Dave Candage

When you click on the link to sign up for the viewing, it takes you to a landing page where they have a "special offer". An online seed saving "expedition". Special price is only $27. Is it worth it? I don't know anything about these people. I would like to know more about saving seeds, but if I can get the info from a book at an AGWAY for $9.95, I'd just as soon do that. Thoughts?

Dave
from Maine

So, if I want to toss them onto the bed (<... term used loosely. It hasn't been used in years and are overgrown with weeds and grass and packed pretty tight compared to the rest of the yard), should I do anything to it first? I have nothing to put on it and I don't want to dig/plow it. I suppose it won't hurt anything and it may help. At least I'll have the can emptied to fill up again this winter.

I kind of have a compost pile started. A summer's worth of grass clippings (over an acre of grass). I've never turned it and it hasn't gotten a lot of water.

I don't know what the PH of the soil is. Will spreading it out give me any problems? Will it all wash away before next spring? There's WAAAAYY too much to learn!

So, last year, I got a 30 gallon steel trash can and filled it up over the winter with ash from our wood furnace. It's been sitting in our garage since then and I need to do something with it as I'm going to end up filling it up again this winter. I've read a couple of threads on this subject, but I'm not making soap and I haven't started my garden yet (hopefully next year. Have tons of room for one). Any suggestions? We moved here a year ago and there are a couple of areas that used to be gardens. One is something like 50'x100'.

Thanks,
Dave
from Maine

Ken, although I was born in Boston, I grew up in Miami. I've been in Maine for almost 20 years. Tried to get the wife to move back to Florida since most of both of our families live there (she's from Maine), but she doesn't want to and now some of the family is moving up this way. Oh, we'll. another winter is coming...

SPIN farming in a method of farming on small plots.
Spin Farming.
It's a way of mono culture farming on small plots, like a back yard or vacant lot. Not my first preference, but it will bring in an income until the permaculture forest is established. I believe there are some posts on Permies about it.

A few months ago, my wife announces that she wants to move. I wasn’t expecting that, but ok, here we go. My only criteria was a bunch of land to farm. She has/had no interest in farming, but she wanted a nice little yard for the grandkids to play in and to just look at. After a couple of failed attempts, we finally landed the house we’re in now. We closed and moved on Friday, August 23rd, 2013. The house is nice, but needs some work (what house doesn’t?), it has a bedroom on the first floor for my aunt and a full bath downstairs. It also has three bedrooms upstairs and a full bath. The master bedroom is pretty big and the other bedrooms are decent size. One will be used as a guest room and the other will be used as a craft room for my wife. I’m not sure where my computer desk will end up yet. Right now, it’s on the dining room table - which I’ll have to move in a few minutes for dinner. Oil fired forced hot water heat with two 275 gallon oil tanks that came filled and a wood stove (also in the basement) that’s set up to blow air up through a couple registers in the floor. And a few cords of seasoned wood included. Works for me.

But, now, for the important part. The house came with 9 acres of land! Woohoo! The front tow or three acres is lawn. A few red maples line the driveway and there’s a few flower beds. There’s also three former garden beds that have grown over with grass that will probably be resurrected for farming. The back six or seven acres will become a permaculture food forest. I want to be able to earn a living from this, so I have a TON of learning to do.

My plan (just off the top of my head, could change with more knowledge) is to use SPIN farming for the beds surrounding the house to provide food and income while the permaculture food forest matures out back. After that’s up and producing, I’ll move the SPIN plots into some sort of permaculture thing.

This is starting from complete scratch for me. Neither of my thumbs are green and most of the work I’ve done in the last 20 years involves driving limousines. Just moving here has shown me how out of shape I am. I figure I have until next spring to lose weight and make a couple of muscles. I’m still in pain after a week of being in the new house and we had a moving company do most of the work.

Any help is appreciated.

Dave
in Limerick, Maine