*Welcome Helen Atthowe, author of The Ecological Farm

Dian, I like your idea of growing your own fertilizer cover crops over the septic field! I have never had great luck growing native legumes for cover crops, but pretty native ground cover legumes for Eastern Canada could include: Canada Milkvetch (Astragalus canadensis), Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea), Showy Tick Trefoil (Desmodium canadense), False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), Round-headed Bush Clover (Lespedeza capitata), Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria), Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis). Remember that some of these legumes can be toxic. For example, Lupines contain alkaloids that are known to be toxic to humans and animals, including possible dogs. Again, I like your idea of growing alfalfa in beds and/or a mix of annual and perennial clovers over the septic field.

Thank you so much, Helen, for sharing your knowledge with us this week! I have always been impressed by your work and breadth of knowledge!

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I'm happy to announce this week's winners!

Congratulations!

Andrea Locke
Mary Haasch
Oscar Daniels
William Bronson

Please keep an eye out for an email from Helen or her publisher about the shipment of your book!

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If you're bummed that you didn't win, here's a handy-dandy link to her book!

Awesome! Congratulations, Andrea, Mary, Oscar, & William!

Congratulations, everyone!  This was a fun week!

Thank you to all that participated.

Carla Burke wrote:Awesome! Congratulations, Andrea, Mary, Oscar, & William!

Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to reading the book.  

Hi Helen,

Thanks so much for your book! I got it as soon as I read about it here and am enjoying it very much. I have experienced the same about stepping back and letting nature balance out with a little help from me in the way of planting. But I would not have been able to express it so well!

Kate, with regard to growing grain, you might also want to check out Ecology Action's Booklet 33 on growing grains on a small scale here: http://www.growbiointensive.org/ePubs/ They're in Willits CA and have done a lot of research using bio-intensive methods. The booklet is from 2005 but should still be relevant.

I'm sure this book will help us all shift our mindsets more in the direction of working with nature and stewarding the land we have influence over!

Beautifully said! Thank you!!!  
Helen

Thank you very much! I am really looking forward to this book!