Inge Leonora-den Ouden

I (finally) watched that video at the start of this thread. And sure, my walking onions look like those ones.
The Egyptian walking onions in the beautiful botanic drawing were confusing to me. That picture shows flowers (on top of the bulbils). Mine don't have flowers. But then I read the very small printed text 'flower occasionally present'. So it's normal if there are not flowers!

May Lotito wrote:How are the flax fibers doing? Are you growing flax again this year? I got my bushy flax problem fixed through soil amendments mentioned in this post. They all flower on the very top, even though plants were flattened by gusty winds multiple times. Usable length is a little over 2 ft.

Thank you for reminding me, May!
Yesterday I harvested my flax and made photos. Here you see it standing in front of the allotment garden bed where it was grown. Today I brought it home (sorry, no photo of how I hauled it in a bicycle pannier).

On average the stems are over a meter long (measured between roots and seeds; 1 meter is about 40 inches).

Mandy Launchbury-Rainey wrote:I love madroños,  from the  Arbutus unedo (Strawberry Tree) that grows everywhere here on the edges of woodland oaths. They have such a wonderful perfume, and, if steeped in the local hooch, make a lovely liqueur.

That's a nice looking tree! If I'll ever go to Spain, I surely want to visit that woodland region where such trees grow (but I don't have any plans to go to Spain ...)

Estel Castle wrote:...
Oddly, my mother and I have very different success rates. She can't seem to get any underground vegetables to grow well, and I'm having trouble with pumpkins and tomatoes.

Does your mother live close by?
If she doesn't, the climate or the soil can be the cause of the difference.

Nicole Alderman wrote:This "Marshmallow Baby" doll was mine when I little, so it's something like 35 years old at this point. I passed it down to my daughter, who loves it a lot. But, it's nose fabric was getting worn away, and my daughter was really distressed.

I guess that means it's time to finally learn how to mend knit things!

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I hope my daughter approves (she's sleeping right now). But, I feel okay with the mending of my favorite childhood doll, so hopefully she will, too. Either way, I finally learned how to embroider and mend knit things, so that's a huge plus!

Hi Nicole,
you forgot to hit the button to submit this as a BB. I would like to approve it!

Jack Little wrote:You need to fix your circadian rhythm. See every sunrise (no glasses), see sunset and block blue spectrum light at night after sunset. Spend as much time outside without sunglasses during the day which I imagine most permies would be mostly outside. Red blueblocking glasses can be used to block artifiical blue light at night.

Are you sure these are remedies against sleep-apnea? I think all of this helps against insomnia, but sleep-apnea is something totally different, with different causes...

al aric wrote:This question is like asking what my favorite song is...25 songs later I'm adding to the list..

Persimmons are up there, but Pomegranates are right on their tail...trailing close are blackberries...but wait...figs...and who can say no to Avocados?  The same people who can't also probably like harvesting apricots like I do...right after that my plums come in...oh no I'd better not start thinking about my citrus...well I think you're getting the drift.  Your question really stirs me up!

Your climate zone makes me jealous, with all those fruits growing in the wild!

Esteban Ademovski wrote:...

Hi Esteban. I love such a well-organised computer screen! (comment on the last photo)

I think the idea behind it is a good one. But ... as the comments already show: everyone's situation is different. We all have to make our own list of needed/wanted food.

When I saw that long list the first problem I thought about was: where do I put all that??? I live in a small apartment (only a little larger than a 'tiny house'). My 'pantry' is only one cupboard. There's no cellar. In the utility room is a chest freezer, but for the rest it's filled with many other things needing their space too (like my bicycle).

In my 'pantry', fridge and freezer I have everything I need for at least a week. In case of emergency I have some cans with different beans, canned fish, and some grains (to be cooked as rice) and pasta.
In my gardens fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits grow (in the season). But in case of emergency I might not be able to go pick those ...

Harold Skania wrote:So if I were to build one of these Automatic Backyard Food Pumps, I wouldn't need solar pumps or aquaponics gear, right? It looks like you usually set up a hugel to keep the ABFP moist for most of the summer?

I think maybe the word 'pump' can be confusing.
A 'food pump', I think, is pumping out food (edible plants). It's 'automatic', meaning it does this all by itself, in a natural way. It doesn't need help from any gear ... after the first start it doesn't even need any work. All you do is pick your harvest the needed food plants.

Probably it depends on your climate what will grow without any work. If there's a lot of rain you don't need to keep the soil moist in the same way you need to do if you're in a dry climate.