Tilley Martin

Tina Wolf wrote:I have old Pecan trees that drop limbs all the time. I use them as mulch. My favorite chop and drops are Hairy Vetch...love the seeds and how it spreads! Also, ragweed...I let them grow, picking the freshest leaves to eat for nutrients and allergies, and go to seed to spread.

Can you talk more about eating ragweed? My sheep love it, and the bees love it when it's blooming, and it grows into 8 feet tall forests here, but I've never heard of eating it.

We made groundhog stew out of a groundhog that was digging underneath our foundation.  It was delicious--fat, apple-fed, young, succulent.  My boys (who were young teenagers then) were horrified, but both had seconds because it was so yummy.

"The wall is so long that at least two large windows could have fit there to give a beautiful view of the woods, and perhaps even three windows or a big picture window--they just didn't design it that way. But I do not have the money to fix that glaring problem 35 years later."

We had a little room that had no window at all, and put one in ourselves for way-cheap.  I think the window itself was about $50 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, we already had screws and wood for trim, and had to buy a can of Great Stuff to fill in the gaps, and now that little room is super sunny and lovely to be in.

What are the best resources for masonry heaters (not rocket mass heaters)?

Can you plant cuttings this time of year (right at the beginning of winter)? I did black currant cuttings last year and was AMAZED at their growth (tiny little cuttings turned into monsters in my air pruning bed), but I think I stuck the cutting in in March.  I'm zone 6b.

I have to say, though, that wisteria is a GREAT basket-making material!  We have some growing (out of control, yes) on our garage, where it is lifting the roof off, so we really should get rid of it, but it is so lovely to work with weaving baskets that I hate to do that.  I'd actually like MORE of it, but I'm afraid of what might happen, so I will not be propagating it any further.

For what it's worth, you can use the honeysuckle vines to weave baskets.  (And it is SO much easier to eradicate than trumpet vine!)

Our Swedish gray ducks free range during the day and are locked up at night.  They make the rounds of probably about 3 or 4 acres of the property, and have a number of favorite napping spots, depending on the season and the weather.  We had no losses the first year, and only two losses the second year (I suspect nabbed by a neighboring fox when the ducks were hanging out too near (or out) of the front gate which keeps the dog in), but we really haven't had problems other than that.  They're wonderfully entertaining going to and fro.

We got thornless honey locusts from Cold Stream Nursery last year, and they were very nice seedlings, with no thorns.  The plan is to graft large-podded cultivars on them in a year or so.  We've also found a number of thornless trees in neighbor's pastures, and have dug up suckers from them.

We've had really good luck with Cackles Hatchery in Missouri, but with what the postal service is doing, I'd be a little leery this year.