Dan O'Brien

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since Feb 03, 2024

Biography

I spent my childhood on the south side of Chicago. My notable memories are picking green beans and apples in my grandmother's tiny backyard; making applesauce and snapping the beans. I was moved to central Indiana at the age of 9. Suddenly everything was different. Culture shock and a severed family started me wondering about the "why" of things. At 13, my cousin gave me a shoebox of punk rock albums for Christmas. Everything changed. I saw that others had questions and a way to ask them. At 14, I got a bass guitar, started a band, and started asking my own questions. I spent the next 20 years pursuing a life in music, moving back to Chicago at age 20. During most of my musical career I paid the bills working for a home builder, doing everything from excavation to appliance installation. In both music and construction I was constantly astounded and plagued by waste. Largely caused by ignorance. Always leading to scarcity and greed. Meanwhile, I was burning the candle at all three ends working 80+ hours/week, in the pursuit of something which ultimately felt exploitative and wasteful. Then COVID hit Chicago and music stopped. It was a relief. At 34, I found myself with free time, for the first time, since I was a teenager. I started gardening again, with my partner, and fell in love. Over the next few years our city rooftop garden expanded from beans and weed to over 50 species of annuals and perennials. Through this time our plants would struggle... in pots... on a black rooftop... in 100+F heat, knowing that's not how plants exist in nature, while dreaming of some magical, crazy "food forest". In the face of this struggle I turned to education to save my plants. Eventually my pursuit of knowledge led me to permaculture. The discovery of permaculture feels, in a way, very similar to that shoebox of punk rock albums. I find myself again bubbling with energy, armed with means, and perhaps for the first time, a real sense of purpose.

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Recent posts by Dan O'Brien

Seeking seed for improved north american native fruits/nuts

Martin Mikulcik wrote:Where are you located? I have Midwest USA stuff

I am currently working on acquiring land in southwest Michigan, zone 6, sandy glacial till and end moraines

1 month ago

seeds and breeding

Seeking seed for improved north american native fruits/nuts

Hi all,

I am planning to plant a native polyculture, in situ, from seed. I'm looking for good sources of native tree seed but having a hard time finding any from trees that have been selectively bred for improved traits. Outside of Oikos Tree Crops (from whom I will be getting the bulk of seed at this point) I have only been able to find two individuals (non-companies) who are actively working on some of this and willing to share seed with me.

Mostly I'm looking seed from trees which produce: low-tannin acorns, high yielding black currants, larger and/or thinner-shelled hazelnuts, larger-fruited black cherry, and crabapples that have a good balance of sweet/acidic/astringent so as to make a single varietal cider.

I realize that I may not be able to find seed from populations which have reached these goals. That's fine. I am happy to be part of the breeding process, but I don't know if I have it in me to personally scour the forest edges of north america to find good candidates for the beginning stages of breeding.

Eventually, I'd love to get the ball rolling on something similar to Joseph Lofthouse's Gone To Seed project, except for native perennials. For now, it would be enough to not have to start completely from scratch.

If anybody has any contacts or recommendations for people who are already engaged in the breeding of native fruit/nut trees/shrubs for the purposes of disseminating improved seed at population levels, I would be ever so grateful.

Thank you for your consideration

1 month ago

seeds and breeding

corn being attacked by ants!!

Hi all, I just watched this fantastic video recently relating to this topic (though probably not in the way you'd imagine)

https://youtu.be/bnNOvA3diDU?si=V8hKC3YuUxa4ZAvF

The jist is that insects (aphids included) exclusively feed on dead, dying, dieased, or unhealthy plants. The video goes pretty deep into the how and why, but suffice to say that if you are suffering insect attacks, your crops are unhealthy compared to the surrounding environment. This may be due to any number of reasons (poor nutrition, incorrect environment, bad genetics, etc.) but if your goal is to keep insects off your crops, focusing on plant health will undoubtedly yield best reasults. Trying to just "get rid" of the pest will never work. They found your plant once. They'll do it again. Nurturing your soil, and subsequently your plants, will significantly help to deter insect predation. Though the healthier your plants, the tastier they become to higher orders of life (think mammals) and now you have a whole new form of predation to deal with!

1 year ago

organic

Plants for cicada holes

They are still emerging here, but so far the brood doesn't seem as innumerable as it seemed in 2007. I remember them being inescapable and completely covering the ground. Not so much as yet. We still have a few weeks to go though.

1 year ago

plants

Programming seeds naturally. Goes against everything I learned about starting seeds.

I think everyone here has hit on a piece, but I think the whole cannot be reduced to "better" or "worse"

John Kempf talks about how appropriate nutrition can affect epigentic expression. This is the same mechanism that allows Stefan Sobkowiak to "program" a seedling. And mature trees responding to drought is likely another epigentic response.

Now, John Kempf is adding microbial innoculant to allow for maximum nutrition which how he is stimulating expression, while the deprived seed and tree-in-drought are experiencing adversity stimulated expression.

As an analogy, I believe a child growing up in poverty resulting in a potentially more adaptable person is only applicable if we consider that person to continue living through struggle. Once that same person wins the lottery and finds financial wealth, they are just as lost and confused as a wealthy child finding poverty as an adult. The REAL analogy comes when you understand that both the poor and wealthy child are capable of adaptation. Wealthy people don't necessarily sit down and die when they are met with adversity. Likewise, impoverished people don't necessarily flourish when they come into an abundance they have no skills to disseminate appropriately or equitably.

I saw Stefan's video a couple months ago and have been thinking about it since, with the context of John Kempf's assertions, as I listen to his podcast regularly. If Dr. David Johnson (of johnson-su compost acclaim) is also to be considered, the best results come from microbial innoculation of seed.

Aaaaand this is the point where I think about Masanobu Fukuoka, who might ask why you seek to "improve" the seed in the first place? If it is given the chance at a natural life without intervention, might it tell you through it's growth habit and disease/pest/drought resistance, whether or not it has the appropriate genetic expression for the ecosystem?

1 year ago

propagation

Plants for cicada holes

K Kaba wrote:I'd wait til the brood is done before planting trees, and if it's too late, plant the trees next year. Cicada broods can kill young trees.

I should clarify that what I'm looking for is suggestions for a seed which will quickly root in the holes left by the cicadas, so the clay doesn't wash back into them, losing all that valuable aeration. This is for the purpose of helping the soil to drain in preperation of the site. Doesn't matter if the plants live or die. In fact, better if they're a short lived annual. What I want is preservation of the soil structure the cicadas are giving me for free. If I wait until it's all over, there will likely be a rain event, which will fill the holes with heavy clay instead of roots.

Hopefully that makes more sense.

1 year ago

plants

Plants for cicada holes

I am in the process of attempting to establish a few fruit tree guilds. There is about 8-10 of soil, followed by pure clay. I think we could have 10 year drought and my soil would still be wet. So I started digging a small swale to take water to other parts of the property as well as a nearby rain garden. While digging I hit a lot of cicadas arond 6-8" deep. Turns out there is a 17 year brood emerging this spring from right under my planned guilds. To me, this translates as a LOT of free aeration in my otherwise solid clay. As they emerge, I want to make the most of their tunnels before they collapse and I miss this rare opportunity.

I'd like to scatter some kind of seed that germinates very quickly around early May (zone 6, Chicago) grows well in wet clay soil, and quickly puts down deep fiberous roots to take advantage of all those cicada burrows.

Any suggestions?

1 year ago

plants

Comfrey - Bocking 4 vs Bocking 14: How to differentiate?!

Jen Fulkerson wrote:I live in California zone 9b. For me I planted comfrey blocking 14 crown. It was a darker wider leaf, just more lush looking plant. I struggled to keep it alive, and killed a few, not to mention the huge quantity of root cuttings I killed. Thank goodness I tried blocking 4. I have been starting them from seed. They don't need to be babied, and are growing very well. The leaves are thinner, and a a lighter green. I was worried about it becoming invasive. I planted a couple last year. They grew well, and are popping up now. So far I don't think I have even one extra plant. That's not to say it won't happen, but so far so good. I have several new comfrey plants I started , waiting to be planted next to one of my fruit trees.
For me starting the seeds is the way to go. Way cheaper, and grow so much better.
The picture is when it pretty young it's filled out a lot. I know for a fact it's blocking 4 because I started it from seed.

I was under the impression that bocking 4 and 14 do not set seed, which is why people seek them out. They're reportedly non-invasive for that very reason. I'd be curious to know where you got your seed from.

1 year ago

plants

Cooking with Dry Beans and Peas

I recently made a shepard's pie with lentils in place of the lamb. I don't know what you'd call it. Farmer's pie?

It was delicious!

Sautee some onions, carrots, and garlic until satisfied
Add herbs (i use fresh rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay, whatever) and a crushed tomato or tomato paste
Red wine reduction
Add lentils and vegetable stock
Cook until almost tender and sauce has thickened (add a thickening agent if necessary)
Salt/season to preference

Meanwhile make mashed potatoes as you see fit

When all is done layer mashed potatoes on top of lentil filling in a roasting dish and bake until potatoes start to crisp

There are so many variations on how to make this, but it's basically just stew with potatoes on top, then baked
Next time I make it I'm going to add some jalapeno or serrano to the potatoes to give it some real kick and maybe something to make the lentil filling a little creamier

1 year ago

cooking

Can annual legumes speed decomposition of arborist mulch?

I just laid down a 12" bed of arborist mulch on top of a grassy area for a new apple/pear guild. I intend to pull the mulch back to plant perennials into the soil itself as my understanding is that the soil/mulch zone of contact will be full of fungi/bacteria eating up all that yummy dead stuff and those microbes will compete with my plants for nitrogen. That got me thinking:

If I start annuals legumes like peas and beans in plugs, innoculated with the appropriate rhizobia, and then transplant them, not into the soil, but into the mulch layer itself, will they:

1) Be able to survive living in mulch alone?
2) Form nodulated roots in a "soil-less" environment?

My hope is that the legumes will continue to form noudlated roots that extend beyond the the plug, into the mulch. Then, when I cut them back before flowering, the roots will die; the nodules creating pockets of nitrogen, to feed bacteria, to speed the decomposition of the mulch.

My concerns are that the legumes won't have access to the appropriate nutriens to grow (nitrogen isn't everthing) and that the mulch may be too warm for the legumes' root zone.

Has anyone tried growing legumes in fresh arborist chips?
Is there anything I can do to ensure the success of this?
Is there some reason why I shouldn't do this?

I will undoubtedly attempt this, as I have more beans and peas than I know what to do with, but I thought someone here might have some insight.

1 year ago

mulch