Linda Listing

We live in a walnut guild in the city. Willows and other trees listed do not grow here. Also in small lots, gotta watch that urine doesn’t kill the raspberries. I found that out the hard way.

I'm getting a message "Oooops. You don't have sufficient privileges to access this message" when I click on the email link. Oh well, disappointed again. But I caught the Larry Korn podcast. It was fantastic. Have a great holiday everyone.

paul wheaton wrote:I was thinking about using baling twine until you mentioned composting all of it.  That makes the baling twine idea not so good.

This year I went with hemp. It stands up to UV radiation pretty well. Whether it stands up to the rest of western PA’s pollution, I’ll have to see. One of the properties the industrial hemp producers tout is UV protection for your skin if wearing garments made with hemp fabric. Colored twine will fade but from past use, the problem I see is from wind, and the constant rubbing of the twine at attachment points. That seems to be the weak point.

I have customers who absolutely refuse to pay Etsy one dime. I’ve been invoicing via PayPal but am having repeated technical issues getting my money from PayPal. (Screens lock up into loops you can’t get out of) I am excited to hear about Goimagine. It was either that or create my own website and deal with all the tax authorities. There are just too many “departments of making me sad” to want to deal with. I hand dye linen and hemp thread as well as natural dye wool yarn. At the moment my shop is closed because of my husband’s immune-compromised system. But when I’m open, I’m at UrsulasYarn.etsy.com

I bought some from a garden club. It had no ID on type but flowers blue. It’s helped establish healthy trees where I planted it. It breaks up the hard packed clay to help tree roots have an easier time of it. In one area it did spread, despite my harvesting for mulch regularly. Never dig it because that encourages spreading. I am going to sheet mulch over it where it spread too far. The only escapees are in my neighbors driveway. They just mow it. In the second area I planted it, the burdock is out competing it. It hasn’t spread.

It’s just too useful a plant. I use it in salves and tinctures, as well as mulch for the other garden beds and to make compost tea. It brings up nutrients from deep in the soil. If you are worried about it spreading, plant it in a container, a tall one.

In my soil, it is no more invasive than anything else I grow. Skirret can be invasive. Mine has walked all over the yard. My coreopsis made it all the way down to the corner. So has the Lamb’s ear. Invasive-ness will depend on your environment. I harvest the comfrey flower heads and toss them in a rain barrel for compost tea diligently but they still spread slowly. It likes growing in partial shade. Try a container first would be my recommendation. That’s how I grow nettles.

paul wheaton wrote:I'm trying to be a good site steward and get the word out about this site.   Naturally, some things I try turn out to be really lame.  And other things turn out to be really smart.

How did you find us? 

That’s quite a rabbit hole. It started with the Regenerative Institute’s Facebook ad. I signed up for free classes online with Larry Korn. Those classes led me to Toby Hemingway. I devoured his book and went to YouTube for any additional information I could find. I found a video where you, Paul Wheaton, were giving a speech about the ladder of permaculture and the different levels we are on. There was a lot more to it. I believe it was a conference in California. Been here at Permies ever since. My edible landscape hits the five year mark this spring. I’ve also run into Uncle Mud at Mother Earth News and hope to attend an appropriate technology course when money allows me.

Skandi Rogers wrote:If I really wanted to do something like you are discussing I would use ceramic pipes, you could make them in the right size and with the right bends and connections for your specific set up, the only issue I can see would be hot water, where they would be a horrible heat sink, probably not good for short runs of hot water like hand washing.

The ceramic pipes that go from my downspouts to the house cistern are 100 years old and still function. The cistern was filled in when all the houses were hooked up to city water many years ago. (Currently it’s illegal here to use rainwater in the house.) The water came out below ground into the basement and I assume had a hand pump up in the kitchen. Those were metal. If I had the ability to still use the cistern, the shower would be right there where the cistern enters the house. For myself, I couldn’t be at level 10,000 because I like the idea of hooking copper pipes up to an RMH system. But if I had to use wood, it would be inside the house used in conjunction with the existing ceramics outside. My house pipes are all exposed and would be easy to replace every few decades. Heating the water would have to use a solar heat exchanger outside. So my question would be, can you use ebony wood heating the water in a solar heater, in lieu of black painted pipes? Or would a dark ceramic work better? Just a random thought. It would be interesting to test it.

I live on a hillside like Sena. I terraced it. After reading through The Market Gardener, I could not figure out a way to make crop rotation work on the hillside. Row planters aren’t suited for the beds which curve with the hillside. The beds change width depending on the hill’s natural curvature. I also have different microclimates in each bed. And no, 4 ft beds don’t work because of geometry. This year I’m planting in sections a mix of plants suited for each microclimate. Whether I can develop the hillside for market remains to be seen. My current thought is if annuals don’t work out, there are also sections where different berries thrive. My current goal is still soil improvement, followed by experimentation. I am finding this discussion fascinating. Looking forward to reading more responses.

First of all, I’ve really enjoyed your book. Thank you for writing it. You mention the Garfield Community Center has a Bioshelter. I’m curious as to whether you or they needed permits to build. And if there was any difficulty. While I’m not in Pittsburgh proper, I am in the area.

Do you have a website or event schedule? I am hoping to take a PDC soon.

Thanks,
Linda

We’ve been experimenting with different varieties. I’ve one Southern Lowbush and one Northern Highbush. We noticed better yields when the berries are running late. So we invested in an Eliot this year, a late producer. The reason for better yields is that the birds must have another option for food. So either the bush must produce really early when the mulberry is in production or late when the sunflowers are producing. The birds would much rather eat sunflowers if given a choice.

Our soil is clay, leaning to alkaline but the bushes get coffee grounds and pine clippings every fall. We have them around a Japanese Maple. They like the edges, a good mix of sun and shade at the drip line. I found bare root bushes need to be planted early in spring or they won’t survive. I live in zone 6. I recently added lingonberries as a companion. The lingonberries have not produced just yet. Other companions in the blueberry patch include hellebore, violets, and columbine.