Can you compete with our own permies farmer?

I don't know how many of you follow Joseph's thread https://permies.com/t/57161/Photos-Joseph-Lofthouse-Garden but a few years ago he posted a photo of himself with some of his carefully bred carrots.  Earlier this week someone brought up how well he matched the permies farmer logo. That got me thinking. It may have been pure coincidence that he came so close to our little aviator. I am asking the permies members now to see if they can do it better.

Post pictures of yourself posing as near to our icon as you can manage, with the produce of your permaculture labors in hand. For the education of those watching from home, include a short note summarizing what you hold and something from your permaculture knowledge that helped you succeed. As an example, I could pose with an armload of healthy basil because this year I planted it in on the walkway into the house. It is finally getting enough attention to thrive because I used permaculture zone one.  

Don't feel limited to your garden.  Maybe you carve wonderful wooden implements, brew great alcohols,  spin thread, weave cloth, make cheese, gather honey... Be as creative as you like. I'm putting up one hori hori knife https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016BBM6FI/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as a prize for the person I think best matches the pose and enthusiasm of our gardener (the icon, not Joseph). I have second secret backup prize if we end up with overwhelming participation.

You all have a full four months to get your photos posted in this thread. I will go through the whole thread in the last week of October 2018. I think that gives all the gardeners enough time to bring in a harvest, and I hope it's enough time for most craftsman to finish something you're proud to show off.  Knowing most of you, you're already working on something appropriate. I hope you can all have fun doing this.

The only thing missing in Joseph's shot are overalls! And those carrots are just epic!!

I love this idea!! Can't wait to see some more pics.

I'd love to take a picture of Paul for this...but maybe that's not fair....

As long as it's a new picture I'd be happy to see it. If I have to I will get my nonpermies involved relatives to help me judge. They've laid eyes on Paul once, when we visited Montana.

Joseph has a much more robust neck. I'd be worried about our cartoon guy if he ever took up boxing, with that chicken neck.

I've seen many people posed to look like the painting American Gothic

Okay, the prizes have arrived at my house. The hori hori knife is a solid tool. I was expecting something a little lighter, but this is clearly intended to stand up to heavy use and the real kinds of abuse I think most of us subject our tools to.

Those international members eyeing this, I know some of you have expressed frustration that amazon won't ship to your countries. If there's another reason you can't get a hori hori knife shipped to you (possible the knife part of the description) and you win, I do have a less controversial second option.  

bad year for it here but I have some things I am trying to grow that might do it. And I have the hat too.

Hmmmm, I'm tempted to felt some dragons for this....

I'm just playing around here.... This isn't an entry to the contest.

I will throw a few Permiculture Related successes on here. The first is a photo of a field I did last year using nitrogen fixation through planting (timothy and clover), utilizing cover-cropping for green manure and weed control. Obviously the results were amazing.

This was a swale I made last year as well to help contain water and potential erosion. It too worked well. The photo shows a few rock check dams as well as a rock ford for crossing the swale into the field.

Post pictures of yourself posing as near to our icon as you can manage, with the produce of your permaculture labors in hand. For the education of those watching from home, include a short note summarizing what you hold and something from your permaculture knowledge that helped you succeed. As an example, I could pose with an armload of healthy basil because this year I planted it in on the walkway into the house. It is finally getting enough attention to thrive because I used permaculture zone one.  

I have been watching this thread, waiting to see all the farmer pictures.   Here are some like what I thought we might see.  I am not entering the contest, just making some suggestions ...

If I keep getting the not entering the contest photos, I may have no entries at all. Maybe everyone who wants a hori hori knife has already purchased one. Thanks for reviving the thread again.

It might be that, since we have until October, people aren't in as much of a hurry...or they're waiting for things to grow more.

I know if I enter, I need to make at least one more dragon, because I currently only have one in my house, and I need two for the picture!

BUMP!!! Here's the big reminder to get your pictures taken! I've got my idea for my submission. I just need a not-raining day to take it!

Here's my submission(s)! Complete with:

Two homesteading kids (that you've followed the development of over the course of their lives, and even helped me decide to have the second),

Those little ones wearing a skirt and pants that I mended, as well as a headband and hat that I knitted

Two feral kittens we found on our property and are now our mousers

My apple tree mound, complete with sqaush that we grew from seeds we saved

Apple trees, and an apple from my parent's orchard

Dragons I needle felted from wool

Mittens I knit and handfelted for my kids to wear.

I cropped the pictures in case they look better that way. I also went and found threads related to that which I produced here on my farm and are featured in this picture:

Raised Garden Bed/Hugel Between Fruit Trees--Is It a Good Idea? Documenting the creation of the garden bed behind me

What Tree to Plant on My Baby's First Birthday? About my son and his apple tree (tree not pictured, but the boy is :D)

Best Pear Tree for My Daughter's First Birthday? About my daughter and her pear tree (tree not pictured, but the girl is :D)

How to time growing a family and starting a homestead? Where you all helped me decide about when (and if!) I should have the sweet little girl pictured

Dragons! (needle-felted by hand, made to order, non-toxic wool dragons) Lots of pictures of my dragons (and a place to custom-order one if you want!)

Homespun Challenge Some more pictures of the mittens and hat

A little bit about how we found these kittens

mending our clothes...do you?More pants I mended

Let me try that

Strange thing, I know, but we are so proud of our gates. We are making 4 sets to go to varous parts of the property, different sizes but all the same style. I think they look rustic but very strong. They weigh a ton but should control passing livestock and our dogs and Keep out passers by from our private gardens (we provide passing pilgrims with drinks and snacks and they seem to feel it means they can stroll about just anywhere)..

Amanda Launchbury-Rainey wrote:Strange thing, I know, but we are so proud of our gates. We are making 4 sets to go to varous parts of the property, different sizes but all the same style. I think they look rustic but very strong. They weigh a ton but should control passing livestock and our dogs and Keep out passers by from our private gardens (we provide passing pilgrims with drinks and snacks and they seem to feel it means they can stroll about just anywhere)..

I would be proud of those gates, too! Are you along the Camino? I have a dear friend walking the Camino right now, actually.

Gates are so, so helpful, I do agree. Though for the "permies farmer" contest, I think Casie might like to see a "farmer" (or owner, or homesteader) in the photo with those lovely gates. Would that be doable?

Tomorrow I'll pose for a photo by the gates. We are on the winter route which is a lot quieter than the French. The stage we are on is long, hard and without any shops or bars, so we offer tea, coffee or water and a roll with salami or a little cake and an apple on a donation basis. Hopefully we will get some campers in the food forest next year (a bare patch at the moment)

Here's my entry.  I took two photos with my sunflower, one's more creepy than the other even though smiley faces shouldn't be creepy...  FYI, holding the cut end of a sunflower in your mouth doesn't taste particularly good

The interesting learnings I got from this sunflower involved making a planting field out of a grassy pasture without tilling.  In the spring I had a grassy meadow/pasture that we wanted to plant some chicken food into.  I got a bunch of cardboard boxes from the big box hardware store and we laid them out.  We relocated some topsoil from another building project and covered the cardboard with 1" of soil.  Then I transplanted some sunflower seedlings into the dirt on top of the cardboard.  I also planted a bunch of seeds as well.  Under each transplant or seed I stabbed through the cardboard with a steak knife so the roots could get down into the ground below.  

Unfortunately we had a really hot and dry summer.  I irrigated the field as much as I could but it kept drying out and the cardboard didn't disintegrate as I'd planned.  I gave up on the watering around mid July.  The seeds I didn't poke holes under died (buckwheat and oats).  The quinoa I poked holes under didn't grow at all.  The sorghum did ok.  The amaranth and sunflowers did great.  I couldn't tell the difference between the transplanted and seeded sunflowers at the end of the season.

Next spring I expect that with a soggy snow melt, the cardboard will be totally gone and we'll have a clear field to plant our chicken food in.  If I wanted another field to plant in, I'd quick spread some cardboard and soil this fall.

Sooooooo creepy, Mike! Love it!

Had a momentary thought of hungry birds flying at Mike's face! Thanks for the planting tips.  I'm getting ready to work on an area to plant for pollinators and chickens.

Thanks for the much needed laugh!

Hi everyone.  Life has been so busy I haven't been visiting the forums at all this summer, but you're not forgotten. I will decide, in my own arbitrary fashion, who gets a prize and contact the winners by pm in the first week of November  to arrange delivery.  You still have a little time if you want to try for the hori hori knife or the mystery second prize.  

Just for funsies, I don't want to be entered in the contest.

Just took these minutes ago.
The first selfies I've taken in a couple of years.
and yes, I'm insecurely flexing my muscles.

Sorry I am a little late, but I have contacted the first winner.  After they select a prize the first runner up will be contacted.  Considering how few of you entered, and how great your entries were, I may end up contacting you all one by one to send a small token of appreciation for the smiles.