Theodore Heistman

Some Amish people practice permaculture. But if you aren't Amish there are no technological limits.

I am more or less a WWOOFER working for a lady that has a Homestead type deal, working for room and board. I built a couple Heugelcultur beds for her and lots of deer fences and most recently this big spiral. She wanted a big spiral she could walk on. I think my work there might be coming to a close and this winter I will be focusing on free lance writing. But I feel like I learned a lot this summer for when I get my own land or maybe some other time I will work as a WWOOFER again some place else. I have to say "hardscaping" has been my favorite part of the job.

Yeah, I like it! We have an herb spiral too. Works great! Lots of tasty sage and parsley!

You guys are joking about wanting garlic mustard seed right? I am half convinced you are kidding and half thinking you are not! haha! Anyway its considered an invasive species and I'm pretty sure it would be illegal to imprt into your area. It might already be there. I am pretty sure it can survive anywhere.

I like making it in omlettes, that way it retains some the the garlicky flavor. If you cook it you just get the mustard flavor. Its a nice bitter green. I happen to like bitter greens but I like to mix them up too. I really like purslane also but the flavor is really subtle to me. I did read that that purslane is one of the most nutrient dense greens.

It actually might be Garlic mustard. I am not even joking. It has a lot of protein and Omega 3 fat in it.

Come on can't I brag about a cool thing I built? Give me some love! And when you build something cool I'll give you a pat on the back too!

Yeah, well basically Toby Hemmenway says in Gaia's Garden to look and see what natives grow in your area and see if they have cultivated varieties. So where I live in Upstate NY, a food Forest totally makes sense because Cherries, Blue berries and Straw berries grow wild all over. So that's why We are building a cherry tree guild.

I've been to your area and I know Elk and Pronghorns and Mule deer live there, so basically you would be growing the cultivated versions of ungulates! Of course aren't there little groves of trees along creek bottoms? I see what you are saying, though.

I guess I am a bit of a cave man. I just dig down and chop off the big roots and the pull it out. Isn't that how to do it? That for like a 8-12 inch tree stump. Never did it with a huge stump.

I think free range organic pork is not even in the same food group as commercially raided pork, I wouldn't want to live that long anyway if all I had to eat was factory farmed pork!

Well, the lady I have been working for this summer almost gave it up this summer after 12 years of organic gardening. Last year was really wet and so I think it caused there to be more insects this year and then in July it didn't rain at all. So it was a perfect storm for pests. But The harvest is going well. I mulched a lot in early summer and that really helped things through the drought, but insect damage took a big toll.

I think you have to put your heart and soul into it and also be really patient and humble and keep struggling to find solutions. That's my opinion. Failure is a constant companion. This lady has a wealth of knowledge too but different years different things don't work out. Farming is humbling.