Casie Becker

I'm still debating on mine, but probably will at least attempt to get some tree form on the ones in the yard.  Shrubs seem to encourage mosquitos here.  They like a shaded wind break.  Lifting the canopy let's low breezes through and that makes a world of difference.

I think you're going to really enjoy it in your yard.  I have seen larger specimens draw in crowds of butterflies and will be watching ours closely when they bloom.  It looks like it will coincide with our white mist flower and most years the monarchs show up about that time.

The squash vine borer has already arrived at our garden this year.   We're actually planted a little denser than is usually recommended because I am sure we'll lose some plants.  Problem with protecting by covering is then you don't get pollinators either.  When we're lucky (which has been so far)  they focus on the leaf stems instead of the main trunk.

I don't think they've ever been interested in any melon we've planted Snake melons make a decent substitute and get huge.  Tatume is a popular zucchini substitute.  It forms small round squash but is generally accepted as just a round cucumber.  If you forget to harvest it eventually turns into a white fleshed winter squash. Ours weren't much bigger than a soft ball.

I love those.  I finally planted some myself last year. I actually sawed one of them in half with very little shock from the process.  Have you decided if it's going to be a shrub or a tree yet?

I should point out, I don't have kids except my nieces.   I am just concerned because I keep finding articles about shortages and I am certain we as a society have more options available than just powdered formula and breast milk isn't always an option as much as it would be nice.


Interesting enough my mother and a friend of hers both had a baby the day my little brother was born.  They were both comfortable nurse each others babies as convenient.  

Thank you.  This is a very good start.

Any other recipes out there.  My oldest niece had a severe allergy to milk and soy as an infant.   She's nearly grown and is still allergic to milk. So that would have been a limiting factor for us.

Anne, I never knew mothers milk was a marketable item.  It looks like it's relatively pricey since the discounted price they are advertising for the "welcome home kit" is 100 dollars.  Many of the hardest hit by these shortages have to count every penny, but that's an amazing resource if you can squeeze I into your budget.


Looking at the Weston A Price recipe it prefers raw milk but does suggest an alternative of adding cultures at home if you can't get raw milk.  I appreciate they considered options since so many places make access to raw milk difficult.

There have been a lot of articles over the past few years about baby formula shortages.   I was a formula baby because I refused to nurse. It traumatized my mother enough that she didn't even try with my younger sister.  An adult might survive on lean rations for a time but at this age there are permanent consequences to poor nutrition.  That's actually part of why there are shortages today.  Poorly made comercial formula lead to severe problems for a lot of babies and now the whole industry is very highly monitored and inspected.

Does anyone know alternative options for feeding nutritious food to an infant when breast milk and powdered formula aren't available?  I know my mother is comfortable feeding any food to infants so long as it is mashed completely, to the point of sometimes prechewing bites. I just don't know if it was luck that kept us from having any issues or if a balanced diet in smoothie form might work for an infant.

Anyone have home recommendations or family stories that might help some who needs to feed their baby now?

Around here even if you have cultivated good garden soil you still might grow in a raised so to better control soil moisture.   As much as we are usually dry' there are times when we get things like tropical systems that inundated the whole area.  I think most of our rainfall ever year comes in the form of torrential downpours.

My mother built am earth ramp up and over the side of her wicking bed so soil critters could move in and out of the garden.

https://permies.com/w/kickstarter

If you click on the round green dot that says push me it will take you to the kickstarter page.  They will walk you through signing up to be a backer.  I believe all the goodies are released after they close the kickstarter.   Paul has a very efficient system for distribution of the older electronic goodies so they will probably be available pretty close to immediately.  Brand new goodies will be available as soon as he can make them with the funds he is raising now.

Anyone see anything important I forgot about?

After taking an extended absence from permies I have been slowly reviewing publishing standards in case anything has changed. I can't tell you how much smoother my social interactions run because of this thread in particular. So many of these rules work well in face to face interactions. I am better at it online where I have more time to tweak my wording but it is a rare person who will argue with a statement that begins "In my experience..."  

While I am at I should also thank you for how nice it is to be able look for answers and solutions with having to first find a scapegoat.   I love solving problems.  I hate feeling angry. If I had to be angry to look for a solution it usually wouldn't be worth it to me.