Crystal Cantrell

Hello,
Does anybody have suggestions for shoes for a rural permaculture farm. My husband and I are working on establishing a food forest for his parents as our first customer for a permaculture site besides our house site that we are now renting out.
We live on his parents property while we do the install and we are setting up our tiny house right outside of the woods for our own food forest plot.

This valley has slight inclines, steep slopes, gravel, some mud pits in the North Georgia Mountains.

I normally wear my rain boots to tend to chickens, collecting materials around the property for the garden this year. I really wear them everywhere to do everything.

My boots have made hard callus' on the balls of my feet and make the tips of my toes raw feeling.

I'm open to any kind of shoe/boot that make for healthier feet and willing to pay $100-150 maybe &200 for my feet.

I enjoy wearing my barefoot merrell trail running shoes because my toes can stretch and aren't crammed in the shoe. They also help me keep a good posture and not stomp my heel.


Any recommendations or encouragement to go barefoot?

Crystal

Hello permies community!

This is my first time posting

Has anyone ever tried to compost with pine needles?

I know most gardeners say that pine needles are acidic and good for mulching acid loving plants...but can composting them create a rich, microbial environment in a heap?

I will be doing the 18 day Berkley method HOT compost with my pine needles out of my own curiosity. Turning every two days aerating the heap, after the first four days of no turning.

The reason for my curiosity is I have an abundant amount of pine needles that have been sitting behind my house for over 2 years.
The leaves that had fallen on the property are minimal with the amount of rain and wind this winter otherwise I would do the usual fall compost heap. Also, I just want to make use of my materials that are already on the property.

Obviously, I don't plan on composting JUST pine needles and will diversify my ingredients but we have plenty of it.

I know pine needles take a long time to decompose and want to break them down somehow maybe with a lawn mower.

Anywho, please share any experience-

Thanks,
Crystal