Kara Ann

Would be great to have a referral for a reliable professional who can help me assess and recommend a plan. Anyone have suggestions for a consultant?

For ages my little ones would sing the alphabet song LMNOP as 'yellow mellow peas'   😆

Hi Permies,

I have gotten a bid to drill a well on my property. Usual well depth is about 280 - 320 feet here (average for neighboring properties).  
Since I am off grid, I will be installing a solar well pump.
I am looking for recommendations for configurations of solar + pump that can be reliable in Washington state Olympic Peninsula.

Looking forward to hearing any suggestions you have.
Thanks!
K

Hi Zohie,

Welcome and best wishes for permie-ing your life and apartment. 8 years ago I was living in a little apartment, and began growing much of herbs, greens, lettuces and chard  on the kitchen countertop with grow lights underneath the upper cabinets, and on the front entrance of my 2nd floor walkup.  And it worked really well... I kept studying... learned about permaculture, regenerative agriculture, so many classes and books... and bought property in 2025, now living off grid full time.  Follow your creativity and interests and inspirations - it takes you places you never could have predicted!

Good luck!

I am having trouble switching gears to figure out what I can do

This is quite a useful question - how to align with a new reality?
It can be truly jarring to have invested in a dream, a concept, the hope of an experience, and then face a life path that takes you in a different direction.  For those of us who are somewhat (ok, well maybe very) stubborn, this dilemma sure comes up, where it is hard to let go of the old dream as life calls for a different approach.  Like you, I had life changes and financial hiccups that necessitated reframing from an envisioned 40 acres of varied terrain with a farm house into 5 acres of off grid clearcut timberland, living in a (really) tinyhome with minimal practical comforts (for now...)
It helped me to switch gears when focused on my choice. Yes, I wanted what I wanted before - honestly I would still really like that. And now that it was off the table, the simplest need was that I wanted to farm, committed to regenerative agriculture and a permaculture life... somehow, someway, even if it was so different than the initial dream.  And I wanted that more than I wanted the ideal vision. I could choose to walk away or do nothing (that felt really dark and awful) or I could choose to step forward where it was possible, even if I stubbornly felt an internal resistance.  As Becky Kennedy says "Two Things are True"  (https://www.wealthofhappiness.com/good-inside/)
It also helped me to switch gears by reminding myself 'this is not the end of the story" - I can do this for now, and put my heart and mind and committed self into it, and watch to see what other doors open in the future. We never know...

And when I was planning to have a medicinal woodland on my ideal farm, I read this book which really inspired me:  https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/farming-the-woods/  Good data can really help with reframing, opening eyes to possibilities we could not see before.
And now I am on a property that had the impressive total of 3 trees on it when I bought it. And none of that 'Farming the Woods' applies now. But I am creating the future orchard with baby trees, planting cork oak acorns, chestnuts, apricot and apple trees, fodder trees... so the woods will happen at some point.   And at the end of the day, even if it is not the dream I wanted, it is a life I love, and that I choose again each day.

Maybe you can look at the 'Two Things are True' within yourself, and also find a way to choose to align with your simplest need?
Wishing you the best as you resolve your dilemma

Tereza Okava wrote:

Yes, someone else might need some help if they wanted to know where things are. And yes, occasionally I find something I didn't know I had, or realize I'm out-out of something I thought I had a backup of. For this last reason specifically, every year I do make an effort to clean them all out and if anything is lingering, make a list so I can use it up in a timely manner.

This annual check is a good idea - it can go along with all the other things on the annual permie calendar, with the tasks to be done each month.... it seems SO obvious but I have never added this as a task to my annual calendar. I will now, so thanks for suggesting!

Buster Parks wrote:I'm trying out a technique that might help,

T-posts at the top of my ridge, 2 about ten ft apart. Each t-post has a metal chain attached, the chains run to the bottom.  I'm using branches off my cedars to cross between chains. It's like a rope ladder laying down the slope.  I had to buy the chain and quick links but hope that down the road I can reclaim the hardware without disturbing the logs

Hey Buster - thanks for sharing this idea - this is EXCELLENT.  On my farm there is a natural berm that rises about 20 feet above grade, fairly sharply on one side and slopes more gradually on the other. Getting onto the top of the berm so far has involved scrambling, and I have been considering best pathways to lay out for actual walkways.... and wondering what type of efficient minimum-viable-product infrastructure could be set up to make those walkways work.  Your idea could be a great option.  The property was formerly timberland, and was clear cut 5 years before I bought it. One of my ongoing tasks is clearing up sticks and limbs and slash from the original cutting. I will look into this!  I appreciate you posting it.

Hi Connie,

With the goal of soil stabilization in mind, and the breadth of the area involved, maybe a geocell grid would help. It has been around since the 1950s, but gotten popular more recently. I posted an explanation and pictures here: https://permies.com/t/374015/Gravel-pad-foundation-concerns  (scroll down to the bottom of that thread to see).

You can stretch out the geo cell web, peg the upper side of it (acknowledging the challenges of getting pegs set in gravel / rocky soil  - I have the same - I say a prayer before I set every peg that it will be a viable position and angle!) and then fill with shredded straw, deep litter bedding from chicken house, whatever compost you have around, shredded comfrey leaves mixed with shredded cardboard... I have used all of those... and then broadcast whatever type of seeds you like.  Someone earlier mentioned growing pumpkins, which make a wonderful very large ground cover that protects the soil from eroding.

Like many of the suggestions you are getting in this thread, it can be done piece by piece. It can be fitted around the random trees.  If you are a solo farmer like me, I can assure it that it can be done with one person. Once you have it in place, soil will begin to build there, and erosion will stop.

Good luck with your project!!

Why do cows have hooves instead of feet?

Because they lactose....

😬

I started some Swiss ricola mint (mentha x piperita Swiss) around in a hazelnut guild. Really wonderful smell when in that area of the permaculture plot! Intermixed well with some comfrey, chives, calendula, currants.... so many lovely 'C' plants.

Last summer  when getting ready for an event, I got inspired to try chocolate dipped mint leaves  (Shout out to Whole Fed Homestead - recipe here.  I gathered peppermint, spearmint, applemint, and even some of the ricola mint, melted the chocolate, dipped, cooled and served them all arranged together on a platter for dessert at a dinner party.... they were a big success until someone got a ricola mint leaf - NOT good! I had not taste-tested one of those, and as you can imagine, not even a really good dark chocolate can make up for a strong ricola-cough-drop flavor!  😖

I have some areas that run a little wet for most of the year, and got some watermint seed - happy to hear that some of you are growing it! Anything special I should know about germinating it and getting the plants set out?