Tereza Okava

Chloe, welcome!
I live in a tropical place with a steep slope that is currently getting 500-year-levels of rainfall. We still do earthworks, but instead of harvesting water we're talking more about control of runoff to avoid gullies/erosion and largescale loss of good soils (which in tropical areas can be crucial, since the soil composition may not be what other places recognize as 'soil'. My dirt is clay, 100% heavy bright orange clay, and I can feed it as much organic matter as possible and it all disappears almost immediately.
Permaculture still offers a lot of good info in terms of maintaining and improving what you have- the idea of mulching and no-till comes out of permaculture and is getting big attention where I live, at least, because it offers solutions that are cheaper and more realistic right now when fertilizer costs a fortune and the weather is unpredictable.
I look forward to hearing more about the land and your efforts to memorialize your grandfather, which I think is a fabulous idea.

Right now work is busy and I barely have time to cook. It's spring and I haven't planted my seeds yet (the weather is so weird I am holding off, the ground is saturated and anything I plant is just going to rot).
The one thing that is saving me, like we are eating every single day, is dandelions. I plant several types (french, red, and a local version called 'catalonia') and these are left over from last spring. The unseasonably cold and wet spring doesn't bother them at all, and in fact has probably stopped them from bolting. I have a few plants I've kept for over a year by removing the flower spike and they're very happy in this weather.

This week's food has been one-pot deals and casseroles, and everything has a dandelion salad with it. The thing that takes the most time is the soaking (to get rid of snails and their mess, which carries parasites), and lucky for me, everyone here loves slightly bitter greens (and even turns up their nose at lettuce, 'how boring').

I'm a big fan of hook-and-eye type hooks, and that includes just making a loop out of wire to catch on a nail on the other side on wooden surfaces.

Of course this means having a space for you to get your hand through if you're on the other side, but the part of me that enjoys making things more complicated than they need to be says that if you use a hook rather than a loop, you could connect a string/chain and have it go through a hole into the inside so you could pull it and free yourself, if necessary). Many years ago I worked at a shelter for rescued birds and we had a huge flight cage for the hundreds of parakeets that were rehomed, after getting myself trapped inside several times I set up this very scheme.

if you get frost you should be fine, it's native to south america and won't tolerate freezing. You may have to keep pulling it up after years as it spreads by rhizome.
It apparently is very heavy and tends to break the things it climbs up, so keep an eye on it.
i have eaten it and it's like other invasive 'meaty' waxy leaf type plants like Pereskia, a green leaf that has some protein. I don't remember seeing the flowers but I know I've heard they're supposed to be fragrant.
Honestly, I'd grow something more suited to my area, but who doesn't like trying a new thing that might have a nice flower?

I grew up with these!! I had an aunt who sold all sorts of things and I am pretty sure the one we had was also a Fuller Brush Company one. It was great (and we always had wall to wall carpeting, and no indoor pets).
Now I have wood floors and it probably wouldn't do much! I do actually vacuum a lot now, thanks to a shedding dog, but I also appreciate the power of a broom on a carpet.

Rebekah Harmon wrote: black soybeans

They are a heritage food here in the Japanese community, and they make fabulous natto, among other things. I wish I could swap you some jam for some seeds!!

(another super funky looking 'alt-milk' we used to make in my house for my no-dairy kid was black sesame, highly recommended and very tasty. Might not grow where you're at, but definitely worth trying to make if you have access)

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Thanks. I suppose an oven might work, but I'm not willing to spend one penny of electricity for this project.

If you have a car and a sunny fall day, you have a low-temp oven.

I am following this because I have sunflowers in my yard (winter sunflowers???) that got 12 foot plus and I want to save seed. I have never managed to get good seed out of a homegrown sunflower, unfortunately, they always go moldy first.

I stand corrected! I said here that I never peel taters and then last night found myself peeling potatoes for my husband's pre-colonoscopy-prep lunch!
So I guess its "only when absolutely necessary".

i bake a lot, and so when i go to a bakery i want something that i don't make at home. Usually something with buttercream!! I'm partial to a nice cupcake, or those huge cookies with monstrosities of icing, candy, etc. Or a huge almond cookie with that big plop of fudge in the middle.

That said, I almost never get these things, because the local variations aren't to my taste (or they don't exist here). I don't like flaky pastry and I'm meh about cheesecake (omni-present). When I want a treat generally I'll make brownies.

i have been getting a lot of good apples at good prices lately. While we also appreciate a good savory recipe (made apples, sauerkraut and pork chops with spatzle the other day) most of what I make is cake.

I made this custard/cake yesterday and it was marvelous!
https://www.eatingwell.com/magic-apple-cake-12071281

and this one was last week. https://www.eatingwell.com/irish-apple-cake-11897812

(we try to eat as much fiber as possible and this site has a lot of whole grain options that taste great, i'm working my way through their apple recipes)