denise ra

Thirty years ago I helped wrap the outside of a building in bales which were then stuccoed over, but not quickly enough to keep the vermin out.

Kids can feel that basements or cellars are scary. One lady in Moore Oklahoma ( tornado Central) invited all the neighborhood kids to make a paint handprint in her storm shelter so they would be comfortable if they took shelter there. Many local fire departments have trailers that they take to schools so kids can experience the smoke conditions of a fire and see the firefighters in their fire gear so they will not hide from the "monsters" if they are in a burning building. I live in irrigation ditch country so swimming lessons are not optional.

Yesterday I struck up a conversation with a lady who had a scout emblem on her t-shirt. We got around to chiggers and I asked her if they were bad at the scout camp in Oklahoma. She said oh yes! But, they lather up lye soap and put that on the chigger bites and then they don't itch. I went right out and bought some lye soap. I got it at Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage.

This whole question occurred to me the other day as I was walking a gully that went from my property on to the neighbors which then goes back onto my property and feeds  water into the east pond. The coyotes obviously heard me and we're running up out of the Gully when I saw them. I had disturbed their sleep. Except for hunting season and perhaps searching for the occasional missing cow or horse, I doubt the tenant and the neighbor ever go down in the gullies.

I have been thinking about putting my little house on the north end of the property because there are no gas pads there. But perhaps I will reconsider. Or, instead of putting it partially in the middle of the North acreage, I will put it on the Edge by the road., thus leaving more of a buffer between me and the Wild Gully areas.

I'm on the Prairie in Western Oklahoma and having just arrived in the area. I drive to the farm on all the different back roads , exploring as I go. I am truly astonished at how much land  there is, and the fact that it is mostly used for cattle with bottom land being used for farming. I just had no idea of the breadth of agricultural use of the land out here. And I've lived in these parts off and on my whole life., but mostly in the city. The good land I imagine all gets used for cattle and farming, my great-grandparents didn't get here early enough to get good land so "the farm" as the family calls it is up on the breaks, or the upper watershed, between two small rivers.  So one side gullies off to the North and the other side gullies off to the South. Those gullies both frighten and charm me. I worry about erosion, but perhaps they've been like that for a hundred years already. But the other day I found the spring that was used my great Grandparents at the head of the Gully near the Old Homestead. That Gully has running water and Reeds and cattails and racoon and I'm not sure what else because I can't tell this time of year.

If you're interested in my thread it's called  Re-homesteading in the Dust Bowl.

I am absolutely not an expert here, however I would guess that the 24-hour time period Is really all you need. So I'm guessing you have no clay.
Let's ask Bryant Redhawk.

I am just starting out on my land and my permaculture adventure so I am not interested in things that are off-topic. I think it would be lovely to have a women-only building week and  build a small hyperadobe Roundhouse. Hyper Adobe, like cob, is low tech and more about cooperation than strength. And for those of us who live in tornado areas it's safer than cob, especially when combined with tornado resistant building techniques. I attended a women's only building workshop 25 years ago and it was great fun. We fed ourselves, we played in the creek, we hung out at night and played music and danced, we went off by ourselves and wandered in the woods, and we gave somebody a good start on a little cob house.

I thoroughly enjoyed One Man's Wilderness about Dick Proenneke on CD. As I recalled much of it is excerpts from his diaries. I see that it is also an audiobook on Amazon and it is free if you have the service.

Tj Jefferson, I can't say if they are debarked. The bark is pretty thin stuff and probably came off when they were limbed. What is the minimum diameter that will make a good fence post? What is the minimum length? A tarp won't last - in the last week the wind has blown 20+ mph for 3 full days and gusted to who knows what! And it blows from all four directions! I would have to build a primitive shed with raw cedar. Currently I don't have any machines on the place, including a chainsaw. I can see that a chainsaw will make the job go quicker; right now I have a Silky saw which is fine for the smaller ones. I could probably pull most of them off the pastures via the well or county roads but I need to purchase a 4 wheeler or old truck to do that with. My vehicle is not good for that.

The cedars grow up out of the gullys when fire is not allowed to burn the prairies. As I would like to be able to burn sometimes I don't want to plant trees up on the prairies. I'm pretty sure Russian Olive is frowned upon now because it invades. There are  a few elms, and the neighbor has Kentucky Coffee Bean trees along his road. Also, this tall white tree whatever it is though it is in a somewhat protected lower area. The cedar and white tree are easily 25' high.

I have been wondering if the 20 foot high, 30 foot long pile of "eastern red cedar" and whatever other trees and brush were growing in the gully can be hugeled? The county came through this winter and piled it all on a relatively flat spot on the prairie. They used a large piece of heavy equipment to tear it out of their right-of-way and pile it up on my place. This is windy western Oklahoma with average 23" of rain. I realize it would need to be buried at least some and that dirt could be used to cover it. Also I would have to hire big equipment to do all this at who knows what cost. There is no water to water it. Around here cedar posts that have been in the ground 50 years eventually rot at ground level and fall and then the posts lie there forever. Should I consider hugeling it? If you follow the link to my Clearing Invasive Eastern Red Cedar thread you can see the pile if you scroll down.permies clearing invasive eastern red cedar thread

When I was on Vancouver Island this fall someone mentioned that they grow citrus trees there. When threatened with a freeze they use old-style Christmas lights wrapped around the trunk; and branches I presume. Lit of course.