Evelyn Mitchell

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since Feb 09, 2015

I was transplanted from city life in Michigan at the age of 8 years old, to country life in the Mark Twain National Forest of Missouri at the edge (foothills) of the Ozarks. Then back to Michigan, via 11 months in Southern California, at 17 where I tried to fall in line with everyone else here and never really caught up.
I am back in Missouri, working, saving to get back into the forest.

I developed a knack for writing, drawing, painting, and creative expression that sort of settled into Sign Painting; went to school for that, then later Desktop publishing. Before my sign painting days I was fascinated by office machines particularly copiers, I liked being able to do a thing once and making copies.

I use and recommend herbs, essential oils, supplements, organic and nutritious foods, I believe in an omnivorous diet paying close attention to the signals my body gives me to make adjustments. I am motivated by my health and the scarcity of good food to take gardening more seriously than I did as a kid on the farm. I have the nick-name's Mother nature, nature girl, Nut's and Berries, occasionally "Nag" when I can see someone would benefit from a change.

Permaculture particularly the science of how the elements work to support the whole at the edges, the symbiotic cycle and recycling of energy throughout everything is very similar to the way I think. That one concept hooked me into permaculture. I would come up with some ideas for things that came from totally different disciplines or genre that if I told people how I came to the idea I'd get laughed at, so I quit telling people which made for some pretty dull discussions until I learned how to express myself better.

I have too much on my mind to remember everything. I never know what to include in these things so sorry if it doesn't make any sense to you.

Central, Eastish Missouri, St Robert in Pulaski Co. was in SE Michigan, South of Detroit, Suburbian

evvie01.com

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Recent posts by Evelyn Mitchell

Making milk kefir from OLD grains

Thank you, thank you. I posted a search in google: "I forgot a batch of kefir in the refrigerator for 4 months, are the grains still good?" This thread was the 5th on the list of hits out of 170,000 results. Pretty good Permies.

My grains also didn't smell bad, though a little like alcohol and what I call a regular kefir smell, maybe a little yeasty. My fridge is kept under 40 degrees, usually between 36 and 40, my target is 36. I am going to get some milk and see if it is still viable. I got grains from two places one a friend and the other from Gem cultures. It proved to be too much and I was already sensitive to milk. That much kefir was overwhelming my body and I developed a bit of a rattle in my chest and some stuffiness, so I backed off for a while.

I'm better now and wanted to try it again, paying closer attention to how much I drink of course. I just can't ignore the benefits to my gut. The only other option is to continue buying it already made. Lifeway makes an organic plain Kefir that tastes really good. I keep (drink) it 'til it's gone, about two or three weeks. I sometimes strain it for whey, and use the strained kefir like sour cream, and the whey for fermentation starter.

Again, thank you for this thread.

Power to Permies!

5 months ago

fermentation

Writing books as an after retirement project

r ranson wrote:For me, writing is the easy bit.

Where I'm having trouble is the editing, pictures and layout. It's very important to me that the images show up well in black and white so that they show on an e-reader.

I'm thinking that permies people would make a good audience so when it's ready, I plan to sell some on the digital market here. It also allows me to give affiliate fees to people who advertize the book on their site. The theory is I'm crap at marketing, but other people are good at it and I want to reward them with cash.

When taking photos with the standard 35mm camera using b/w film, I used a yellow colored filter to increase contrast and sharpen detail. I haven't tried it in a paint program but it might work. Or, take the photo in b/w mode with a yellow tinted filter over the shutter. If you don't have access to filters there might be some yellow cellophane left over from Easter at a dollar store near you. Improve is fun.

I was drawn to this article for the writing, got sucked into Davids world for a couple hours, yes his videos are awesome, spent some quality time on the IRS website, I feel like I can sleep now. I hope I've helped in a small way.

10 months ago

meaningless drivel

Keeping bales over winter

I agree with Joe. I lived in Michigan, very wet over fall and most of winter. I stored clothing, books and other highly "Moldable" items outside in a small tarped, wooden trailer, it had 3 bars bent sort of like a roof, about 120 - 110 degrees. The first thing my dad told me when I bought it for this purpose was to lay 1 x 2's on the floor so air could flow under things, and make sure that nothing touched the tarp, because water flows similar to electricity at contact points with canvas, with plastic water condenses and can flow from those points. "Air flow" was the point he was trying to make.

I used that trailer as my shed/storage unit for more than 10 years. The storage unit my stuff was in was costing me $70.00 a month. I always felt blessed to have it. It never let my things draw damp... unless I left the tarp pulled back. It dried quickly though on those few occasions.

2 years ago

straw bale house

A good read on the history and follies of modern bathrooms

I like what Julia Winter said about her grand daughter telling her daughter, "When I was a little child, we used to flush our toilets with drinkin' water!!" Reminded me of the walking to school line.

Anyway this was a most interesting thread. I also liked the article

What got my interest though was that this is where I heard about sawdust being used to trap urine and keep it from smelling so it could be composted or as it composted in the 5 gallon bucket for a year. Not recalling how that went just now but you get the idea, I hope.

2 years ago

composting toilet

Heading to the Ozarks!

Hi I'm in the Ozarks too. Pulaski County Missouri. Here we grow Red clay, Sand, and Rocks. Topsoil is nearly nonexistent, but I'm hoping good dense cover crop and heavy mulching will be at least part of the answer. I'm also looking into soil biology, maybe the biology of nearby forested areas can increase the speed of topsoil production.

I joined the Master Gardeners, which is connected to the University of Missouri Extension Center, (http://mg.missouri.edu/) so I could help local residents with their planting needs while I learned the local ecosystem and how to work with it. I am originally from Michigan, a land of abundant topsoil, and nearly zero rocks at least around where I was. So I have a very large learning curve.

I will try to bring my story here, or in a new thread as I go along.

Missouri Master Gardeners do like Comfrey! I was glad to hear that.

3 years ago

introductions

building residual income streams

Ryan,

Love your website, lol on getting locked out.

I was all ready to post a long reply about wanting to make an income other than working for someone else, when the phone rang. The someone else wants me to come in on my day off. Since it's one of 3 days off this week I decided to do it. But I really want to change the way I make money to live on.

Evelyn

3 years ago

financial strategy

soil-less micro greens?

@elle Until Tom said he wanted to grow pea shoots I didn't know they were used, I sprout lentils, quinoa and navy beans. I haven't tried any of the newer ones yet. I'd like to try sunflower, radish, and buckwheat also Amaranth is supposed to be good too, I usually use the jar method with a fine netting over the opening and let them drain between rinses, until they get about 3/4 of an inch, or longer for the lentils and beans.

So I don't know what a pea sprout tastes like.

Evelyn

PS. The youtube video I saw was sprouting sunflower seeds. I assumed they would work the same way.

3 years ago

urban

soil-less micro greens?

Hi Tom, Yes you can grow micro greens without soil because everything the plant needs to get started is in the seed. However the seedling will need soil or nutrients to survive once the roots start heavy branching which is telling you that it is hungry and looking for food. Since you harvest when the first true leaves appear (about 10 - 14 days) that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Soil does improve the taste of the greens though.

Water will work for a little while, also gravel if you clean it will help hold the plant up. you can use a shredded paper towel to cover the seeds as if it were soil. Heck you might be able to shred paper towel and use it as a growing medium, just make sure it stays damp, but not too wet. If you do that let me know how it works out. I might try it myself, if I do before you do I'll let you know.

I hope that helps.
Evelyn

3 years ago

urban

Podcast 279 - Geoff Lawton Q&A

If I had that funding you were talking about I'd like to reverse the "Dust Bowl" area and help people expand the work in all directions from there adding people as the circle spreads.

3 years ago

paul wheaton's permaculture podcasts

Podcast 118 Discussion - How to Dive In to Permaculture

What happened to the podcast? I was all set to listen.

Evelyn

3 years ago

paul wheaton's permaculture podcasts