Steve Landau

On the podcast, I hear about the rolling book shelves.  

Where are the plans?     Please share the link.  

Pruning apple trees, .

If I don't take out the top & Center,  the lower level,     Many of mine were here on the property,  surrounded by brush were pencil-shaped.

Pipe size, much larger.   Paul is thinking water in his brain.   3-6”  

Maybe the water,  but the grass is not very dense.  it looks more dense than it is.     It's surprising that it is the same roti-tilled topsoil  on the hugel bed and in the tilled bed.  

My wife wanted me to prove this work.  -  

Right next to each other.  - Squash on the Hugel,  and Squash on Tilled soil.

No Watering,    The plants on the Hugel are at least 3x as high,  and 4x the mass.     You can tell by the height of the leaves next to the shovel.
  I would say this is a good controlled experiment.

The grass was from seed left in the soil after tilling.

Ann Torrence wrote:Figure out whether you would use the other implements that a walking or 4 wheel tractor would offer. If not, get an ATV with a wagon. People here use them a lot for hauling stuff through the woods, and they make little tow behind wagons. Or a garden tractor

We have a Grillo with a BCS 5' sickle bar and a Bertha rotary plow. Changing implements is a strong person's job, running the sickle bar requires similar strength, the rotary plow is an incredible work-out. Don't believe the videos, it's not a lark, but it does the job where even a mini-tractor wouldn't fit.

We sometimes think we will buy the Grillo power wagon to move apples out of the orchard to the crush pad, but then I look at the price and think, yikes! Maybe that's import fees. We are a ways off from that decision. But I don't regret the initial purchase of the Grillo. Here in the US they don't depreciate very fast either.

Ann- I have a 200$ trailer from tractor supply. - It works "OK" but can be pulled fine, My grillo will haul a pile of logs, mulch, wood chips, - It's not apple harvest yet here, but I will have it full of fruit come fall.

David Miller wrote:To add in my two cents. I bought 26 acres in November. Recently I've been out clearing fence lines with a hoe, a push mower and a shit ton of sweat equity. I'm sure the neighbors are cracking up at me out there with my push mower. That being said, a neighbor is mowing and baling my hay in exchange for part of it. I don't even have a truck yet because I sold it to beef up my down payment. I'm currently just bootstrapping it with a hand me down mini van and my urban implements. I've been dragging old barbed wire out by hand. Rolling old field finds like pallets to a central burn pile. Basically, without machinery its a huge pain in the ass. With machinery it will be a huge pain in the ass but go more quickly. For me its about not having the cash, if you have the cash I'd do it. For now though, I'm sleeping very soundly

David - I spent 5 years, digging, pulling, and hauling by hand.

I had an eBay search on for a Grillo/BCS 2 wheel tractor. One finally appeared in my email box. 1000$ later, I am hauling, mowing so much more mass than my hand cart.

with one of these:
Mine has smaller wheels and is not PTO. - but is is still great.

i can haul chainsaw & tools, all around the property, plus a big pile of mulch, logs, or topsoil for my hugelculture beds.

As a biker all my life, I look at bikes as tools. If you are going on dirt -single track (deer paths) then a mountain bike, 2.5" tires or wider.
http://www.bikepacking.com/bikes/


If its gravel roads, you can look more for cyclocross.

And if your are a real permie, go electric with this:

My filberts took 6 years to finally fruit, the bush waited until it was 10 ft tall and about 15 ft across before I found a few nuts on it this year.


Hazelnuts 4 years - Not until the stalks were about 5 ft tall.

I am having alot of difficult renovating an old field. I have tried wood chips, with and without cardboard sheet mulch to get things established.

There is so much plant matter which keeps popping up. -

Any solutions for larger areas?

I am willing to pay for earth moving, but I feel like I need to turnover the soil or do something more drastic to get new plants established, or even keep the established plants from becoming overwhelmed - Like the chestnut here: