John Thames

I think the idea is good and noble, but I feel its impact will be somewhat diminished. If I had the need to use a stamp I would use this stamp however I don't think I nor the population at large would send a letter instead of an email just for the sake of using this stamp. I would surmise most people send emails out of convince vs reducing their carbon foot print. If snail mail were net carbon negative many people would still use email since they can send "letters" and get replies before the mail carrier had picked up their first actual letter. And can do that dozens of people at a time.
In short, it's a great idea but the post office is still relegated to sending packages and had lost out on sending letters.

I have a yellow lab that has killer instincts. He's never been trained to hunt but will bring me prairie dogs and sage grouse so needless to say I can't keep him away from the chickens. I'm constantly having to tell at him and occasionally use "corrective stimulation". But he keeps going after them. Other than keeping him or the chickens in their respective pens I haven't found a good solution yet.

Steven,
This is news to me, to stay away from the eneloop charger! I bought several of the Costco packs with AA and AAA and the charger. I have only had to use the charger once, but your saying not to? Can you explain why? Is it just a dummy charger that can end up decreasing the life of the eneloop batteries?

Hi Steven, love hearing you on TSP!
I have a question about the truck battery backup and DVDs. You've talked about putting this in a truck box but is the system removable after it's installed? I have a Nissan Titan with only a 5 foot bed so bed space is at a premium. I've been reluctant to build one for fear it wouldn't be removable when I need the bed space. Thanks for all your knowledge!

I've heard Steven mention in many podcasts with Jack Spirko that the Sanyo NiMH eneloop batteries are the best to use. He knows the details about their ampere hours and all that good stuff.

I have several bare root black cherry trees planted this spring whose leaves are starting to turn brown at the tips. Not all of the leaves and not all of the trees are doing this. I've heard that black cherry's can't get fire blight but possibly brown rot. It has also been a rather warm few weeks with no recent rain. I watered the trees last week since they hadn't had a drop in over 3 weeks. Could this be a blight or rot or just weaker trees from lack of water? Is there anything I can do? Any suggestions appreciated.
Locale: Montana, high desert, zone 4b.

Cj Verde wrote:

The only thing I would recommend at this point is to leave them alone and if you mow, mulch with your grass clippings to give them a shot of N. If you don't have grass clippings, maybe a little compost/compost tea might help.

I have both grass clippings and compost. I'll add some mulch and hope they recover. Like I said they still have some green leaves left so hopefully I haven't doomed them!

Thanks everyone for your comments and help. Permies folks are awesome!

Dave Lodge wrote:Overwatering will reduce how much it can uptake in nutrients and washes away nutrients that are water soluable. Black Cherry is a pioneer plant and doesn't need much, if any additional water. Shallow, spreading roots, so mulching helps a lot. I only water when wilting in the first year and never after that.

I double checked for slugs or other critters this morning and there is no sign of them around the trees or of their presence munching on the leaves. So this leads me to believe it's definitely an over watering issue. Which surprises me because I was only watering for 30 minuets about every 4-5 days.

The follow up question then is other than obvious answer of, "quite watering your trees dumbass, the whole purpose of permaculture is to reduce/eliminate inputs!", is there anything I can do to help them recover? Not all of the leaves have yellowed and non have actually fallen off yet. Should I gently pull back some of the dirt around the base to help dry out the soil? Or just leave them only and hope I didn't do to much damage? Thanks again for all the responses and help.

A nitrogen deficiency was my first thought so I sprayed an organic fish seaweed based 5-1-1 on them recently and nothing changed! I did that twice 3 days apart. That's when my preliminary research had me thinking over watering. I haven't checked for any slugs though. Would there be sign of leaves being eaten or would it be attacking the root or crown? The leaves are still intact just yellow.

Not sure if this is the best place but I have a quotation about some black cherry trees I have. I live in Montana zone 4a and planted a food forest this spring and in it I put about 10 bare root black cherry trees. They leafed out and started looking awesome right away! But suddenly now those trees' leaves have quickly turned yellow. It seems like they start yellowing at the top working its way down the small tree. My research suggests this might be due to over watering. My question is first is this actually the most likely cause? And secondly if it is over watering is there anything I can do to help reverse this other than to reduce watering? Perhaps dig back some of the soil to help dry it out? Any help is appreciated. Also, I'm watering via a drip line if that makes a difference.