Antonio Scotti wrote:
I don't have a specific soil test for this area, but I reckon it would be very similar to other terraces of the same property, that have all shown similar results, meaning high pH: 7.9 - 8.2, high in Ca
I wonder how much basalt should I consider spreading if ever.
Beth Wilder wrote:I've been trying to find out if there's much mesquite around Dolan Springs. Looks like maybe there's catclaw acacia (wait-a-minute bush, Senegalia greggii, fka Acacia greggii), but not mesquite (Prosopis spp) -- is that right? If so, you can use the catclaw in similar ways in terms of nitrogen-fixing, fuel, and wood chips and dropped leaves as mulch, with a similar caution for both about those thorns. Expect to get a few right through the soles of your shoes, at least if you're anything like me. At least the catclaw thorns -- although they will really catch and pull your skin with that claw-like curve, thus their other name wait-a-minute -- are shorter than the mesquite thorns can get. I'd be surprised if you don't have both trees/bushes somewhere around there, though, as they overlap heavily, at least around here. You may already know this (all of this, really), but both mesquite and catclaw acacia can be much, much older than you'd think by looking at them: hundreds of years sometimes. When I get irritated with the placement of one or several of them, I try to remember that. I'm such a new arrival to their world. It makes much more sense for me to move than for them to be sacrificed, in most cases.
Eric Nar wrote:I am starting up a permaculture set up on raw land in Arizona. I have yuccas, weeds and creosote bushes there. Can I take the dry yucca leaves, the weeds, or maybe chip the creosote bushes and use them as mulch? If I use the weeds as mulch, will they infest my main plant? Do I have to chop up the yucca leaves? Can I use creosote, I heard different things. I don't have a chipper, so that's kind of the last resort.
Here are some pics. Yucca, weeds, and that is just random brush (can I use that? Trying to make the most of whatever I have)
Thanks!
Antonio Scotti wrote:Hi all
... that by loosening and digging...the ground level would swell quite a bit....but that was inevitable I guess. The machine operator said that it might take 1 to 2 years before settling down again. But I guess the original grade would be lost..and it had been already lost after all the compaction that it has endured (as explained in a previous post) in the last couple of years. ...
Kena Landry wrote:First of all, I command you for listening to your yearning and planning the steps to get there.
I think starting with a garden and wwoofing is a fantastic plan: it will help you sort out between what is a fantasy and what is your true calling.
Same thing for homeschooling: I love the idea of homeschooling, but the reality of my family is that it wouldn't work for us right now. My eldest - 8 - considers homeschooling a particularly cruel form of punishment, and her heart bleeds for the poor kids who are not allowed to go to school. And I have a meaningful career that really makes a difference in the world, and I'm not ready to sacrifice that.
Azita Williams wrote:
I agree with you, I don't need a big farm and a big operation to feed my soul. I'm thinking 20 acres where we'll have the option to do different things down the rd if we chose to, so that we don't have to move.