Amy Gardener

I've been contemplating a replacement hat. I require something that offsets my sideburns. Oh! And additionally it must protect me from the sun. Should you have any leads, I'm all ears (when the sideburns don't cover them, that is).

Didn't this guy in the charro hat have similar sideburns?

Thanks for the great ideas Anne and Nancy. With ideas like these, gardening doesn't have to be so expensive!
Here is another frugal fertilizer story from my garden that makes me happy.
Over the years, my fruit trees have become more prolific. Pruning, watering, and fertilizing takes time but not money, thanks to a friend who came up with a brilliant exchange. As background, my friend lives in a condo where the landscape is planned and maintained for the residents. There are no fruit trees. My friend really enjoys the fruit that I grow and she is committed to reciprocating for the harvest. Like me, she is pretty thrifty.
So she came up with a strategy that really works. Every other day she drives to the local coffee shop, picks up three 5 gallon buckets of coffee grounds and drops off 3 empty buckets for the shop to fill over the next couple of days. The coffee shop is really pleased to get rid of the grounds to help gardeners.
A few times a week, my friend stops by and scatters spent coffee grounds along the drip line of my fruit trees.
We are both so pleased with this casual arrangement! The fruit trees thrive with layers of coffee grounds around the fruit tree drip lines (covering the mulch as Nancy describes above). My friend receives boxes of cherries, plums, apples and pears at peak flavor. What could be better than free fertilizer for me and free fruit for my friend?

In addition to kitchen compost, how are permies fertilizing the garden?
I was very inspired by this article, Why Vermont farmers are using urine on their crops
Any suggestions on avoiding the high prices for organic fertilizers?

Thank you for explaining more about your conditions, Jen. I really admire your effort to respect the beneficial insects, amphibians and other creatures, and truly appreciate the careful observation you noted here:

Last spring I used a saucer on top of several ollas and kept them full of water. Thinking I was helping the bees and predator bugs. Now I wonder if it's why the rats made nests in my raised beds. They never did that before. Living between orchards we have always had to deal with rodents. I got rid of them, and stopped filling the top with water.

Each place is so unique. Your dedication to finding balance in a difficult environment really inspires me: thank you. It sounds like you've thought through the humane and natural approaches and know what to try next. I respect your need to try more robust protective measures.
Regarding your search for a cheap garden cage, my neighbors who use a cage employ chicken wire around a frame built with rebar. The rebar forms the lines of a rectangle then the chicken wire covers the planes around that rectangle. The cage is free standing since the wire wraps around the bottom as well as the top. Since you already have your raised bed, wrapping the bottom of the cage might be difficult. It may require digging out the bed or starting a new bed. This metal cage is relatively inexpensive when purchasing the rebar at an industrial metal supplier. Two pipes are helpful to bend the rebar. Use baling wire to tie the rebar assemble the structure and secure the wire.
A small test cage with a new raised bed could be the mini-laboratory for your study. Alternatively, Craigslist will often have used dog kennels for sale that could also be an inexpensive option. If the openings in the fenced dog kennel are too large, tie on chicken wire or hardware cloth to keep the critters out.
Best wishes for a beautiful growing season Jen. Please keep us posted on your journey.

Edited to include link to brilliant cage design for really big predators

Hi Jen and all those with hungry creatures who see permaculture gardens as paradise. Speaking from experience, I find that less netting, absurdly low fencing (24") and more water stations are the only ways to attain a harvest in my gardens.
Why? The more netting, the less able the helpful predators are able to help control the unwelcome pests. The netting actually makes the nuisance critters safer and happier to devour the garden inside the lovely fenced shelters that desperate gardeners often provide.
For thirsty predators, water stations are like a giant billboard that says, "Welcome Predators!" The more welcome rodent-eaters feel about my land the more they dine on the pests. Coyotes, bull snakes, foxes, hawks, owls, falcons, and other creatures all have custom-sized water stations. There is no cage or effective fence so the predators, like the pesky garden-eaters, also have easy access to the yard. If the keen-eyed birds see netting, they won't dive bomb a mouse, squirrel or rabbit. When the coyotes can hop over a 24" fence, they can take out the rabbits.
For a counter-intuitive solution, consider providing favorite treats for the mice, rabbits and other rodents. Put the feeding station in a place that is super easy for winged predators to observe from trees nearby. I offer old fruit, bread, cooked rice... and put the treats in a clearing near the driveway within view from the upper branches of my neighbor's tall cottonwood. The results are very satisfying.
I'm not saying all is perfect but there is more food for the humans and more money and time saved by passing on cages. I'm satisfied with the balance.

Thank you, Stephen, for all your amazing contributions to this project. Your curiosity and enthusiasm enriched the prep and plastering work experience. The green manure plaster experiment would not have happened without your encouragement.
I am incredibly grateful for your work contributions and your camaraderie in the wonderful world of natural building.
Safe travels and thank you again AMAZING Stephen!

Thanks for asking for more information John. At this time, I am healthy and skillful so I am adapting to a time of less capacity. To remain healthy as long as possible, I have a workout regimen to protect my joints and strengthen areas that need it.
My teachers are the neighbors around me. They decline due to sudden health issues. Within a year or so, I see their properties neglected. A year or so later, the kids come and convince the parents that they need to downsize. A giant dumpster appears in the driveway and family fills it up. Soon after, an estate sale draws in the crowds. The next month after a massive cleanup, the house is on the market. Within a short time, the obituary appears.

Adapting now to labor shortages (my own and the availability of others) means radically reducing the labor requirement. I'm pruning the height of my fruit trees by 1/3. I'm eliminating decomposing yard features: an overhead arbor, a decomposing stock tank pond, sculptures that I no longer wish to maintain, things that require chemicals for preservation. I am also focusing on garden crops that are useful and versatile: corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and fruit.

These are my approaches to adapting. I'm looking for more ideas, which is why I asked the question,

Since getting qualified help is increasingly difficult, how are people adapting to labor shortages?

Sometimes I just have to revisit the original post (OP) to remember the topic!
John's first question:

So, I wonder, what adaptive measures have others taken or plan to take?

Dave's adaptation:

(W)e need help around the homestead.

Since getting qualified help is increasingly difficult, how are people adapting to labor shortages?

Nice potato boxes Randy!
Credit for the defensible zones drawing (linked here and in the above post) goes to the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection. They have a very informative website.

Happily, I've never attempted to live on the wartime ration.
But I want to offer my favorite way to prepare for the occasional lack of eggs, as Nancy points out,

I think for me the forwards planning would be tricky - I tend to look in the fridge and say - what shall I have tonight? Partly because I don't know what I will have left over in the shop. But one egg?!

Keeping a stash of flax seed in the fridge, I have yet to find an application where the "flax egg" as an egg substitute doesn't deliver a quick victory over a limited ration. For each required egg in a recipe, substitute 1 T flax seed (ground to flax meal) and 2.5 T water. I've used this in everything from meatloaf to waffles and the flax egg works perfectly every time.