Jennifer Herod

We are considering an osage orange hedge around the perimeter of our 1.5 acre property to keep our beasties in and other beasties out. It should feed our rocket heater in the winter, and maybe some chickens to boot? Anyone feed the apples to their chickens or children? I have read they are edible. They would also produce wood for my Art Projects. This idea makes me very happy. The idea of making a bow or two brings a smile to my youngest son's face.

My husband is an impatient fellow, and wants to purchase 1-2 foot saplings to plant to get a good start on a hedge. We found some at Musserforest.com for .40/each if you buy 300 or more. Not too bad until you consider the expense of renting a ditch witch to plant all those rascals! Dreading that weekend already. I must agree that having a finished hedge 2 years sooner is appealing.

I am more the patient type. I prefer seeds, (because I am frugal). It wont look as purposeful as weaving new canes together, but I wont bleed as much either!

I have read several websites that say in the fall: squish the fruit and make a slurry to drizzle in a shallow trench, gently push the dirt down on them, water some and wait. Others say it is worth the trouble to start seeds in containters and replant in hedge row in the spring. Still others say you are crazy to even consider an osage orange hedge.

Those who have tried the above scenarios, please enlighten me.

Thank you

sounds like we built similarly. We dont have a forest, so we spent more on roof lumber than anything. We have 2 deep U's and 3 circles. We are adding a greenhouse/wet room on the end.

You must be a teacher like us, . we have been at it 8 summers as well, scavanging what we can, buying cheaply what we can, and spending what we have to when we dont have a choice.

Floors and utilities is what we lack.We are half finished with floors.

kieth,

I got a letter too at one point, called and spoke to the guy, and explained my situation about permiys not really applying. He said I need an engineer to sign off on the structure itself, and made some suggestion to be compkiant with state codes. I was still in the middle of things, so I changed my plan AGAIN. He never red-tagged anything, so I just keep building.

jennifer

He is, indeed, calling for those things...like many big and worthy ideas that have grown and spread globally over the centuries, if it rings true with me, and I act upon that truth, and talk about it, others may see the truth, and begin to learn and act on it, others will see their work, and so on. I think this method, will eventually gather enough steam to begin effecting government itself. If we affect government only and attempt to dictate, from the top down, it will fail. People will rebel without understanding what they are rebelling against. Change takes time.

We can affect a larger change, I think, by how we spend, or dont spend, the almighty dollar. There are BIG political and commercial entities in practice that are tough to steer toward or away from anything...unless like-minded people hit them in their pocketbooks.

thank you again! I am watching videos, and have put my email in for the next online class (I hope,,LOL).

Cj Verde wrote:

Jennifer Herod wrote:... but I am realizing now, that I have only had a tiny piece of the overall puzzle. I am hoping this book will give me a sense of priority and focus. I need to forge a plan for the property, as I did for the earthship. We have an acre and a half, and I want to design it smartly. From the tantalizing tidbits of chapter 1, I am indeed in the right place at the right time.

The PDM is awesome but I strongly urge you take a PDC. I swore up and down that I wouldn't take one, didn't need to take one because I didn't plan on teaching. About a year and a half after reading the PDM I took Geoff's online PDC and yes, the PDC was worth it and necessary.

PDC Online? hmmm. I didn't know such a thing existed. So I can get this certification online...very interesting indeed. How does the course differ from the text? How do they work together? And thank you for the heads up.

WOW! This is going to be an intense few weeks! I feel my brain swelling already!

We have spent the last 7 summers building an earthship. We are planning to move in this coming summer...so many things to do. Jobs just get in the way. HA!

I had never heard of this book, this author, or even the word permaculture until a few months ago. I was googling a collection of options to yet another earthship puzzle when I found permies.com. The mindset of self-sustainability has been hard at work in my psyche for some time, hence the birth of an earthship... but I am realizing now, that I have only had a tiny piece of the overall puzzle. I am hoping this book will give me a sense of priority and focus. I need to forge a plan for the property, as I did for the earthship. We have an acre and a half, and I want to design it smartly. From the tantalizing tidbits of chapter 1, I am indeed in the right place at the right time.

"It is hypocrisy to pretend to save forests, yet to buy daily newspapers and packaged food; to preserve native plants, yet rely on agrochemical production for food; and to adopt a diet which calls for broadscale food production."

I find my conscience tweaking at the tiniest of things...buying items at Target...clothes, soaps, trinkets and baubles...We put our entire house in storage a year and a half ago to move in to an RV and work on the earthship and property. I have come to realize, after a year and a half without those things, that I don't need most of it. I pared down quite a bit to move things to storage...or so I thought. I will pare down again. I feel a bit like a squirrel on a wheel. There is so much to do....and my heart longs to embrace it daily, make it my world...but I have to work to afford my "Hobby" but the time working for someone else gets in the way of the things that need doing each day...I am a teacher so I have more free time that most poor working sots...LOL, but not enough to jump in and get this going the way I would like. I continually remind myself to start where I am, and work toward where I want to be. The larger battle isn't against the elements, or the dirt, or the devil we call time, but against me...I long for the peace, the quiet, the stillness.

I'm so green, I've never heard of this book, but all the enthusiasm has my curiosity up. I'm in. I will start e-shopping for a copy.

I have enjoyed purchasing seeds here:
http://sustainableseedco.com/

They have organic heritage seeds sold individually as well as in packages: herb packs, veggie packs, fall packs, flower packs, etc.

They do have cover crops and the like as well.