susan stone

This is a wonderful, informative thread.  I've never even heard of sochan and look forward to trying it.  Here's my contribution: I've long been surprised not to see anything here or elsewhere about eating young daylily FANS/LEAVES - only the buds, flowers and roots.  In a wooded area of my property about a million daylies pop up in spring.    When they're young shoots - 5-7 in. tall - they break off easily and form a sizable bunch pretty fast.  I wash them, leaving the fans intact, dry them well and sauté them in a little oil, salt and pepper.  I think they taste great - earthy, vegetal, a hint of sweetness.  I've never had a bad reaction of any kind.  Highly recommended.

So glad this thread was highlighted - it's a very timely one for me, as we've experienced draught-like conditions in SW Michigan for at least the past 2 years.  I love the idea of digging ponds to capture rainwater so it can soak in.  However, my concern is exactly what was flagged but not completely dealt with: *mosquitos.* Duckweed was mentioned, but I've never seen it near me.  And does it work against mosquitos just by covering the water?  Without fish or duckweed, are there other good ways to prevent the insects from breeding?
Thanks for any and all suggestions!

I can add the recipe I've developed over some years that's similar to Mk Neal's in using oranges, which I consider the 'secret sauce' to this delicious bread.   I make 2 lb. loaves in my bread machine that I give to my grandkids and friends at the holidays, and they look forward to it.  Instead of orange juice *in* the loaf and grated orange rind on top, mine incorporates the grated rind in the loaf, and I eat the orange afterward.  It's very good as is and wonderful toasted too.

This is the order of ingredients for a bread machine, but you can mix the first 3 liquid ingredients in a small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients up to the grated orange peel in a large bowl; add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, then add the nuts and cranberries until just mixed, pour into a loaf pan and bake at 350 deg. for 50-60 minutes or until a tester in the middle comes out clean.

2 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/2 cup neutral oil like canola

2 cups flour
1 cup less 1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
grated peel of 1 large orange

2 cups cranberries roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Hello Rufaro,
 I just been reading your thread and I ‘m so glad to know you haven’t lost any of your enthusiasm and commitment to permaculture and to developing conservation agriculture in your community.  I love hearing your story and admire your spirit and your PATIENCE.  The pictures of your maze growing and of your garden, and especially of your family and friends working together are beautiful and have lifted my spirits .
 I’ve been gardening for many years in the U.S. midwest for fun and fresh food and have been incorporating permaculture methods and principles for several years.  As Kate has lamented, it seems harder than it should be to interest people around me in the benefits of permaculture for solving the problems facing the planet.  My daughter who gardens is gradually incorporating some of my methods and her children – ages 3 and 5 – love to run around and “work” in my garden.  So I have hopes that that I can gradually help spread permaculture ideas.
 It's heartening to see how many people in the Permies community have responded with support and with offers of help and ideas.  That's just the way it should be.
 It’s exciting to hear what you’ve accomplished and how you’re working to spread the word while being wise about how to bring people on board, by starting where they have a level of comfort.  Good luck, and please keep posting!

Hello, Tao. I read your book about 6 months ago and thought it was terrific - authoritative, wise, and beautifully written. Some of what you described as methods employed by restoration ecologists might have sounded far-fetched and cherry-picked from a range of approaches to make your point. Except I’d just learned from friends who have acreage in SW Michigan, and who are involved with a habitat restoration organization there, that they were advised by that organization to spray quite a large area with Roundup to prepare it for native plantings. So it turns out to be a very mainstream notion, as you report.
They were surprised and I was flabbergasted at the idea of seriously damaging the soil food web in order to ‘save’ the land. They chose not to follow the recommendation.
I’d be glad for your opinion on purchasing mycorrhizal inoculants for planting ornamentals, berry bushes and fruit trees. Do they really add value, or if the planting is in an area that hasn’t been disturbed in several decades, should I assume there are plenty mycorrhizae already present?
Thanks and congratulations on a really wonderful book and on the work you’re doing.

Susan Stone

Hi Simon,
Thanks a lot for your clear answer to my questions about planting the hugelkultur - your method makes sense and should help in the spring. Good luck on your hugel (sorry about the chickens) and I look forward to more pictures.
Susan

Hi Simon,
Congratulations on your accomplishment. Love your pictures and your enthusiasm. I've just built my first hugelkultur too in SW Michigan (zone 6) and appreciate the challenge of making it up as you go along. This is at a vacation home, so I'm only there on long weekends - most of them during the summer, one or two/month the rest of the year. Mine is now sprouting a cover crop very nicely and I'm looking forward to dreaming and planning all winter for spring planting.
I'd like to know how you planted the tree and any other woody and perennial plants, because it looks like you have the same few inches of soil over the logs as I do. I'm hoping to plant several blue berries, flowers and some of the perennial vegetables I've read about. I currently grow lots of perennial flowers and shrubs in conventional beds, so I'm pretty optimistic about getting these started. But it's hard for me to visualize what I'll do with root balls and crowns of perennials when I hit the wood underneath. All suggestions are very welcome.

I'm also a newbie and was delighted to see this thread. I wonder if anyone knows whether these ideas for "hugelkulturing" tree stumps would also apply to an old yew hedge. Do yew stumps take a particularly long time to decompose?