Barbara Simoes

William, the pictures with the tape measure are extremely valuable.  Somehow the unit looks much bigger than it is!  Interesting that the beans swell up that much!

I would avoid the brambles.  Instead of blackberries, how about a Gerardi Mulberry?  It is a shrub form that gets to be 6-10' tall and is well-behaved.  Instead of thorny and caned raspberries--one of my favorite fruits, but didn't plant because of the issues, how about Bushel and Berry 'Raspberry Shortcake'--these get to be maybe 3' mounds.  They do send runners, but they are thornless and very easy to maintain and are attractive.  You get more plants, so you don't have to start with a lot.

I have 40 blueberries, which is way too many!  They have been very fruitful over the years, so I have lots of friends come pick and take what they harvest! A few years ago, I added pelletized sulfur and they seemed to really appreciate that.

I did use my front yard to plant my food forest because it has the best southern exposure.  I mainly planted the taller things (trees) on the northern edges, with things descending in height toward the south.  Near the sidewalk, I planted perennials, herbs and a row of Regent serviceberries as a border so people and dogs couldn't easily enter.  I did put an arbor in the middle of the 120' length so that people could come into the yard that way, and I've found that that break was extremely helpful--especially for me when I'm working out there!  

I have cherries and persimmons on the northern side, but interspersed among other plants, I have paw paws, dwarf apples, figs, then lots of bush-type plants: currants, rhubarb, honeyberry, etc. and I've used strawberries as my groundcover.  Behind the serviceberry shrubs near the front, I planted asparagus.  It's not the most attractive plant when in its spear stage, and I wanted the serviceberry to act as a support for the fern stage.  That has worked beautifully, although the ferns are up to 8' tall, which I wasn't expecting!  I planted pink climbing roses on the arbor so that it would be recognizable to most.  

Some of the more unruly things are out back.  Elderberry, which often tries to creep out into the lawn...Heartnuts, which could perhaps cause a painful bonk on the head to passersby on the sidewalk, More paw paws and persimmons....I have to say that all of the gardens are neat and tidy looking and change throughout the year with the addition of bulbs and mushrooms, along with bloom times, fruit and leaf color and shape.

The front needed to be a well-behaved garden, as I don't like to be "on display" when out working on the garden.  It really does not require much input from me at all. The perennials also serve a purpose: pollinator attractor like yarrow or borage that self-seeds, pest-confusers like garlic and daffodils, native color like asters and penstemon , medicine like many herbs, nitrogen fixers...you get the idea.

The majority of time is in harvesting and prepping the food.  It is a surprising amount of time each day.  Just strawberries alone require about 3+ hours a day l filled my freezer with strawberries and blueberries.  I've made rhubarb roll-ups along with currant roll-ups in the dehydrator, and have freeze dried many many gallons of strawberries and cooked blueberries, mushrooms, whatever.  You will want to get at least one of these: a dehydrator, extra freezer, canning equipment or a freeze-dryer.  Last night, as I was deciding between canned peaches or applesauce, I had to smile, reflecting back on doing the work so that I could enjoy such wonders!

I remember reading an article by Ashley Adamant on her site: Practical Self-Reliance.  I just looked it up and searched for coffee.  Here are the results:
https://practicalselfreliance.com/?s=coffee
She has everything you can imagine and then some!

Carla, I have never had to work with clay soil or rocky soil.  It sounds terribly difficult beside the rough terrain.  I am very blessed with wonderful sandy  soil that I annually add leaves and wood chips to in order to make it less sand and more loam.  If anything, things almost grow too well here.  I get what you're saying about the blackberries.  My neighbor had a patch that just overtook their back yard, and still, 50 years later, the birds are always "planting" seeds here in the most inaccessible spots.  I don't see them until they're 5' high and full of thorns.  I wouldn't plant raspberries for that very reason, but then I discovered "Raspberry Shortcake", a variety that stays small (2-3' mound) and is thornless. )  It fruited last year, not prolifically, but it did send runners, so I'll have more plants. I got them at Stark Bros. but I think a lot of places carry them.  They also have blackberries that are thornless without those huge canes, so much more manageable.

Heartnuts might just work for you.  From what I've read, the nuts are MUCH easier to crack than black walnuts, but if those grow in your area, then heartnuts should, too.  They should only get to be 30-50' tall.  The canopy might be wider than its height, so a nice shade tree.  My plan with the persimmons is to put down a tarp and just shake the tree to collect the fruit!  Supposedly, they drop when ripe.  We'll see how easy that all is when they actually start producing!  My blueberries are over 40 years old now--I have 40 bushes which is way too many!  I have friends over to pick; I donate to the food shelf and I make wine with them, and I still have more than I can manage!  I don't know how they would do in your soil, but maybe if you really mixed in some compost and woodchips, they might be great.  I have a little stool that I sit on while picking.  It can take hours a day at the height of the season...I thought I was being clever when I planted early, mid and late ones, so I'm picking from late June through September, along with all of the other fruit.  I remember watching a video when I first started with permaculture, and the woman warned to be prepared for how long just the harvesting  and preserving takes; it's much more than all of the other care combined!

I only have one acre, but I have 50+ kinds of fruit growing.  I use strawberries as my groundcover out front, and they have produced like crazy.  My freezer is still full with them.  I let the leaves fall on them as winter cover and I don't clean them out come spring.  They manage to come back and fill in any empty spots. One side of the front garden has the June bearing and the other side has the day neutral.  Those are the ones that go crazy and I find I can still find berries growing in November--just a cup a day at that point, but still pretty amazing when it's that cold and dark out!  I have Regent serviceberries as a hedge by the sidewalk--I only pick the higher ones because who knows what dogs have peed on!  The birds can have their way with those.  My goumi started to produce a few fruits last year, as did the bush cherries and mulberries.  It's very exciting as new things come "online".  I, too, have a peach tree that finally produced for the first time last year.  I canned 36 quarts, made peach salsa, wine and peach mustard, gave a lot away  and ate a bunch of fresh fruit.  What a treat.  The tree is seven or eight years old, and I was ready to cut it down.  So glad I stuck with it.

Actually, have you tried mulberries?  I was sent one Gerardi (what I wanted) and three "dwarf mulberries" (that were supposed to also be Gerardi) by accident.  The Gerardi is the way to go. They won't get much higher than 6' and can be pruned if need be. The fruits are 2" long and sweet and the plant is very manageable.  The "dwarfs" are not.  They will grow ten feet a year if you let them.  I just cut them down to the ground (again) and now have them covered in Epsom Salt and black plastic, hoping that they die.  They had tasty fruit, but they had very small fruit (3/8") and not worth all of the work.  They also had started to send out runners and were starting to pop up elsewhere.  Not good.  The Gerardi taste similar but better than blackberries and the leaves are medicinal--I am using them to lower blood sugar very successfully in concert with intermittent fasting. They are a largish shrub form, and yes, the birds do like them, but my thought is that if you plant enough of something, there will be enough for all. I hope to start rooting more once the others perish!

I planted asparagus behind the serviceberries out front, and they're now 7 years old if you count that the crowns were two years old when planted.  They run the length of the front yard, so 120'+.  Needless to say, I have plenty.  My friends are very happy, too!  I eat it every day in season, and I started to pickle it--amazing!  Perennials are the best.  Buy once; eat forever! I planted wine cap mushrooms out back by the hazels and goumis.  They had two main flushes but those were all day affairs of cutting them, cleaning, slicing, sauteing and then either freezing or freeze-drying. Mushroom quiche or mushroom soup throughout the winter, though. Hard work to put so much food aside, but winter is easy in that regard!  Not having to go anywhere, but especially grocery shopping when it's snowing is quite lovely!

I, have a few fig trees--six were started from the original; they root very easily!  They die to the ground each winter, but then in spring I just cut them at ground level.  They grow to be about 4-5' each season; last year, they did not have time to ripen, but the year before they had.  If nothing else, they're a pretty plant, although I'm not crazy about their smell!  I'm very ambivalent about them.  For now, they'll stay.  I'm eager for the persimmons and paw paws to start fruiting.  Two years ago, I had a nice crop of quince, but this past year, I didn't have enough to can.  I'm hoping that she produces more this year again!  My Concord grapes didn't really have any fruit either; we had a many month drought last year.  Hopefully, we don't have another.  The grapes are probably 50 years old at this point, and I do need to get out there and prune them hard...along with the kiwi.  Everything else has been done.  Maybe tomorrow will be pleasant enough for that job.  I know that having grape juice is so well worth it!  As a general rule, I don't have fruit juice because of the sugar without fiber, but I do love some grape juice once in a while.

Carla, that's an impressive list of things that you'll make!  I don't know your situation--how much land or your age, but I'm 65, and I planted four hazelnuts back 2021.  A few years back, I planted two heartnuts.  The heartnuts have not started to produce yet, but each year they grow a bit.  They are smaller trees than walnuts, and the nuts are supposed to be less biting than walnuts, although they are related.  They also put out much less juglone, and I've been careful to only plant things that are tolerant nearby: persimmons, elderberries, currants and paw paws are some that I know will be fine. Last year, I got my first few cups of hazelnuts from two of the four shrubs, and that was pretty exciting.  This year, I'm seeing more blooms.  Missouri's climate is probably a bit warmer than here in Vermont where I'm at 5A, and you might even be able to grow pistachios and almonds.

I grow a lot of berries here, but I'll be the first to admit they aren't the same after canning, freezing or any other preservation method. I use them mainly to add into the yogurt I make.  I'm not sure if your ducks wouldn't gobble them all up!  There used to be a chicken house on the property here, but it was probably 150 years old, built as part of the homestead, and had to finally come down.  That was before I had gained an interest in raising birds, but replacing it with a garage was probably the right move for me.  I suppose someday I may want to build on an ell for that purpose.  The thought of hauling water in the winter stops me from going on with any kind of real plan!  It would be lovely to have eggs.  I have a freeze dryer, so even if birds stopped producing in the winter months, I would have plenty through the year.

I also want to say that I used to make a sweet potato gnocchi that was amazing, served with just a little sage butter. I rolled the dough into 1" wide strips and froze them for easy meals throughout the winter.  I was never a fan of plain potato gnocchi, but the sweet potato ones are delicious.  I used to make ravioli and it was so rewarding.  Again, something that would freeze beautifully.  Since being diagnosed with diabetes, I really have stopped eating all simple carbs, and have even cut back a lot with complex carbs, although I do miss them terribly, and do indulge every once in a while!

Yes, and making your own pasta is incredibly inexpensive and you can control the flour that you use: glyphosate-free! So, some good flour, and some water will do it; you can also add an egg for more protein.

I track how often I have to bring a bag of garbage, and I've got it down to one bag every six or seven months. I can make the recycling tote go that long, too, so that they go together.  I compost, of course, but I am also fortunate enough to have a very active transfer station nearby.  They take the non-crinkly plastic like zip-lock or Saran Wrap types as a separate item from the general recyclables.  I keep a large collection bag (SWheat Step Kitty litter bag made from wheat and very compostable) in the pantry, and when it's full, I'll bring it, empty it and reuse it.  The plastic goes to Trex plastic wooden planks, so I don't feel horrible about that.  It's recycled and what it is recycled into lasts decades vs. one use.  The garbage that I actually accumulate to be thrown out is still mainly plastic.  I recycle and compost everything I'm able.  

I can be a little compulsive about all of this and used to throw the individual packets of Truvia into the compost until I was sifting it and realized that those little "paper" packets are coated in plastic.  Why??? Tea bags, too.  I now cut the bags and empty the tea into a very fine strainer to steep, having to throw out the bag.  I do buy some canned goods, but when I put it in my recycling bin on the front porch, I crush everything after rinsing.  Like containers get stacked rather than tossed in any which way.  I have started to preserve a lot of food, including making my own wine.  I still do use some zip lock bags, but I wash them well and reuse many times, depending on the contents.  I ordered some rectangular stacking stainless steel 2 cup containers that were quite inexpensive, and use those pretty exclusively.  When I cook, I cook big!  I will do a pressure cooker full of beans and freeze the bulk of them, for example, pre-measuring them into the stainless.

I sew much of what I wear, and any natural fibers that aren't going to be used in other projects get composted.  I hang laundry outside and use the soap that come as flat sheets not liquid in big plastic jugs.  I don't have much laundry, as I don't wash clothes unless they're dirty.  I'll wear things a number of times.  Of course, if they're dirty, I don't hesitate.  I use cold water, environmentally safe soap and a clothesline, so there is no need to be stingy about it. I don't buy general cleaning agents, but settle for things like vinegar or a safe dish soap--not Dawn any more.

In the garden, I used to use that pretty dark mulch; to my credit, I did get it by the truckload vs. the individual plastic bags.  It became pretty price- prohibitive, and at the same time, I discovered permaculture and that that mulch wasn't so good for the environment.  Now, I use the leaves and I track down arborists working in the area for the chips. They are more than happy to drop the truckload and not have to haul it miles away and then pay for the privilege.  Can't beat free for both of us, and the soil it creates is so rich and fertile.

I pay my bills on line and really would like to reduce the amount of junk mail that is delivered on a daily basis.  Again, I save it up and bring it back to the post office for them to recycle. It shouldn't be my problem.  I really resent it if I have to pay to get rid of something that I never requested and is just foisted on me.  As it is, I resent the time it takes to gather it up and deliver it back.  I compost paper that can be composted.

I am constantly starting new gardens, so after removing tape and labels, I flatten any cardboard and store it on the back porch until needed.  Last fall, I laid down a lot of cardboard out back and covered it with leaves that I had collected. Both areas will just be pathways and areas around trees that don't get visited much, but were a pain to mow.  This past month, I did the same on an area that leads to the back door; on either side of the walk, the grass will be replaced as an herb/pollinator garden.  Again, it was a very tricky spot to mow, and will be much more used and appreciated as a garden.

I don't go out to eat much...maybe two or three times a year, and when I do, I don't get takeout.  We are too rural to have any kind of delivery service, so that's out, and that probably saves a whole lot of trash.  As I said, when I cook, I'll cook to last for days...even breakfast!  It's as easy to make five or six servings of oatmeal as it is one. I add in the cinnamon, monk fruit, raisins, coconut, nuts, etc. and will even have some as dessert.  It tastes remarkably similar to rice pudding when cold.  I boil three pounds of potatoes at once and then make home fries at my leisure throughout the week.  Bonus: it creates a resistant starch by refrigerating, so win-win!

One of the biggest things, though, is growing such a huge variety of fruit (nuts and veggies) on the property.  All the packaging that I'd have to contend with is now a non-issue.  I also have to think about the waste-stream that we don't see, but none the less, is still there.  I have to consider all of the pesticides and trucking and farming fuel and fumes saved, and by contrast, how my soil is only getting better and how the wildlife thrives. My stump dump at the back of the property is humming with life.  All of the equipment I have is electric/battery operated, so really no petroleum products that way, either. I make a lot of herbal /medicinal products, saving me from "Big Pharma" and the insane packaging that goes into that.  Most ingredients are gathered here on my one acre, from Hawthorn, lemon balm and plantain to horsetail and turkey tail to name just a few.  Microplastics and forever chemicals scare me to death, and I'm sure that by taking these steps, I'm avoiding more than most.  I also don't want to participate in the harming of others, be it people, animals or plants.  My "religion" is in caring for this beautiful earth and all of its life, and I will do what I can to see that I'm doing all that I can.

All of the above, but also lemon balm.  I use this as a tea and as a tincture.  I keep a little bottle upstairs in my bathroom and if I can't get to sleep, this will do the trick every time.

I'd ordered some hawthorn capsules after reading about how fantastic it was for the heart.  I then went to my doctor, where I was able to cut my medicine in half because of how well the hawthorn worked.  Since, I've planted a Hawthorn tree and bought a capsule maker!  I look forward to the day when I can use my own freshly dried plant matter.

I also have elderberry bushes out back from which I make a tincture.  I haven't had a cold since starting to take this.  The trick is to start it before you start having any symptoms.  It is easy to take because it tastes quite good, as does the hawthorn in tincture form.

Gardening and herbalism go hand-in-hand.  If you're willing to grow the plants, the hard part is done.  I have a good sized area by the back door covered in cardboard and mulch where I plan to extend my herb growing.  I plan to try planting a knob of turmeric and ginger.  I know that if I get it at the co-op, it should be pesticide free.  I know it won't survive the winter, but I can either carry some over inside or just start fresh when running low.

I grow peppermint, but honestly, that's mainly for mojitos!  I know that it is supposed to be great for upset stomachs, but it never appeals to me when I do have an upset stomach, so there's that...but, there is nothing easier to grow than any form of mint.  Contain it in a planter so it doesn't bully the rest of your plants!