matt hogan

I think I would use chicken wire (aka 'poultry netting') for now.  I would definitely put the electric netting away for now; you don't want the chickens to get used to running through it.  Pull it out again once they're bigger.

I will be there!  It’s 40 minutes from my place so I will be commuting.

Unfortunately, my overalls are at the tailor’s so I won’t match Paul.

I start my pigs off in a training area, which is small so I don't like to keep them in there long.  It's basically a pig pen with an outside area.  The outside area has two rows of electric rope around it, really hot.  I like the rope because it's white and easy for them to recognize.

Once they're trained to that, I let them into a big area with electric rope around it.  As long as I keep fresh food and water available, they don't even try the fence.  One time I did let the water run out, a couple of them got out.

I will say that a couple years ago, I had a couple pigs from a local guy and they were quite wild.  I did the usual training to the fence, they respected it while we were looking, then ran down the road.  I tried multiple times and ended up selling them for about what we paid for them.

I'm having difficulty visualizing how LGD's work. I get that they are 'out' with the livestock, but if you have multiple pastures with animals that all need protecting, do you put the LGD in one pasture, or outside the pastures? If something gets into a pasture, how does the dog get in there? If we have fences that keep in chickens and goats, how does a dog get in and out?

It entertains me greatly when people say that you can't grow food without pesticides, as if before the 1940's, everyone starved to death.

Of course, what many mean is that we can't grow food in the way that we do now without pesticides. It may be necessary to plant older, more resistant varieties and have more of a polyculture (at least keeping hedgerows), but we can certainly grow food without spraying.

Paul mentioned in a podcast once that he likes to put one very large bolt in the tree and hang the whole structure from that. I like that idea because it minimizes the stress to the tree, and it eliminates the stress issues mentioned in the link.

If it were my project, I would start by using earthworks to control the water. That way, soil isn't washed away and your plants don't all get wet feet. I would probably use swales, overflowing into each other, maybe with ponds if appropriate. This will give you some texture and variation in soil conditions so plants can be planted where it is moist or where it is drier.

I forgot to mention that the orcs (and others) in Mordor were fed by vast fields in the South, worked by slaves. I picture this as monocultural, soil-depleting agriculture, which is, of course, not permaculture, neither earth care nor people care. But maybe you could think of a way to represent it without doing it. Perhaps if you walk down a dark path, there's a mural.

Hey, I'm not a LOTR ner... no, wait. That tracks.

Hobbits: "the brewing of ales"; "the smoking of pipeweed"; potatoes "the Gaffer's delight and rare ballast on an empty stomach"; Bilbo had cold chicken and pickles in his larder (pickles would have been fermented); meat (Bilbo mentions it comes from the butcher already cut)

Dwarves: "red meat on the bone"

Of note would be trolls, who like their meat cooked but are afraid of fire. You could have a fire pit with very long skewers for them.

I would not use fire to get rid of the weed seeds. It can mess with your soil (nutrients, soil life). After making your swales, pepper the place with seeds from nitrogen fixers (think peas or beans) and put them thick enough that they will choke out unwanted plants. Then plant your other plants amongst the nitrogen fixers.