Alder Burns

Since I pee in a jug anyway, for use in the gardens, etc. I keep the jug by the bed at night.  That way I can sort of half wake up, roll out and use the jug and go right back to sleep.  It doesn't reduce the frequency, but it's way less of a full wake-up than it would take to get up and walk to the bathroom.

Yes this looks like callery or "bradford" pear.  Some are thorny and some aren't.  Birds eat the tiny pears and spread seed far and wide....many consider it an invasive.  But always useful to a homesteader, for forage and firewood if nothing else.

Out of all imaginable fruits and all kinds of grapes, and 20 years plus doing it, hands down, blueberry is my all time favorite!  Made from dead ripe berries and without any added sugar or water.  
    One of my more surprising successes was a batch made from a bunch of green candied pineapple that was old and being tossed at the place I worked, briefly boiled in some water.  The wine was a weird green color but oh my! and plenty strong!

In addition to the two clues you've mentioned, I also look for the tendril closest to the melon....it should be brown and dried out, rather than green and live.  The sound clue is pretty subtle and takes some practice...it's a deep, resonant "thunk"; as contrasted to a high-pitched "plink" for a too-green one and a flat, watery sounding "thwack" for overripe.  Going to a market and practicing on a bunch and taking home the most likely candidate is a good way to learn!

I've seen this happen on multiple sites with various species of plants.  Often an unusually hot and/or dry summer will trigger it, or else severe insect damage. Especially if the plant is partially or completely defoliated by the stress of it.  Then, when more moderate conditions return, the tree "thinks" it's spring and blooms!  I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if the plant is established and has been there at least a few years.  I would pinch off any fruit that tries to form, since it will be spoiled by freezing anyway.

Went to the website and I like what I see there.  Y'all seem to be doing good work.  I see clear ground rules and multiple processes for membership and ownership.  You might include a bit about how decisions get made and what, if any, leadership structure is present. I'll definitely be keeping up with what's happening there from a distance.  I have a long background in intentional community, and still believe it's the best solution to a whole bunch of social, environmental, and economic issues.  Do you have an ad on ic.org?  

I have tried every imaginable fruit for this, but I think that blueberries make the best wine I've ever had!

I used to process acorns for years when I lived in California where they were super abundant and large.  Usually I would clip each one in half and then be able to toss any that were wormy or spoiled. These were white oak group acorns, which are lower tannin and spoil quickly.  Native people there preferred black oak acorns since they don't spoil as quickly (dropping in fall and germinating the following spring, white oaks often sprout right away) and can store longer in the shell.  Usually an acorn will give a tell...a discoloration or a spot or a separation from the cap that indicates a worm or mold or something inside....some trial and error should demonstrate this and help your selection.
   My default way to process them was to get them out of the shell and then dry the nuts rock hard in the sun, at which point one can winnow off the thin dark skin that may still be clinging to them, and then store them that way in jugs. Then when I wanted to make some up I would grind these pieces to flour in a heavy vitamix blender, and then leach them by leaving them in a colander lined with fabric under some dripping water....often outside near a thirsty plant. The acorns I had were done in a day of this, black oaks might take longer.  Just taste it and when it's bland and not bitter or acrid it's done.  At that point you can cook them any way you would cook corn grits or polenta, or else blend with some wheat or other flour for breads of various kinds.  When I had a lot of them I would also crack them coarsely and leach for a few days, in multiple changes of standing water in buckets, and then feed them to my chickens.

Mulberries and persimmons should do well too.

For butterflies the other thing to pay attention to is what do the caterpillars eat.  If that plant isn't around, then there won't be any of the adults no matter what flowers you have, or only a few that wander in from a distance.  Many species eat pretty common things, but there are some that are very specific, such as the pipevine swallowtail on pipevine (Aristolochia), monarchs on milkweed, and zebra swallowtails on pawpaw.  Planting these is crucial to supporting populations of butterflies sustainably, particularly in areas where wildlands are uncommon or being degraded.  And yes, leave the stuff there through winter and into spring, since many beneficial insects and pollinators overwinter in it, sometimes burrowing into hollow stems to hibernate in shelter. If you need to "clean up" then moving the whole stalks somewhere out of sight and piling them loosely is a good compromise.  By the following late spring most things will be hatched out and the stuff can then be broken up for mulch or compost as you like.