have also done that in a heartbeat.  

:)  good luck with those tomatoes.
Hi Kai,

How old is your hugel?  How tall was it when you first built it?  

I am interested in taking the temp, I never thought to do that with a hugel, although I usually record temperatures of compost piles.  I would wager that 130 isn't a bad thing for microorganisms, they move about freely, as do mycelium.  

Are you mulching that soil?  grass clipping and twigs and regular old weeds are great to keep some moisture in the topsoil.  Go thick on the mulch, like a foot or more!

For me personally, I have stopped using bagged manure, as well as manure from any farm that de-worms the animals.  The medication persists in the poo and then kills all the earthworms!  
Those little guys are my buddies, and they help so enormously by aerating and inoculating the soil.  I wouldn't want to try to garden without them.  

That being said, if you've already added the manure it will be okay- soil is so complex, and downright magical, it's beyond comprehension.  You already have all of the components your garden needs, on site!

I'm going to suggest to you three words that will save you from having to purchase almost anything for your garden: Korean Natural Farming.  

I have only recently stumbled upon this and it's completely rocking my world.  If you haven't already read about it, the idea is that you capture and grow what good microbes are already present on your site, and tend everything using stuff you already have around, like eggshells, banana peels, grass clippings.  you make these things bio available / ferment them and create fertilizers, better than the best you could buy.  Serious money saving and you get to feel like a wizard, concocting potions.  Sorry if I sound like a weirdo about this, but it's been such a fun adventure.  The books are online, as PDF's, a great one is called JADAM

I used to buy so much stuff for my garden, Mykos and all of that.  It's great when/if I had a ton of $$$, but I felt like... without it my garden wasn't as fancy.  Now I make what my yard needs, like a home-cooked meal, but for dirt.  It's been really special.  

Good luck, I know your tomatoes will be champs, send pictures!
5 years ago
That sounds like a fun experiment, how big are the crates?

I used to bury a whole, unbroken chicken egg under each tomato plant.  I read somewhere that as it slowly goes toward being a 'bad' egg, it releases sulfury gases into the soil, below the roots (i'm paraphrasing.) and the tomato plant gets a boost!  
I never had a smelly garden, and my tomatoes always seemed happy.
Good luck with the crates, let us know how it turns out?

These were found in the Snake River canyon about twenty miles from Twin Falls



That is really neat, Dennis!  I lived down there, above Shoshone falls, in the snake river Canyon, when I was about 2.  When we hunted asparagus though, it was up on the way to Gerome, or Filer... along the fences.  

I remember a bridge going out of Twin Falls that used to 'sing', it made an undulating, melodic noise when you drove over it.  I've been back a few times as an adult, actually driving myself, but could not find the singing Bridge.

I love the snake river - about 10 years ago I sat on the bank of it in Ririe, thinking of how I used to watch it from my grandmas backyard in Twin, I miss that river!  I'm sad to know they are spraying the banks.  

Something incredible about asparagus:  once established, the same plant can produce spears for 25 years!  That is a really long life for a vegetable.  Probably my favorite perennial.  

Has anyone ever tried them raw?  I was surprised to discover they are crisp and sweet that way (always been a saute-with-butter-and-salt type person!)

Dennis, I think digging up a few plants and transplanting them to a spot - out of round-up's way, possibly your own backyard, may be in order!  The root crowns look like big sleepy spiders to me.  I wish you happy foraging, and thanks for sharing the photo!
5 years ago