Arthur Wierzchos

Welcome to Permies Hannah!

Personally Im a big fan of covering wood with dirt, especially in areas that have poor nutrient availability or abused soils.  Its a great way to quickly add organic matter and carbon, which help create those conditions for happy growies.

Organizing logs lengthwise across contour lines in a way that slows, sinks, and spreads water into the directions we choose can help capture and retain both moisture and nutrients, especially if combined with a diversity of living roots and green covers.  This is a basic step that can be taken without worrying about too much labor inputs. Laying logs down, and spreading seeds to get something green capturing solar energy and injecting liquid carbon into the ground. More diversity of plant families interacting through root networks can help to unlock nutrients from varying depths that even soil tests won't show.  

Adding amendments can be tricky because it can be easy to overdo it.  Too much of one thing can make another less available.  

I like the Biology over Chemistry approach myself, but I do still acknowledge that some amendments might be necessary in some contexts.  It depends on what your goals and intentions are.  

What "weeds" or other plants are naturally showing up on their own?  This could help us get clued in on what's going on with your unique ecosystem.  

What is your geology?  Do you know the history of your land and how it has been used over time?  

hannah lpro wrote: My questions are: Will it improve the soil below even if I don't plan to plant onto the berm itself? Can I put the berm outside the fenced in garden and will it actually hold back enough water? Is it worth it? It seems like a lot of labor.

So, to answer your questions more directly, I think that soil can be improved without planting, but planting improves it more.  Holding back water is a matter of diversion and storage in relation to flow rates.  

What are the record rain events for your area?  How much water coming down the mountain is the potential, and are there barriers that can be made with less effort using a combination of trenches, and slightly off-contour swales, berms, or terraces?  Where can the excess water be moved to, without loosing it?  

Water is life, after all.  

Welcome to Permies Patricia!

Sounds like some thoughtful design work you have in mind.  

Planting Mulberries has never been a regrettable choice for me.

They are easy to manage, great for feeding the chickens, and some varieties are delicious! One of the top permaculture species.  

Your thoughts to use them to distract birds from other fruits is spot on with permaculture way of thinking.  Feeding the wildlife helps create all sorts of natural connections in the system.  Free bird poop fertilizer, potential insect control, and who doesn't love the songs they bring?  

As far as nitrogen fixers I try to not mix too many of them together in my system.  I've read from the regenerative ag experts, such as Dr. Christine Jones - who specializes in polyculture, that about 10% N fixers is a good rule of thumb.

I don't know much about Tennessee, but I am also in a zone 7 climate, so looking forward to what others will be willing to share.  

Eino Kenttä wrote:Thank you Arthur for the excellent tutorial! How did the grafts do?

I'm about to do this, will try my hand at nurse-grafting apples onto some random rowan seedlings I dug up...

My pleasure, Eino!  

Im glad somebody is finding the info useful.  Thanks for commenting.  It is nice to see this post again and being reminded of the trials from last year.

Long story short …most of my purchased grafts ended up failing, while at the same time I took scions from our own trees, and 90% of those succeeded.  I was very confused about what might have gone wrong, and I ended up being quick to quietly point the finger at the person who supplied the scion wood.  I didn't make a fuss about it, though, and went more into a reflective mode with closer observations, and eventually realized that it was probably my own dang fault.  There were some differences between the unsuccessful grafts I purchased and the successful ones that I transferred from one tree to another.

The Failed Grafts

I believe that the main mistakes I made with the purchased scions were:

[b]Grafting onto lower and thinner diameter branches on the trees, and out further from the main trunk. [/b] I was trying to match same size diameters to each each other mostly using a whip-and-tongue method. This also proved to be more time consuming, and I ended up with bleeding fingers more times than I care to admit.

Not cutting off the plastic wrap from the graft joints after a couple of months.  I waited until this year to do so, and realized that this caused a tourniquet type effect.  I wrapped the grafts very tight, and some ended up showing a clear bottle-neck shape.

Not helping to re-direct the sap-flow/energy into grafted areas.  I mostly left these to be after i was done, rather than coming back later to pick off new shoots on the tree being grafted onto.  I have read that trees tend to favor their own branches, rather than grafted branches, which tends to take away energy from the grafts.  

The Successful Grafts

Attached to larger diameter wood.   The method I used was mostly the bark or rind graft, or framework grafting, where multiple smaller diameter scions can be attached to the end of a larger diameter cut ends of scaffold limbs.  

The tree I chose was a much older healthy tree that had apples of spitting quality.  I decided to take a pollarding approach, where all the main upper branches were cut back to stumps. I was really trying to keep the cuts no larger than the diameter of a golf-ball size, as to minimize stress on the tree and prevent infections and future disease issues. A smaller diameter wound heals more quickly and easily.  

I cut vertical slits in the sides of the branches (between 2-4, depending on the thickness), and slid the wedge shaped scions under the bark layer, making sure to connect as much cambium as possible from the tree to exposed cambium of the scion.  90% of the grafts i did like this succeeded.  The cut end of the branch ended up with multiple points where healing could happen more quickly. This creates greater callus formation, or healing tissue around the graft unions.

This year I went back and delicately pruned off unwanted new growth, which was crossing or going in unfavorable directions.  Next year I will likely be choosing which of the grafts to keep, and which to cut off completely as to minimize crowding.  Many of these trimmings will likely offer source material for new scions to graft elsewhere, or to share and exchange with friends.  

Here is an image from SkillCults website, which shows what most of my successful grafts looked like, and what I am mostly doing this year:



What I feel I did correctly overall that can help with successful grafting.

Sourcing scionwood at the right time of year.  For me this was late winter, while the trees were in a dormant state.  On my own trees I chose straight branches that were from the previous years growth, which had more space between buds.  They were “waterspout” type branches that grow straight up and create long whips.  I found that it was easier to graft with straight and uniformly round material.  

Storing the scions properly.  I did this by cutting them into lengths slightly shorter than the width of a larger plastic ziplock freezer type bag, placing them inside, adding fresh wood shavings that were dampened, but not wet, and then taking as much air out of the bags as possible before sealing shut.  These bags were stored in a cool and dark place.  Supposedly scions that experience warmth or receive light can begin to wake up.  We want them to stay in a hibernation mode until after they have been attached to the trees, or rootstocks.

Waiting until sap flow to begin grafting.  While some people were saying it is time to graft, I waited patiently and observed my trees to tell me when it was time.  As soon as I saw the buds begin to swell I knew that the sap was now flowing, and that the grafts would get the juices needed to keep them going without drying out.  

Protecting the grafts by coating with a graft sealer/wax, which of course was the whole reason why i created this topic.  While some respondents in the comments say it is not necessary to do this, I still choose to take the precautionary approach and take this extra step, until later experiences and experiments will help me to prove to myself otherwise.  Because there are some wonderful people commenting that seem to know what they are talking about I think there is good reason to believe that this step could actually be eliminated in the right context.  

What I’m doing differently this year.

Choosing the right trees for framework and top work, in a graft-and-restore approach, while taking extra steps to improve the soil around them.  This info might be best left for a separate post, or a new topic.  This reply is getting long as it is…haha.  

Removing competing growth from the rootstock tree early on.  

Making sure to cut off plastic wrap in a couple of months time.  

Using a store bought tree seal to cover the grafts with.  I didn’t have enough time this year to make my own, and I had way too many grafts to deal with (41 new varieties), so I needed a more convenient quick fix solution.  Again, I do wonder if this step is even necessary?

I hope this helps you Eino, and anybody else coming back to read through the material in the future!

Maybe one of us, or somebody in the Permies community, can remember to bump this thread before scion gathering season begins in Winter, and maybe some seasoned grafting experts will be willing to chime in and offer their own thoughts at some point as well.

Going-To-Seed is hiring for remote work!!!  

Its only 5 hours/week, but what an amazing opportunity to work with a permies compatible community.  

Ive put in my resume and cover letter, even though I don't technically have all the experience.  Its worth a try, isn't it?

Here is the link for anybody interested: https://goingtoseed.org/pages/were-hiring

Are you prepared for late frosts?  

Do you have any other insights for how to protect blossoms and developing fruits from freezes in their early stages?  

Bumping this topic to help people get more fruits this year..  

Its an honor to be able to join the team!

There is still so much to learn, but you all are making the process quite pleasant, and joyful.  

To more permaculture, and beyond!  

This.

This right here is how anyone with a PDC can gain the hands-on experience needed to make permaculture actually work. Less talk, more walk!

I really, really wish I had known about this 12 years ago after getting my PDC. When it comes to living in harmony with nature, this would have been a far better investment of time and energy than college.

For those who have been Seppers or Boots—have you been able to use the skills you gained at Wheaton Labs to create income in permaculture after returning home? If so, what worked best?

Which skills turned out to be the most valuable? Have any past participants gone on to start businesses, retreats, or workshops? Or joined larger permaculture-focused initiatives that led to employment?

For those seeking financial independence through permaculture, which aspects of this program helped the most?

Andrea Bloom wrote:
Please include LOTS of ideas for alternatives to sawdust &/ or where to get lots of sawdust.

Ill throw my two cents in for now if it helps you while you wait for the really great advice to be revealed in the movie...

For sawdust/shavings local saw mills, cabinetry makers, or other wood workers are some of the sources I've found in the past.  Its important to clarify with them if they are cutting woods with glues, paints, or other chemical treatments before accepting any of it - if you want to avoid the toxic gick.  One place i used to pick up from I would always bring the mill owner a 12 pack of beer as a thank you, and specifically his favorite kind of beer.  After a while he stopped letting others take the wood shavings because it ended up being too much of a hassle dealing with people, but he always let me come in. I was getting it by the trailer load.  

Then I moved to Taiwan and didn't really have access to any saw mills, but there was a lot of organic rice being grown in our area.  Again I was able to get connected with a source of high carbon material - the rice husk.  

We also started making biochar from the rice husk, which worked great for our humanure system.  Biochar can be made from all kinds of things.

Dry leaf litter is great, especially if it is smaller leaves, or pulverized through a lawnmower.  Often people will gladly give you their leaf litter.  

Dried grass clippings are another thing we have used.  Vacuuming up and pulverizing through a push mower on a dry day ideally gets you a fine product.

If you don't want the petrochemical footprint they a scythe works great.  Cut the grass strategically and let it dry out in the sun if the weather allows.  Rake it up into storage bags/bins and place into a dry area.

Ive heard of people using shredded paper and cardboard, but I cant say how affective it is, as Ive never really gone that route.  I concur with Mr Wheaton that the glues and inks are probably best avoided.  

Nature provides so much of the materials we need.  Its really about timing, and having the ability to jump on the opportunities as they come, then having a place to store the surplus for when its needed.  

Worst case scenario you can buy some kind of high carbon material from a pet store or a farm and garden dealer.  

I would love to see this movie.  

My interest would mainly be in getting easy/basic design ideas to play with that can be adapted to different scenarios, such as mini portable and temporary storage without risking the creation of too much pathogen load, and losing nutrients to off-gassing.  

At the moment we live in a house with flushing toilets, which I refuse to use.  I would love to find ways to improve on our less than perfect approach of collecting into buckets with sawdust and leaf litter and adding into the center of a pile every few weeks, which is the method inspired by Jenkins Humanure handbook.  While it's the easiest solution I've come across so far, Im sure there is room for improvement.  

Pauls latest podcast on the willow feeders was fantastic.  I was left hoping that you all would be able to come up with and release a few designs in an image or diagram form with a short guide to best practices.

Id send some pie/coin toward something like that for sure. Its something that needs to be created at our place ASAP.

Anne Miller wrote:What is the big question: Do You want to spend your time on the computer/phone or do you want to garden?

Oh gosh, I would much rather spend time in the garden!  Absolutely.  This is what brings quality of life, joy, good health…holistic nourishment  Computer work is just painful for me, and I could give you dozens of reasons why I really dislike it.  

At the same time this isn’t all about me.  It is about something bigger, and I am willing to put myself through some pain and discomfort in order to be able to leverage greater developments more quickly. It is about the bigger picture.  

Plus, more income means more ability to support other permie people, and projects, using the all mighty coin.

Melissa James wrote:Here are two websites with remote jobs:

https://www.flexjobs.com/remote-jobs/t1

https://remote.co

Although they are not all "build-a-better-world" type jobs, they could still assist in your goals to increase remote working skills and experience while adding capital for your project there.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your advice, Melissa!  

I’ve looked at the sites, and it appears that there are fees associated with gaining access towards the opportunities.  Ill be researching this more, and if it feels right ill bite the bullet and move towards what resonates.

It is encouraging to see that you have personal experience and have successfully gone through the process yourself.

I do feel that i have the right attitude, and even if Im slower at learning than some people, I know I can at least get the right foundations in place, one brick at a time, towards the bigger vision.

There is a channel that I have found helpful, which gets into the details of remote work opportunities and realistic requirements.  It appears that getting a few certificates can really help land the entry level positions to help get started. Maybe this will help guide other who are on a similar journey as well.  






Some of these are great certifications for those looking to develop their own business ventures as well.  

Any larger scale collaborative permaculture projects would probably be enhanced by having people involved investing in themselves in this way.  

Collectively I think we need more permaculture opportunities.  Maybe my place will eventually be to create more of them by helping to support local regenerative initiatives through funneling in more coin, even if it means working for somebody else, rather than with them.  

Of course the preference is to feel like we are working with others, rather than for them.  

Navigating the path is the challenge for now.  Thanks for helping to offer some clues on the possible directions to commit to, and ….get started.