Nina Surya

Misty morning

a light drizzle.

On my way to the chicken coop

button mushrooms winking at me

from the grass.

Happiness is; finding lunch

before breakfast.

Hello John,

I read your posts via the Permies daily-ish email.
We too are on clay soil.

1. About the French drain; you say you put it with the holes downwards. I'd think it might work better with the holes up (and with geotextile on top, filtering away any soil particles), allowing the water to seep into the drain and flow away on the 'floor' of the drain? I haven't tried it, nor do I have any theoretical knowledge about correct use of it, it's just what pops into my mind now.

2. We thought about putting in a French drain, but I was lucky to have a conversation about the here on Permies, and went for wood chips instead. It has worked really well! You can read about it, and see a couple of photos here .

Seasonal living

Cleaning out the RMH
repairing with clay from the pasture
filtered, so smooth.

Firing up the first time
after all the dry heat of summer

Satisfaction and gratitude
for all the work
and elements
- the clay
the wood
and Permies

A network of beings
sending impulses
- my Heart to the field
and back again

Weaving understanding
of belonging, purpose
and creative co-evolution

To shape a place
a space
closely listening
to what we want to create
together.

An offspring from the Haiku Chain
let's bring prose to life again.
in permie style
free from form, it doesn't have to rhyme.

Observe the words, see what they can do
describing a moment, a mood or you.


Today
Rain, blessed rain,
finally soaking the sun-baked clay.

There are holes in the ground.
Holes and tunnels.
We need a cat.
A cat for my birthday
how neat would that
be.

What the heck was THAT?
A barnowl is huge, flying
soundless over us

Many good names have been suggested already, but I'll add Matthew Wood. Out of my somewhat extensive library of herbal medicine books, his Earthwise Herbal trilogy has become my favourite, and go-to books; The Earthwise Herbal Repertory, The Earthwise Herbal Volume I (Old World Medicinal Plants) and Volume II (New World Medicinal Plants). Warmly recommended!

You know you're a seed saver when your neighbour boasts about her tomatoes and you immediately ask for one tomato - for the seeds!

I learned something new today! -> about determinate / indeterminate potatoes. Both varieties that I've been using, Bintje and Desiree, are indeterminate.
Here comes the fun bit; two years ago, we had a huge potato harvest. So big that we missed some potatoes in the ground, and they produced surprise volunteer potatoes last year. I'm doing "chaos gardening" (wild polyculture), and last year I was harvesting what we used, until bad weather kicked in. I knew there were some potatoes left in the ground out there, somewhere.
So this spring, I didn't plant one single potato. And yet, we've had enough potato meals to keep us happy through the freaky hot and dry summer. As I was harvesting, last year and this year, I left the small "seed potatoes" in the ground. At the moment I don't have any potatoes left to harvest or eat, and rodents have appeared... So, pros and cons to leaving the spuds in the ground.

I've had a marten steal eggs fresh out the coop. But what also can be the reason is the stress the chicken have from moving house. Usually the egg production stops around 2 days after something stressful. It should return to normal in 3-4 days after.
Hopefully you'll start finding eggs soon again.