Jack Edmondson

From this source:                          Ag Proud

Anne,

I tried tea with baking soda a few times, since we have had a 'heat wave' in the midwest.  the intersting thing, albeit anectdotal for now, is the tea has stayed 'fresh' longer.  I am a philistine and will make a pitcher of tea and leave it on the counter not refrigerated.  It gets that 'funky' taste after a day or so.  I have not encountered this when using the backing soda.  It may not be related, but a pinch of baking soda beats tossing a pitcher of tea and starting  over it is 'turns'.  Thank you for the suggestion.

Cara,

I expect their response is based on two factors: liability and cost.  The cost of fabrication for a small number of anything is high per unit all in for set up testing and waste.  Doing 1 job may simply not be worth it.  Liability has several factors they must consider.  If it is not a tested or certified part they are not insured if it fails and if they intellectual property belongs to someone else (or they are under a dealer agreement) then something like this could cost them their relationship with the manufacturer.  Hard to tell which.

Can you get a picture of the brackets and post it here?  Also a company name or product number might help do some research.  Before you go down that rabbit hole however ask who will do the work?  Will they stand behind the work?  Are you willing to take the risks if the modifications don't work long term?

Post a picture if your able.  Lot's of handy people here can give you an idea of what is possible.

David,

I don't have the answer if the book is worth the price.  This is the first time I have heard either of them referenced.  I am watching to video now.

I would like to add something if you are learning about these things.  First and foremost swale are a tree growing system; not primarily an infiltration system, although they do to a degree.  When I first started I got that 'wrong'.  My property was in Central Texas and I wanted to catch and soak in every drop of the 16" of percipitation I would receive a year.  Swales are actually not the best way to do that, as I learned over time.

I spent a couple of decades in Western WA, most of it in Snohomish County, so am familiar with the Duval area and the challenges you might be facing.  Swales for water managment, if that is your intent, is not your best option.  You may be better served with a keyline system ( search for P. A. Yeomans) or a hybrid of the 2 systems.  Swales in heavy soil for extended periods of heavy downfall are not great, and can be a problem if not engineered properly.  

Take a look at keyline and ask yourself if it is better to 'arrest' water; or work with the land form to take it where it needs to be, while opening up channels deep into the soil.  See what works best for your specific conditions.  Everyone here is happy to help if you want to kick around ideas.  

Jay Angler wrote: "it isn't a soil building crop if you take any product from it. The whole plant must go to soil building." Does this sound right to all you permies?

I think at the extreme or theoretical level this is 'correct', but misleading.  Yes.  In a closed system all minerals are finite.  Plants health is more than just minerals.  Exodates from microbes, worm castings from the digestion of organic material, etc... go into the equation.  In real terms your plants will benefit from the cycle.  If you are truly 'building soil' then yes.  It would need to be a closed system.  However, that is not the way life and the natural world operates.  

You may be interested in reading up on the Jena Study done in Germany.  There are good youtube videos.  The upshot is they planted test plots in the same field side by side.  The more variety of plants that were included in a plot the higher the yields.  It was mostly a linear relationship, but they found maximum yields above 16 unique plant varieties.  Much like companion planting, it appears the overall health of the soil improves the more species you have contributing to the health of the soil.  So if it were just about cycling one plant the yields would not see variation in yields.  There is something beyond 'just the mineralization'.

Anne,

Thank you for the recipe.  I have never heard of the baking soda in tea.  I will have to give that a try.  Any idea what it adds?

One more caution for anyone reading.  Barbed wire is often coated or galvanized.  This contains zinc.  Welding on zinc coated material (or with coated wire) produces a nasty gas you don't want to breathe.  Use a respirator under your welding hood.  If not you will get sick for a day or so.  Welders call it "zinc flu" because it comes with flu like symptoms for a day or so.  bad juju.  Be safe.

M.

What makes a welding rod work in stick welding is the coating or flux on the rod.  As the metal burns away under current, the flux burns and creates A bubble that excludes oxygen from the puddle and reduces oxidation in the weld, which weakens the weld.  With Mig the wire is either protected by an inert gas or a flux filler inside the wire.  

Rods come in all different lengths, diameters, and coatings.  The barbed wire will melt, but will not make a suitable weld due to voids and contaminants in the finished weld.  

If you are looking for a good farm welder, a mig welder is a good place to start.  It is easy to operate and the learning curve is shallow.  Just know its limits.  in the hands of a good welder it can weld almost anything a stick welder can weld.  In a home/farm setting, most of the repairs one will do are within its capabilities (1/4 inch material or less.)  They are not so expensive anymore.  The more you pay the more reliable they become, but an inexpensive one will do most of what you want.

An import stick welder can be had very inexpensively.  They are a bit more 'touchy' to pick up the skill, but do the job for light repair.  Home repair welding can be fun, but like other 'hobby' can get costly.  If you only have a few repairs, it may be cheaper to pay someone whom has the equipment, skill and knowledge to do it right the first time (especially the cast iron.)  That said, I think more homesteaders and self reliant types should acquire some skill with a welder.  Start with mig.   Learn what good penetration looks like.  Have some fun and enjoy the new skill.

My thought process has always been vertical.  What finished form will the plant have.  Where will it fit "geometrically".  Then I decide how much I value its contribution to the system/guild.  (Will it shade or crowd out a higher value/more needed species).  Those priorities do change as the system matures, so looking forward 10 to 20 years, what are my priorities and what trade offs am I willing to make.  

Keeping in mind the 7 layers of a food forest, first ask what layer is its best fit.  Then is this the best species available for that layer given my priorities.  After that it is preference for what it brings to the system.  (fruit, soil health, pollintors, etc...  This is my approach.  Interested to see what other approaches.