Alina Green

A few thoughts:
- rabbit or guinea pig for manure you can use immediately

- quail for manure to be composted

- cover cropping can produce fertility plus compostables (think things like millet, teff, corn, oats, rye, sorghum, or other grasses, in addition to soil-breakers like daikon radish, plus legumes such as cowpeas or beans, plus amaranth for the goosefoot family, plus vetch, sunflowers, cosmos, or something to attract pollinators and beneficial insects.

- making an indoor worm composting bin for all kitchen scraps

- collect scraps from others who are more than happy to assuage their guilt by giving them to you (I collect from two apartment-dwelling friends)

- JMS (Jadam microbial solution) to extend the microbes in the small amounts of compost that you can product, so that it can be used over a greater area

- low-quality carbonaceous waste such as  shredded newspaper, junk mail, or cardboard.  There is a lot of argument about the chemicals in the dyes and colorants.  Some say they'll kill you.  Others insist they are broken down by the microbes.

Some resources:
JMS how to:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv-TOGhwlW4

To be fair, I have not yet used this method, and I understand you can also add compost with the leaf-mold soil.  The principle is you are creating conditions (with starch/sugars) to feed the microbes in the soil/compost you provide. The salt provides micronutrients.

Cover cropping for compost materials:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ecxi9RiQn8


And an example of how this is being implemented in Peru, to help the indigenous people to thrive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9UqfOnE58c
Notice the division of crops for guinea pig food (which in turn provide food for them plus manure to return fertility to the system), plus food for humans plus carbon compostable materials.

You can find miner's lettuce, rat-tail radish, and corn salad at Baker Creek:  https://www.rareseeds.com/lettuce-miner-s
also at Nichol's Garden Nursery (they have a nice array of herbs, too):  https://nicholsgardennursery.com/

I like mizuna, choy sum, or bok choy as a fast-growing crop.  They withstand humidity and heat better than some of the above, more temperate-climate plants.

Actually, most of the Asian greens grow faster.  I get tired of waiting 2 months to eat kale.  While it is still a tiny seedling, the Asian greens are almost bolting already.

And if you can get your hands on some ong choy, aka water spinach or kangkung, you can put a cutting in water and get roots in 2 days, and greens in a couple weeks if you plant that cutting in the ground...then continued harvests from that thereafter.  (they have hollow stems, if you need help identifying them)

They like water, will grow in water-logged soil.  Jack Spirko grows tubs of this to have food security and duck fodder.

It doesn't like cold climates, though.  It also will grow from seed, although not as quickly as a cutting.

I just skimmed this long string and am so happy to see you not only got a uke but are also progressing quite well, it seems.

And you're also noticing things like the "feel" or the "soul" of a piece--how one person playing can seem so blah, but another can make it come alive.

Music is a language, a means of self-expression.  And like a language, you can read, write, speak/play, and listen.  You're gradually incorporating all of those facets in.

And I love imagining your geese mesmerized, listening to you.  Glad they liked it!

I've discovered it helps to start on a lower quality or "student" instrument at first, because of cost.  Once you've stuck with one for a while and can afford it, you can upgrade to a professional quality instrument.

Have you considered asking at your local music store if they have any referrals to other players in your area?  That might be a way to get some questions answered, but it might also be an avenue for you to try and maybe buy another instrument.

Musicians tend to have multiple instruments, and we often have something we no longer want and may be willing to part with it to someone serious, who will respect the instrument, rather than sell it blindly, since someone might just treat it disrespectfully.

Instruments have souls, after all...  

When we do African dancing, we must pay respects to each of the drummers and their drums when we are finished.  As a musician, I truly feel that respect, knowing firsthand how much time, money, energy, and hard work goes into playing an instrument before one gets to the point where it sounds good enough to be played in public, or as a performer or professional.

But in your case, where you're doing this for enjoyment and expression, you are listening more than you realize, because you're already changing things to what seems to sound better in your heart and ears. This is part of the progression.

And isn't it amazing?  Like a sort of magic.

For inspiration, here is Jake Shimabukuro.  One reason I enjoy his playing is he so thoroughly enjoys it.  He's been playing since he was 3, by the way.



Keep up the fantastic work!  If you get brave enough, I'd encourage you to video yourself playing a song from start to finish...or as much as you can, at various points along the way.  It will give you an outside look that can often point things out for you to improve, correct, or continue.  AND it's a fabulous way to document your progress.

A system that is growing in popularity (and I hope will continue to do so as this shortage ramps up) is Korean Natural Farming.  Farmers can create what they need in-house, using items they have on hand, or can obtain very inexpensively, such as milk, salt, eggshells, and potatoes.



Also, there are inputs made even more simply by his son, using a method he calls JADAM.  He's also developed a liquid soap farmers can make at home, which can incorporate various herbs or things to target pests more naturally.



Both of these are regenerative, rather than degenerative, and sustainable because they use products that are grown or used, rather than thrown away.

Growers who have used Jadam liquid fertilizer say it's better to let it sit a long time, until the anaerobic stench has dissipated.

Another benefit of JADAM methods are that he got rid of the heaters and pumps, something that may become increasingly important if the costs rise or availability of gas, oil, energy drops.

Think of making kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt, or kefir, and herbal teas...but for your plants.

And it moves us more and more toward a full circle of usability, versus the linear, input-heavy methods currently in use in the endangered western world methods.  We're working with Nature, instead of against it.  Encouraging growth and balance through biodiversity, rather than decimating select species.

These practices have been used by production farmers, so they already have a proven track record.

<I wanna find out if we could use horse poop, but without food particles that in turn germinate seed.
Are there any in stores that are without food particles?>

I'd be far more concerned about getting persistent poisons in poop, not seeds.

Seeds create biodiversity, and yes, while some weeds are so horrendous (dodder, anyone?) that you must be on your toes to eradicate them, most are merely fitting into a space in the ecosystem and provide benefit in some way.

But the persistent poisons will kill anything you have growing, and render that soil useless for several years, I've heard.

Yes, it goes right through the animals, and farmers don't know what is sprayed on hay that they purchase, in most cases, I think.

K Carpenter wrote: Here's what I started with: Tulsi (Holy Basil),...

That will grow easily here, too.  What do you take that tincture for, and how much/how often?

Hahaha, I hit reply to say, "plantain!" and there were already the above posts mentioning it.  With good reason.  My chickens will also eat it, so that's another benefit.

I'd add cayenne to the list.  Since I personally have used it as a styptic, to stop bleeding of a nasty large gash sliced by a broken jar, I can vouch for its usefulness in that specific regard.  The cut, which I'm sure would have required stitches, healed without a hitch nor a stitch.

It purportedly has other uses, like regulating blood pressure, eliminating worms, increasing blood circulation.

Tastes good, too, so, if we think like our ancestors, grow stuff that's multipurpose.

Before 1904 and the p-harmaceutical system in place now, everyone used plant medicine, and they survived to create us, so I'd say that is proof enough for me that it works.

Besides, with what's coming soon, we'll need to keep costs minimal, and a chili pepper is affordable.  And weeds (like plantain) are, well...even cheaper!

This may answer some of your questions:

r ransom wrote:What i really like is something like the mandolin, but they are crazy expencive.

If I can learn the ukulele, is it close enough to the mandolin or lute?  They have strings, so it can't be that different.

Or am I dreaming?

Well, here's one answer:
A mandolin has 8 strings.
An ukulele has 4.
So the mandolin is at least twice as difficult.

All kidding aside, you'll have to see if there's a musician here who plays both ukulele and mandolin, to see how much translation there is from one to the other.

<They have strings, so it can't be that different.
Well, strings feel different and sound different.  Plastic strings don't hurt your fingers as much as steel strings.
Tuning will obviously be different, so notes will be in different places on the instrument.

There's likely a reason they sell toy ukuleles, and many kids take ukulele lessons, and no toy mandolins that I know of, nor do I know any kids taking lessons on them, either...although, if you're somewhere like Appalachia, I'm sure I'd be wrong!!