Leah Holder

Hi fellow Permies!
    I have been growing a wide spectrum of trees on 2 acres in rural South Dakota USA. The property used to have a trailer house on it in the 70s and has a well, but now holds only my little shack and apples, pears, raspberries, plums, blackberries, and most importantly-hazelnuts. I had the well shocked and sealed 3 years ago because of a bacterial issue, afterwards it was no longer present. The other test results didn’t really stay with me-I was new and if the water was safe for my dog to drink that should be good enough. Funny thing is, the trees survived but failed to thrive. I tested again this year and the hardness and alkalinity are both 9.5. and high Calcium. I should have opened my eyes when the hydrangea I bought started to tank the first week.
    Here’s the dilemma. I don’t live here full time, I just visit several times a week. The pump runs off a Honda generator I fire up when it’s time to water. Hauling water in from town isn’t an option. What methods can I use to change my water without a constant flow of electricity? Thanks for your time and advice!

I am so excited to continue following this thread. Keep up the good work!

Hello Permies! I’ve been wooed by this forum at every turn as I’m constructing my own space in the country. I have a question I can’t find an answer to in “polite” society but I’m banking someone here does. I need to know how to heat treat my pigeon droppings so as to use them in a homemade fertilizer mix. I need to know what temperature and how long they must be kept there in order to kill pathogens with out hot composting them? Thanks a ton!

Welcome Ginny! I’m looking forward to reading all of the bread posts. Thanks for joining us.

Thank you for your experience William. The compost you use is finished, or do you keep essentially an active compost pile in the hole?

I’m looking to implement a banana circle type system for some fruit trees I planted this Spring. I live in South Dakota. I’m thinking dig in a continuous ditch/swale on the inside of the 75’ diameter circle that’s already planted. The trees are asian pear and current and gooseberry spaced alternating around the circle. I’d like to dig a ditch around the whole inside and fill with raw compost/paper sheds and water-via feeder swales and a well. I’ll use the top soil to mound on the inside of the ditch/circle and plant other things on that. Is this unreasonable? Has anyone else tried such a thing? Thank you.

Please PLEASE update this post. I’m in a similar situation and need to know how things panned out. Also curious about the hedge. Also would like to see how your grazing is going! THANK YOU!

I have 8 smaller bins on my place and agonized for months to an indifferent husband what I was going to make from them. Finally he looked me in the eye and said “You are right. They are good for something-holding grain.” Then he went back to watching the news.
His other words of wisdom “no one puts siding up first then builds a house.” Of course as my main source of cheap labor, he’s right to discourage me. Now that gardening/planting season is over my mind is drifting back to the potential of repurposing an already built structure into a lab for trying out new building techniques. I’m thinking of tack welding hardware wire to give purchase to the outside and building a cob wall or something. A dream at this point, but I’ll be back. Mwuhaha.

Wow. These are all such helpful posts and links! I’ve acquired 2 acres with 8 grain bins, many without tops.Each of those is filled with pigeons. I started a thread about it - didn’t see this one first or I would have just added to it.
    I cleaned and capped 6 bins for storage and left the other two for the birds. We cleaned an entire pick up load of manure out of the first bins. I would appreciate advice on building nesting boxes to keep the poor things from living on the floor in their own poop.

I inherited 2 acres in the county last year. Included were 8 grain bins-several without caps. These were full of pigeons nesting on the floor in 3-4 inches of droppings. We cleaned a few out for storage and I left a few uncapped for the birds. When is it safe to incorporate this pile (setting since last summer) into my garden and around my fruit trees/bushes? Can I till in a bucket full when I plant strawberry crowns next week, or will it burn/rot them? I am planning on creating a better space for these birds within their current system. I will include a picture of the manure pile and the birds current life style.