Zenobia Quambush

Before I say anything I will admit I don't know much about the plants mentioned. One thing I do know is that a lot of plants that grow in a fallow field are weeds that are geared toward making use of an abused space with little nutrients. Once you add more nutrients those plants don't like it any more and other plants which are heavier feeders take their place. Again, I don't know if this is the case with your situation because I don't know the plants. Is it possible to throw on some cow manure and plant in nitrogen fixing field plants like sweet clover and vetch or something. Using them as a green manure to enrich the soil more. This is the technique I am going to be using next year in an attempt to rid an old garden area of napweed. I am not certain it will work, it just seems like it should.

I add chicken and dead critter carcasses to my compost pile all the time. The trick is to dig a hole down into the middle of it and bury it in. I cover the pile with straw to reduce odor. I set a wire cover over the top to keep the chickens from digging through and uncovering it. The wire isn't tied down, just laid on top. I throw my grey dish washing water on top all the time. The chicks like to fly up and scarf up the goodies that get left on the top. We have had bear get into the garbage cans but have never bothered the compost pile. Now we compost all the food scraps and the bear has left the cans alone.

I started saving all my eggs shells. I would crush them up and put them in a jar to make slug barriers. When the slugs took a liking to one of my plants, I would simply sprinkle a circle around that plant with the crushed egg shells. The slugs wouldn't cross the eggs at all. Never understood why but it works.

My parents chickens chase each other all over the yard if one has caught itself a mouse. The other day one caught a gopher! They may not be as efficient as cats but they get their fair share.

I am ever so glad the hankie people spoke up and defended the cause. Have you ever noticed that when you have a massive cold and use a tissue the fluid soaks right through and gets germs all over your hands anyway? Then it gets wadded up and stuck into a pocket anyway OR thrown on the floor because there isn't always a garbage can around. Yuck. When I worked in a retail pharmacy I had to pick up other people's snotty tissues off the floor all the time even though we had garbage cans all over. GRRRRRR. But I never had to pick up a hankie. Not once!

what I find fun is getting outdated seed packets, which you can get at a great discount or often for free. I throw the seeds out in a space that I dug and see what happens. I know, not terribly scientific, but it gives me a good idea of what will do well and what won't. I get a chance to see how my site reacts to the plants. I am actually growing something while I get to know my site. I know that a lot of people look down on outdated seeds because of loss of viability but the loss in the first year is only about 20%, that means 80% of those seeds are just fine. If you are getting the seeds for free, who cares if some of them are duds?

The best made plans often go awry so don't get to hung up on getting the right plan or the right plant for the spot. A designer can come in, pick out all your plants for you and tell you where to put them, but that designer doesn't know the quirks of your space you could lose the lot of them. The quirks can only be found by watching your yard for the course of a year, or more. Just jump in and have some fun. Play! Yeah, some plants are going to die and others will have to be moved. Oh well! You said you have read tons of books, trust your intuition and go with it. Get your hands dirty.

Looking at the plans I shuddered, it looked like an American suburban track housing plan. How could anyone possibly thinking that a rural farmer could make that his/her home? The garages cracked me up, particularly when it was pointed out that there were only 5 cars in the village. No, not much attention was paid to the possible inhabitants.