Ulla Bisgaard

Rebel Rookie wrote:The clan and I will be moving 2600 miles soon to start a very small little farm. Of course enthusiasm (personally) is high until the “S” hits the fan, but preparing my spoiled family for a change in lifestyle is no small task. Wish us luck as we step into a world that both of us (wife and I) came from, but abandoned 35+ years ago. I look forward to the challenges, and I know there will be many….

Congratulations on your first post, and welcome.
My advice would be to go slow. Don’t try to do everything right away, since this might overwhelm everyone. Start small, with a few kitchen beds and maybe chickens. Then take your time observing your land, have the soil tested, and start improving it with green manure and cover crops. Then make sure your design will work out. Next plant the slow growing things like trees and shrubs.
If you are planning on producing a lot of foods, you also need to think about how to process and preserve it all. Think about sculleries, cold rooms, canning, drying and root cellars. We grew  2206 pounds of produce in 2024, and it’s a lot to preserve. I actually didn’t finish until February this year, and now we are harvesting and preserving again. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.

Lori Whit wrote:I just wanted to share some pictures of my trifoliate orange tree blooming.  I got it from eBay in 2017 (can't find it for sale there anymore).  It's so tough and hardy, surviving all the wild weather over the last years here in Pennsylvania.  I haven't been able to give my permaculture projects much attention for a while now, but this tree is so powerful and hearty, it's done great with zero care!  I got some tiny (1.5") fruits this last fall, but wasn't feeling brave enough to try them.  They were cute and slightly fuzzy, an orangey-yellow color, very hard like a nut.  (Apparently some people don't feel good on them, while some people do.  Here's a video about eating them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4aL8PqL_xs&ab_channel=WeirdExplorer)  I think the birds ate them.  Anyway it's nice to see something so powerful thriving and blooming despite everything.  :D  Its thorns are POWERFUL though, and huge.

Very interesting. I also love his videos. He is at fault for me buying and trying to grow, a lot of weird fruits, spices and vegetables.

Maieshe Ljin wrote:I tried a little and decided that yes, I made it too salty! But in the past I had made it from ramp leaves and it tasted very good. Someone who tried it thought it was a little like dried seaweed.

In one of the videos I watched for research, the cook was asked about the saltiness. He answered that you can soak it in water or rinse it, before you use it in a dish.
We eat a lot of ramen, stir fries and noodle dishes. The plan is to use it there, or as a topping/mix in for rice. My son does most of the cooking here, and loves Asian food. He is really good at it, especially sushi, kimchi and soups. I grow a lot of Asian vegetables for that reason. I have actually grown them so long that I now get volunteer greens, mustard, celery and diakon, all over the garden.

Timothy Norton wrote:For someone who has no prior knowledge of hinyoko, what would it normally be paired with? What do you pair it with?

Thanks for any suggestions!

We are planning on using it for ramen and other soups. I never salt my broth so the saltiness won’t be an issue. Other than that, we will have to wait and see.

I have a lot of Japanese mustard this year, that self seeded on top of the ones I also seeded in my beds. Because I have so much, I decided to make Hinyoko, which is a condiment made from fermenting and then drying mustard leaves. I even added some of the wild mustard we are growing. Mine are not completely done yet, but I only have the drying part left. Just fermented without drying, it taste really good, but spicy.
Here is the video I learned from

March & April on our homestead
Spring has arrived with another harvest and planting time. For me this is always a stressful time, due to planting deadlines and the logistics of it all. My biggest harvesting and processing project right now, are my albino sugar beets. There is a lot to harvest, juice and cook down for sugar. This will also be my first time making sugar, which will be fun.
There are also so many things I love about spring. The floor of the food forest garden, are booming with an abundance of herbs, medicinal and regular flowers, root vegetables like diakon radishes, spinach, lettuce and dandelions. It is chaotic and beautiful, exactly what I have planned it to be. I want the food forest garden, to be a place for foraging. It’s not the most practical way to grow, but I love finding new things every time I am out there.
We are getting so many eggs right now, which is great, since we didn’t get a lot last year. I have already saved 300 eggs to get us through the hot months, when egg production drops.
All of my regular beets are also ready for harvest. Most of them will be used for Nomato sauce. This year, I am going to try and freeze dry it, since I lack freezer space. I am also going to FD the rest of the juice I canned last year, to free up some pantry space. Now that the homestead are really producing, storage space has become a problem.
We do have some extra space, since we almost are out of fresh sweet potatoes. The ones we have left, are pretty dry now, and small. I am going to plant them, to see if I can get some slips out of it. We still have sweet potatoes in the freezer, and we have instant mash in the pantry.
We are harvesting avocados for the first time, and it looks like we will get plums later this year. We are harvesting strawberries, which has surprised me a lot. So far we have picked 5 pounds, and we have plenty of tangerines, lemons and oranges.
April has always been the time when you debate when to harvest the last cold season crops and when to plants the warm season crops. I think that while March are when my vegetables really grow in put in weight and mature, April is the time when the temperatures fluctuate so much, that you have to play a game of chance, about when to harvest and plant.
2025 has turned out to be a good cabbage year, I don’t have the final numbers yet, but I won’t have to buy any cabbages this year, for sure. All of our beets also look great. We have plenty of red beets for kraut and Nomato sauce, and huge sugar beets. It will be interesting to see just how much sugar/syrup I get, once they are processed. My carrots, onions and garlic also look good, so everything is on time for once. As for medicine, it’s time to harvest mallow roots, and nettles. Borage is something that grows all year round, which is great for our bees.
It’s also funny to see all the places where we are getting sunflowers this year, they are popping up everywhere. I also have cilantro, mint, echinacea, calendula, yarrow, mustard and dandelions growing on the floor of the forest garden. It has always been my wish, for this garden to be a place of foraging and exploration, which I think I also wrote further up LOL. This will be even more so, once I have the new plants and trees in the ground. So far I have planted gooseberries, more currants, coffee, pigeon peas, and grains of paradise. In the raised bed garden, I have harvested the first 3 pounds of wine cap mushrooms. They taste great, and have, so far, been easy to grow. I am going to take another of my raised beds, and dedicate it to mushrooms too.
My freeze dryer and canners run almost every day, with eggs, herbs and vegetables. Today I am canning some of our homegrown mushrooms.
This  we also got the first meat birds, of this year. They are now comfortable in our living room. We got chicks now, are getting ducks in June, and then more chicks in October. Our rabbits (both the wild and the domesticated) have also had the first litters of kits, and the birds are building nests.
Last week I saw two hawks doing the mating dance, right over my head. Both of them were singing. I am pretty sure we have 2 mating pairs close by. Each year, we get more wild animals in our gardens, especially birds, and it shows. So far I haven’t seen a single worm in my brassicas. The only pest I am dealing with are aphids. Unless you count the orange stray who keeps coming, fighting with our cats and stealing food. We can’t take in more cats, and we need the fights to stop, so we have set up a trap, so we can take it to a no kill shelter.
There are so much to do right now, but we soldier through and get it done. At least we will have less work in fall, since I am not growing any pumpkins or winter squash this year. Last year we grew 800 pounds, so my freezers and pantry shelves are still full. Instead I am growing more grains this year, and I am going to try my hand at the three sisters planting method. It’s something I have wanted to do for a while.
We are also getting a lot of eggs, that I am mostly freeze drying. The plan is to make bread/roll mix, so we can get back to baking. I restarted my sour dough starter, and are looking forward to eating sour dough again.
I am growing Japanese mustard greens this year, and are using the Asian method for preserving them to make the condiment Hinyoko. They are first wilted outside after harvest and cleaning. Then they are pounded and fermented with salt. After they are done fermenting, they are dried completely and used as a condiment. Here is a video I found that shows the method. https://youtu.be/RUw9rUBpqws?si=bhskoDKBdJqGAPXD
I think I am going to try and freeze dry some of the other vegetables I have fermented, to see how they will taste, and to extend their shelf life. We have fermented a lot this year, since we love kimchi, krauts and fermented citrus.
That’s it for now, happy spring to everyone.

March & April on our homestead
Spring has arrived with another harvest and planting time. For me this is always a stressful time, due to planting deadlines and the logistics of it all. My biggest harvesting and processing project right now, are my albino sugar beets. There is a lot to harvest, juice and cook down for sugar. This will also be my first time making sugar, which will be fun.
There are also so many things I love about spring. The floor of the food forest garden, are booming with an abundance of herbs, medicinal and regular flowers, root vegetables like diakon radishes, spinach, lettuce and dandelions. It is chaotic and beautiful, exactly what I have planned it to be. I want the food forest garden, to be a place for foraging. It’s not the most practical way to grow, but I love finding new things every time I am out there.
We are getting so many eggs right now, which is great, since we didn’t get a lot last year. I have already saved 300 eggs to get us through the hot months, when egg production drops.
All of my regular beets are also ready for harvest. Most of them will be used for Nomato sauce. This year, I am going to try and freeze dry it, since I lack freezer space. I am also going to FD the rest of the juice I canned last year, to free up some pantry space. Now that the homestead are really producing, storage space has become a problem.
We do have some extra space, since we almost are out of fresh sweet potatoes. The ones we have left, are pretty dry now, and small. I am going to plant them, to see if I can get some slips out of it. We still have sweet potatoes in the freezer, and we have instant mash in the pantry.
We are harvesting avocados for the first time, and it looks like we will get plums later this year. We are harvesting strawberries, which has surprised me a lot. So far we have picked 5 pounds, and we have plenty of tangerines, lemons and oranges.
April has always been the time when you debate when to harvest the last cold season crops and when to plants the warm season crops. I think that while March are when my vegetables really grow in put in weight and mature, April is the time when the temperatures fluctuate so much, that you have to play a game of chance, about when to harvest and plant.
2025 has turned out to be a good cabbage year, I don’t have the final numbers yet, but I won’t have to buy any cabbages this year, for sure. All of our beets also look great. We have plenty of red beets for kraut and Nomato sauce, and huge sugar beets. It will be interesting to see just how much sugar/syrup I get, once they are processed. My carrots, onions and garlic also look good, so everything is on time for once. As for medicine, it’s time to harvest mallow roots, and nettles. Borage is something that grows all year round, which is great for our bees.
It’s also funny to see all the places where we are getting sunflowers this year, they are popping up everywhere. I also have cilantro, mint, echinacea, calendula, yarrow, mustard and dandelions growing on the floor of the forest garden. It has always been my wish, for this garden to be a place of foraging and exploration, which I think I also wrote further up LOL. This will be even more so, once I have the new plants and trees in the ground. So far I have planted gooseberries, more currants, coffee, pigeon peas, and grains of paradise. In the raised bed garden, I have harvested the first 3 pounds of wine cap mushrooms. They taste great, and have, so far, been easy to grow. I am going to take another of my raised beds, and dedicate it to mushrooms too.
My freeze dryer and canners run almost every day, with eggs, herbs and vegetables. Today I am canning some of our homegrown mushrooms.
This  we also got the first meat birds, of this year. They are now comfortable in our living room. We got chicks now, are getting ducks in June, and then more chicks in October. Our rabbits (both the wild and the domesticated) have also had the first litters of kits, and the birds are building nests.
Last week I saw two hawks doing the mating dance, right over my head. Both of them were singing. I am pretty sure we have 2 mating pairs close by. Each year, we get more wild animals in our gardens, especially birds, and it shows. So far I haven’t seen a single worm in my brassicas. The only pest I am dealing with are aphids. Unless you count the orange stray who keeps coming, fighting with our cats and stealing food. We can’t take in more cats, and we need the fights to stop, so we have set up a trap, so we can take it to a no kill shelter.
There are so much to do right now, but we soldier through and get it done. At least we will have less work in fall, since I am not growing any pumpkins or winter squash this year. Last year we grew 800 pounds, so my freezers and pantry shelves are still full. Instead I am growing more grains this year, and I am going to try my hand at the three sisters planting method. It’s something I have wanted to do for a while.
We are also getting a lot of eggs, that I am mostly freeze drying. The plan is to make bread/roll mix, so we can get back to baking. I restarted my sour dough starter, and are looking forward to eating sour dough again.
I am growing Japanese mustard greens this year, and are using the Asian method for preserving them to make the condiment Hinyoko. They are first wilted outside after harvest and cleaning. Then they are pounded and fermented with salt. After they are done fermenting, they are dried completely and used as a condiment. Here is a video I found that shows the method. https://youtu.be/RUw9rUBpqws?si=bhskoDKBdJqGAPXD
I think I am going to try and freeze dry some of the other vegetables I have fermented, to see how they will taste, and to extend their shelf life. We have fermented a lot this year, since we love kimchi, krauts and fermented citrus.
That’s it for now, happy spring to everyone.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Ulla Bisgaard wrote: This year I harvested 1 metric ton of produce, grains, herbs and nuts. This from a 33k squar feed forest garden and 20 raised beds. It shows that you really don’t need to use chemicals to grow large amounts of food. It can also be done by making smart choice, and by broadening once perspective.

That is magnificent! Well done!

I notice that the local food bank is now giving out free seeds to people with food insecurity. It's the right idea, but executing is not that simple. They need a system, and a tribe of supporters, and a radical troupe of peeps who know where to find the resources. Sorta like this tribe.

While I don’t send seeds and food to the food banks, I do offer free garden tours and help others get started on growing food.
I am also in a buy nothing group, where I offer up extra food, plants and seeds. It continues to surprise me, how many people have no idea how to grow food, or about foraging. A few days ago, I had a talk with two of our neighbors. They were talking about how to get started growing food, to feed their families. When I pointed out, that they already have nettles and mustard growing wild, they had no idea those were edible, and were not comfortable preparing and eating them. I think that things like this is part of the culture we have now, about not eating weeds, or what we see as weeds instead of food.

Suzette Thib wrote:Ulla, thank you for including your lot size! That is very helpful / hopeful for me! I am impressed by how many farm animals you keep. Congratulations on the lbs and lbs of harvest!

You are welcome. We keep the maximum of animals we are legally allowed to have. As for produce, I ended up with a total of 2206 pounds in 2024,  so a little over a metric ton. With 5 and now 4 adults to feed, we need to produce a lot. As the kids leave for college, we are probably going to scale some of our production down. 3 thousand eggs a year will be too much for just 2 adults. I am also slowly transitioning beds from annuals to perennials, so it will be less work, when it’s just the two of us.

Barbara Simoes wrote:I totally get it.  I am in awe of some of the things you're growing!  I thought pistachios were quite small (They max out by25- 30' and are only 15-30' wide...although they do require a male and a female), that's why I was surprised.  I read somewhere on this site that someone in Utah was growing pistachios, and I think he said he was in zone 5 like I am...that's when I wanted to find out about them.  But, Utah zone 5 and Vermont zone 5 are lightyears apart.  We are not nearly as dry as they are, nor as sunny. What you grow sounds very exotic to me!  Coffee and bananas...wow! You also grow stuff that we can grow in the frigid Northeast.  I'm feeling plant envy!

A lot of what I grow, right now, are experimental, to see if they can grow here and how to do it. I am slowly getting better. Our grow zone is 10b, so we rarely get any frost. I am planting a lot of palm trees like bananas to create some shade while my cashew and other taller trees, have time to grow. Right now we have 90F outside.
I use shade for my raised beds, which helps a lot. We harvested our first wine cap mushrooms this month, after inoculating the bed in October. Shade and mulch are essential when it get this hot.