Logan Streondj

Hi all am wondering if anyone has tried using dried wild cucumber as sponges, in particular wondering about the north american Echinocystis lobata or something else that is hardy to zone 5.

The luffa "sea sponges" are also actually just cucumbers. See attached image of wild cucumber and the mini sponge inside. Perhaps they can be bred to have thicker sponges? Are there any named vanities or seed sources of such hardy cucumber sponges?

T Blankinship wrote:Ok I feel a little cold from just watching that. Where did you get the seeds for Helianthus Tuberosa at?

I got the seed tubers several years ago from local farmers market.
It is great to have a source of reliable calories in the winter.

Gene Short wrote:You'll find a lot of info on IC.org about intentional communities. Where is the location?

Yeah I've made an intentional community profile there https://www.ic.org/directory/gbosic-grey-bruce-owen-sound-intentional-community/,
GBOSIC aims to make a variety of communities in the area, but currently we're mostly focused on Tamarack Community which doesn't have a separate page yet.
The location of Tamarack Community is in the township of Arran-Elderslie in Bruce County of Ontario Canada. It is surrounded by various Mennonites,
and there is even a Mennonite school just down the road.
It already accepts visitors and campers, and has a tiny home and trailer people can stay in.

This is our first walkthrough together, we are planning to make an intentional community on it.
Do you have any tips?
Thanks in advance:

The video is 360 VR so you can pan around,
or even us google cardboard to be with us in VR as we walk through it.

Hey guys, made a short video in my permaculture forest garden where
I dig up some sunflower potatoes in the snow,
enjoy!:

2 week update, got some big leaves now, and kale has true leaves.

One week update, beets growing well and have a new leaf.

The kale has also sprouted.

Day 3 update:

Had a fungus issue with my peat pellets when I checked on them this morning, lots of thin strands between them all,
So I took off the cover and put it under the grow light which has UV as I mentioned.

After a few hours the fungal growth was gone and UV should have killed off any spores also.
Also can see in the picture the beet greens  are getting bigger.

Images should be attached.

Hi all,

Had a great year full of fresh produce from the forest garden,
now it's snowing but we still want to get fresh greens,
and something more cost effective than paying $3 per head of kale.

I did a bunch of research and decided to put together something really cheap,
so as to minimize the initial outlay of fund.
This way we only need to grow equivalent to about 16 heads of lettuce, kale or chard to break even.

To make this super easy so you can start seeing results pretty much immediately I started with a beet,
because the beet greens are edible, they are closely related to chard.

Here is the video, currently on day two, already having leaves:

Hi Lichen Lovers,

Just wanted to mention to all those who like edible forest gardens, that many lichens are edible also.
The only thing to watch out for is to avoid all yellow, or yellowy (orange) species,
as they may contain poisonous levels of vulpinic acid or usnic acid (both of which are yellow)[1].

Safe ones:
for rocks are rock tripe (which is black), Parmotrema perlatum )whic
for ground iceland moss
and reindeer moss (which is white) though note if it gets much sun exposure it accumulated usnic acid.
for trees Wila (brown versions) mostly in humid mountains,
also likely any white/green/black lichens should be fine also.

generally since they are so slow growing they are a delicacy,
but still if you manage to grow a large amount it can become a regular spice.
For most of them it seems best to cook in order to make it easier to absorb,
so as a spice to add to raw ingredients of soups, stir fries and other cooked dishes.

Another thing to note is that the environment affects all plants/lichen,
so even if it is a suitable color but growing in a toxic environment,
or on a poisonous tree (yew) then it would be best to avoid it.

Lichen is also a good pollution indicator[2]:

Lecanora conizaeoides typically looks like green pots filled with yellow,
it can grow in very high pollution environments. I'd avoid eating them.

Lepraria incana looks overall pale green and fuzzy,
it can grow with high pollution.

Hypogymnia physodes and/or Parmelia saxatilis or P. sulcata are pale green with branching "leaves",
these can grow in moderate pollution, and would probably be the first level safe to eat.

Usnea ceratina a green hair like lichen appears in fairly low pollution environments,
these hair-like ones are likely as good as Wila to eat, and increase the growing area by extending outwards,
so if you can, certainly do grow them.

As a final note, I think there can be a time and a place for yellow lichen,
such as places which you don't want animals to eat, or don't want yourself to accidentally consume.
One idea for it is around the trunks of young saplings, as an alternative to other winter protection schemes.
Another would be to grow in known toxic areas, such as where there were chemical spills.
it is similar to the yellow of caution tape, but longer term and self-renewing.


[1] Lichens for food https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnolichenology#Lichens_for_food
[2] Lichens for air quality http://www.air-quality.org.uk/19.php