Nick Shepherd

I’ve not used ninja yeast, I use Ec-1118, I have pushed it into the 16-18% ABV, but at that ABV it Generally needs 8-12+ months to age and smooth out.  

Google "Skeeter Pee".  Good stuff, cheap and easy to make.

How is the ph? The organic matter?  Moisture?
pH 6.5, organic matter 4%, moisture and drainage are good.  Two asian pears 20-45' south and another apple tree 20' to the north are all growing much better than the apple next to the fennel.  Pretty much everything I have planted is thriving, including the fennel, except rhubarb and calendula.  The later two do well until summer then they wither away.  

Not sure this is posted in the right place.
While I don't really think my orchard is a true permaculture, I still plant a lot of miscellaneous plants around my fruit trees and bushes.  I have lots of comfrey, yarrow, wild carrots, other pollinator plants, etc.  I also had a lot of fennel scattered around, I don't really eat that much but it is good for pollinators and I like the smell as I walk by.  I recently learned that fennel is allopathic.  One of my apple trees next to fennel has not grown as well as others but I just assumed the vigor was less, but I wonder if it is due to the fennel.   I ask AI if there are other common plants that are allelopathic  Some, walnuts and sunflowers, I was aware of but AI said Sage, Thyme and oregano are allelopatic.  I have lots of this scattered about, especially thyme, probably 100-150 sq ft. of thyme.  
Are these herbs a problem?  Any other common flowers or herbs I should be worried about?

In march of last year, I bench grafted 6 apple cultivars onto 15 rootstocks.  I had 100% success, which is good, but now I have several multiples that I don’t need.  I have promised several to friends but there are still a few extras.

This year I am going to graft more cultivars and am considering using some of the duplicates for rootstock.  The rootstock diameter is now around ¾” or more near the ground at this point.
Should I try to graft low enough to get to the original rootstock or can I graft higher where the diameter may be closer to the scion?  Having two grafts on the trunk?  I would like to have the first scaffolds low (24-36") to keep the tree at a manageable size.
Would that be considered an interstem?
I have only done W/T and bark grafts, what is the best/easiest graft when the rootstock is ¾-1” and the scion is ¼”?
Does the height of the graft matter?

would there be any way to get/buy a couple of cuttings when he prunes it this spring, a green wood cutting early summer, or maybe better get a rooted plant later.

OK.  I ended up with a pile of shredded leaves and grass clippings (dormant) that is roughly 3.5' tall, 9' wide and 36' long.  What is the best way to wet them?  Rain will eventually do so but it will take a long time,  I am thinking I will put a soaker hose on top and move it every couple of hours or maybe a sprinkler.  Even with smaller piles the usual problem is water runs through the pile without throughly soaking everything.  I plan on a static pile to encourage fungal dominance but could turn it once or twice with the front end loader to get them wet. .

Will probably do all the above suggestions.  I have some honey berries that I may give one more year before pulling, I'll try some tall plants to the west of these in addition to the currants.  I will try to root some fig cuttings and plant those also.

I like both the trellis an fig ideas, especially the figs.  A lot of the time figs freeze back to the ground but regrow to 8 ft and produce fruit afterward. By the time it gets hot they should have grown enough th provide shade

I have been trying to grow gooseberries and currants without much success.  My climate is to hot and humid during the summer.  They do good in the spring and even produce a small crop, but then lose all their leaves and go dormant.  In the fall they bud back out, I am sure production could be much better.  I really don't have a good place that gets partial shade but I have been thinking I could plant Sorghum or okra in a north/south row to the west of them mostly to provide shade.  I have never grown sorghum and a few okra plants provide all I need but the seed is cheap.  Is there any reason that this wouldn't work?  Any better ideas?