Thom Bri

Just so!
I have burned way to much green and damp wood in my fireplace. Miserable. Very smoky. I am smarter now and have managed to get a year ahead in my cutting, so I have year-old wood to burn. Damp logs get placed at the bottom of the rack so they have a few weeks to dry in the house before burning.

Simply splitting the logs speeds drying a huge amount. Green sticks an inch or two in diameter won't dry in a year unless split. Split once in half and they dry quickly. Bark is designed to hold in water.

Talking with my daughter on the phone yesterday, she asked me what I might like for Christmas. She mentioned some web site with lots of unique seeds. Thinking for a while I said 'Andean purple corn, purple popcorn, Kabocha squash, any kind of wildflowers, and, whatever catches your fancy.'

She replied, 'That's what I already figured you would say.'

My kids know me well. In recent year I have gotten corn seeds, flower seeds, cantaloupe seeds, a wheelbarrow, a huge tarp, and beehive parts. Tomorrow I will probably use the snow blower the kids got me a few years ago. I am blessed.

May Lotito wrote:

Thom Bri wrote:A close-up of a chunk of ash and charcoal from the area above. Interesting is all the roots completely filling the ash, far more than in the surrounding clay soil. Some plant, probably a peach tree, really loves the ash layer.

The root mass is impressive! Can you tell if the roots are mycorrhizae inoculated or not?
I plan on preparing a large planting hole with biochar and minerals for a peach pit next year. Maybe that will get the roots to grow deeper and healthier.

I have no way to know if there are mycorrhizae. Peaches seem to do well here. Last year someone on Permies suggested spreading fireplace ash around the bases of the peach trees. I did it over the winter and I believe it helped this year. To my eye the trees appeared healthier, and we got an excellent crop.

Peaches don't seem to mind the heavy clay though. Pits sprouting right out of the unadulterated clay seem to do well, and I know from my digging that their roots delve right through the clay.

Incidentally, we are expected to get some 10 inches of snow this weekend with temps to +7F (-13C). If the snow melts off again I'll collect leaves one more time for the trench. Plan to start burning firewood tomorrow.

I grew corn and beans on 3000 square feet (7% of one acre) last year and got about 290,000 calories just from the corn not counting beans/potatoes etc. No machines, no chems or fertilizers.

2025: https://permies.com/t/279261/Sisters-Garden-year
2024: https://permies.com/t/249459/Sisters-Garden-Year
2023: https://permies.com/t/233039/Fall-prep-spring-sisters-garden

Kate Downham wrote:

Thom Bri wrote:Is it typically foggy/cloudy (my ignorant conception of Tasmania) or do you get plenty of sunny warm days?

Different parts of the island get different amounts of fog. We get pretty much no fog at our place, and a mix of sunny days and overcast, but enough sun to rely on solar power and be able to grow tomatoes, zucchini, and other shorter-season summer crops outdoors.

Okay then! You have lots of choices. Simplest is a rotation of potatoes and maize. That pretty much maximizes calories on small acreage. Both are easy to grow and pretty resilient.

Add in beans, other grains, other root crops like sweet potatoes and turnips, squashes. All high calorie and  easy to grow.

Any experienced farmers or gardeners in your group?

Is it typically foggy/cloudy (my ignorant conception of Tasmania) or do you get plenty of sunny warm days?

A few big problems with off-grid living, alluding to the post above. It generally requires more physical work, something most people these days are unfamiliar with and find uncomfortable.

Learning to use an axe or a shovel is harder than you might think, and is very inefficient until you do learn, and causes a lot of muscle pain for a few weeks. Not a lot of people are willing to put up with ANY pain or even mild discomfort.

So from my perspective, the main drawback of off-grid is mental unpreparedness. You have to be willing to put up with a lot of uncomfortable situations and annoyances until you figure out how to overcome them, or just become used to them. Having a lot of money to spend starting up, so you have lots of solar power or a tractor with lots of gadgets, might be the only fix for many people. Being young and fit too.

At my age I wouldn't want to go back to off-grid, and I'd never convince my spouse in a thousand years of trying!

2 years off-grid, in a humid tropical area. Drying clothing was miserable since nothing dried, never, during the rainy season. Boots and belts, any leather goods molded. I rubbed alcohol into them periodically to kill mold. Clothing always smelled of mildew.

I guess it depends on your local climate. Dry places, no problem. Damp places, problem.

These days we are solidly on-grid, but the climate is such that drying clothing is rarely a big problem. So we have a dryer and have maybe used it 10 times in 19 years, for pillows and such.

Personally I enjoy cutting wood and use a fireplace throughout the winter. But I am 60+ years old and can clearly see the day coming when that won't be practical. People who dislike physical labor would probably find using wood impractical now. A nice solar system running a few space heaters might be an answer.

Eric Hanson wrote:Thom,

Granted, you are not using food waste, but I see no reason why the same principle would not work using leaves instead of food scraps.
Eric

Some food waste, not a huge amount since there are only two of us here now.

I finished digging today. It was real work getting out a few extra inches of the hard subsoil. I ended up using a pick when the shovel wouldn't cut the clay. Then laid a thick layer of mostly rotting logs in the bottom and covered with scoops of dirt. The remaining trench will stay open all winter so there will be a good layer of food scraps and ash.

I'd say yes, if you enjoy digging, and no, if they are working fine as-is. Also depends on your goal. Are they already doing what your goal wanted?