Hans Zork

Does anyone have experience with EMs? I chanced upon them through a thread on permies which has, however, been deleted due to misquoting. Anyways, the concept of EM makes sense to me, and the companies selling them make huge claims for their benefits. However, they come at a price, so I'm wondering if using them will pay off or not.

Tom Jonas wrote:Hi Hans, we don't eat a lot of sweet potatoes, so we don't grow too much. When we need to plant, we just buy some from the store and keep them until the "eyes" appear. However, we do plant many different potato varieties that we keep fresh and to dehydrate. Sweet potatoes keep well here, so maybe we will plant more of them this year and dehydrate the surplus, or eat more tempura with our sushi(salmon is just a short drive from here in the spring-fall period)! Also, like some previous posters do, we grow beans as well. Good for starch and the protein as well. Bean flour is an excellent addition to bread, tortillas, chapatis, etc. Flax is also an excellent augmentation for grain products as well( it really flavors puff pastry and standard pastry as well). I hope this info helps. As always, greatest regards from Houston, Alaska. -Tom and Vania

Thanks for your explanations! If you can do it in Alaska, I should be able to do it here I'm jealous for that salmon, haha..

Leila Rich wrote:My dried runner beans are pretty starchy They're also a good protein source, which I think is really valuable.

Oh, I just googled. I had never seen them in their mature form. Beautiful!

Hi Tom and Vania, sweet potatoes in Alaska?? That's really encouraging! Do you harvest them and store some for planting again next summer?

Hi Leila,
I don't think your comment is OT at all. Beans would also be great as an additional staple food for, I think, though I would prefer the starchier ones. I do eat a lot of lentils, peas and chickpeas.

Thank you all so much for your replies! This is really encouraging... I can't wait to get started with my own little gardening project.

Speaking of staple foods, I wonder if permaculture makes it possible to grow yams and sweet potatoes in temperate areas? I love eating those, unfortunately, in Germany they are only available as import goods. I guess I should ask that question in the local section of the forum once it's imminent, but I'm interested if there might be first hints here.

Hi all,

I'm 100% new to gardening, permaculture, agriculture and all that, looking for something to do with my life that makes sense and where I can spend time outside.

My question is: Since grains are basically the basis of human nutrition in most places, certainly in Western countries, how does this work in permaculture? The impression of permaculture that I have is that different plants grow together, not separated. So I wonder, doesn't that make harvesting grain really difficult?

If my question is not clear / doesn't make (much) sense, please let me know.

Best,
Hans