Chris Ray

Zach-o Taco wrote:Chris Ray,  
Where in minnesota are you located? I just moved into I5 acre parcel of reclaimed ag farmstead and I'm hopeing to transition to an 'easy' food plot for new people to the sport of hunting as well as develop the soil on the land. If youre not too far out of st. Cloud, I wouldn't mind picking your brain as to your successes over the past year!

Zach,

I live in Coon Rapids, so not to far from you.  

COVID threw a curve ball, and I haven't spent as much time at the land owners site I have been helping out as I had hoped.  I would be happy to help if I can, just shoot me a PM.

Chris

The flower beds surrounding the house were full of landscaping rock, that I have spent the last couple of years removing and replacing with wood chips.  But I have a huge pile of this rock to get rid of.  I have tried giving it away, and here is sits.  The rocks range in size from a quarter, to tennis ball.

I have decided to finally cut down some trees in my back yard and use the wood to make three 10‘x4’ Hügelkultur beds.  The trees need to come down, they cast the back yard in almost complete shade.
Would I be making a mistake by digging a foot deeper and spreading the rock evenly at the bottom of the three beds, then placing the wood?

I know it can cause some drainage, but enough to warrant not doing it?

Shawn Klassen-Koop wrote:

Chris Ray wrote:I upgraded my $30 to $100 and got an email about my "weird" contribution.  The email asked me to post in this thread.  Is there anything else I need to do to get the $100 level rewards?

Hi Chris, thanks for posting here!

It looks like we'll need another $15 from you to square up on shipping costs. You can do so here:

https://permies.com/pp/15/chris-ray-kickstarter-fix

Hi Shawn,

I paid the extra $15.

Thanks,

Chris

I upgraded my $30 to $100 and got an email about my "weird" contribution.  The email asked me to post in this thread.  Is there anything else I need to do to get the $100 level rewards?

Hi Travis,

I have been reading a lot at QDMA and Mossy Oak Gamekeepers, to familiarize myself with common methods.  They both have good information, but neither uses permaculture practices.  

I have a friend of a friend with almost 200 acres here in Minnesota, who is pretty open to my ideas.  We've got plans on planting fruit and nut trees, opening up some of the canopy and removing competitor trees where there are oaks.  He has several 1/4-2 acre fields that he wants to plant food plots.  He's an old-timer and wants to disc, fertilize, round-up everything.  I'm still a permaculture newbie, and am still trying to figure out how to handle food plots. so far I'm suggesting things like clover, chicory to improve the soil, and provide food for the game at the same time.  

creating bedding habitat, and places for the deer to winter is another area I am trying to study.

I could go on and on.  What things are you learning about now?

Chris

Hi Travis,

I am actually studying this very thing right now.  I'm glad I found this post, and will be readying your articles ASAP.  Do you have a newsletter for your blog?

I agree with you, I think we can really boost wildlife on our lands with permaculture practices.  The common theme I am seeing offered is using roundup ready seeds, fertilizer, roundup, rinse repeat.

If you ever want to bounce ideas off of someone, or exchange ideas, let me know.

Chris