Mercy Pergande

Bark chips and deep straw have been the nicest underfoot in my experience. Also like pine straw but that's not always a good option. But some wood chips are ok, either small ones or flatter ones (shaped more like bark nuggets). My problem with them has not been splinters though, it's just the "pointyness" which is also awful with pointy pebbles or gravel.

Here is one article: https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1179867.shtml
There was a large discussion on sending ducks to Pakistan which was shelved due to the climate being inappropriate to support ducks. I also read that a duck can eat 200 per day (as opposed to a chicken at 70 per day)

Edit: I'm not endorsing that site or generally directing to it but that particular article was interesting and gibed with others I had seen elsewhere.

Someone JUST posted something about slugs and I cannot find it!

They said they wrapped a copper wire around containers that had slug- beloved plants in them because the copper had sufficient charge to discourage the progress of slugs and snails toward the plants. I imagine this could be expanded onto a raised bed scenario if the sides of the bed were smooth and firm enough that a wire could fit snugly against it.

I don't know about this method personally but thought I would mention it. If I can find the original post (credit where credit is due) I will link it in this thread.

Very nice! Is there a name for the style of twist you used? I know different knots and stitches have names but I am unfamiliar with cordage terminology. (And correct terminology helps me look up how-to's more effectively!)

Nocino is one of my favorite liqueurs to make!
When I was a kid, I remember black walnut ice cream. I never see it anymore! But I remember it falling in the flavor category of a good pistachio or butter pecan (with the obvious flavor difference of the nuts) and being really delicious.
I think that sitting around and cracking and picking nuts used to be more of a social activity, a way to socially pass time with a productive result. It seems like black walnuts are best harvested by hand and the decreases in people doing that kind of hand work has led to a decrease in the availability and popularity of black walnut foods.

I can't cite the article you found but I did read that the ratio is 1 duck to 4 sq/meters of land.

I believe that type of leaf is classified as "palmate."

Looks like a Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) to me.

I just saw this thread with some discussion of using an aquaponics system to propagate cuttings for fruit trees. They talk a bit about figs so i thought it might be interesting: https://permies.com/t/217851/Aquaponics-Build-AC-homestead-system

I'll add that nocino is an absolutely top notch libation to sip from a tiny glass in darkest winter after infusing for 6 months or even better after a couple of years. Second only to spiced blackberry liqueur in my book.