Faye Streiff

Years ago I transplanted a peach tree that came up in the compost pile (yellow freestone), and also a Cherokee white given to me by a friend.  The Cherokee had small, not so good tasting peaches, but edible pits.  The yellow freestone in 3 years was producing a lot.  They cross pollinated and soon the squirrels had their own peach plantation coming up everywhere.  If they were in a good spot, I let them grow.   Huge trees, all a little different, but all had delicious fruit.  However, this is borderline for growing peaches and late spring frosts and too much rain as they are ripening make it a little challenging,   Prune out centers, make sure they get good ventilation, plenty of calcium/phosphorous and a little wood ash around the drip line and out, as well as compost.  Whitewash the trunk with lime/manure/wood ash and it will give favorable results with few to no bugs.  One large tree in the apple orchard set so much fruit three large branches split and tore off the tree.  We still had nearly 5 bushels from this seedling tree, and they were scrumptious.   Had to prune back to a few feet high on the main trunk due to the damage.  It grows crowded by apple trees so not enough ventilation but we had a very dry year, so they made it mostly to maturity without rotting.  Bug free with no sprays.  Unfortunately due to the damage to the tree, it will take a bit to recover but we have more trees, just not as productive as that one.  

May Lotito wrote:What are you going to use these fibers for?
I went outside to pull a few giant ragweeds and in just a few minutes I was having sore throat and runny nose. They grew amid my bamboo so stems are all slim and tall, no branch up to 6 ft. I am thinking just like flax, slender and straight stems will yield better fiber.

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May, try goldenrod tea as an antidote.  

I’ve noticed that when I break off the sunchoke tops to feed to the rabbits and goats, it breaks cleanly.  The giant ragweed, 12 to 15 feet tall, has a strong fiber that doesn’t break, so I have to cut it.  I haven’t tried it, but I think it would be a great fiber plant.  I always let some grow in a designated area away from the main garden, because both plant’s leaves are  higher in protein than alfalfa, and make a good fodder plant.  The bees go wild over the pollen on the giant ragweed.  The seed feeds lots of birds over winter.  

Bugs and smell things humans cannot.  I was taking oregano oil for a sinus infection and noticed when picking Blackberries for hours at a time, no chigger bites.  Husband did not fare so well.  You an also eat garlic daily or take nutritional yeast and it gives your skin a scent bugs are repeled by.

Colleen,
 If you can give the Permies people more information about what is growing on that soil now and what plants you wish to grow, or maybe also a photo of that stretch of ground, we might be able to help more.  

The plants that are commonly thought to love acid soils, usually  just need a more fungal dominant soil (blueberries for instance).  Rotted tree bark, rotten leaves will do that.  

Black walnut is a good source of iodine for goats.  They will eat some of the leaves  but unless starved, they know when to quit.  Goats relish and need vining plants and brambles which are very high in minerals and protein.  But even that they can overdo.  I like to make sure they have access to lots of different plants and I give mine a free choice mineral formulated for goats.  However, found out they were still deficient in copper so started giving them half to a teaspoonful of copper sulfate with their sprouted oats and sunflower seed daily.   Healthiest, most vigorous babies we ever had, up and Walking/running within minutes of birth.   The copper sulfate kills parasites too.  Always put a half teaspoon of calcium carbonate in feed with it to buffer the acidity and protect their gut.  The Pat Coleby book on
Natural Goat Care was life changing for us and it sure saved our goats.

Minerals are the key to health in both livestock and humans, also in plants.  However, you have to be able to assimilate them.   In the soil or the gut microbes are needed to break down minerals and digest them.  In an older animal whose teeth may be worn down, feed softer foods and not so much really coarse or woody plants.  They may need a little extra to compensate and even a little aloe in their feed ration now and then to heal their gut.  

I picked up 8 bushels of black walnuts this year and we tossed them, a little at the time, into the cement mixer, added water to cover and ran it about 4 hours or until hulls sloughed off.  Kept dumping water and redoing until they were mostly hulled, a mess to be sure, but it got the job done.  Put the black mess into a crate with holes all over and sprayed water from the hose, under pressure, to remove remnants of hull and the slurry.  Then dried them two weeks to cure in the shell, then started the arduous process of cracking on the big nutcracker.  I once complained about the high price of black walnut nut meats, but not anymore. Pretty labor intensive compared to other nuts.   I won’t sell them for the going price.  We are keeping every one of them.  Black walnuts are high in iodine and have such intense flavor, they make great cakes, ice cream, etc.

If she dislikes the piano practice so much, why is she doing it?  Is piano something she wanted or something you wanted for her?  A system of rewards for doing all the chores, gives a child powerful incentive.  I remember my childhood when my mom insisted I take piano lessons.  I hated it and I was terrified of my teacher, a huge, gruff sounding man and  when I had to play for him my hands would tremble out of fear.  He was aware I was not suited for piano and it was very stressful for me.  He pointed that out to my mom and she finally allowed me to stop.   What a relief.  

It is fun to work with friends,  but I actually get a lot more accomplished when working alone.  More work without all the talking.