Aaron Pate

I've had mixed results, too.

With cut flowers, I've always made sure to make fresh cuts on the ends of the stems if they've been sitting out for any length of time. I read something about the stem callusing over and being unable to 'drink' water as effectively. Maybe with our basil, the time between cutting and sticking in a vase is to blame. I imagine temperature, humidity, and age of the plant could affect the stem, too.

Following in case someone has good advice! :)

(Edit: typo)

I'm learning, too. I don't have a dehydrator, and I like the idea of cutting out that step anyway, if it's not necessary. So this year I went searching for information about using freshly harvested elderberries.

I found a lot of good info on this site: (https://cedarmountainherbs.com/the-truth-about-elderberries/). In particular, this is the first place I've seen the strong recommendation to gently crush the berries before tincturing. Apple Cider Vinegar is what I have on hand at the moment, so I started an Oxymel; we'll see how it tastes in a few weeks!

On Permies, Alicia Bayer has shared a lot of great knowledge as well (https://permies.com/t/99351/Elderberry-toxicity-tinctures). I need to get her book. Great stuff on her website as well.

I wonder if there's a way to process the shavings first to remove some of the glue, then proceed with other suggestions here. I'm not imagining 100%, but something like 80% glue removed for 20% of the effort.

What effect would occur soaking the shavings in water for a few days, weeks? Months? Would the gluey shavings float or sink? Would the glue stay attached? What about soaking in other types of nontoxic-gick?

Would a controlled fungi-composting bin break down the wood and leave big chunks of glue to be screened out? Or, back to the soaking idea, how would the fungal-gluey-shavings behave in water?

Could be fun to run some experiments!

If you could get them 80% cleaner, that might open up options you're comfortable with.

Note - I'm imagining the floor of my own workshop after doing some planing or drawknife stuff. Sure, I assume there's a trace of glue if I'm smoothing out a piece of joinery, for example. On the other hand, if I'm cutting plywood, mdf, or pressure treated wood, I treat that stuff like toxic waste and vacuum it up pretty thoroughly and send it to the landfill.

I saw an ad a few years ago for something that was supposed to work this way. It was a sort of wand thing you'd trace the garden edges with. I don't know if it worked through a phone/app, but that sounds likely.  The tool worked much like rolling along with a surveyors wheel except it would capture more data. Unfortunately I don't remember what the product was called.

This would probably have to use some kind of local space-sensing tech, like LIDAR for example, as I don't think GPS/location data is accurate enough, so you might get to keep your location data off after all :)

Here in SC, I've cut them to the ground mid-summer and they bounce right back the next year. This has worked on trees 3+ inches in diameter, maybe 5+ year old trees. In fact, in the past, we were trying to kill them! (In our area they are considered weedy/invasive, as you mentioned.)

I'm no longer at war with the silk trees, but I'm very aggressive with harvesting them. They're so rugged here I cut poles and leaves (green mulch) any time it's convenient. I cut them back if I notice flowering, since I do want to avoid them spreading. (There are plenty of mimosa seeds spreading onto the property from elsewhere, very abundant here)

If I wanted to be more gentle to the tree, I would cut no more than 1/3 in a year, and I would avoid peak summer heat. That's how I treat some of my other chop-and-drop trees.

We store shelf-stable foods for immediate use, and for long-term resilience, all together in one big pantry. I think most of our canned goods, dry beans, and whole grains have 12+ months of shelf life, and anything with an unusually short life gets treated more like fresh produce, meaning we don't buy more than we need for a few weeks.

Still, it's easy to lose track of an item and let it expire, or to run out when you need it. We try to avoid this with a few simple rules:

- Shop with a list: The list hangs on the refrigerator with a pen attached. We make a meal plan for 1-2 weeks, and I only shop from the list. Sometimes, I'll notice an empty space on our shelves and realize we're low on an item - so I add it to the list. Or when I'm cooking, if I open the last jar of some item, I'll add it to the list. Sometimes I'll put "2x" or "4x" on the list, to remind me to get extra.

- First in, First out: new cans get placed behind old cans, and the old can gets pushed up front. When cooking, I grab from the front (the old can).

- When buying extra, double-check expiration dates: I usually move though the grocery store pretty quickly, rarely checking dates. But if I'm buying like... 4+ cans of something, I check and make sure they'll last. It's not uncommon for the grocery store to push old stock up to the front of the row!

I think this routine has prevented most things from gathering dust in our pantry, and we keep enough on hand to eat our 'normal' meals for a couple weeks, and to eat a limited version of our favorite recipes for a couple of months.

Maybe something else that helps, is I tend to buy the most versatile / base ingredients possible. I buy whole beans, not seasoned beans that only work in a certain dish. There's a "blackbean corn salsa" we like, but I usually just buy black beans, corn, and salsa separately. I have a sizable spice rack, but I never buy premixed / blends. This way we can make just about anything any time.

We repeat a lot of recipes, and use a lot of the same core ingredients, so I have a good sense of what our staples are.

The freezer ehhh.... is another story. I struggle to keep freezer inventory organized... :P

I use digital tools for many things in my life, but I find that my brain needs paper, pen, and open shelving to organize short term things like food.

Yeardly Arthur wrote:Naturalized lamb's quarters (Goosefoot, Chenopodium spp.) ... We've been eating a lot of it, and usually wait til July or August before trying to bring in a crop for storage.

Whoa, Yeardly! I've had fresh leaves a few times in a salad, but it looks like you have incorporated lamb's quarters in your kitchen in a big way. I'm impressed with the auto-dehydrator.

Is dehydrating your main way of working with it? How do you use the dehydrated leaves?

I don't have any strategies to share, just wanted to stop by and say I empathize. We had a similar issue last season and I felt terrible knocking down a large nest after many years without conflict. Genuinely, it felt like I was betraying my friends

Another shoutout for cowpeas here in South Carolina (7b / 8a). I have good and bad years with most vegetables, but the Pinkeye Purple Hull cowpeas seem to produce no matter what.

The infamous Everglades tomato does well here, even self-seeding in woodchips and shady forested areas.

I tried the Seminole pumpkins a couple times. The plants did well, but it seems like our season is barely too short. We got a few ripe ones, but lots of immature squash still on the vine when first frost hit. The next year I tried South Anna Butternut with great results. Heavy producer, almost no bug damage. I believe South Anna is a cross between Seminole and Waltham butternuts.

Could be voles? Sometimes the difference between big damage and small damage in my garden is whether or not the voles thought it tasted good after the first bite.

But then again, I blame everything on voles...