Cookie White

Thanks, ya’ll! Its so exciting to finally be mildly understanding a permaculture principle 😂

Ken W Wilson wrote:Those black buckets may get too hot this summer. I used black feed tubs one year, and my plants didn’t do well at all.

Thanks Ken,
I have transplanted them into the soil now, I was just using the buckets as an emergency starting container when I found them on sale.

I did drill holes. I have transplanted mine into a Ruth Stout style hedgerow. They still look alive so, here’s hoping 🤞🏼

Pearl,
How have your berries gotten along?

So, from what I’m reading, if I oversimplify to an extreme, swales are dug into the contour lines of a property with the berm on the downslope side of the swale. So, for instance, if I wanted to plant food on my property, using a modified Ruth Stout method, I would do best to swale and berm on the contour lines instead of in straight rows?
Here’s a picture of one section of my property from the GIS mapping website.

Thanks ya’ll, Just getting back here! We are in NC, zone 7. I think probably the best thing to do with it is to dig a pond. That just requires more skill and heavy machinery that we have available currently. I’m super inspired by “Skeeter” thanks for that link! Also very curious to read more about bacteria vs fungi soil. This spot is definitely eroded and dead soil as far as I can tell. I have a ground over legume/vetch/clover mix that I thought about starting out there after getting a good cover of compost and straw. I think I’ll also try my elderberries out there since they don’t mind wet feet? We have a large garden spot and a more shaded garden as well so I don’t need this spot to grow food currently. I did think of running pigs down there for a season but I’m not sure I could swing the pig fencing this year! Thanks again guys!

I bought these blueberries from Walmart as well (mine were Climax, Legacy and one other) We are in zone 7, so I’m guessing a bit late to get them sold because they were $2.50 a piece! But, I’m well aware that they probably won’t survive 😅 I potted mine in 5 gallon buckets. Potting soil/compost/peat moss blend. I put them on the slope where they will eventually be planted, should they survive. I also read to prune them by 1/3 on each node and get rid of any leaves or buds. So I did that. That part was scary. I hope we both have great success with our Walmart bargain berries!

So, I am wracking my brain as to how I can best utilize my property. I would ultimately like to have a small farm stand where I sell extras from what I don’t use on my homestead.
We have a mainly wooded property.
I have a semi cleared area that is bordered by 2 creeks. It is also kind of a bottomland since all the water runs down to it to get to the creek. Our house and barn are considerably higher than this land.
I’d like to have an orchard with berries, apples, cherries, etc plus a kind of silvopasture understory.
I’m also open to lots of other ideas!
Help! 😁