All about life and it's challenges on our little homestead built on a sand hill!
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Thursday, June 13, 2013
This and That
We took an afternoon off to fish some of the Bluegill out of the pond. They are way to many in there and they are not growing. We kept the bigger ones and had them for supper. The Marine said he was so hungry he could eat them raw. Sushi!...I bought Papa Bear a small castnet. We will get more of them out with the net and take them to the good neighbors pond.
A few days after we got the Marines Rat Terrier this little guy showed up at our house. He has been neutered but had no collar. I put an ad on Craigs List trying to find his owner. It's been over 4 weeks and no one has claimed him. He is such a good little dog I haven't had the heart to call Animal Control. I picked thorns out of his chest and stomach for over an hour, gave him a flea and tick bath, clipped his nails and gave him a rabies shot. He now piles up in bed with Baby and the Marine. I think he is an Italian Greyhound.
Good neighbor trimmed some of his trees that were hanging over his roof and brought us the trimmings for the Eden Garden.
Speaking of the Eden Garden project. I designed a couple of signs on Vistaprint and Mom purchased them for my passover birthday. I told her I didn't want anything I had to wash, feed or dust so the signs are perfect. (you can click on the pictures to enlarge)
This is the another garden I have just begun to work on. I have strawberries, pineapple, banana's, blueberries, watermelon and cantaloupe planted in this area. I will get paper, manure and chips into this area a little at a time.
Papa Bear and I took turns this morning running the little Mantis between the rows of the garden not done Eden style. The weeds are fast taking over.
The first 3 rows next to the corn are the peanuts I planted from the nuts I saved out of the peanut hay we gave the goats this past fall.
I think almost all of the peanut seed sprouted. I understand you can purchase a bag of unshelled raw peanuts from the store, shell and plant those as well and get good results.
Grandson and I foraged for blackberries.
Made a yummy cobbler
and gained five pounds...bahahaha
I'll work it off weeding...My peas and bean garden is the garden of weeding...not the Garden of Eden.
The Million Bells are blooming in the deck box outside the Marines bedroom window. They will bloom nonstop until winter. We have the pink
and purple. A friend from NY sent me these years ago and they are faithful to come back. I would like to get more colors but can't find them locally. Hope everyone is having a great week!
LOL that's a funny pic with the fish. I could use some bluegill in my pond once I get it back into shape later this Summer.
I just am not seeing the Eden thing working out for me yet at all. I more than likely have enough trees to keep it going on portions of my plantings but time spent getting the limbs shredded seems to me to take as much time as weeding if not more.
Fuel consumption would be the other limiting factor in a grid down situation as well. Fuel input to actual volume of material output is not very efficient. It looks nice when it is done but unless I am getting wood chips as a free side bonus I don't see an actual reduction in effort. To me mulching up limbs over a loud shredder is just as tedious and perhaps less enjoyable than weeding.
But Preppy....you are missing the big picture. Once you get it going you will not be waiting for the garden to dry out to plant. There is no tilling and I can count on one hand the few weeds that spring up every other day and I just reach down with 2 fingers and pull them right up. No digging required. Raked hay and goat poop from the barn is working as well for a covering preventing weeds. I've almost completed the small garden and very pleased. It only takes me about an hour to grind up enough to finish out a row. Papa Bear trims the trees while I feed the chipper. It is hard work but I just know it is going to pay off in the long run.
Oh I know MB. I will never say the plan doesn't work. I use it in and around my raised beds with great effect, although it really makes the morning glory infestations worse in the end since they are all under ground.
My problem with the EDEN method is that it is NOT sustainable without massive energy input and huge areas of woody plants at your disposal.
I also use the hay and left over fodder method and I love that. With our flock of sheep being kept in the barn during lambing season I have enough of that to pull out of the barn to cover my garden and still be able to till it in after the season. I could make runs with my tractor and wagon but I don't I usually just cart it out a wheelbarrow load at a time.
The bottom line is you can till by hand if you need to. You can harvest hay by hand, you can pull weeds by hand. But unless you got a sharp knife and a lot of time you cannot make wood chips by hand.
Now you could theoretically use an electric chipper/shredder off solar and/or battery power. That might make it more sustainable but again the volume of vegetation needed overall is prohibitive and electric shredders can't handle much either.
Finally, and I apologize this is so long, it's a matter of scale. When you keep in mind how much tilled acreage is needed to even feed a family of two there is absolutely no way anyone can cover that much ground with wood chips.
Or so that is the conclusion I am coming to for more local area's resources anyway. I will freely admit others experiences and situation will vary.
No...it would not work on acreage unless you had a huge source for chips. As far as feeding a family you would have to have a very large garden. Fortunately I live in an area where there are things I can plant year round if needed. I already see that a few plants in the Eden garden surpasses what I planted in a regular garden. I now see why Paul had his plants so far apart. My garden is a jungle and I can barely get between the rows without breaking a stem or leaf and I spaced my plants as usual. The Eden method produces plant triple in size of what I normally have.
A grid down?....we're all sunk. Once we run out of our stored fuel it is back to hand plows, shovels and hoes.
LOL that's a funny pic with the fish. I could use some bluegill in my pond once I get it back into shape later this Summer.
ReplyDeleteI just am not seeing the Eden thing working out for me yet at all. I more than likely have enough trees to keep it going on portions of my plantings but time spent getting the limbs shredded seems to me to take as much time as weeding if not more.
Fuel consumption would be the other limiting factor in a grid down situation as well. Fuel input to actual volume of material output is not very efficient. It looks nice when it is done but unless I am getting wood chips as a free side bonus I don't see an actual reduction in effort. To me mulching up limbs over a loud shredder is just as tedious and perhaps less enjoyable than weeding.
But Preppy....you are missing the big picture. Once you get it going you will not be waiting for the garden to dry out to plant. There is no tilling and I can count on one hand the few weeds that spring up every other day and I just reach down with 2 fingers and pull them right up. No digging required. Raked hay and goat poop from the barn is working as well for a covering preventing weeds. I've almost completed the small garden and very pleased. It only takes me about an hour to grind up enough to finish out a row. Papa Bear trims the trees while I feed the chipper. It is hard work but I just know it is going to pay off in the long run.
DeleteOh I know MB. I will never say the plan doesn't work. I use it in and around my raised beds with great effect, although it really makes the morning glory infestations worse in the end since they are all under ground.
DeleteMy problem with the EDEN method is that it is NOT sustainable without massive energy input and huge areas of woody plants at your disposal.
I also use the hay and left over fodder method and I love that. With our flock of sheep being kept in the barn during lambing season I have enough of that to pull out of the barn to cover my garden and still be able to till it in after the season. I could make runs with my tractor and wagon but I don't I usually just cart it out a wheelbarrow load at a time.
The bottom line is you can till by hand if you need to. You can harvest hay by hand, you can pull weeds by hand. But unless you got a sharp knife and a lot of time you cannot make wood chips by hand.
Now you could theoretically use an electric chipper/shredder off solar and/or battery power. That might make it more sustainable but again the volume of vegetation needed overall is prohibitive and electric shredders can't handle much either.
Finally, and I apologize this is so long, it's a matter of scale. When you keep in mind how much tilled acreage is needed to even feed a family of two there is absolutely no way anyone can cover that much ground with wood chips.
Or so that is the conclusion I am coming to for more local area's resources anyway. I will freely admit others experiences and situation will vary.
No...it would not work on acreage unless you had a huge source for chips. As far as feeding a family you would have to have a very large garden. Fortunately I live in an area where there are things I can plant year round if needed. I already see that a few plants in the Eden garden surpasses what I planted in a regular garden. I now see why Paul had his plants so far apart. My garden is a jungle and I can barely get between the rows without breaking a stem or leaf and I spaced my plants as usual. The Eden method produces plant triple in size of what I normally have.
DeleteA grid down?....we're all sunk. Once we run out of our stored fuel it is back to hand plows, shovels and hoes.
A grid down?....we're all sunk. Once we run out of our stored fuel it is back to hand plows, shovels and hoes
DeleteExactly my point. But I don't think we are sunk. Most of us will be of course but my plan is me and mine won't be with most of us :)