Hans Quistorff

Note on clutch pads:  One of the first things I had to solve back in the 1950's.  I had scraps of indoor outdoor carpet and it proved to be a perfect material to cut out new pads.

You need an acid with baking soda to make biscuits rise.

I use alpine strawberries that way in my wicking barrels.  I plan to dig some field strawberries for  my larger diameter barrels.  You could try making a slit in the side of the fabric planters to cover the sides in the sun. The alpines cover the sides of these tall barrels with runners over the summer.

My plan was to bring the wicking barrels of peas into the greenhouse to extend the harvest but the deer got to them first.  Of the six plants that survived the the tops being eaten only one was still making an effort to grow and bloom when I brought them out of the greenhouse today.  Two others reached the point of blooming during the winter but succumbed to the cold.

This is apple blackberry juice left with the kombucha Scobie until there is no fructose left.  The spigot allows me to drain it into small bottles for convenience to have a strong dose of acid for my stomach.

Let's see if I can clarify the answer to how to slice and how thick to slice.  I am attaching a picture of Moline slicer I use. It will slice three different thicknesses and thick or thin strips for shoe string chips.  As a general rule some items shrink more than others so thicker slices for those that shrink a lot and thinner slices for dense items that dry slowly.  I found that the string cutter was most effective for drying squash and pumpkins to be made into flower.  Some surprising things happen when items are dried.  Bitter or meddler pears for example loose the astringent reaction once dried.  My winter hardy kale became too biter after drying.  P>S> that is a yacon that I will try drying for the first time. I wil make three thicknesses to see which is preferred.

Christopher Weeks wrote:
... It's just a boatload of extra work to find a basket, lug the wet load of clothes down the stairs and out into the yard .... And they're not as soft -- at least until you crunch them up.

This is a permaculture design problem.  Reducing extra work while improving energy efficiency.  The dryer that came with the house is next to the exit door with a porch outside, There  is a post for the porch roof and in the distance a tree.  With a pully on the post and on the tree a continues line around the pullies I only have to move the clothes a few feet to the line and hang and real them out then when dry back in again. If they need to be fluffed up or a little dryer it is a short lift to the dryer before folding or hanging.

For growing season pruning vines will snap  at a leaf junction while still in growth stage.  This means that if a vine intrudes where you do not want it snap it off.  It may grow small short branches in its place but seldom grow long to intrude on the space.  For grape production I snap them off one Leafe past where the cluster has started to keep them open to the sun and limit excessive vine growth.  With my vines trained 8 feet high the deer do much of this pruning for me.

My fields have pools of water in the winter and dry in the summer so for meat in movable pens I could have ducks in the winter and chickens  in summer.

Edible flowers:
Evening Primrose is my favorite. The leaves of young rosette are also edible.  The yellow flowers have delightful fragrance and sweet taste.
Hollyhocks: The flowers are bland in flavor but strong in color and antioxidants.  Some also like the unripe seed pods.
Nasturtiums are commonly used and easy to grow.
Starting with some flowers and some lettuce and kale gardening can be viewed as a delight not a chore.