growinstuff Hatfield

Very cool, Paul. So nice to meet you. I am definitely the only old hippie here. I chose this place because it was close to family and because I could buy a house for the same price as a car. We have an interesting little microclimate here. Just 30 miles to the west of us and the same distance to the east the weather is much more severe, more storms and snow, more extremes in temperature. I'm guessing it's because we're so close the the Mississippi. While the humidity is impressive (89% yesterday), I'm able to grow under cover for nearly all the year.
I think of this as my starter/experiment home. I don't know how long I'll stay but I'm able to do as I please with my little bit of land.

Yes Paul, it appears I am in the wrong part of Missouri. People around here are mostly soybean/corn/wheat farmers. When I mention organic techniques they sort of tilt their heads to one side and squint. If they could I think they might just pat me on the head like a little kid.
Its okay. I lived in Southern California for 17 years so I didn't expect to fit in when I moved back here. My garden is beautiful, lush and green. One of these days  the neighbors are going to ask how I do it. LOL.

Okay, this is one thing I have done.

I use pine (not cedar) shavings in the cat boxes. One year I constructed a third compost bin about 100 ft from the existing ones. I dumped the cat box contents in this third bin, mixing in grass clippings from the lawn, which was much larger then. It took nearly 2 years for the shavings and poo to completely break down. I used this compost on the ornamentals out front, far away from the food plots. It worked just fine. But two years is a long time to wait for compost. The amount of space required to do this all the time is more than I have. Turning a compost pile full of cat poo is REALLY icky.
So I still use pine shavings because they are a by product of local lumbermills. But I don't compost this anymore. If I had a partner and weren't doing everything by myself I might have the energy to keep it up. But when it became clear that something needed to go it was not difficult at all to discontinue the great cat poo experiment.

absolutely fascinating. thanks y'all.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on greenhouses. I've been collecting materials for a couple of years now so I really need to decide if I'm going to do this or not. Right now I have raised beds which extend my season by a month or so (2 wks spring, 2 wks fall). Last year I put low tunnels over the raised beds just to see what would happen. We had fresh greens all winter long. The broccoli actually survived long enough to eat. I've declared it a success. I tried some early plantings but it seems germination is a problem in the early spring. So we'll be putting low tunnels on all the beds this fall, just to see how far we can nudge this idea.
I like this temporary set up. I can open the ends on a warm or sunny day to keep the veggies from cooking right there in the ground. As the days become shorter the plants don't grow very much but seem to be "on hold", staying nice and fresh for daily consumption.
Where I live spring is brief and HOT. So fall plantings and my little tunnels are the only way I've found to enjoy broccoli, peas and spinach. I'm still not sure a greenhouse is what I need so we'll see if it ever gets built.

Hiya. I'm Amy, new to this forum. I'm 46 and single. I live in a very small town in Southeast Missouri where no one ('cept me) knows what Permaculture is. I take great pleasure in baffling my neighbors with my projects. I'm slowly replacing the lawn with organic veggies and fruits. This year I added a couple of Asian pear trees and some chickens for eggs. So many projects, I could work on this place for a lifetime.
I also keep a herd of cats just in case it gets really cold and Ameren runs out of gas.
Good to "read" everyone. *waves*