William Bronson

gardener
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since Nov 27, 2012
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Biography
Montessori kid born and raised in Cincinnati.
Father of two, 14 years apart in age,married to an Appalachian Queen 7 years my junior,trained by an Australian cattle dog/pit rescue.
I am Unitarian who declines official membership, a pro lifer who believes in choice, a socialist, an LGBTQ ally, a Black man, and perhaps most of all an old school paper and pencil gamer.
I make, grow, and serve, not because I am gifted in these areas, rather it is because doing these things is a gift to myself.
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Cincinnati, Ohio,Price Hill 45205
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Recent posts by William Bronson

Fruit trees.
They make fruit, a lot of it if I prune them the winter before.
But the animals get most of it.
Plus, I like fruit, but I really don't eat that much.
I only see planting  fruit and nuts  bushes going forward.

Chickens are easy, but I use them to make compost and the eggs are an afterthought.
I plan on having them for as long as possible.

My annual garden is basically about alliums and tomatoes, because I've found varieties that can survive neglect and still produce eats.
Also, we actually eat them, unlike some garden products.
I have entire beds that have laid fallow this year, because I have other pressing matters to attend to.

I am still committed to finding more plants to grow and eat that are super easy, especially sources of fat.

Mostly, I like building beds and soil.
That seems like a good thing to do to feed myself in the future.
It also helps me mentally cope with my present circumstances.

My mutual aid network is growing pretty well.
It's a joy to work on, just like building beds and soil.
5 hours ago
I have a greenhouse raised bed/ container garden on legs at my mother's house where I use them.
The small volume of soil, plus the greenhouse covering conspire to make frequent watering needed, but the slow release of the ollas help a lot.

If you prefer,I believe  regular drip tape can be buried.

It occures to me that you might need  mulch, to lower soil temperatures and fight evaporation.
I am using ceramic floor tiles as mulch in one of my raised beds.
It seems to do great for alliums and greens.
I think winter sowing is mostly the same as this.
Winter sowing uses translucent containers, but I believe the real benefit to that isn't tempature control, it's critter protection.

The Edible Acres nursery mostly stratify their seeds out doors in plastic containers filled with compost or sawdust.
There is some tempature buffering but not actual control
The sprouted seeds are raised in mesh bottomed air pruning beds.
The beds are covered with a hardware cloth enclosure.
These measures reduce or eliminate predation.

This fall I want to emulate Sean(of Edible Acres), but of course I am trying to skip a step, and stratify directly in a air pruning containers.
I will probably have more mortality, but every step I eliminate helps my wandering focus get things done.
I plan on adding winter sown annuals to the containers, nothing fancy, just handfuls of beans or squeezing rotting tomatoes out over the soil.
Any annuals that come up  will remind me to water the containers even if the tree seeds haven't emerged yet.
13 hours ago
This is vibing with me.
Lately, I've been connecting my penchant for seeing the potential in materials with my interest in people.
I might never start a food vending business, but my neighbor is , thanks in part to my collection of propane bottles and burners.

Likewise, I'm subletting many of my 6(Six!) community garden plots for the high price of free, both to people I know and people I just met.
One young man shared his kombucha with me and kindly listened as I talked to him about drinking vinegars (shrubs), mint soda and the carbonation rig I had acquired and wanted him to try out, if he was interested.

I've spent most of my life questing on my own, with various levels of encouragement from others
Now I am enjoying sponsoring quests, to find someone who is focused where I am scattered and give them the provisions I've been saving, and whatever attention I can spare.

It feels like gardening, sometimes I'm actually gardening, or cultivating,  gardeners, and it feels good.
Not earthshaking, just good, generally positive, satisfying.
2 days ago
Did you grow chuffa?
I see it on the planting map.
4 days ago
After more than a month in the fridge, and I used them!
I had to cut off some slimy bits, but I made some delicious pesto:
5 days ago
I ate them, and they were in fact terrible....
I'm propagating them as we speak!
They keep cranking out berries and that is a quality I love in a plant!
If nothing else they will be grown in the chickens run, but I am hoping I will like them dried.
The are also quite pretty, which isn't usually my thang, but I'm flexible.
If they could be convinced to fruit in December, they would be a popular Christmas plant.
6 days ago
Interesting.
The boiling water/ flour combo reminds me of hot water cornbread or English style pastry crust.
I make a roll recipe that uses a boiling water/flour paste for a portion of the dough.
1 week ago
We just use it directly on our plants, or compost it,but if I had that facility I would do it differently.
If you separate the bunny beans from the rest, you could sell them for a pretty penny.
Our bunny waste includes the hay they waste, which can be dried and kept for summertime garden mulch.
The rest is pee, adsorbed into whatever you use as litter.
We use hardwood pellets, which break down into sawdust when the pee hits them.
This could go into an old chest freezer or a fridge laid on its back, with appropriate drainage, and red wrigglers added.
I would be tempted to try growing sunchokes or comfrey indoors, directly in the composting bins, closing the nutrient loop very quickly.
1 week ago