Clarissa Logsdon

Hi yall,

I know this question has probably been asked time and time again, but hopefully it can bear repeating... I live in Central KY in Zone 6 and I need ideas and inspiration on what to plant on my 6 acre chunk of land. I aspire to turn this place into a food forest, but I'm having trouble finding anything online to learn from. (Besides permies, which is the best site yet!)

I don't have much money to go out and buy things with, and therin lies the biggest problem: Finding cheapie or freebie things that will help me out.

I don't have any critters yet, so I have no manure for composting, just kitchen scraps.

I need help figuring out how to create guilds and how to plant with zones or levels in mind. I know a bit about what trees I can try to grow, and some shrubs, but other than that I'm clueless. I don't know of any vines or ground crops I can really use, or any of the other layers' respective plants.

I also have a "dry" pond (holds a puddle after lots of rain) that I need to figure out how to seal. I figured leaves of cardboard or dry matter layered in the bottom might help, but not sure. Any ideas?

Thanks a bunch in advance!! You guys are truly awesome!!! ^_^

Rion Mather wrote:The same thing happened to me! I have met the greatest person (at a farmers market) who has introduced me to the artisan food world. His business supports and promotes organic and sustainable agriculuture. I am now pursuing a life through this new avenue. I enjoy this adventure so much that I wouldn't even call it a career.

Oh gosh! I could only DREAM to be so lucky!!

I feel nearly exactly the same as you, although you have a MUCH better sense of direction than I do. I really like the answer above, because that's really all I can think of that we can do.

I recently went to my local farmer's market with a friend (the sign said sorghum, how could we pass THAT up?? )... While there, we got to talking with a lady who was working there while the owner was away. My friend and I discovered she needed someone to sell her some herb starts in the spring, because they were a popular item and she never had enough of them. So now my friend, who has more resources then I do, is going to sell herb starts, and I'm going to attempt to sell produce only for now and see where it leads me.

Just goes to show that you never know what you'll get into if you don't get out there and mingle with like minded folks!!

paul wheaton wrote:
My understanding is that getting a marketable/decent apple is a 1 in 20,000 chance. In other words, people start lots of apples from seeds, but what they end up with is usually pretty lame.

So if I plant a bunch of cameo apple trees, there is a good chance that whatever I plant is gonna be crap.

Will it turn out like crab apples?

Are there some varieties that are less likely to turn out to be crap?

So I basically just bought two apples of four different non-store-shelf varieties for nothing? I bought two Mutsu, two Arkansas Black, two Rome, and two Winesap. None of the seeds from these apples, even when stratified in the fridge and taken care of so that they live to become trees.... None of them will produce the results I expected so fondly?

Way to crush my dreams guys...
(LOL... JK...)

Rufus Laggren wrote:

once you're all spent out, what good are you then?

I think the belief holds that you receive back 10 fold, real time. My own experience kinda supports that. But it depends somewhat on "believing" and that means committing yourself and that's pretty scary.


Rufus

You can only really "receive" the reward if you are ready to accept it though, I think. If you're too down, too depressed, too spent, too used: would you even be able to recognize what you've received in order to claim it? This is really hard to try to explain.

I've learned that selfishness is a healthy thing (to a degree of course). Everything is healthy in moderation. If you are a completely non-selfish person, then you're always using what you have to help others. Which is good and all, but once you're all spent out, what good are you then?

Bottom line, if you can't help yourself, be proud of yourself, splurge a little on yourself, and be overall healthy and glowing with "ego/confidence/competence/self-esteem/charisma/high-energy/positive attitude/etc/etc"...

...Then what good are you to anyone else?

Also, if you're always giving and giving, some people will take advantage of you and take and take from you.

There just has to be a healthy balance of give and take.

#6 - Poke Weed, or just Poke

This excerpt is from a book I have called "Edible Wild Plants: Eastern Central North America" by Lee Allen Peterson.

"Young shoots only.

A course, widely branched, weedy plant with large leaves and smooth reddish stems. Flower clusters long-stalked, often paired with leaves; flowers with five greenish white petal-like sepals. Fruiting clusters drooping; berries glossy, purple-black with red stems ripening in Autumn. 4-10 ft.

Where found: Roadsides, Cultivated Fields, Waste Places. Minn to Maine and south.
Flowers: June-Oct.

Use: Asparagus, cooked green, pickle. The young shoots - up to 6 in. - or just the leafy tips, are excellent boiled for 20-30 mins. (until tender) in at least two changes of water. The peeled shoots can be boiled for 15 mins in several changes of water and pickled in hot vinegar.

Warning!: Root, seeds, and mature stems and leaves are dangerously poisonous. Be VERY careful not to include part of the root when collecting the shoots, and peel or discard ANY shoots tinged with red."

I would personally consider this a famine food, along with rose petals, acorns, and bugs.

Austin Max wrote:Glad to see another kentucky dweller headed down the permaculture path. Soon we will have the combine junkies outnumbered!

"Combine junkies"... xD This made me giggle!

I'm glad to see there are so many other Kentuckians on here too! I'm hoping to find Kentuckians near me and perhaps start a network so people can help each other out. ^_^

Kahty Chen wrote:

puffergas wrote:
I never saw where urine killed plants.

Is dog urine, the stuff that kills grass, significantly different from human urine?

People urine kills grass too. My husband pees off of the front porch in the morning in the same spot and the grass there is tan-brown dead.

I need to get him one of those buckets of mulch to use instead of wasting it on the grass... :/

Does anyone know if peanuts will reseed if allowed to go "wild" without harvesting them? I know peanuts put out little shoots and spread, but I'm wondering if those new peanuts would become new plants in the spring or if they'd get hit by frost and never come back...?