One of the best decisions that I made last year was to invite Stephen out for a few days of work on my acre homestead. I've never met anyone more willing to experiment with vernacular permaculture methods and learn about ancient techniques than Stephen. In addition to following the old ways, he's got plenty of new ideas and perspectives to contribute.
Sorry to those who are hoping for more time in week 3 but I'm looking forward to hosting Stephen again out here in New Mexico.
Thanks for all your commitment to the art and practice of permaculture, Stephen. Your dedication to the craft inspires me to continue.
Anyone else targeting a low/no spend Christmas? What are your strategies?
The strategy that works for me and many of my friends/family is to gift myself some kind of much needed tool then develop skills using the tool to make gifts. For example, one year I bought a set of wet stones (1000 and 3000 grit). I gave gift cards to sharpen kitchen knives. This was a big hit because (I knew from visiting) no one had cared for their knives. The next year, I bought a wet stone grinder. I had learned the previous year that many knives were chipped and needed preliminary preparation on the concrete sidewalk! The grinder really helped shape the worst knives. The third year, I bought some honing compound and rubbed it into an oak floor board. This gave the knives a razor sharp edge.
Each year, I expanded my tools for my own uses then practiced on terribly neglected knives. Everyone went away from the holidays happy.
Other examples over the years have been a jigsaw to cut wooden puzzles, a pressure canner to preserve jars of fruit, carving tools to make spoons, a band saw to make charcuterie boards, pottery making tools to make tea bowls and so on.
The holidays can be the time to buy the tool that has been on one's own wish list. By giving gifts to others created using a much needed gift-to-self (and supplies from the land/garden/homestead), the cost for gifts is effectively $0.
Since fireplaces are such woefully inefficient ways to heat a space and I would really like to heat with our local wood, I have been looking but am unable to find any information about the possibility of converting them to a more efficient system. I'm wondering if I could build some kind of small masonry heater system into the firebox using firebrick, or built a small rocket mass heater into the firebox using cob and such, or else cob (maybe sand and then cob) around a wood stove inserted in (with the proper pipe inserted inside the chimney).
About 10 years ago, I attended a lecture at the Dorothy Day Center in Albuquerque, NM, where the original fireplace in the old adobe home was converted to a rocket mass heater within the previous decade (around 2005). In a wonderful spirit of sharing knowledge, the staff at the time gave me a tour of the entire system from indoor fire starting to ground-level clean-out to roof top vent. I highly recommend scheduling a field trip to see the system and understand the issues with the conversion. It is possible that the system was removed due to staff turnover and loss of rocket mass heater expertise over time. If you do schedule an appointment, please let us know what you find out.
While Tim specifically asks about sifting, would you consider minimizing ash by burning then dousing the biochar in a burn pit?
By making a small fire in a pit, then covering it with layers of sticks to partially smother the burn, I am able to carefully douse the fire from the bottom up while the new layers of char continue to burn on top. There is little to no ash in this process.
I mostly follow this excellent video by Manuel Angerer with this small modification: instead of dousing the fire completely, just add water to the bottom of the pit while keeping the upper layers burning. When finished with the burn, douse the entire pit as shown in the video.
After years of avoiding biochar due to concerns of adding alkalinity to my highly alkaline sandy soil, I am very pleased with this minimal ash method.
Using a slow cooker works really well for me. A covered slow cooker prevents the water from evaporating so basically all you do is cook the polenta on low until the water is absorbed and the corn is fully cooked.
Mix 1 cup of polenta with 1/2 t salt and 1/2 t baking soda (for whole grain meal) in the bowl of the slow cooker. Whisk in 2 cups of cold water until smooth. Whisk 2 cups of boiling water into the polenta mixture. Start the slow cooker on high and cook until bubbles form (about 45 min). Whisk again then turn cooker to low setting.
Cook on low until water is absorbed, polenta is tender and the polenta tastes like corn (not paste). Stir occasionally to cook the mixture evenly.
I cook my whole grain, coarse milled, dent corn for a total of 5 hours on low. The slow cooking produces and outstanding porridge: tender and full of rich corn flavor. If your polenta is de-germinated, the time could be much less so taste every hour and experience the flavor transformation.
Serving options:
To the hot polenta, add some butter and cheese, if desired, then top with your favorite pasta topping.
For breakfast, serve the porridge topped with berries, honey and milk.
For a wonderful warm up on a cold day, combine polenta with any kind of milk 1:1 plus maple syrup or honey plus cinnamon to taste. Blend until smooth. Serve hot in a mug. I drink this Mexican inspired “atole” whenever I have some leftover plain polenta. Amazing!
Dear Anne, Phil and Joseph,
Would y'all be willing to share the types of cactus, thorn bushes or other prickly plants that you are working with and weeding around. Prickly pear is probably very different from raspberries.
And Joseph, what is your "specialty hoe"? Did you custom design some low tech super hoe?
Anyone cultivating an actual garden with dense thorns that you love?
Here at my place, the prickly pear is growing tall (up to 4’). Interspersed among the cactus is silver leaf nightshade and a few desert globe mallow that I am working to extract.
I am having some luck removing these invaders using a narrow weeding tool called a “long handled corkscrew weeder.” I can twirl the long unwanted stem inside the corkscrew then continue toward the root by twisting the tool clockwise underground. Once I have the root I can pull the weed out of its prickly fortress. The brand is DeWit. I am happy with the results around the prickly pear in silt-sand soil.
Those of us who have a landscape that involves prickly plants know that weeding around spines, thorns, and prickles is difficult, tedious and painful. Each type of cactus or thorny bush probably requires a unique approach so if you have suggestions, please note the plant you are trying to weed around.
What methods or tools help make this job easier for you with your particular plant?
I'm dubious that cooking it with juniper ash produces the same niacin transformation, but I don't really have any way to judge.
Happily, there is a source that can answer your question! The information provided in the link in the original post was published by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). As an academic institution, they are obliged to site their research.
Contact information for the research provided is available at BIE.edu if you scroll down on their home page.
Thanks for your curiosity Christopher.
I don’t have any scientific studies that compare the American Southwest’s treatment of corn with the Mexican treatment (though much of the Southwest used to be Mexico). Both treatments incorporate alkaline additives to access and add nutrients to the corn.
In my case, adding a spoonful of ash that is made from free and locally sourced juniper for my home-grown corn offers benefits that support multiple permaculture goals. By following the locally sourced method, my respect for the ancestral traditions that emerged out of this place deepen.
Now a question for you! Given that corn is part of the history of Minnesota, how did the tribes of your region process corn for maximum benefit?
Chef Lois Ellen Frank, Ph.D, of Red Mesa Cuisine in Santa Fe offers this instructional video on how to produce Culinary Juniper Ash and Blue Corn Mush at home.
I found this video exceptionally helpful in producing my own juniper ash without any grit.
This is a fun and very accessible cooking project!
In an effort to improve the nutrition and digestibility of the heirloom corn that is finally growing in abundance, I am learning about nixtamalization.
Unfortunately, most of the instructions require boiling corn kernels in a lime solution for some lengthy period of time and letting the corn rest in this solution overnight: a significant additional step and time consuming process that I would like to avoid.
I'd like a method that dovetails easily into my current corn-cookery practice: grinding about a week's worth of corn into coarse, medium and fine meal then cooking it into mush, polenta, grits and/or cornbread.
Luckily, the answer to this question of how to avoid the boiling/soaking/waiting steps is right here among the tribes of the American Southwest. This linked PDF from The Bureau of Indian Education provides an overview of the Diné process of adding 1 teaspoon of juniper ash per cup of cornmeal to get the nutritional and other benefits of nixtamalization.
After some experimentation, I am now able to produce a 1 cup jar of juniper ash in about an hour from a juniper on-site. This cup of ash contains 48 teaspoons with long (maybe unlimited) shelf-life. An actual serving of juniper ash is 1 teaspoon and a serving of cornmeal is 1/4 cup so I am now testing the flavor impact of increasing the amount of ash per cup of cornmeal.
Are there any other permies using this process who have suggestions or tips to share? If anyone has questions about implementing this step, please ask and others may have answers.
In my experience, every failure leads to new learnings. The 2022 experiment was a spectacular bust and very educational.
The area where I planted without supplemental water was a natural depression about 18 inches lower than the rest of the property. I planted about 12 flour-corn seed (local 'Concho' flint) in 12" deep by 18" holes. The silt-sand was not exactly moist but the texture was not powdery dry either. I did return the soil to the hole to match its original location. The rainfall here in 2022 was 8" and no run-off from other parts of the land or hardscape reached the depression. Out of 20 holes, only 3 seeds sprouted. None tasseled.
After the season ended, I dug down to find moist ground. After 10 feet (using a shovel then a shop-vacuum with a make-shift PVC pipe extension), I stopped looking. There simply was no moisture in the ground that the corn could access. I believe that the 3 plants that sprouted received water from a nearby pond leak.
On the learning side, I gained tremendous respect for the Hopi ability to "observe and interact," (the permaculture principle I learned from David Holmgren). I became better at reading the surface and the subterranean aspects of this landscape. Prior to dam construction along the Rio Grande, this area used to be saturated by winter snow melt from the Rocky Mountains. As long as the dams and reservoirs stay, this moisture is gone.
I also learned so much about corn varieties that I started planting blue corn in 2023 with supplemental water. The heirloom variety I planted this year (2025) is an 8-row red flint. I have to say, the Hopi experiment made me fall in love with the natural history of - and human ingenuity behind - corn. So the 2022 experiment did turn out, but in a completely unexpected way.
Thank you John and Jay.
Your suggestions seem especially relevant given the extreme weather throughout much of the N hemisphere.
Coincidentally, a friend experienced dizziness and fainting just yesterday. I took her to the ER where she received a rehydrating IV after tests indicated low electrolytes.
Staying hydrated and eating pickles would have been a lot cheaper!
Hello John,
Given your background as a healthcare professional, please elaborate. How does one "watch electrolytes" without a blood test? What are the signs we need to look for?
Thank you in advance for your guidance!
Got BEETS?
Out here, summer's around the corner and the beets have to come out before they get woody.
The Omnia stove-top oven is my favorite way to roast the roots. It really is incredibly effective and doesn't heat up the house. Wash the beets, toss in a little olive oil (just enough to shine the beets) and salt. Fill the ring with various sizes, and keep the heat at medium. Start removing the smallest (about 30 min at high altitude). Add beets as the first ones become tender. Remove beets as they become tender and natural sugars caramelize. Good luck Burra!
Here's a link to the Wonder Pot, a version from Israel. The Wikipedia entry provides some history on other versions but not Burra's interesting Portuguese find.
Looks a lot like a stovetop oven. The vents at the junction of the lid and the oven body appear to be adjustable for letting out heat after the heat and gasses rise to the dome then move to exit the oven. This movement is a convection heating system.
In summer's extreme heat, I bake bread in a ringed oven like this. It uses very little fuel to bake a loaf.
Personally, I let the wounds heal in the open air without salves. And most importantly, I would not wait another year to complete the cut of the central leader. Nynke's observation that, "Sometimes we humans, can feel actual pain when we see a damaged tree like yours, and we feel the pain when we have to cut large limbs," could be helpful right now. Imagine if you go to the doctor and he says, "I'm sorry to say, we're going to have to remove your leg. But to make you feel less traumatized, we'll take it off to the knee this season then when it heals up, we'll take off the other half."
Wouldn't you say, "DOC! Just get it done and let the healing begin!"
I thoroughly enjoy the documentation here Stephen. Thanks for your dedication to to this experience log.
Though you have mentioned how much you love the Polaski, my sympathetic back aches to watch how much bending you are doing to break through the ground with that short tool. Any possibility that you could double the handle length with a customized "found" wooden handle and save your spine? Since you wouldn't use the axe end as much as the flat grub hoe blade, maybe a sharp iron grub hoe would help simplify the Complexity Trail. The 6" grub hoe is a lifesaver for me in clay/sand. The 4" might be more similar to the Polaski blade for tough ground.
Happy trails!
T posts are not the best shape for connecting to anything
A secret to securing a T-post to a round surface is to make a shallow cut across the wooden post at the ideal height for the top of the T (just stand the post next to the in-ground stabilized T). I use a pocket folding saw. Then, using a sharp draw knife, just peel back a flat surface with a stroke or two.
Due to limited tools, the pre-drilled holes in the metal T-post are much easier for me to work compared to repurposing metal scrap. Once screwed into the flat portion of the wooden post, the T is concealed. Respectfully, I'm sharing the method that works here with the resources available to me. Every situation is unique.
Anne's suggestions are really helpful. Here is another variation that works for me in the garden.
I use concealed T-posts to support rustic wooden fence posts in a garden that often changes shape. Instead of burying the posts deeply, I first drive the T-post into moist ground, use a level to set vertical, then let the ground harden. Once the T-post is set in the dried mud/sand, I use a 3-tined heavy rake to crumble a few inches of ground then sweep it away to form a shallow depression or bowl around the T-post. I fill the bowl with a few inches of gravel. I then rest the wooden post on top of the gravel and attach the wood post to the T-post. Super stable without concrete.
The T-posts to do the real work. Because I don't like the look of T-posts, I secure the wooden post to the holes in the T-post and basically cover up the metal. Piling up more gravel covers up the base of the post and keeps water away from the wood to prevent rot. The length of the T-post can be shorter than the wood for a garden. The fencing attaches to the wood posts. The look is natural instead of industrial.
This works in my extreme desert climate where wood always dry rots. To change the shape of the garden, I unscrew the wooden post from the T-post, reset the metal 'T's', reattach or add new wood posts, then staple on more fencing.
Fruit trees do good with heavy pruning so doing that will help take some weight of as well.
Having many varieties of prunus, I agree with Mick that heavy pruning can really help these trees.
From a close up look at the upper break, it appears that there could be some kind of interior fungus or rot that weakened the larger (perhaps oversized for the trunk) branches.
Therefore, unlike Mick, I would not try to re-attach or prop up the branches.
Instead, I would examine your 2 healthy scaffold branches toward the bottom of the tree for health. If they look like they will continue to thrive, I would then make a clean horizontal cut of everything above those branches across the central leader. A shorter tree will make your future easier when time to pick the fruit!
Then I would trim the length of the scaffold branches so they will produce new healthy growth.
I have taken off very large central leaders on ~4 year-old trees and been amazed at the tree's recovery and productivity.
If this tree wants to live, it will thank you for your agonizing and seemingly ruthless pruning choices with fruitful abundance in a couple of years.
Make sure your pruning tools are sanitized in alcohol or with a torch so that fungus does not spread.
Good luck Richard!
Your junk pole and dowel designs are fascinating to me, Stephen. They remind me of the rustic furniture here in New Mexico that use latillas, which are like junk poles. Word-of-mouth says that the furniture joints in what is sometimes called "Santa Fe style" were modeled after actual dwelling ladders used to enter earth buildings designed by First Peoples in our region. From local sources I learned that the holes in the vertical rails were made by taking embers from a fire, burning the holes to a shallow depth and carving out the resultant char with a knife. Repeat the burning and scraping until the hole is complete. By hand peeling the ends or short latilla pieces with a knife, the horizontal rungs were made to fit into the burnt holes. Once assembled into the ladder shape, the rungs were wrapped and tied with gut or rawhide strips that dry and shrink thus making the ladder one structurally sound unit. Furniture designers riff off this simple joint.
As I look at the dowel joints that you made, I can't help but wonder if the dowels are really necessary. Would it be desirable to save the few dollars and the effort required to add the dowel to your horizontal cross pieces by simply extending the length of the horizontal members to incorporate a hand-carved or peeled dowel-like taper to the "rungs" of your designs? If you have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts about revealing the dowel already inside the junk pole!
Sounds like you're on a roll with those hugels and spring garden clean up, Jennie!
Regarding planting the daffodils on your hugel beds, I did something similar with irises that were taking over my cultivated beds. Over the years, the spreading rhizomes have stopped erosion on my hills by creating a chunky web of flowering roots. I realize that daffodils are bulbs and not rhizomes but the expansion and needing to divide those big clumps reminds me of the irises. Hopefully they will take off for you for hugel reinforcement, beauty and ease of maintaining the existing veggie beds.
Congratulations on your ingenuity repurposing so many local resources!
Stephen, your positive feedback to Inge's feedback has emboldened me to offer some feedback about your sand/soil harvesting on your GAMCOD journey. Here it goes....
When I harvest sand/silt/topsoil for use in raised beds or potting soil mix, I spread out the material on a flat surface such as a tarp then water the material so most seeds will eventually sprout. If it's cold, cover the moistened soil by folding the tarp over the top. The unknown seeds will sprout then die for lack of light. By using a tarp, those sprouts can be mixed into the soil by lifting the corners of the tarp and integrating those dead and dying sprouts for bonus fertility.
After 10 days or so, the moist soil can be brought indoors for use as the potting soil without concerns that mystery seeds will overwhelm the chosen seed varieties.
Thanks for sharing your adventures with us Stephen!
Nice beds!
Speaking from a "learned-it-the-hard-way" experience, now I secure 1/4" hardware cloth along the bottom of all open raised bed frames. Unlike an impervious liner, hardware cloth provides good drainage for plants and soil to prevent water logging and rotting. The mesh prevents tree roots from running over and slurping up the water and nutrients in the generously nurtured beds. The mesh also prevents unwanted critters from burrowing up from under the beds to dine on the luscious roots.
Luckily, your beds are still empty which makes the job a lot easier. Digging out the soil to line the bed bottoms after the beds were filled was not a happy experience for me.
I've been contemplating a replacement hat. I require something that offsets my sideburns. Oh! And additionally it must protect me from the sun. Should you have any leads, I'm all ears (when the sideburns don't cover them, that is).
Didn't this guy in the charro hat have similar sideburns?
Thanks for the great ideas Anne and Nancy. With ideas like these, gardening doesn't have to be so expensive!
Here is another frugal fertilizer story from my garden that makes me happy.
Over the years, my fruit trees have become more prolific. Pruning, watering, and fertilizing takes time but not money, thanks to a friend who came up with a brilliant exchange. As background, my friend lives in a condo where the landscape is planned and maintained for the residents. There are no fruit trees. My friend really enjoys the fruit that I grow and she is committed to reciprocating for the harvest. Like me, she is pretty thrifty.
So she came up with a strategy that really works. Every other day she drives to the local coffee shop, picks up three 5 gallon buckets of coffee grounds and drops off 3 empty buckets for the shop to fill over the next couple of days. The coffee shop is really pleased to get rid of the grounds to help gardeners.
A few times a week, my friend stops by and scatters spent coffee grounds along the drip line of my fruit trees.
We are both so pleased with this casual arrangement! The fruit trees thrive with layers of coffee grounds around the fruit tree drip lines (covering the mulch as Nancy describes above). My friend receives boxes of cherries, plums, apples and pears at peak flavor. What could be better than free fertilizer for me and free fruit for my friend?
In addition to kitchen compost, how are permies fertilizing the garden?
I was very inspired by this article, Why Vermont farmers are using urine on their crops Any suggestions on avoiding the high prices for organic fertilizers?
Thank you for explaining more about your conditions, Jen. I really admire your effort to respect the beneficial insects, amphibians and other creatures, and truly appreciate the careful observation you noted here:
Last spring I used a saucer on top of several ollas and kept them full of water. Thinking I was helping the bees and predator bugs. Now I wonder if it's why the rats made nests in my raised beds. They never did that before. Living between orchards we have always had to deal with rodents. I got rid of them, and stopped filling the top with water.
Each place is so unique. Your dedication to finding balance in a difficult environment really inspires me: thank you. It sounds like you've thought through the humane and natural approaches and know what to try next. I respect your need to try more robust protective measures.
Regarding your search for a cheap garden cage, my neighbors who use a cage employ chicken wire around a frame built with rebar. The rebar forms the lines of a rectangle then the chicken wire covers the planes around that rectangle. The cage is free standing since the wire wraps around the bottom as well as the top. Since you already have your raised bed, wrapping the bottom of the cage might be difficult. It may require digging out the bed or starting a new bed. This metal cage is relatively inexpensive when purchasing the rebar at an industrial metal supplier. Two pipes are helpful to bend the rebar. Use baling wire to tie the rebar assemble the structure and secure the wire.
A small test cage with a new raised bed could be the mini-laboratory for your study. Alternatively, Craigslist will often have used dog kennels for sale that could also be an inexpensive option. If the openings in the fenced dog kennel are too large, tie on chicken wire or hardware cloth to keep the critters out.
Best wishes for a beautiful growing season Jen. Please keep us posted on your journey.
Hi Jen and all those with hungry creatures who see permaculture gardens as paradise. Speaking from experience, I find that less netting, absurdly low fencing (24") and more water stations are the only ways to attain a harvest in my gardens.
Why? The more netting, the less able the helpful predators are able to help control the unwelcome pests. The netting actually makes the nuisance critters safer and happier to devour the garden inside the lovely fenced shelters that desperate gardeners often provide.
For thirsty predators, water stations are like a giant billboard that says, "Welcome Predators!" The more welcome rodent-eaters feel about my land the more they dine on the pests. Coyotes, bull snakes, foxes, hawks, owls, falcons, and other creatures all have custom-sized water stations. There is no cage or effective fence so the predators, like the pesky garden-eaters, also have easy access to the yard. If the keen-eyed birds see netting, they won't dive bomb a mouse, squirrel or rabbit. When the coyotes can hop over a 24" fence, they can take out the rabbits.
For a counter-intuitive solution, consider providing favorite treats for the mice, rabbits and other rodents. Put the feeding station in a place that is super easy for winged predators to observe from trees nearby. I offer old fruit, bread, cooked rice... and put the treats in a clearing near the driveway within view from the upper branches of my neighbor's tall cottonwood. The results are very satisfying.
I'm not saying all is perfect but there is more food for the humans and more money and time saved by passing on cages. I'm satisfied with the balance.
Thank you, Stephen, for all your amazing contributions to this project. Your curiosity and enthusiasm enriched the prep and plastering work experience. The green manure plaster experiment would not have happened without your encouragement.
I am incredibly grateful for your work contributions and your camaraderie in the wonderful world of natural building.
Safe travels and thank you again AMAZING Stephen!
Thanks for asking for more information John. At this time, I am healthy and skillful so I am adapting to a time of less capacity. To remain healthy as long as possible, I have a workout regimen to protect my joints and strengthen areas that need it.
My teachers are the neighbors around me. They decline due to sudden health issues. Within a year or so, I see their properties neglected. A year or so later, the kids come and convince the parents that they need to downsize. A giant dumpster appears in the driveway and family fills it up. Soon after, an estate sale draws in the crowds. The next month after a massive cleanup, the house is on the market. Within a short time, the obituary appears.
Adapting now to labor shortages (my own and the availability of others) means radically reducing the labor requirement. I'm pruning the height of my fruit trees by 1/3. I'm eliminating decomposing yard features: an overhead arbor, a decomposing stock tank pond, sculptures that I no longer wish to maintain, things that require chemicals for preservation. I am also focusing on garden crops that are useful and versatile: corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and fruit.
These are my approaches to adapting. I'm looking for more ideas, which is why I asked the question,
Since getting qualified help is increasingly difficult, how are people adapting to labor shortages?
Happily, I've never attempted to live on the wartime ration.
But I want to offer my favorite way to prepare for the occasional lack of eggs, as Nancy points out,
I think for me the forwards planning would be tricky - I tend to look in the fridge and say - what shall I have tonight? Partly because I don't know what I will have left over in the shop. But one egg?!
Keeping a stash of flax seed in the fridge, I have yet to find an application where the "flax egg" as an egg substitute doesn't deliver a quick victory over a limited ration. For each required egg in a recipe, substitute 1 T flax seed (ground to flax meal) and 2.5 T water. I've used this in everything from meatloaf to waffles and the flax egg works perfectly every time.
Thanks for your encouragement to patch the disintegrating tank Douglas.
The tank is beyond patching. What appears to have happened is the 6" portion of the tank that is not buried has been pushed out by a thick layer of ice and compromised all metal above ground level. This morning I now count more than 20 leaks. The metal is rusting and brittle.
But what I am thinking of doing to allow myself more time to consider composting options is to cut off the top 6" portion of the pond. I will use the reciprocating saw with a metal cutting blade to take off the top ring down to the lowest leak ~6".
I'll cover the sharp rusty metal with rubber U channel edge protector for sheet metal.
So I'll have a round pond as the transformation of the tank continues.
