Rachel Michelle

You can find Carogold plus a LOT more here:

https://www.sandhillpreservation.com/copy-of-sweet-potato-varieties-2

Sea kale can be tricky to germinate. Did you cold stratify them? I got seeds from Experimental Farm Network last year and they did really well. You have to crack the corky part open first. There's probably a more clever way to do it, but I think I just used my teeth. Once you get that shell opened, you put them in a damp paper towel in a sealed bag in the fridge for a few weeks. I don't think it would be too late to start now and plant them out in the Fall for a second try. Sea Kale is so good it's worth all the trouble!

A couple of ideas:

In The Ringing Cedars of Russia books, Anastasia gives the idea of growing a living fence (something that won't rust and decay and become a problem for your descendants to deal with). She suggests using raspberries grown thick together so that intruders can't cross through. There are plenty of brambles that are fast growing that could be used.

Edible Acres also shares several videos about their creative fencing solutions like making a woven fence of forest debris and planting trees extremely close to grow into a barricade for deer. Here's a good start and you can find others on their channel as well.

https://youtu.be/FCCaPDKzQK8?si=zTTA1zcS7pVtdp2s

I have lost so many favorite garments to wool moths. Even sheepskins and a buffalo hide. SO SAD!
Now my strategy is to store woolies and other tempting materials in vacuum seal bags. The moths shouldn't be able to survive without oxygen. And I'm using those sticky glue traps around, too.
Hope this helps!

Steven Rodenberg wrote:Is that Tromboncini squash

They are Cucuzza - edible Italian gourds. Extremely prolific and of no interest to squash bugs!

Plus there's a cute song about them: https://youtu.be/U-n9BNm22nk?si=Le7Dk_JAr1QJIYsr

What a beautiful Spring!

That energy is so strong in this season - the inspiration to co-create beauty and goodness and right systems. Each day I'm taking in every sound of bird song (oh the mockingbird!), bees, swelling creeks, the changing winds now roaring through leafed out trees, the nighttime crickets; and the incredible fragrances of iris and mayapple and lilac; the smell of fully saturated soil and the feel of it in my hands. Keeping track of each new landmark of the Spring - first hummingbird, first fireflies, first clover blossom...
Life is so very rich, and as I attune to it I am moved by the strong desire to co-create with God's wisdom and divine designs as I work to perfect my surroundings, my domain.

So many dreams and visions of possibilities here on the land and I continually pursue them and am satisfied with my efforts. Though I am keenly aware that this sacred work is amplified all the moreso by two souls co-creating together, and I greatly desire that. Building a harmonious, regenerative life with lasting happiness is foundational to me, and the rest is details.

I am a 33 year old woman living in the Ozarks with my two young children. We have created a happy and fulfilling life together and I hope to grow that with the right man who dreams of the same. We live on land for which my appreciation continues growing with each passing year. I have planted probably a thousand trees and shrubs in the last few years as well as many other perennial herbs and vegetables and berries and flowers. I love plants, my children love plants, and I want to be with a man who equally loves plants and loves life. And animals too.

Lightheartedness is so important, as is compassion (the true understanding of suffering). Being awake to the darkness of this world and choosing always to stand in the Light is so empowering. Healing is an intrinsic focus of my life. I am devoted to clean living and have a disciplined diet of healing foods. You could call it whole foods plant based. I call it leading a Medical Medium lifestyle, and it's something I find very important to have in common with my future companion.

I am thinking towards the future when I make decisions. Legacy mindset. What will my children inherit? How can I create a better life for my descendants? I greatly value being motivated and driven and hardworking. Dreaming and achieving; being tuned in to a higher power; knowing what one's purpose is and living it. What we do here in this life truly matters, and I am drawn to those who embody their purpose driven lives and who are givers not takers.

So much more to share of course. If something here sincerely resounds in your soul please do reach out with a moosage.

Thank you for reading and enjoy each moment of this glorious Spring!

Rachel

The best milk I've made is from chufa (tigernut) which I grew. Tasted like coconut milk. In Spain they make chufa horchata.

So delicious!

This is a beautiful vision!

I agree that cultivating mushrooms on logs would add a lot to the overall food supply, and it makes sense since you're in shade.

And I second potatoes, though you'd need to open up some light for them. Personally, potatoes are my staple crop along with sweet potatoes and squash. I focus on calories, not protein. And these crops offer dense calories. With squash and edible gourds you can grow them up trees and they often come back from seed especially in compost piles. I'm in zone 7a and potatoes are perennial here. Any of the little ones I miss will sprout back up.

I'd also add pawpaw to the forest design because they like shade and make big fruits.

I wish you all the best with your dreaming and designing and may it all come to fruition!

This is a great question to ponder. There's so much fuss involved with preparing food.
Personally, I'd so much rather be out working in my garden than in the kitchen. So I try to keep it simple. Smoothies, huge salads, steamed potatoes. That's the bulk of my diet in the Summer.

I'm very inspired by what Anastasia says in the Ringing Cedars of Russia - "to eat as one breathes".

Food is not meant to be a chore that distracts us from more important pursuits such as communing with God through nature and creating beauty on the earth. I'm not saying cooking is bad overall, just the main point is that we have a higher purpose here and all the mundane tasks add up to distracting us from it.
To eat as one breathes one would need an extremely diverse and abundant garden. And one would be led intuitively to which foods they were drawn to that are the exact nutrition they need at the exact time. Like walking through your garden and picking some berries or herbs to nibble as you go. Food is the freshest within the first minutes after picking then rapidly declines in nutritional value so you get the most eating it in this manner. And there's a lot more to it than just vitamins.