Cécile Stelzer Johnson

Antonio Scotti wrote:Hi
I'd like to get some tips on how to start a windbreak in an extremely windy area.
Meaning that if the actual windbreak plants are planted when still small they can get stunted and have very poor slow growth if there are under constant strong winds almost all the time
On the other hand, if they are planted bigger, I fear, they can be overthrown.

The context I am talking about is the island of Lanzarote, off the cost of Morocco (Canary islands), where inhabitants have resorted to build stone walls in order to protect fruit trees, which on the other hand have the problem of becoming very hot places during warm/hot months.
Also, stone walls have the problem of creating turbulence on the lee-ward side of the walls.

My idea is to instead start developing vegetation based windbreaks, trees and shrubs that is, but I am unsure how to go about it and would like to hear from people living in very windy areas how did they develop their tree-based windbreaks without compromising the windbreak trees as well.

One Idea I was having is to actually protect the young windbreak tree plantings using fast growing annual grasses, as barrier sheltering the young trees/shrubs, which can grow taller enough, 2m or something and somehow protect the tree "children" until they grow larger and stronger.... grasses such as vetiver or miscanthus, for example (which have other uses as well)
Any thoughts on this last idea as well?

As you are located so near Morocco, you have a couple of problem besides the wind: lack of rainfall and abundance of wind. If that wasn't enough, I'm told that "crevices in the Montañas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) still emit sufficient heat to fry eggs".
I'm not sure if you live close enough to this volcano to be affected by this additional heat, but these are pretty severe problems in the aggregate.
Because the island was formed from volcanoes, the soil is an "andisol". Although it's packed with beneficial minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, and iron, it lacks carbon and nitrogen. There's also this "picón" that dry croppers use to their advantage. could that work for you?
https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/lanzarotes-volcanic-miracle/en
I must say that their opening picture with all that dark, dark soil, I thought: there's no way anyone can grow anything there, as black creates a heat trap  to boot. But they did manage to take advantage of the soil they have, and those sweet potatoes! That's incredible.
OK. so you main problem, on your property, is wind. To stop it *today*, or before the next crop, your work is cut out for you. Your wind barriers may first have to be built from fences, but then look at what the successful farmers do, and copy it.
Depending on your ability to keep chickens, if you could keep chickens, their manure is a great source of nitrogen, although I don't know how they would fare in this furnace that is your island.
By the way, a strong wind is also a form of wealth if you exploit it, especially if it is steady. A windfarm could create a lot of electricity for you and your neighbors, in particular, if you are close to some sort of water (even salt water, as it can be desalinized.)
The following article would be way above my resources, but a few neighbors sharing the same problem can be incredibly resourceful. food for thought:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14786451.2024.2441844#d1e195
Good luck to you. That one's a toughie!

We got a dishwasher when I started working as a teacher. There just wasn't enough time for all the chores, correcting tests AND washing the dishes.
Now, I would not be without one.
I must say I'm lucky: our water in the central Sands of Wisconsin is so good that we don't even have a water softener, just a cartridge we change about once every 6 months.
Because we are on our own well, the main expense is for heating the water. The water, which we have to draw would be pretty much the same whether washing by hand or using the dishwasher.
The water itself is virtually free, and it ends up in the drain field, so it get filtered and reused.
I always pack a full dishwasher, but that's more to save on heating the water, which you need to do no matter what.
But yeah, I'm lucky.

If you count weeding as a household chore, that would be mine. I have a dishwasher, so I can't say washing dishes. Otherwise, sweeping/ washing floors. It feels like you are just done, and the next person coming in brings dirt in. AARRGH!

I have not seen them here, but in France, they are sold clean, shrunk and ready to cook. I don't know how they process them commercially, but I'll bank they don't score, boil and peel them, yet they come even without that darn sticky skin that gets in all the crevasses of that nut. I wish I knew how they do it. They look like they have been steamed and peeled, then dehydrated commercially. They are more of a Christmas item, because chestnut stuffed goose is still a thing over there. (and yes, they are pricey)

But I live in Wisconsin now, so I get them fresh as soon as they are on the shelves: They are fresh and start losing some moisture quickly. (It is for that reason that if you weight them, you will feel like you've been cheated on the weight. I've had some weighing as little as 3/4 of a pound when the package says 1 Lb.)
The more moisture they lose, the hardest it is to steam and peel them. If you wait a month, might as well give them to the hogs

In central Wisconsin, it's pretty hard to find a book, any book, dealing with art. So a book about my compatriot and artist is unobtainable.
You can browse the full collections and archives of his paintings through the Art Renewal Center or the National Gallery of Art.
https://www.artrenewal.org/artists/jean-francois-millet/745
https://www.nga.gov/artists/1720-jean-francois-millet
Not as good as a book you could hold, I know, but still a pretty good rendition

Hmm. "Edible AND perennial". That makes it tougher: If it is edible, deer and other wildlife may savage your hedge to nibble your goodies and it won't remain "perennial" very long.
Also, you need to think about the purpose of your hedge first: To keep critters out? To keep critters in? Fence off the neighbors? Use every bit of your land but you have a small place to deal with?
That will help you wean out your losers. Good luck on finding your best candidates.

Lynne Cim wrote:Raspberries with strawberries and herbs planted between? My raspberries are certainly a good fence height now but depends if you need a deer resistant hedge (?)  Side note, we killed of some of our raspberry plants by using metal wire to hold them more in a more vertical row. Any part touching metal died. Next year will use a softer, non conductive twine instead.

Yep: during a very hot summer, that metal gets quite hot, and green raspberry shoots coming in contact will be damaged from the point on contact up. That alone should not outright kill a healthy raspberry, though. Did you also have a drought this year?
Deer will reach inside a fence to get at the green shoots, so you might need another fence about 2 ft from your raspberry plants. I assume that your raspberries are in a raised bed? If so, the deer shouldn't bother them: Deer are opportunistic... and lazy.
They are also afraid, if they have to jump, that they will not "stick the landing" and hurt themselves. While they can jump 7 ft if fear motivates them, they won't bother to jump even a 6 ft fence if you introduce a risk : vertical rebars or spikes, different heights will discourage them. Also, if you have a tarp or something they can't see through, they won't jump: their eyes are on each side of their head, which makes it difficult to appreciate distance properly. A zigzag pattern is another foil.
Are you sure about mixing strawberries and raspberries? Harvesting strawberries in a thorny patch isn't fun...

Thekla McDaniels wrote:

I guess there are tubers below ground, but I am having gut issues and it is probably not the best time to introduce a totally new food item which is rumored to irritate the gut in some people.  The tubers are there incase of starvation conditions or maybe I missed the best harvest conditions.  I don’t know much about harvesting them.
.

About these "gut issues". It's a pity that you have gut issues with them as these tall plants are very resilient and do produce an enormous amount of food for  practically nothing.
The red ones are quite farty, the white ones not so much.
The culprit is inulin. To lessen its effects:
• Acid boiling: Simmer sliced sunchokes in water mixed with lemon juice or vinegar for about 10 to 15 minutes before roasting or using them in a recipe.
• Fermentation: Pickle the sunchokes first, as the live bacteria consume the gas-producing inulin during the jarring process.
• Smaller portions: Eat small amounts at a time so your digestive system can adjust to the prebiotic fiber. I know that the first time I consume them, I must use only a small amount, then I can increase the dose. Eventually, I can eat a normal portion raw. (It's a bit like mosquito bites: the first ones of the season cause the biggest reaction. afterwards, not so much.)
• Pair with digestive herbs: Serve your dish alongside carminative herbs and spices like ginger, fennel, or peppermint tea

I'm in zone 4b, Central Sands of Wisconsin, and every once in a while, I get some volunteer escapee from a previous year that start growing in the spring. The only thing that's stopping me from planting them in the Fall is that mice, voles and other critters would no doubt help themselves, but it's interesting to note that even in a Wisconsin winter and relatively unprotected, (The mulch gets disturbed) some potatoes survive to live another season..
It is to be noted also that during WWII, when the French had very little, they would peel potatoes just a bit thicker and bury the peelings in their cellars. Some marble sized spuds would still grow from that treatment. Mom said they were quite good, just very small, even though they had zero sun.
If I could get them started in my basement and transplanted after the last spring frost, I might have something there.