Greg Harness

I have far too many elm trees growing hither and thither on my farm. I'm pruning the small ones down to the ground. Is there anything I can plant near these stumps that will compete with the elms so I get more of something more useful?

I have a few old lilacs, definitely decades old, and definitely neglected and overgrown. What have the rest of you done to reinvigorate old lilacs? And what time of year do you do whatever it is you do?

Lucca Wade wrote:Are there any dangers associated with using rabbit poo in a human-food garden?

I put my rabbit manure straight onto the garden without worrying about composting.

I spent far too many years tinkering with gardens without any thought to long-term goals. I consider the food forest I'm creating now to be my retirement plan. I'm hoping that if I put in the work now, I'll be able to grow the majority of my own food for many years to come with minimal effort.

This is my first spring with ducks. I'll getting ready to do my early spring planting in a couple of weeks or so. I have six ducks, and the garden space is about 1/10th of an acre. Right now my ducks can forage in the garden area and beyond, and I consider that a very good thing. Once seeds are planted, what are your recommendations for what to do with the ducks? Do you tend to fence yours out? If so, for how long? Or do you let them forage and que sera sera? What has worked and not worked for you?

Fascinating. I've always heard that first planting should happen here when snow can no longer be seen on the local ski hill. Now I'm thinking I'd better plant some crocus, forsythia, daffodil, lilac, lily of the valley, iris, and dogwood.

Jim Fry wrote:Also the tires on the carts are thinner, so if you have thorns or puncturing stuff, you'll have more flats with the cart.

I have a lot of that puncturing stuff and therefore have experienced many flat tires on my cart. That's the main reason I use my wheelbarrow most of the time.

I built new raised beds last year and mulched them heavily last fall. I'm three to four weeks out from the earliest spring planting, but it's still plenty cold here and there is fresh snow on the ground today. I'm wondering about if and when to do a round of spring mulching. I have straw and alfalfa hay available along with duck and chicken bedding and some rabbit and guinea pig manure. In general, what's my best bet for the next step before spring planting?

Welcome Maddy!

I have been working my way through the back catalog of Paul Wheaton's Permaculture Podcasts, and I was listening -- just this very morning -- to these episodes:

Podcast 332 - Maddy Harland on Most Recent Issue of Permaculture Magazine Part 1

Podcast 333 - Maddy Harland on Most Recent Issue of Permaculture Magazine Part 2

It could be a soothing white noise. I’d be fine with it.