Jesus Martinez

Well done on the book fellas. I've just started skimming through it and it's well done!

Jim Morr wrote:Can’t see “Bounce” while using a shovel if the soil is that hard use a Chisel Tip Digging Bar to soften the area to be dug, it can all so be used to chop roots,

With blackberries and other invasives, you don't as much of the root out of the ground as possible.

Trace Oswald wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:
   - at least three sunchokes
   

I think anyone that builds a hugelkultur with at least three sunchokes is soon going to have a hugelkultur with a monocrop of sunchokes :)

Not if you have a good underground rodent population.

paul wheaton wrote:what have i left out?

I don't think you've left things out, but except for the hugelbeds, I don't think there enough linear progression from 1 badge to the next.

Judith Browning wrote:I've bruised the outer edge of my foot by shoveling with soft soled shoes.

I'm wondering what others wear to shovel things and if there is a good shovel with a wider area to 'push' on while shoveling?

I think I need to find some stiff leather soled boots maybe or something with a more rigid sole although I don't think I would wear them much otherwise.

Moving dirt in the past involved picks and pry bars for the rocks and not a lot of digging...now, we have a relatively rock free area and I find digging hurts my feet.

I spent 80$ on a very well made all steel shovel. It has a thick head and what is likely a chromoly shaft/handle that is fairly springy but enables my 240lbs to stand and bounce on the end. My all steel tamping rods for example bend instead. It's a bit heavy for moving a lot of material, but great for digging in rocky soil because I never have to worry about breaking or bending it. It also has a fairly wide lip on the spade end for your foot as well.

Also, as far as shoes go, get something with a shank insert, either carbon fiber or steel. it's the only way to go for digging through hard ground with a shovel.

Sonja Draven wrote:Definitely English ivy for me too. It is pretty but so invasive here and damages everything. (As has been said.)

And you have to burn it in the winter because it won't die otherwise and it just spreads.  (I am actually watching some burn as i type this for that reason.)  Pulling it isn't enough. It roots multiple places, breaks off,  etc.
Blackberry and dandelion can be tough but I can and do eat and use them. (I can understand why others don't feel as I do.)

I've found Ivy a bit easier to control than the invasive Blackberries in the PNW. For one, there are no thorns and I don't come away bloody and secondly, it generally pulls out of the ground fairly easy and is usually an every other year chore instead of once a growing season month.

I have two weeds that I really dislike - Blackberry vines and Salmon Berry bushes. Salmonberry sticks will grow when burried 6 feet underground and the roots can grow 3 or 4 feet in a short amount of time and act as a rhizome.

Excellent work!

Hi,

I've got 5 acres that I have been working on for a long time and am finally willing to part with some money to hire some permaculture minded individual to help me with some labor requirements on my land. The things I need to do are planting trees, of which I have around 400 needing to be planted. Part of the work that needs to be done before planting though is clearing out blackberries and salmonberries along with some sheet mulching and moving/cutting some logs. Most of the work is manual labor, I have all the tools needed. Send me a Purple Moosage if interested.

Ken W Wilson wrote:I believe Raintree Nursery has those varieties.

I purchased Bud9 and EMLA27 from Raintree but they didn't have the others due to crop failure.

Hi,

I've got no problem finding plrenty of apple rootstock varieties, but I'm looking for dwarfing varieties of Cherry, Peach/Plum/Apricot, and Pear that dwarfed. Particularly, the varieties I'm looking for are Krymsk and Gisela and I believe OHxF87 is the dwarf pear. The only places I've found are commercial providers that sell in bundles of 1000+ and while it would be nice to be able to get that many, I simply don't have the room.