Jay Angler

My wife gave birth to our son in the car on our way to the hospital.

We named him Carson

A pair of jumper cables walk into a bar.

The bartender says, "I’m fine to serve you but you better not start anything!"

George Mogil wrote:...It's heavily compacted soil overrun with competing root systems and rocks that make hand digging nearly impossible; I normally remove a three inch thick layer of the 'top spoil' and replace it with store bought organic earth.

I read of someone on the west coast using bails of newspaper to build raised beds on top of the rocky outcropping.

From your description, I suspect most of the tree debris is conifer? If you have a source of deciduous wood, you could try building Hügelkultur.  

I did a little research and found this article: https://www.epa.gov/habs/sargassum-inundation-events-sies-impacts-human-health

They are very concerned about exposure to it:

Exposure to hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, produced during the decay of Sargassum, may also cause mild to serious health effects, including respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological impacts. Additionally, Sargassum accumulates and leaches pollutants, including pesticides and heavy metals like arsenic, which could harm human health and the environment.

A local said that burning it could be very dangerous if you breath in any of the smoke. Some of the dangers from the chemistry between sulfur, chlorine and fire.

I suppose the real solution is for humans to quit polluting our oceans!

I know that I read about some sort of outside the box use for seaweed in the Caribbean which the locals came up with exactly due to the problems you're talking about. I think they were making building blocks out of it!

We love to say in Permaculture "the problem is the solution" and biochar is certainly one option.

One concern I have is getting the seaweed dry enough that the charring is as efficient as possible. Do you do anything special to manage that?

A second concern is that I've heard locally that burning salty wood in a wood stove damages the metal. It sounds from your description that you're burning it in a cone, so that may be less of an issue than a wood stove. How many cycles have you tested your system with, and has there been any sign of damage?

I definitely agree in principle. This is a good option for areas where pollution is an issue.

Some of the other good uses are composting, animal feed, human feed, and some of the suggestions in these links:
https://www.greenislandcreative.com.au/blog/5-uses-for-seaweed
https://earthbound.report/2021/04/15/10-different-uses-for-seaweed/

I find it interesting that the Caribbean and some other places are struggling with an excess of seaweed, and in my region, we're trying to encourage the recovery of our kelp forests. Kelp is a key link to keeping the entire northwest coast ecosystem healthy.

Sooooo... The babies really don't like my average house temperature, but I was pretty sure they wouldn't.

Quite a few babies haven't made it, and, many of the ones that are alive, are sitting there, doing absolutely nothing.

The web did say that it could take 3 weeks for them to get the beginnings of their first true leaves (and spikes!) Two of the oldest ones are definitely doing so, and one slightly younger one is showing signs it's at least thinking about it. I will just have to be patient and keep watching them.

I also read that "yellow" dragon fruit is tastier than the large red ones. The red ones have stronger roots, and the yellow ones can be grafted to the red ones. So.... my wonderful DiL, bought me a yellow one and now I've got those seeds on the hot water heater to see if they will germinate. The yellow seeds are noticeably larger. I had found the red fruit quite bland, however, I'm not sure if the yellow one truly had more flavour, or just more sugar?

The experiment continues...

Wisteria Goose Lays the First Egg of the Goose Reproductive Season

Last fall, we sadly lost a couple of our oldest geese to a racoon attack. It has left the rest of our goose family struggling a little. That's what makes today's first egg, so special. Wisty even laid it in a laying cube, so I was able to lock her in safely for the night, even though she was busy fretting over getting her nest *just* right.

Hopefully, our future will hold some healthy, fuzzy goslings in a couple of months!

Have you considered making biochar? Yes, it's a form of burning, but the result is microbe hotels and carbon that will stay in your soil for a very long time.

This forum https://permies.com/f/190/biochar will show you a bunch of ways to make it and some of the pros and cons.  

I've seen tomatoes like that, but not apples and I have 3 apple trees.

... when the "baby pictures" your friends send to you, are of baby plants.