Katya Zaimov

This is a very interesting topic and I have been reading and experimenting on a small scale in my backyard. So far I have played with a few species that grow in the back corner of the yard, which I call “The Jungle”. Looking forward to learning more.

I have stitched myself one from leather. Made the pattern literally from flipping the phone and drawing around it. The first one was using scraps from an old handbag. Because I didn’t know much about leather, I used saddle stitch with waxed cotton. Reused the handbag’s clasp. After about a year the thin leather that I used for the side tore up. I will remake this one but in the meantime used some scrap leather from Hobby Lobby and made another case. This one doesn’t have a clasp. The closure is based on a medieval bag design using a loop and a strap. Very secure. Look up Birka bag. My case is oriented horizontally and is really convenient. Let me see if I can take a picture to show you.

Jane Southall wrote: I have many violets in the area.  I also thought of alpine strawberries for the guild.  Would it be possible to have both violets and alpines beneath apple trees?  Or is that too competitive? Thanks.

The violets will give you more food than the strawberries. I use the flowers and the leaves in salads a lot. If they compete with the alpines, let them battle and see who wins, is my humble opinion. Eventually they will reach an equilibrium.

Anthony Dougherty wrote:Has anyone tried sunflower stem? Supposedly there was a native tribe that used sunflower for almost everything, I'm interested in trying it but figured I'd ask if others have tried it first

What an interesting idea! I don’t have sunflowers but my Jerusalem artichokes are over 10’ tall and the stems need trimming down after flowering. I will try twining fibers from it and maybe retting some to see what happens. They are the same genus as the sunflowers.