Scott Stiller

Hi Paul,
I applaud you for reaching out to your community. I have found that isolation is the worst part of being sick. I hope that your path gets easier and you have all the support you need.

Hi John.
When I started farming I was determined not to use any chemicals of any sort and I was pretty obsessed with keeping heirlooms pure.
After a year of trying to grow squash and various  heirloom pumpkins I had failed miserably. Squash bugs and borers had killed all of my plants.
I was very disappointed and was ready to give up on permaculture. During the next growing season I posted some of my frustrations here. Joseph Lofthouse and others helped me see things from a different perspective. He suggested planting several varieties and saving seeds from whatever I harvested. That year I was able to save a few seeds from one pumpkin that had nearly reached maturity. The next year those few seeds yielded a wheelbarrow full of a new, unique variety. They were beautiful and delicious. The season after and every year going forward this new variety was unstoppable. Even though they were covered in squash bugs there was never any harm to the plants or fruit.
Until poor health dictated that I sell the farm a decade later I continued to farm this way. Before I left I gave all of those seeds to a few young farmers who are growing them this year. I’m thrilled that my struggles can help them get ahead!

Hi friends. I have posted about this before but here’s how I grew grapes at my farm.

Thanks for Sharing that Andy! I knew I couldn’t be the only one that was doing it!

Hi Allen. I no longer farm but for the past couple decades I have grown all of them together.
Actually, all of my gardens were large tree guilds.
The only problem that I can see with nasturtiums is the potential size. Even when growing a small variety they can get large and bushy in great soil. That may cause airflow problems if they are too close to your other plants. I would think this would be especially true since peppers plants grow so slowly.
I combated this problem by simply eating the nasturtium plants that encroached too close to my fruiting vegetables.

I’m glad you found this helpful. Even with a lot of comfrey leaves you’ll only be left with a small powdered amount. It really seemed to help though.
Over the past two years I’ve had I lot of aloe plants. After doing some research I decided to try blended aloe leaves with water as an indoor plant booster. It has worked amazingly well! Plants that are really suffering bounce back to life with a day or two.
I have used a little aloe and a lot; both seem to work well!

Hello all! Here’s a trick that I did for years. My farm was in the woods where there was lots of hickory trees. In the fall I’d collect as many pounds of nuts as possible. I kept them in a cage I built, in a weather proof building. When squirrels started doing damage I’d toss some out. They always preferred them to the veggies unless there was a drought. When the weather was dry they seemed to be after the moisture most of all. Then I’d leave fresh bowls of water around the gardens. Both of these techniques worked well for me.

Thanks for your comment Jocelyne. I was originally inspired to grow purple potatoes by Sepp Holzer. It’s been a long time since I originally grew them but I’m happy I did. They are still my favorite sweet potato. They make the best fries in my opinion.

That video was a quality find Jay. I really enjoyed it. The young maple could be in the way of the construction but it’s not too close to the mound. I’ve been making hugelkultur’s for a decade and the best place to plant tree in next to it but not in it. All of my tree guilds started with a hugelkultur. The trees were planted alongside while the annuals went on top and around the sides. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Clay’s ideas is phenomenal but beware of settling for the first two years. If you could somehow terrace from a solid surface (the ground) upward that would keep things in place. If the edges are simply on top of the soil they’ll sink and settle as well.