Cécile Stelzer Johnson

Well, my husband has a shooting berm, about 15 ft high, and although we never planted anything on it (it might get shot at!) a variety of things are growing on it.
Halfway up the flank, in the back is an ugly jack pine growing 4 ft up the slope. It's massive. It supports a wild grape vine that is climbing all the way up. The grape vine seems sterile, but even if it had grapes, I would need a tall ladder to get at them.
On the southwest, a group of Eastern prickly pears (opuntia humifusa) were transplanted there by my hubby, and they are doing well.
The most surprising of all, way at the top of this mound of dirt is a wild cherry tree. The trunk is as big as my calf and more than twice as tall as me. It would be nice if it gave me some fruit, but so far, not a one. If it did, it would most likely be the tiny fruit with very little flesh relative to the stone. But I have another one like that from which I take the fruit to make Kirsch, a delicious liquor made by crushing cherry pits  with Vodka. My Kirschwasser has an interesting almond flavor.
Holding the whole berm together are rambling blackberry vines which also do not give much: I can't grow the really big blackberries that make my mouth water, like they have out West. Ours here have small fruit that too often dry on the vine before they are edible.
I should mention that the berm is made of a number of half rotted logs covered with the kind of 'soil', we have mostly here, plus a load of imported 'soil' (which is still mostly sand).
To the northeast, there is a volunteer asparagus, about 1 ft up the berm. It gives me the biggest asparagus, (bigger than my thumbs) bigger even than the 50 Millenia asparagus which I bought and planted 4 yrs ago.
None of these have been fertilized or watered and as I have often mentioned, we live in Central Wisconsin, a sandbox where some of the biggest potatoes are grown. (Sorry, Idaho, but at the last check, Wisconsin had the record for *useable* potatoes: Once they grow past 3 pounds, they are just a curiosity and are not particularly tasty).
While Plover, Wisconsin is the heart of the state's commercial potato production—and home to the iconic 39-foot-tall World's Largest Potato Masher at the Food + Farm Exploration Center—the state's standout agricultural records still point back to Embarrass, WI for massive backyard finds.

I didn't know I was doing it right, but as a 77 yr old, there was no way I was going to dig then fill with logs. plus I don't have the equipment.
That was only serendipity on my part, though: I had a bunch of red oak that had the wilt and I could not sell that wood because it would have contaminated some other property.
I can't quite claim that it's a hugel yet because I have very little soil on it, although as the bottom logs/brush rot away, it should almost qualify in a few years.
But you know what: I have a great double wind break and critters are coming to live in the (very) long piles of timber/ brush.
I'm not growing anything it it yet but I'm tossing old seeds in it and on it. So staghorn sumac is growing in it now and also false indigo.
I have solved the double problem of not being able to keep snow and rain from draining away into the ditch that's along the road and also, as I was saying I have a double wind break. In some areas, I can no longer see through, and it's impressive enough for the deer to go around.

Anne Miller wrote:

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:Does anyone know an easy way to bust them up and turn them into powder to use on potatoes and other tubers that like bonemeal?

Boiling the bones or pressure cooking them will soften the bones.
I found this out by making lots of bone broth.

Thanks, Ann. While I already have a lot of bone broth, I wanted to use the bones in my garden as an amendment. I figure on picking the chicken-cleaned, ant-cleaned, sun-bleached bones from their paddock and pressure cook them, then pound them to a pulp and air-dry them.
Thanks again for the tip!

I come across some bones too, and I wish I could make use of them... in my garden.
Whenever we eat meat, there's cooked bones attached to them, and we repurpose the carcass by giving it to our chickens.
Once they and some ants and the sun have had their fun with then, the chicken yard is littered with bones.
Does anyone know an easy way to bust them up and turn them into powder to use on potatoes and other tubers that like bonemeal?

Anthony Jones wrote:   OK, this sounds crazy but experience is the teacher. I (69yr young) work 23+ acers of wild land I am slowly building a family off-grid homestead food forest on.
  I have learned to cover up and wear a wide brim straw hat and one of those wet cooling clothes to cover the neck. I wear loose fitting sweatpants, and loose fitting long sleeve shirt.
  I am in South East Alabama and summer is hot and humid. I am totally soaked in sweat in just a few working minutes no matter what I wear. The sweats and shirt soak up and evaporate creating a bit of cooling effect. Protects me from mosquitos and briors.
  Looks very hot to wear but not as bad as you think. I am actually much hotter in shorts and tee shirt than in the full getup. Works especially well if there is even a slight breeze.
Give it a try.

You know, that's what my young friend Alex, who comes from El Salvador tells me: He comes all covered from head to toes and tells me that his getup is actually more comfortable when he does some work for me.
And come to think of it, when you see folks who work in the fields of cucumber or strawberries, they are totally covered, from head to toes. I was looking at men and women from the middle East, and you know it's hot there! I kept thinking: If I had to wear a hijab (and a black one, to boot!), I'd die of a heat stroke for sure. But those folks seem to be just fine, so there must be something to what you are saying. It's just a bit counter intuitive.
It takes some getting used to...

It will depend on the days, of course. It's usually an old cotton T-shirt and old cotton jeans, socks and comfy shoes.
I'll go sleeveless when the mosquitos are not famished.
I'm still trying to find some oil of lemon eucalyptus:
https://www.murphysnaturals.com/products/lemon-eucalyptus-oil-insect-repellent-spray?srsltid=AfmBOoo1OaxQvArHPh2tBMit_CuMrO1g34ZqQNVMqirrOhitSGlP6myl
If you need something harsher, spray that stuff on your clothes, not on your skin!
I'd like to get some oil of lemon/eucalyptus in drinkable form: Maybe that would make me toxic to any bloodsucker that lands on me? (I'm only afraid it would be toxic to me FIRST.)
Against wood ticks, I like to get 2 dog tick collars and cinch the bottom of my jeans. Now, I only have to worry about those that will fall on my head when I mow under my apple trees.
Otherwise, yes, I really like to bask in the sunshine, on the deck, scantily clad.
I try to pick a day when there is even a gentle breeze: That tends to keep the little bloodsuckers at bay.
Unfortunately, that's often the time when a customer comes to buy some eggs, darn.

Well, that's a tough question to answer really, but Cristobal has the right idea: plant as many as you can for the space you have: Some crops will not do well, some will be eaten by wildlife, like those @#$%^&*&^%$#@!!! rabbits that just feasted on my prized sweet peppers, and then, there are our chickens. Remember that you pay taxes on every square inch of your property, so if you don't make it pay for you, you are losing $$$ and opportunities.
You didn't mention farm animals, but if you have some, produce all you can in the space you have, because it will not go to waste: Our old lettuce, freezer burned meats and road kills of all types get 'recycled by our chickens and will give us more eggs. In turn, their manure can get used by all the trees in the orchards. In our little pond that we can't keep from freezing in the winter, I raise as many bait fish as I can. In the fall, the pond gets emptied, the fish gets dried and gives extra protein for the chickens in the dead of winter.
I maxed out on apple trees, but I have a few plum trees, cherry trees, basswoods for the bees, maple trees, not just for the beauty but for some leaves to turn into leaf mold. (I put some in the chickens' winter run (covered). they actually eat some, turn the rest into good soil.
I have lots of small fruit blueberry bushes, gooseberries, haskaps, elderberries...
Having more than you can use also means that if you turn extra fruit into jellies, jams and wine you will have something to offer your neighbors, your kids and take care of those in-laws that are hard to shop for: Jam, jelly, maybe a bottle of homemade wine or liquor is always appreciated. It won't gather dust, so  you can repeat with another home made gift every year.
But if you are lucky enough to have any amount of land, make it pay you...

Matt McSpadden wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:Black Oil Sunflowers offers food for birds, you, etc.

Joe Pyle Weed for Monarch Butterflies.

I like both of these suggestions. I learned something too. For some reason I always thought of Joe Pye Weed as a southern plant, but when I looked it up... it is here in Maine.

Joe Pye weed is also abundant in Central WI, sandy zone 4b, and good for pollinators. Unfortunately, the local authorities will not let us plant anything in the "right of way", a rather large zone that extends over the entire ditch.
The 'reason' given is that deer, turkeys etc. are attracted to it and we are already paying through the nose with nose bleed level car insurance premiums! They already mowed the ditch as of today (6/13), and they will do it again a couple more times before snow flies.
I keep it clean myself so that I can mow around some asclepias (milkweeds) that volunteered. Blue flags would do well there too, if the zone is damp enough, and could not really hide an approaching deer, but nope. Rules are rules and they want it cut to the ground, as if a herd of sheep had eaten there...
I plant forbes at the very edge of the 'acceptable limit', so technically, they are on my property, on which I pay taxes. They can't mess with that!
The nice thing about forbes is that they go back in the ground in the winter, so it won't be a problem for snow removal. I have lots of false indigo, peonies, along the edges of my driveway, and some cup plants (silphium perfoliatum). Those are nice for little birds who come to drink the water from the "cups" at the vase of the leaves.

Ra Kenworth wrote:Yes Judith a summer kitchen is the answer: mine is simply an apartment sized upright freezer directly outside the door that doubles as a countertop, where single burners and crockpots can be used without heating up the house.

That's a wonderful idea. I'm planning to do the something very similar.
There's a concrete fire circle that we are not using, about 20 ft in diameter. I plan to add cattle panels all around to make an airy enclosure, maybe with some grapevines all around then put a roof on top, just to protect the equipment.
I  think the roof will be a fairly cheap affair as they sell on the internet some super duper heavy tarps, reclaimed from advertising panels along the highway.  This:
https://www.billboardvinyls.com/products/14-x-48-reused-vinyl-tarp-black?variant=41687924244563&country=US¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&tw_source=google&tw_adid=756680107359&utm_campaign=22641825750&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22641825750&gbraid=0AAAAADhQWtKKyt2dFNS2coBA3p0Yan5vU&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlqTRBhCBARIsANrkrxjs2zzmIQFlY3Lh9a0BX_H4V_cpiKHmvChKmVaFYOudivltar37JZwaAkeDEALw_wcB
will take you to the site.  You can then pick your size.
Billboard vinyl material is stronger and heftier than anything else you will find to cover your stuff: they usually double it, so that one face doesn't show the advertising
It would go directly over a round wood frame, supported by a number of 4" X 4" posts.
They have grommets and I could add more, just so I could fasten them more easily to the wood frame.
It's just too darn hot to do canning inside the house.
I built a little cabinet for the stove (concrete blocks and lumber to cover, and a  propane tank, and another for a counter top for a cutting and prepping place, so this project is humming along, but calculations are not my strong suite. With a 20' diameter, I wonder how many posts I would need, as this will impact the final shape of the roof.
Oh, I intend to keep the center of the roof open so that smoke/heat can dissipate if we burn marshmallows at the center of the fire circle.
The final piece that would close the roof could be a patio umbrella, removable.
Do we have good engineers on permies to tell me if I'm going totally wrong? I'm hoping that the roof would be high enough to not melt in the heat...