Sean Eriksen

Hey all, I’m near Leavenworth WA and in the process of establishing a food forest of sorts, with various heartnuts, walnuts, apples, pears, almonds, plums, mulberry, currants, gooseberry, and various other native and cultivated edible perennials. What I’m lacking is good sources of nitrogen. I don’t have much access to animal manure currently, and I don’t have any nitrogen fixing plants, other than some volunteer alfalfa.

I’m hesitant to plant a bunch of black locust because I’m on 2.5 acres adjacent to a creek and it would be ideal conditions for them to spread throughout the entire area. Perhaps that’s something I want? Some people in this area frown upon black locust, although I think it has many beneficial properties, and it’s too dry around here for it to really spread like it would in western Washington. But it’s also kinda a thorny struggle when they’re young trees. I could be convinced to try them if someone’s had strong positive opinions about growing them for this application though. But, are there alternatives that might do the nitrogen fixing job just as well? Has anyone tried the native Ceanothus plant interplanted among cultivated trees? Seems a bit rough and hard to maneuver around. How about Siberian Pea Shrub? I’ve tried several times growing those and they don’t seem to grow all that abundantly. Otherwise I’d be leaning towards nitrogen fixing ground cover, which would be some kind of vetch, peas, clover, etc. I’m trying to stay away from annuals for this particular use. Does anyone have any suggestions and experience with this conundrum in this bioregion?

Thanks
-Sean

Thanks for the responses y’all. I’m a little west and uphill from Wenatchee so we get about 20ish inches and more snow. But nonetheless it seems like irrigation for at least a few years with most things will be essential. I shall experiment….

Is it possible to grow fruits, nuts, veggies, and/or grains in central Washington without supplemental irrigation?? I know you can get some established with irrigation, or you can plant native seeds, but has anyone had success actually planting trees/shrubs in this type of climate without the need for supplemental irrigation? Is the idea of a dry food forest possible? How many years after making swales and cover cropping would it take?? Would it all need to be next to a pond or a creek? Or is it even possible?? Or should I just set up drip irrigation to establish things for a couple years before removing the irrigation?? Should I sew cultivated plant seeds and see what can survive?? Should I try it all!?? Probably….

Asking for opinions, insights, and experienced wisdom.

Thanks!

I live in central Washington state, a temperate climate with snowy winters and hot dry up to 100F summers. Sometimes no rain for 3 summer months and the rest of the precipitation is mostly all winter snow aside from occasional drizzles with rare rainstorms. About 25” per year of precipitation. I am building swales across the 2.5 acres with a mattock and shovel.

The greatest philosophical debate within my mind is whether to plant trees and seeds and things on the land uphill of the swale, within the swale, on the berm, or at the downhill base of the berm? So much variety of opinions out there, I’d just like to see what people think for this particular climate.

My goal is zero supplemental irrigation, minimal inputs, play the slow game, and grow high calorie foods.

Looking forward to responses. Thank you in advance.

Hi all, I have high amounts of iron in my well water, including small flakes and sediment. I’ve got a salt-based filter for water entering the house, but I’m looking to set up a drip irrigation system using 1/2” poly tubing. Seems I should get a cleanable mesh filter to install ahead of the drip tubing so it doesn’t quickly clog right? Would probably end up going thru tons of salt if I attached the salt filter to the irrigation system. Maybe? I’ll be drip irrigating about 300 feet of trees/shrubs/annuals in a semi-arid climate. Does anyone have recommendations for filters to use ahead of drip lines in this scenario? I’ve been recommended steel mesh filters that can be removed, cleaned, and reused. Trying to figure out which one would be best.

Thanks,
Sean

Semi arid climate, typical hot drought summers, snowy wet winters. Best techniques of growing most food with minimal irrigation?

Hey y'all. I've got a site in central Washington, about 20" precip per year with most precipitation from October-March consisting of snow, which then melts and the weather turns very hot and dry throughout the summer, including high wildfire risks. The site has a slight slope down toward a creek about 400 feet away. I'm trying to grow fruit/nut/native trees/shrubs and staple vegetables like corn, potatoes, beans, and squash. High calorie foods. But, I want to do it with minimal irrigation, ideally none.

Question is, with this section of land, would you recommend one of the following:

a) rent an expensive excavator, gather tons of logs, and make giant hugelkulturs on contour
b) hand dig swales, fill them up to just about ground level with logs and brush, then cover with soil to act as natural berms, then plant into those with trees/shrubs
b) dig swales on contour, but plant things within the swales rather than on the berms because the climate is so dry and so sunken beds would actually be more beneficial
c) dig swales, plant trees on the downhill slopes of the swales, then with the 15 feet between the swales plant vegetable crops and bite the bullet and run drip irrigation to them
d) dig swales, plant trees on the downhill slopes of the swales, then run chicken/rabbit tractors between the swales until eventually the soil is so rich you can dry farm veggies in between the swales
e) rent expensive excavator, and without previous experience doing so although many hours spent reading and watching youtube videos on the subject, try to dig pond on south side of these hugelkulturs/swales/etc.
f) something else

Open to any and all ideas. Here's a drawing of the landscape. Extra info: I've water dowsed and got readings of potential water underground going through these dotted lines on the land. Previous land owner said they had two water dowsers out who both said there was a large underground spring in that southeastern line specifically. Haven't found much indicator plants for this yet, other than wild ancient apple tree along road that is one of few areas not previously mowed (i've only been here one year). Also, my drinking water is currently heavily filtered due to extreme iron amounts. Having a better source of water is of interest. IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS WHO'S GOT EM??

I live in Central Washington, with very hot dry summers and *usually* very snowy winters, sometimes 10ft total over the winter. Zone 5b or so according to agriculture science folks. I recently bought a 100 year old house that has a fieldstone rock and mortar cellar that's about 7.5-8 feet tall and has a two story stud framed house above it in great disrepair with multiple punched out walls and additions. The cellar stays about a constant 50 degrees and has the typical humid open ground feel. There's a storm cellar type of door leading up to ground level. On the uphill side of the house the rock wall is at ground level (not ideal, since the sill plate has rotted out and was replaced by previous owner), and on the downslope side the rock wall is about 2 feet above grade. The side with the door faces south, the uphill side faces a busy street, and the downhill side faces a creek. On the north side, the outlet plumbing to the septic tank is about 7 feet high on the rock wall. Electricity comes in on the uphill side to a panel that's in the cellar as well. Instead of trying to spend lots of $$ on repairing the house, I'm very inclined to make use of the subterranean thermal properties of the cellar and live somewhat underground. I like the idea of using cob and I like roundwood. Both of which materials I can find within 10 miles, and have experience using.

My rough concept currently is to deconstruct everything down to the foundation, build a short post and beam shed roof a few feet above the top of the foundation, infill the walls with cob,  and somehow insulate the roof ideally without fiberglass.

Big questions, though, are how would I get plumbing drains to travel downhill and out? Would I make a loft that has the bathroom and sink? Should I just make it an entire story on top of the foundation? I've heard cob can be hard to heat and might have condensation issues in cold climate? How steep do i need the roof to be to account for snowload, and if it's so short above the grade then won't it all pile up at the base of the roof? I'll likely dig a swale around the house to help with drainage, but there's minimal signs of any water seeping in to the cellar in past years which is good. And if I try to heat with a rocket mass heater or a wood stove, would you put that in the cellar or on the upper level?

Open to any and all ideas. I think there's ton's of potential to take advantage of a thick stone cellar especially in this climate. Eager to hear if others on here have suggestions. Thank you.

Hi all, I'm creating a public food forest-inspired garden in Central Washington state. (Roughly Zone 6 USDA Hardiness). My largest question is how do I irrigate this thing?? I'll be growing some native plants, but also many fruit trees/shrubs/vines/groundcover/herbs. It's on flat land, we get minimal precipitation in the growing months, and we have access to irrigation canal/city water in abundance. Ideally I could dig swales, and gravity feed or flood the area, but I don't think either of those is possible given the flat and sandy soil. At this point I'm resorting to using drip irrigation on timers. If y'all think this is the best strategy, the second question is, what kind of drip irrigation materials to use? I would ideally create a twisty curvy garden that has more rounded pathways with guilds of plants in between, but that presents a challenge with how to run irrigation lines that way.  The other option is to do relatively straight rows and run irrigation along those. What is everyones thoughts on this, and perhaps what kinds of irrigation materials would you suggest using? Thank you.

Hi all,

A few months ago I bought a 2.6 acre property 10 minutes outside of Leavenworth, WA in the eastern Cascade Mountain foothills, and I’m considering the idea of opening up the land this spring-fall for others to live here in exchange for helping with building/growing this “homestead”.

I moved to this area 1.5 years ago after having traveled around the country for 2 years doing work trades and WWOOFing on farms and homesteads. It was an awesome experience, and I learned a lot. Now I’ve been extremely lucky to be able to buy this land, and amidst the daunting nature of trying to rehabilitate a piece of land and structures that were not given the most care, I am wondering if there might be a good fit for others to join me here seasonally to help with the process.

The weather here is a full 4 seasons (hot and dry reaching around 100F in summer, cold and snowy dropping typically to around 15-30F in winter) I think this would be a better option for the warmer months.

The property is within a canyon, although for this area it has good southern sun exposure, with winter sun rising over the east hill at about 830am and setting over the west hill at about 2:30pm. The property is adjacent to a 35mph road, which buffers the railroad line on the other side (luckily it’s on a turn so it goes about 35 mph with no honking). The other side of the property line is a year round creek that’s host to small fish, many birds, deer, foxes, raccoons, mountain lion (haven’t seen those yet), and more. The land has mature walnut, apple, pear, willow, cottonwood, pine, douglas fir, chokecherry, butter cherry, hawthorn, and birch trees. I have ordered several nut and fruit trees/shrubs to plant in the spring, and a local non profit will hopefully be able to plant lots of native plants around the land through a grant they received for riparian areas in this county. The land has a very good and powerful energy about it and that was the main draw. This property was one of the first homesteads ever built in this area for year round living. The property has a 100 year old stud framed two story house with a rock and mortar basement. It teeters on the edge of something worth restoring or tearing down. There’s a double wide trailer that needs to be demolished and removed. There’s a few random outbuildings that were chicken pens and little storage barns that have deteriorated. There’s currently one well, two septic systems, and power to both structures. The septics tanks some repair with the baffles, and the well is filtered for iron, which is common in the wells around here. I use 5 gallon jugs for drinking water that I fill up in town. I’ve dowsed the land and heard from previous owners that there’s likely a shallow underground spring on the property that I’m very interested in exploring to see if I could get cleaner water.

My goal is to make at least two dwellings here that are comfortable, simple, economical, and use minimally toxic materials, although still not entirely sure if that means restoring what’s here and/or rebuilding on existing footprints. I’d like to grow food, store food, and leave this land better than I found it in terms of biodiversity and habitat for many species. I had a lot of wild dreams before buying this place about harvesting roundwood logs to build with, making all my own silverware from carved wood, creating a food forest, raising sheep and other animals, having multiple passive solar earthen buildings, etc. But upon moving in, working full time, and realizing the time and cost it takes to do everything, I’ve scaled back my goals a bit (for now).

I’m 27, living solo, my family lives a few hours from here, and I work as a land steward at an environmental education center and as the gardener for a food forest at a nearby resort. When not trying to build/grow this property or working, I'm typically playing sports, watching sports, thinking, reading, eating, or foraging.

I don’t have a set exchange in mind, or what the setup would be exactly, but I’m trying to open the idea of what it could look like. I’ve lived in intentional communities and other shared land type of communities and they all function a bit differently. For now, I think the best I could offer, and what I think would be the best benefit for others, would be to offer a place to stay on the land in exchange for your time helping with things. If someone had a van or trailer or some other type of mobile housing, I could provide land to stay on with access to power,!water, and bathrooms/composting toilets in exchange for a certain number of hours per week helping with projects. I would prefer people who feel inspired by this idea and have homesteading related skills, such as building, plumbing, electrical, gardening, general labor, etc.  I could envision people staying here for varying lengths of time, and since weather is most easily livable in the late spring thru early fall that would be the ideal window.

If this is of interest, please feel free to comment and provide feedback on how you think I could go about making this work. Even if you’re not particularly interested for yourself, I’d be curious if others have done similar setups on their land and how they navigated including other people to help and share. I am not for sure yet that this is something I’ll be doing, but I am curious to hear what the response would be and if people have questions or comments about the idea. Play it by ear. Thanks for reading. -Sean