I have a dutch-oven sized cast iron pot that I use for everything. Because it is used for lots of curries, my tomato sauce, etc it's not nonstick by any means like my skillet is, but I literally use it every day. And it also is what I bake my sourdough loaves in (it has an ovenproof glass/metal top)
Mike Turner wrote:it could be that the Cunninghamia introduced into Brazil came from a different population in China that slightly different than the population initially introduced into North America.
I think that is the most likely. There is some information here that might be helpful specifically about the differences in foliage and cone size between C konishi and C launceolate. I'd post it here but it's not in English-- have a look and see if it's helpful. Scroll down to "As Coníferas Ibero-Americanas, Cunninghamia lanceolata (Pinheiro Chinês)"
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/pinus_26.html
Very nice! cute rhubarb, is that a toad pond or something in the first pic (looks like a pot made of terracotta?)
The birds may just be put off by the immediate work in your garden but they will be back. I agree, as soon as you have some flowers and bees and butterflies, etc etc everyone will come around, even if it is mud and mess at the beginning. Keep up the good work and let us know how it goes!
I'd melt them down for reuse. I remember being in preschool and making funky stained glass kind of things with waxed paper and crayone shavings and an iron (yay preschool in the 1970s, using an iron with toddlers), maybe you could also mix with beeswax to make waxed cotton lunch wrap stuff?
One bed of my garden is right near my back porch where we often have dinner in the summer, and some old candle runoff lumpy business ended up in the bed. I just dug in some compost the other day and found various large lumps, intact. Nobody is eating that wax, it looks exactly the same as when it fell in the garden bed. Crayons may be different, but i'd not be super optimistic about them breaking down.
I would imagine partnering with some sort of social service type organization might help you with finding people as well as provide some security for your garden. The way things are now, community organizations might like an outdoor place to meet or hold their activities... could you offer your space to some nonprofit and become their partner (assuming there is some open space)?
I also like the food festival idea. The community gardens where I live seem to only survive if they have backing from the Slow Food chef crowd.
Hi Susan!
Every year brings its own challenges. I just finished a year with powdery mildew like I've never seen before- things literally just up and died. Weather, I have no control over, and I just try to move to what works (for what it's worth, I grow my cukes under cover for disease control and mine were just like yours- produced like gangbusters and then just up and died, within a day or two, they were spent).
Unless you're going to grow under cover, I'd say don't worry about bleaching your gear or whatever. You can't stop spores, bacteria, etc unless you can stop airflow. Instead I think hugeling and composting is a great approach- give your plants great stuff to grow in and they will be strong and resist better. And if all else fails, try again with a new plant.
I agree about the weather, my mother is in eastern PA and she has still had some cold and crummy weather just over the last week. Basil is tender and likes to be babied, so the brown could be trauma or just cold unhappiness. Give it all some time, it's still early days for this year, and good luck!
Welcome Claude, from what is currently the frozen south of Brazil! I trust you are warmer than we currently are (it's soup and red wine weather down here). I don't know anything about contouring software, but look forward to seeing your property!
This is spreading to other states as well, independent workers can't be hired in certain states that require gig workers to be actual employees. It's turned the translation world upside down, and it's making non-retail self-employment particularly challenging in a lot of places.
A lot of medical translators (like me) also work in this area. Dragon Naturally Speaking is the top of the line and in fact many translators also work with it, since one can only type so fast, and you reach a certain top level where you need some sort of advantage.
Generally that's where your field-specific software comes in- in translation you "save" all the work you've done in the past so that it can be accessed and essentially "auto-fill" new jobs with a specific translation software called a CAT tool (computer-aided translation. Unlike machine translation [Google], your CAT only uses what you have translated, with no contact with the "outside" to conform to confidentiality standards). For editors, that means a quality control tool like PerfectIt. Dragon can be paired with these tools or used in word-processing software to save time (and your carpal tunnels).
In my experience only mickey-mouse type operations will ask you to work in transcription without having you work on a company-specific platform. The platforms usually have the functions one needs like time stamping and may or may not allow you to use speech recognition together with it. In general transcription the pay is by the minute (unlike in medical, contracted directly with a medical facility, where you get paid by the line).
I only do transcription very, very rarely, like when a client is sending a video somewhere and needs it subtitled, and I do it the old fashioned way (in word). The pay continues to be relatively dismal, but if you could hook up Dragon or some other speech recognition it might be worth your while.
Proz.com is one place where you might find jobs, I don`t know if you can still make free accounts there (it's a platform for translation, subtitling, editing, writing) and there is a good knowledge base in the forums.
I understand your situation. My neighbor regularly sprays his front yard, which my other neighbor is now trying to plant (go figure, not working).
I have offered to clear it for him, but he "forgets" (I think he feels bad about me doing it, he is an older wheelchair bound man and where I live women aren't supposed to be doing yard work unless they are retired and have nothing better to do; I`m the weird bird where I live). He says he has no other choice, his wife can't do the yard work. My rabbits used to love to eat what he grows in his yard, but those days are gone. Btw he still has to hire someone to cut the resistant weeds (facepalm).
I think talking to him is the way to go. Offer to plant something there that will be easy maintenance (crown of thorns?? LOL). Good luck.
I've been meaning to reply here too, thanks Eric for bumping the thread.
I have clay, it gets very dry here, the clay completely eats through all organic matter so quickly. Many of the suggestions simply don't work when you've got ground like this and your climate situation. But I think limiting it to the kitchen garden, trenching everything that you can, woodchips, etc, you will see some progress.
As for your grass, not sure what kind of grass you have there (whether its seeded or runners) but I know I didn't see any progress in the battle against grass til I put in solid borders (I used old tiles, planks, etc). But heavy mulching, even putting down cardboard works.
Good luck!
We get a bit more than you, our yearly official mean is 1630 mm (64 inches). Last year it was a bit less (i`m having trouble finding a total, but we're rationing water since the reservoirs are all dry, if that gives you an idea), but when it rains it pours- in November 2020 we got 92 mm in a 24 hour period (3.6 inches pretty much in one storm over a few hours).
I usually soak my seeds if I can remember to; I think it does help them take, especially if conditions are dry and I might not get out to water every day.
About okra-- this past summer (remembering we are in autumn now here in the southern hem) I planted okra at least 5 times. Soaked seed, different varieties, various times. The okra DID NOT COME UP and I was starting to question my sanity. I tried starting in seed trays, used different varieties from different sources (including seed I produced here last year), and still didn't come up.
I'm going to go purple here so hold on to your hats. This was not the only crop I had fail on me last year, and I started investigating the planting with the phases of the moon thing, and my experimentation was surprising. I planted 50 bean seeds on a "do not plant" day, and only 2 came up. I planted another batch on an "ideal" day, and they all came up. Same garden, same conditions. I don't remember what the conditions were when the okra finally took, but we've already had one mild frost and my okra are still no taller than me, so it was pretty late in the summer.
If you are so inclined, maybe check out the planting by the phase of the moon calendar business and see if it helps (I use a website, mooncalendar.astro-seek.com/gardening-moon-calendar-farmers-guide, but keep in mind I'm in the southern hemisphere and I believe you are not, so you need to select the right uption for up there on your side). I am definitely not inclined to believe in this sort of thing, but the results with the beans were really impressive. Next time I put out a large amount of seeds, I'm definitely looking at the calendar.
they grow absolutely everywhere here, in many cases where they get no attention at all (the park where I walk my dog has a few that have gone probably 50 feet up in the air, and nobody is watering them).
In my garden they do not get watered. We get very irregular rainfall, the past few years have been very dry, but when it rains it rains buckets, and the chuchus just keep growing (I love that they are also chuchu in Portugal. Here chuchu is also a nickname like "sweetiepie", is that also the case there?). They get a bit wilty when it's dry, but no rotting when it's wet. They also appear to be ignored by the bugs that eat squash, bean, and nightshade foliage.
I've seen them grow amid rubble, in junkyards, on hillsides, etc. They are not very demanding.
The only thing I have noticed is that they start when they darn well please. I often buy them at the market when they're really cheap and hold onto them until they start putting out roots, then I plant them. They may take a really long time to start getting established, or break into exuberance right away. This may have to do with rainfall, season etc (remembering that I grow year round here in 9b).
Pole beans will probably do well, but you could also try yard-long beans, they take a bit longer to establish but are worth it. Also sweet potato foliage (the rabbits LOVE it), trained up to climb onto something. If not, another vote for loofah, they are AMAZING and plus you get free things to wash your dishes with when you rip them out.
I wouldn't think that summer squash would grow tall enough to shade a lot. Cucumbers might, but where I live they (and summer squash) get powdery mildew and die nearly overnight, and that would stink if it happened early in the season and left you without any coverage. (when I had the mildew disaster early this spring, the loofahs were totally free of any mildew, even though the spaghetti squash and pumpkins were affected too. The greenery has a really strong smell, maybe it has some sort of loofa magic that makes it immune).
Nice place!
I'm in 9b a few (thousand) miles south of you, also on clay.
Loquat will do just fine in 9b. They can get large (here, like avocados, very large trees), so be aware and prune if you need to.
Mulberries will do well, and you can prune the patootie out of them if you need to to keep them small and they do very well.
If you have a space that gets nice afternoon sun maybe you could try some passiflora varieties? I have three, two normal passionfruits and one that I understand is called grenadilla in English (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_ligularis). They obviously need something to climb, but if you were willing to make a fence-type trellis the flowers are beautiful (my grenadilla is all up in my carport and extending out to my front fence).
I also have a blood orange, figs, jabuticaba, yellow plum, guava.... another thing that might be nice if you like to barbecue is to let rosemary grow large, the stems make great skewers for roasting things. In my 9b I see them get very large.
They're looking great!!
I just put in 3 more this week, specifically for forage for the rabbits. When you prune them regularly you can get lots more tendrils, I've grown them that way in the past to make stir-fries (they are great that way).
Now sleep with an eye open, because they'll be trying to take over your yard before you know it.
Chicken/rabbit setup a lá Joel Salatin? (it has a cute name that I can't remember right now-- chickens on the bottom, rabbits on the top). Both could conceivably have ramps going out to enclosed outside yards.
I have left the hyacinth bean (lablab) up, even though it attracts bean beetles, since the bees and hummingbirds are still feeding on it constantly (we are now well into fall and there aren't so many flowers around right now). Highly recommended if you need a crazy climber and pollinator plant!
I used to take fenugreek tea to increase milk supply, and yes the smell... but i would rather my sweat smell like maple syrup than, say asparagus pee, i suppose!!
There are some excellent flatbreads with fenugreek greens!
Thanks for the reminder it is a cool crop. Time to put some in!
Personally I would go with steamed breads, they are easy, fast, and most everyone loves them. I made them for a barbecue recently for 20 people, I had a large steamer and was able to do 2 batches but I have a basket I put in my rice cooker or anything that makes pasta, can do 6-8 at a time. You could theoretically steam them in a plate set within a frying pan, if it has a lid.
This sort of thing takes substitutions really well- if you don't have szechuan pepper, use 5 spice, or white pepper, or ground sesame seeds. It's best with sesame oil and 5 spice, though.
https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/steamed-scallion-buns-hua-juan/ If you're not thrilled about MacGyvering with steam, there are also pan breads like this one (which I just made last night).
https://redhousespice.com/spring-onion-flatbread-leavened Also easy peasy-- just LET IT SIT before cutting (I always cut it too soon). Same substitutions apply as above.
If it were me, I'd be doing a chicken/egg soup too.
is that a scoop (? lack of a better word) for picking plums?
Or is it stronger than it looks and is used for... digging clams or something out of the mud?
I want to know more about the thing in the picture next to the flower arrangement-stander-upper-pokey-things (all my languages are failing me on this item), the thing with the string tied around it. It almost looks like a mold for casting!
As for the last picture, I sure hope you didn't get them from Pirate Pegleg Depot.
the thing about business is that at the end, it's the clutch plate between what you do (and it sounds like you`ve given a good amount of thought to what you can and want to do) and the client who wants to give you money for what you do. Your "motor" can be fabulous, but the gear has to be there on the other side for you to engage into and for the car to go (i.e., getting people to pay you). Talking to people in your area to find out what people can spend, how they buy, where they buy, etc will tell you a lot.
You may find that you can combine both in unexpected ways. This week I saw canisters of bokashi for sale (not bokashi starter, but bokashi, sold as fertilizer) for 9 bucks in my feed store. I had no idea there was enough demand for this big fertilizer company to take risk launching a bokashi product! I make my own bokashi starter, and I've had people try to buy that off me (also kombucha), and I thought hmmmm... maybe there's something there (now to invent the human cloning device so I can clone myself and put all these ideas into action..... O-o).
Brody Ekberg wrote:We can hopefully find kitchen space to rent for this, but need to look into that because this has all fallen out of my mind since the pandemic started.
I have heard of people renting from churches, summer camps, and social centers (with certified kitchens) which are all suffering right now due to the pandemic and might appreciate an income stream. Might be worth checking out what's around nearby.
I've actually been following your other thread and thinking about responding but not quite getting around to it.
1. I am not a fan of doing what you love for work. Doing what you can accept for work, sure, but trying to make money from what I do for fun, drains the fun out of it, as you found with hunting and fishing. (I've found this to be true for writing fiction, crafting, and food, not saying it can't be done, just that I didn't like them as much anymore).
2. You say there is a market for fermentation. I assume you know that since there is some market activity for it. What can you offer that is different? Would clients be willing to move from the current product to yours? What niches are waiting to be filled? How does this fit with legal requirements about licensing, food regulations, etc?
3. Similarly, with landscaping- what could you offer that is not being offered right now? Are there people who are still looking for landscaping services, considering the current economic situation? What makes your product different? How does that fit with equipment you might need to buy/finance/etc?
I'm a big fan of observing. Observe patterns and see where you can fit in to take advantage of need that exists. Running your own business involves risk and stomachaches and, occasionally, spending a shocking amount of money when there is no guarantee you are going to make it back (this past year has been disastrous for my husband's business, and the salaries still had to be paid. We've got backups and further backups and even more backup plans, so we've been okay. But still, there have been some sleepless nights). Do your due diligence, research first, it's the most important lab report you're ever going to do. Then sit down with people whose opinion you value and see what they can add.
Okra is great for making a cool "understory" below. I had cayenne peppers and now have Chinese greens and escarole under mine (season transition here into winter. when it's really cold, I'll cut off any leaves that didn't drop and the branch tips, and plant peas to climb up them).
If you have strong enough sun, you can plant them pretty close and they do okay. I often plant them in lines in the garden between other stuff and the do well too.
Judith, I'm assuming you need a new phone as well as service for said phone.
In the past I've bought cheap, unlocked phones off of e-bay and put simple pay as you go plans on them. These plans (at least last time I was in the US) I could buy a "recharge" card in a pharmacy (which is also where i get the chip, if the phone does not already come with a chip and number assigned --sometimes they do). This is what I did when my daughter traveled with me, we ended up with California numbers (we were not in California) but the calls were free on the plan I had so who cares.
I'd say it sounds like a used, unlocked blackberry might be a good deal for you if you need to have a real keyboard. Otherwise, it's either a flip phone (no keyboard) or a smartphone made for web applications.
As for pay as you go plans, I have used Tracfone, Orange, and a few others. Literally, whatever is available in the drugstore at the train station or pharmacy where my plane lands is what I go with when I'm buying a chip and plan for my phone.
Jen, you're just doing what society has trained us to do (mostly as women, but not exclusively)-- and what I think many people LIKE to do-- be nice and generous and friendly. It stinks when you realize that these good traits in yourself ultimately just make your life more difficult.
The bright side: you realized it as soon as it came out of your mouth. Now that you're aware, you can make change next time you're in the same situation.
Nothing is stopping you from calling her up and saying, "you know, when I saw you I was so excited about how great these masks are, but I realize I just don't have the time to make any more right now. Still, I'm going to send you the link for the pattern (or a photocopy of the pattern) and where I bought the fabric, because these masks are so great. I hope you try it and send me a pic when you're done."
(and if she doesn't like that--- imagine. She'll call up the town gossip and say "Jen offered to make me a mask and then called me up and changed her mind! The nerve!!" I would venture anyone hearing that would be rolling their eyes pretty hard.)
The biggest challenge for me has been to stop saying sorry and to think before I offer things. And to be super firm about my no (I work for myself, and I can say without a doubt that these firm no's and maintaining my prices have helped me get through the last year+ with most of my sanity intact). I still don't have it down 100% but I'd like to think I'm getting better every day. Practice helps, and you can do it!
Welcome, Ben.
I love your setup, I have way too many predators for that, I think (particularly with young bunnies involved), but I love the idea.
I find my rabbits love digging, whether in dirt or sand, it seems to be really enjoyable to them.
I found a sexual dimorphism only visible once the girls get their dewlaps. I've got Brazilian rabbits, and just after that the body shapes seem to shift as well- the male has a more angular head (almost ratty) and the female is more rotund. But that is from at least 1 year old, which is too late. I think C Mouse's idea of using feeding to capture the rabbits is the best, have a restricted feeding zone where you put the special treats (in the hutch with the ramp up?) and then take it from there.
Amy Gardener wrote:Do you have some support in your community? Letting others help you now will create more joy in your community in the long term. Autonomy is great but we are social beings that need community too. Without any real effort on your part, you could be the center that brings your neighbors together. I know that if you were my neighbor, I would happily load you up with all the fresh veg you could want.
Super great advice. Advice I was given when i had newborns was to acceot any and all help offered. It was sound wisdom!
You know, the way things are right now you might even get someone willing to work your plot for you. People are excited to learn how to plant things, and offering a "community plot" type thing might be helpful. Community being you and them! They get to start with a nice bed, with access to manure, advice, etc, it might be exactly what one of your neighbors is looking for, if you live close enough to others.
Welcome, Sage!
I agree heartily with Carla-- try to make as much peace as possible with giving up as much as you possibly can, lower your expectations (then lower them a wee bit more), and focus on your health and your baby. There may be people who farm with a newborn strapped on their back but personally, there was no way I could have done it. Be kind to yourself, and also enjoy that baby while it's small. Before you know it you'll have little feet running along with you in the garden. In that year and a half or two, put your energy toward keeping your livestock alive and maintaining your own health. And don't let yourself feel bad about it.
Also, your space is gorgeous. Weeds can always be pulled later, if you really want to do something, broadcast some green mulch seeds when you're feeling energetic right now, make a list of what you would like to do (not what you have to do, but what you would really like) and see if you can break those tasks down into tiny pieces to check off if you do find yourself with the time.
I have it growing in 9B. I grew it from seed, have no idea what kind it is (I had one option, "asparagus").
In fact, I have it growing in a container (a large box, like a deep kiddie pool. My dirt is very rocky and full of clay and I decided to make my life easier). It is in a corner of my yard that gets mostly shade.
I have seen videos of people growing asparagus in urban settings in southeast Asia (maybe Singapore?).
I do get occasional frosts but I don't have a set hot and cold season the way North America does-- I will have a cold snap for a few days, then back to daily variations between 40F and 70F, for example. The asparagus never goes dormant, and I'm never really sure what I should be doing with it. It's only about 4 years old and I've divided it twice, but yields are still small.
But I would imagine if you get a firm cold season you would probably be okay.
Welcome, K Lopez!
There was a similar discussion about a year ago here started by R Ranson that you might find useful.
https://permies.com/t/119228/kitchen/Instant-Pot-pressure-cooker-slow Lots of folks shared how they use their Insta-Pots, and some of their other kitchen cookers.
I let nearly everything flower now- the hummingbirds love it. Currently I have coleus flowering to collect the seeds, and they are all over it! I never would have guessed. Thai basil is also a favorite, sage, I even saw them hitting the mint flowers. But the best thing has been the (male) flowering papaya. It is a useless tree to me, since it won't produce any fruit. But the birds prefer it to the feeder, so it stays. Gotta keep them happy and humming!
Nicole Alderman wrote:
I didn't know there were silicone hoses! I would assume it was food grade, as most silicone is. Do you have a link to where you bought it?
I bought it by the meter at the feed store... but poking around online, it looks like I might have gotten fleeced- any hose with fibers braided in it apparently involves PVC, the silicone layer is on the outside, and pretty much entirely intended to stop the hose from cracking... So my hose is "siliconized" rather than silicone.
I *have* bought the same manufacturer's 100% silicone stuff for brewing and household use (it is clear, looks like IV tubing, only bigger), although they don't label it food-safe. In fact, on their website they "food-safe" tubing and hoses of various sizes for dairy production--- but after trawling through their sales catalog it seems these things are all PVC. sigh. Here there isn't the same anti-plastic awareness. They sell the hoses for food use as "non-toxic," which could mean anything.
If I were searching up in the US I'd start looking at stuff for dairies or brewing supply.
Jason, I've not used the Almond Cow, but looking at it compared to my Joyoung soymilk maker it doesn't look great. (UNLESS you hate straining. I don't think straining is a big deal). You can find new and used Joyoungs out there and they are tanks. The one I have will make milk from any cow nut or grain, as well as jam, juice, double-thick soymilk, and a few other things I already forget (maybe porridge?). I got mine used on Ebay and I think I paid 75 bucks, I use the heck out of it, wish I had sprung for one sooner. It's all stainless inside and I expect to get a good long life out of it. Also, the Cow seems to be 220v, which is at the very least inconvenient where I live.
I bought a silicon hose a few years ago when I needed one. I doubt it is food grade (the only hose I have seen specify it was food safe was for brewery supplies), but the silicon ones are stronger and more resistant to sun, which is brutal here. Even if they are not ideal, the silicone hoses should last longer than the standard ones, which means I buy fewer.
I haven't tried to repel anything with it, but I wash my quinoa the way I wash my rice- 3 rinse-agitate-drain cycles in a row, with that water reserved and going into the graywater to flush toilets (we have a water shortage here and water is being rationed) or out to water plants. If I used a lot of quinoa I would save just that water and experiment, but the bugs here are pretty hardcore and probably would ask for more.
3-5 minutes of running water seems like a bit of an exaggeration, personally.
