Nancy Reading

William Bronson wrote: I think grain has the advantage when it comes to storage duration.
How many roots can be stored for years and still be edible?

I was thinking about this recently, and although it may be true that most roots do not store in their unprocessd state, roots can be dried, or fermented,  or otherwise processed to gain longevity. I have been experimenting with dried silverweed, which I dug about this time last year (when I harvested my potatoes) and they were in perfect condition still. I was able to grind them into a nice flour and cook with them (see here). I'm sure I've read that the native Americans stored and traded silverweed and camas bulbs over quite long distances. Potatoes too are stored in freeze dried form in South America. I've dried other roots (Skirret, Swede, carrots, parsnip) and they store perfectly well for use later in stews. If you consider the processing involved in extracting many grains from the stalk, washing, cutting and drying vegetables doesn't seem too onerous perhaps.

The stress of modern life affects different people in different ways. I am lucky in that I have an ability to ignore stuff, turn a blind eye, or bury my head in the sand. Very rarely do I find myself worked up about something, and it is usually something that will affect me (or I think it will). Some people do get more affected by all the bad things that are happening, whether or not they are directly affected, and really make themselves sick by worry. That frustration of being able to do nothing, or trying to do too much is the trouble I think.
One thing I do that I believe to be positive is posting on permies. It may not help the political situations around the world, but by raising awareness of less damaging ways of living, I hope that we may make a difference to the environmentally damaging things that people do. When I think about all the stuff in the news and what is going wrong I like to think about the positive things I do for my family and my community to help build our resiliance; running a grocery store, planting a garden, installing solar and battery backup.
You may also find this thread on peaceful moments of help perhaps.

Loretta Ross

When people think the same idea and move in the same direction, that’s a cult. When people think many different ideas and move in one direction, that’s a movement.

Do you think you would buy a big tract and then subdivide? I imagine that doing all the earthworks at once would be most efficient.

Who would you be selling to? I mean, homesteader, someone who just wants a nice place to live, someone who wants a camping spot? I suspect in most cases water sources would still be required for drinking/washing.

Eino Kenttä wrote:It germinated faster than bistort bulbils? Now that takes some doing...

I don't know whether my bistort seed will be viable. I have only got one clone I think (a garden plant) so I am not sure if the seed will be good - I'm interested in developing a bistort seed strain, but that is a different subject!

Christopher Weeks wrote:We had (vegetarian) Dried Venison and Corn Salad from page 56 for dinner. I’m sure we’ll have it again.

very nice - beans? and colourful corn

I've had really good success this year growing dahlia from seed, presumably they like really cool wet summers! It is fun to see all the different flower colours - and the different colours have different flavours!

floriferous Dahlia from seed

They have edible tubers too, as Anthony mentioned above, so I'm excited to see if I can have a crop with two edible uses - the bees love the flowers too! In my experience they will overwinter in the ground here (I usually have a mild winter) So hopefully I can select the best ones to regrow again next year. As they flower in the first year it ought to be possible to fairly quickly get an 'improved' variety. Marieke's project seeds gave me a good starting point.

I'll just add a note on germination: It may be that older, dried seed requires vernalisation, but I can say in my experience that you get very good germination in autumn from fresh seed! I sowed some of mine in a seed snail pot to over winter just after i harvested it - maybe the end of August. Our temperatues have been fairly consistently in the mid teens celsius, but I got pretty good germination within a couple of weeks!
Now I just need to keep the seedlings alive over the winter...

There are three pots - one has bistort, one aronia and the third (with sprouts) good king henry.

John Weiland wrote:Oooops...just realized this was a "Top 10" list:

As well as building an extension to your outbuilding - good luck!

(bump)