Chris Sugg

Emilie McVey wrote:I had always thought wood chips were a great idea for the garden.  In 2022 I managed to secure a chip drop with a local landscaping company, and I shoveled my paths and garden beds 4” thick.

Before the end of the gardening season and into the next (and the next and the next!) I experienced all sorts of problems with diseases, including botytris, anthracnose, rust, fusarium, verticillium, per the county master gardener.  The master gardener explained that the fresh wood chips unbalanced the soil nutrients (used too much nitrogen while breaking down? Can’t quite remember).   The soil became so drained that the diseases got a foothold.  Anyway, it’s been a disaster I am still trying to recover, and learn, from.

The MG said that wood chips need to be aged/dried before adding to the garden and paths.  Was she mistaken and I simply had lousy luck with the fresh wood chips?

A couple things:
1. Wood chips on paths are not good long term solutions….they will make the soil below stay moist and fluffy….not what you are looking for at for a path that needs to move people, carts, etc.
2. Severe nutrient imbalance and wood chips is usually tied to mixing the chips into the soil instead of sitting on top of the soil like a blanket.
3. Definitely nitrogen, just like composting. Wood chips use nitrogen to break down into compost. Lots of wood chips=lots of nitrogen use but not a big deal if you don’t mix the wood chips and soil together.
4. Make sure wood chips are not right up against the stem of plants to minimize disease

Property sold in the first weekend above asking. Not sure if this post helped or not but it is going to someone very excited about all the growies. Thanks Permies!

We are selling our property and thought someone here may be or know someone interested in a permaculture property. Its a traditional house but the property has been managed through permaculture inspired methods for ~8 years now. No pesticides or herbicide used for 6+ years. Fertilizer has been organic or better (mulch/compost) .

A few additional fun facts about the property.

- South-South East facing gentle slope
- Garden with 8 raised beds on property
- More than 20 fruit trees (Apple, Pear, Cherry, Plum, Persimmon, Jujube, PawPaw, Mulberry, Figs)
- Nut trees (Hazelnut, Chestnut, White Walnut, Almonds, Buartnut)
- Fruiting shrubs: 10 blueberry varieties, Elderberries, Gooseberries, White Currant, Black currant, Red currant, Goji Berry-
- Fruiting Vines/Canes: Red Raspberry, Yellow Raspberry, Boysenberry, Kiwi, Grapes (5 varieties)
- Bee and Hummingbird paradise: Flowering plants active from April to November
- Live bamboo privacy wall with professionally installed rhizome barrier
- 1 year old hueguel mound

- Great for remote working:
- Large office with property views
- High speed internet via BCT cable
- Great mobile data through Verizon or AT&T
- 35min to PDX airport
- 1hr 15min to Skiing on Mt. Hood
- 2hrs to the beach (Cannon, Seaside, and Tillamook)

Feels like you are in the country but you will be within 10 min of a Restaurant, Bar, Distillery, Winery, Gas station, and Convenience store

https://www.rmlsweb.com/v2/public/report.asp?type=CR&CRPT2=BgUFB2ddDnZdUFVZRFNbWwQzDKIzBEJkZTzGEZcNyzG4rb6UbAzDzDdgh

Well, looks like the first rain in 4 months will be significant. 1.5 inches starting tonight. I went ahead and put down seed (1 lb native wildflowers, 10lbs Pacific NW pasture mix, 10 white clover). Hopefully all of it won’t be washed away.

I put down 3 bales of hay to help with the erosion.

Sand badge please.

https://permies.com/wiki/108407/pep-animal-care/Shift-Animals-Paddock-PEP-BB#1013781

https://permies.com/forums/posts/preList/110323/1016176#1016176

https://permies.com/forums/posts/preList/108408/1311791#1311791

https://permies.com/forums/posts/preList/107921/1016179#1016179

https://permies.com/forums/posts/preList/149827/1311795#1311795

The pond is 115 feet long and 55 feet wide at its maximum. This is constrained by the property boundary.

Max depth is 10 feet but mostly about 6 feet deep. Water level is only 3 feet above lowest natural grade, rest of depth made by digging down.

Intent of the pond was in the original post: “ Main goal here is slowing water and creating habitat for wildlife and natural beauty.”

Thanks for the plant advice. My friend got all the necessary approvals for the pond.

Hi!

Just dug out a pond for a friend. Initially, I was going to post here for advice on plant varieties that would do well with our wet winters and long dry summers (4 months without rain)….but now we are going to get almost two inches of rain this weekend so advice on erosion prevention would be appreciated too.😬

I’ll get it seeded (white clover, NW pasture mix, vetch, trit., and a 1lb bag of native wild flower) but none of these will be relevant  for this weekends rain event. I’ll spread a few bales of hay on the slopes to help reduce erosion…but this is a lot of rain for a fresh dug and bone dry area. Other thoughts on erosion minimization?

Any thoughts on getting this pond ecological kick started and maintained? Main goal here is slowing water and creating habitat for wildlife and natural beauty. Food for bees would be great as flowering plants  gets sparse toward the end of summer.

Here is a drone video and a couple close up shots.

Pics:
-living pigs getting belly rub
- method used to kill: single shot to the brain (pig died so quick it was still standing up, I had to push it over and cut the arteries to bleed it out)
- showing my daughter the lungs
- offal for stir fry and pate

Here is me capturing a swarm from my hive. Now I have two hives! 4 months later both are alive and well.