Artie Scott

“R. Ranson wrote: I don't know if one is healthier than the other.  But the polyculture grows better, has more harvest and tastes better than the mono/tri-culture.   I imagine that plants that thrive have better nutrition than plants that simply grow.  I also feel that the greenhouse with the polyculture takes less effort to maintain.”

Wow, that is really interesting - any pictures you could share?  Would love to see how the Polyculture tunnel looks at its height, and also understand how it affects things like harvesting, weeding, etc...  what sort of seed mixes did you use?

Sorry to hear, Ellie! Very frustrating.

I am with Jay on this - what if you make a small garden area to leeward of any existing structures that will act as a windbreak. Or maybe a 24x24 6’ solid wood fence. A small area, and probably pricey, but one area you can really focus on building the soil and doing some intensive gardening.

It becomes your own little secret garden!  Some espaliered fruit trees, flowers, veggies, herbs, maybe a bubbling fountain and a bench or comfy chair. Make it a real sanctuary and a place you enjoy being in. Nobody bothers Mom in her secret garden, under penalty of bed!

Just a thought. Sometimes too much space dilutes our effort, and constraints become a way of focusing our efforts.

I have a long driveway too, Shannon, so I get where you are coming from - who knew rocks could be so expensive?!?!

As John notes, a lot depends on the type of soil and how wet it gets and whether you can stay off it when it is wet and how often you come and go.

Eventually, it will begin to rut and need some attention, but why not see how long you can get away without it?

James, stumps AND mushrooms!  Nice!  Add ferns and moss and you would have hit the quad-fecta!

Welcome Krys!  Great to have you here. Looking forward to hearing about your gardening adventures!

I have a few of them here on my stump farm. If you look close enough, they have their own beauty. Like this one.

Show me your stumps!

I thought Ellie hit home with this comment:

“If the world really does stop me and mine will likely starve. I planted a lot, not a whole lot will be harvested. We just don't live in an area that grows shit.“

If nothing else, these first few months of the pandemic have hammered home how woefully underprepared I really am, and frankly makes me wonder if any of us is really prepared to weather a collapse, whether slow or fast.

Does anyone think they could last through the coming winter with what they have stored/planted?

Sure, I grow veggies, but am not prepared to preserve them in large quantities, do not have cattle or pig systems in place yet, and do not have solar systems in place yet. I do have 8 poults that are not yet laying, so maybe I will have eggs in the Spring, assuming I beat the squirrels and deer and bear to the acorns/ hickory nuts/black walnuts and survive till then.

Anyway, my point is that I had been pretty darn complacent, and somewhat smug about my foresight to purchase land and starting to get it established, and it wasn’t until I saw actual, long term shortages in the grocery and other supply stores that it really hit me. I have been dabbling, and am nowhere close to self-sufficient.  I have had five years to build my systems and get them up and running, albeit while working full time,  and I have a lot to do yet.

Dan, I also wanted to thank you for your pre-pandemic post around medical supplies. I was sorta seeing the wave building, and your post listing the things to buy prompted me to do so, and as a result, I had plenty of masks, gloves, sanitizer, toilet paper, etc... well before everyone else panicked and cleaned off the shelves.  You totally got that right, and I felt like a hero for having that all in stock for family and friends when things got real and everyone else was scrambling.  

Have had some tomatoes attacked by ants. But what I am not sure of is, are the ants damaging the maters, or are the ants attracted to the damaged maters.

I am thinking maybe the latter, as I am seeing some with holes in them like in the second photo. Any ideas what is doing that?  Bird pecks?  Caterpillar?

Anyway, it is not affecting all of the tomatoes, just some of them, but would still be good to know what is going on out there.

Welcome, Patrick, great to have you here!  Looking forward to reading about your projects!

Thanks Nicole!  And yes, I have been doing it the same way you were, one at a time. Great to know there is a better way!