Markus Laumann

Hello,

Wranglerstar recently posted a video about his attempt to re-plant a large field with pine and fir. He suffered some serious losses.

I'm thinking pioneer trees could improve survival but I'm not familiar with the NW. Any advice for him?

My wife and I are just starting to use permaculture on our flat 1 acre but we're starting with mostly grass and little shade. During the summers here in southeast Georgia (USDA 8A) we end up with a lull in the summer heat where black-eyed peas keep growing but most other things fade. I'm beginning to think when plants recommend "full sun" they aren't talking about Georgia/Florida summer sun... We don't get a lot of production in the summer without extra work and watering so we want to work with what we have.

I'm curious if anyone has any recipes or tips specifically for older, tougher BEP leaves that have done their duty as cover crops. In 2014 we threw out 5 lbs of BEP as ground cover and most of it died of old age or frost because we didn't know what to do with it (other than chop and drop).

Thanks,
Markus

I may not be a prolific money-making machine, but I found giving money via Patreon to people I like is very easy.

If you can net $100/$500/$1,000,000 every time you send out a podcast (a few days earlier for Patreon supporters, of course) and it's something you were going to put out anyway... Cha-ching!

Plus, Patreon is kinda like Kickstarter where people go there to find cool new stuff, which could mean exposure to people who don't know what permaculture is...

I say this because I ran across this today at the same time I was listening to your podcast... http://www.patreon.com/creation?hid=903215
... He's getting $600+ per month and that guy just wants to plant food on a river bank!

Found it! I knew once I had a picture of the flower it would be easier to identify.

"Hairy Clustervine"
Jacquemontia tamnifolia

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/71746/

I finally caught some pictures of the flower when it's open. The fact that it only opens in the morning means it's probably in the morning glory family. If anyone wants seed, now's the time to ask. I'm baking it on the driveway right now in preparation for the trash.
Here we go...

Tim Wells wrote:Fallopia convolvulus?

I don't think so, judging by the flower arrangement. I wish I had a picture of these flowers in bloom but it looks like there would've been about 10-20 small purple-white flowers in a cluster in a single head, not along a stem. We've been traveling quite a bit and my focus while home has been on my Mimosa tree pioneers (mid-summer transfers).

Maybe I should add some more details to help narrow the field. I live in Baxley, GA (USDA 8A) and this vine seems to grow in areas where we brought in some topsoil that recently became baked by a lack of summer rain. There were black eyed peas planted in the area (ground cover) but deer took those out and we had these and ground cherries volunteer. Also on that plot was a bag of "Cajun 15 Bean Soup" mix that we spread early in the summer as an experiment.

Matu Collins wrote:It looks like a successful vine. It does not look like field bindweed or hedge bindweed to me. Those are the ones I deal with.
The rolled up looking flower looks morning glory ish but in my experience bindweed and morning glory flowers have around five seeds per flower.

That's the kicker. So many flowers on one head makes me curious, but also scared. If it is a strangling vine I'm looking at a couple thousand more seeds being added to the soil if I let them go much longer.

This vine has started taking over a bed where we brought in some new topsoil. We got some nice ground cherry volunteers from it but every good party has THAT GUY that comes along and tries to ruin it for everyone.

This thing acts like a bindweed but the flower arrangement doesn't match species I can find in google. I'd hate to kick out the groundcherry's BFF but it's getting really gropey with everyone at the party... A proper ID would go a long way to help finalize our guest list.

EDIT: More details...
Location - Baxley, GA (USDA 8A)
Grows in areas where we brought in some topsoil that recently became baked by a lack of summer rain.
There were black eyed peas planted in the area (ground cover) but deer took those out and we had these and ground cherries volunteer.
Also on that plot was a bag of "Cajun 15 Bean Soup" mix that we spread early in the summer as an experiment.


The flower bud after all the flowers are gone. At least he's not sporting a toupe...



This is the only thing I could find that actually showed the flower (what was left of them). Most of the bindweeds I see have one flower, not a bundle...



Here's our creep, cruising the dance floor...



Not sure if this helps, but here's a picture of his nether regions...



Here we see his alpha-male personality coming out. Always has to be on top...



We asked him to leave. This is what he showed us...



I tried to get a closer look and he spit these at me. Inside each one was four seeds in a typical bindweed shell. If I had to estimate, I'd say every flower "head" would hold about 80-100 seeds. You've been warned, ladies...

I FOUND IT!

It's called the Scorpion's Tail (Heliotropium angiospermum).

They're supposed to be good for drawing in certain kinds of butterflies.

Actually, I live in Appling County near Savannah but we go camping at West Point fairly often.