Kirsten Simmons

Thank you so much for such a detailed answer!  I actually take a low dose of losartan, and over the past several years it has reduced the width of my aorta to normal range.  I'm a farmer, so I have a pretty decent diet and get plenty of sunshine, but I can definitely boost my consumption of bone broth.  I'll do some research on the herbs you've suggested, talk to my doctor and go from there.  

I read Nicole's thread with interest, as I've been diagnosed with Marfans and have been struggling with joints dislocating.  I'm about to start physical therapy to try to strengthen the muscles around my elbow, as it's spent more time dislocated than properly located over the past year.  Are there any herbs I could research that might help support my body during the process?  

Somewhat odd question here - how would one go about selecting a scythe that fits well when one's height is still changing?

Odd part: I'm done growing.  I have scoliosis and am working with a combination of chiropractor/posture therapist/massage therapist to straighten my spine.  They estimate that I have 4 inches or so of curve to straighten out.  It's actually working - very slowly, but I've gained a half inch in the past year.

With that in mind, how would my fit for a scythe change over time as my spine straightens and the proportion of my torso to overall height changes?  

Alcaligenes viscolactis, a bacteria commonly found in water, consequently turns up in sun tea."  If this is the case then wouldn't that bacteria be in my glass of just plain water?

It would, though my guess is that it's not present in water in high enough concentration to be harmful.  Sun tea does provide a nice warm breeding ground for bacterial growth.  

That said, Alcagenes isn't a threat for anyone with a functioning immune system.  The bigger issue would be if your water were contaminated with a highly pathogenic bacteria.  I personally love the taste of sun tea and like it better than cold brew, but I give my tea a quick boil after it's brewed outside.  Just take the tea leaves out, let it boil for 5 min or so and it should be just as safe as hot brewed tea.

I'm down in Atlanta, and god do I feel you on the clay!  My plan isn't 100% permaculture, but I'm hoping to see some soil improvement by the winter.  Here's what I've done thus far:

1) Tilled the first couple of inches of soil and immediately sowed sudan grass, red clover and rye. That ran on its own for a few months.
2) Flagged down the guys trimming trees back from the power lines and had them dump two truckloads of ramial chips on my yard.  I inoculated the wood with king stropharia mushrooms and spread it 6 inches thick across the majority of the yard.  The mulch is holding in an enormous amount of water, and the sudan grass is already starting to poke back through.  I left two spots unmulched - a 10x10 space where I'm letting the sudan grass grow to its full height (10ft) to see what the effect of just the cover crop mix is on the soil and a 10x15 space where I've planted sweet potatoes in amongst the cover crop.  

I'm planning to sow some buckwheat in the mulch once I see it starting to break down.  That should die back once it gets cooler, and then I can assess whether I've built any soil worth writing home about.  There's a large tree in my yard that will be coming out this fall due to unfortunate placement above my sewer line, and that should open up sun for a small orchard and more garden space.  I did a few raised beds this summer with the lasagna method for soil building, and while I'm hardly eating a full diet out of it, it supplements things nicely and I may be able to sell some of my excess shiso to some local restaurants.  Bugs haven't been a huge issue, I think because everything the bugs would want (tomatoes, squash, etc) is hidden in the explosion of shiso!  

You mentioned it's getting residual water from a leaky irrigation line? How much? That could definitely be a source of too much moisture, but I'm also wondering if the constant water percolation could be leaching minerals out of the soil around the tree.

I just finished a chicken coop using bamboo, and I wish I'd known that wire trick! We drilled holes and used 5 inch bolts, and the structure also has hardware cloth/chicken wire/pasture wire stapled to the bamboo. It's a bit of a pain to work with, but since it grows in my back yard, you can't beat the price!

This weekend I was gifted an awesome couch, an outdoor table and a few planters from a lady in the neighborhood who's moving to Vermont at the end of the week. My friend, boyfriend and roommate helped me move everything, and then stayed on to help me put up the wire and roof of the chicken coop, getting me back to the point that I can work on the project on my own. Then when I tried to buy them dinner in thanks, they refused.