Nina Surya

What a confronting, amazing, inspiring, interesting and gobsmacking poll.
There are people who like to clean. Unfortunately I'm not one of those people, I much prefer to garden or cook. But I absolutely love the result of cleaning.

So, when one of these two things happen, I clean: 1. we have visitors coming (even my dog links thorough cleaning to expecting visitors and gets all worked up, oh no) or 2. I've reached my mess-toleration limit.

We're in a Big Renovation Situation for a long time already, have dogs and a cat, and two of us stomping between indoors and outdoors throughout the day.
But yes, every now and then I've reached my mess-toleration limit, long for the clean result and go for it.
No 'routine' (routine is a dirty word in my vocabulary )

This past summer here in central France was extremely hot and dry, and "nothing moved" - the plants didn't grow.
The prediction for next year is repetition of the hot and dry summer, and I'm planning to pack my plants close to each other, playing with different heights and structures of plants, in order to create lots of foliage, to shade and create humidity and hold moisture in the ground.
I hope I'll get it all working.
I think air humidity might be more of a key factor than anything else.
Watching this conversation like a hawk, eager to learn

Silent, 'neath bright stars
a breath of wind plays with hair
untied, wild and free

T...o calm yourself

R...epetitive physical

A...ction - walk, dig, knit

N...o Mind

C...entering in the now-moment

E...nchantment embodied.

M Ljin wrote:fill up to the very brim of the valley. When

the landscape is full of water, it naturally flows over.

Thank you for the guidelines Joao!
I guess I was making it too complicated for myself, trying to be too precise from the get-go. I came across a lot of fruit tree varieties and thought I should pick one. I ran out of time, and because I was trying to get everything perfect as I was building, I lost a bit of courage.
Now I have your advice to go back to it and build on.

Thanks again for your helpful reply!

Hi Joao,
Your app is really interesting and quite multifunctional!
I tried it for the first time, and I have a suggestion; is there a way to initially just choose "plum tree", "apple tree" etc., and come back to those later, when everything is more or less in place?
As a first time user of the app, I'd like to play around with it first, see what it can do 'in the rough' and come back to the more specific things, like the exact (or approximate) types of plants, later.
For example: Step 1: Drawing out the rough outlines, putting in structures and plants in their (approximately right) places
Step 2: Refining - putting the right names to the fruit trees and other plants.
I hope this comes across as positive, constructive feedback, because that's how I'm intending it to be!

.

Misty morning

a light drizzle.

On my way to the chicken coop

button mushrooms winking at me

from the grass.

Happiness is; finding lunch

before breakfast.

Hello John,

I read your posts via the Permies daily-ish email.
We too are on clay soil.

1. About the French drain; you say you put it with the holes downwards. I'd think it might work better with the holes up (and with geotextile on top, filtering away any soil particles), allowing the water to seep into the drain and flow away on the 'floor' of the drain? I haven't tried it, nor do I have any theoretical knowledge about correct use of it, it's just what pops into my mind now.

2. We thought about putting in a French drain, but I was lucky to have a conversation about the here on Permies, and went for wood chips instead. It has worked really well! You can read about it, and see a couple of photos here .