Thekla McDaniels

What possibilities these trenches suggest!  I WANT one😊

My 6 acres of sheep pasture slope gently NE.  (Northern hemisphere ) This is good for stone fruits that can flower too early, and the fruit is then often lost to a late frost.  The sunward facing slope warms earlier, and dries out faster.

I am trying to figure out how I would shape a trench, and what orientation towards the sun would be best.

I wanted to build an earth sheltered house, but couldn’t figure that out, and now it’s the same question, including how to prevent flooding the trench when I irrigate, or from runoff.  My irrigation water comes to the highest corner of my property, in limited amounts for 3 or 4 day periods.

But this level of puzzle is a great anti dementia activity!

It’s great to put waste glass to use.  I think we need to aim for less waste glass.  In the 50’s the no deposit no return glass beverage bottles had not been invented, or introduced.  The bottles were more substantial.  You paid a deposit on every bottle- I think many states require a fee for the bottles and cans when you but a beverage- but prior to the disposable bottles, you got your deposit back when you returned the bottle.  The same truck that delivered the full product bottles took the empties which were cleaned and refilled.  It was a workable system, just less convenient for the producers.

But it was wonderful for kids because we could collect bottles from the roadside to get a little pocket money.  (to go buy a nickel candy bar😁) The bottles were substantial enough that they seldom broke, even when thrown from a car at highway speeds.

There are a growing number of stores that let you bring your own container to fill with whatever goods they are selling. They often accept clean containers to be reused for this purpose. It's a great alternative to recycling glass. This is a list of zero-waste stores:

Europe

Glendale Shop and Post Office: 2, Lephin, Glendale, Isle of Skye, United Kingdom - Glendale Shop

The Selkie Collective, Shore road, Broadford, Isle of Skye, United Kingdom - Selkie Collective



USA

Kindred Vancouver: 2213 Main Street, Vancouver, Washington. - Kindred website

The Realm Refillery: 2310 NE Broadway Portland, Oregon. - Realm website

Mama and Hapa's Milwaukie: 11122 SE Main Street, Milwaukie, Oregon - Mama and Hapa's

Mama and Hapa's Stark Street: 1389 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon - Mama and Hapa's

Mama and Hapa's Mississippi Avenue: 3806 N. Mississippi Avenue, Portland, Oregon - Mama and Hapa's

Mama and Hapa's Beaverton: 12695 SW Crescent Street Suite 130, Beaverton, Oregon - Mama and Hapa's

The Good Food Store: 1600 S. 3rd St. West Missoula, MT. - Good Food Website

Ren Market: 1918 West Superior Street, Duluth, Minnesota - Ren Market

In Grand Junction, Colorado, a store that sells various household commodities.  You fill your own container.  They have empty donated containers available.  Vinegar, personal care substances, cleaning compounds.  Priced by weight.

There are many other zero-waste stores in the world. Feel free to edit this post to add any that you know of!

All the pros and cons of chicken keeping have been discussed in detail earlier in this thread.  

I suggest that during the recent out break of bird flu or fever or what ever it was the people with chickens were pretty glad to have their own source of eggs.  Store eggs were going for more than a dollar per egg in some regions of the USA.  

Commercial egg production in the USA depends on huge flocks, and many of them were euthanized.  Our neighbor to the north has a different philosophy about chickens, and their laying hen operations are much smaller in scale.  I think there were some euthanized flocks, but each flock is so much smaller there, that when a flock did exhibit signs of disease, the numbers of birds lost per euthanization event was a fraction of the per event loss faced in the USA.

What is the value of food security?  That is what makes it worthwhile to some folks to maintain a flock of chickens whether or not they justh by recover the cost of feed by selling eggs.  Keeping costs down by creative means, and a true enjoyment of the creatures are also important considerations.

Maypop fruit is not the tasty one we can sometimes get at the store.  But it grows in some cold situations.  I think in the very cold north, mulching would be a good idea, unless you have deep snow cover all winter.  The roots don’t mind getting frozen at 0 C, but the ground temperature can just keep dropping.

The leaves make a NASTY tasting tea.  But as mentioned it’s good medicine.  

Strictly Medicinal sells plants… a nursery in Oregon, if you can’t get your seeds to germinate.

Of course the birdies enjoy the seed.  I put out more than I need for the ice.  The birdies peck the surface (texture), poop, which is going to act as ice melt.  And the husks from the seed also function as anti slip.

It’s worth a try😁

And bird seed

Not options for all locations, but wood chips on pathways allows water to drain away, leaves a textured surface.  The problems with ice are related to the smoothness of it.  I leave some snow and make sure it’s textured rather than shoveling down to bare concrete.

Crushed egg shells work for texture too.

Like many, I use ashes from the wood stove too.

Thanks for all your comments.  Somehow, I have not been getting notifications when people posted.  I thought my question was a dud!

For now I have not bought one.  FFA had an auction “rent a hand” 2 kids for 8 hours.  I talked to the FFA teacher and she recommended someone.  Gave him my phone number.  He hasn’t called me, but I have pre split wood I have been using.

I bought a splitting axe, and just use it a little bit, meaning splitting no more than 10 a day.  I have a neighbor who keeps an eye on me, and a son who visits occasionally.  I guess if I do get one of these, it will be for use if I haven’t regained some strength, and when everybody is busy and 10 per day isn’t enough

I have grown goji berries.  It’s easy to confuse the two names.

The goji berries spread by runners, taking over the bed.  The thorns were wicked!  I would not plant them again except where sheep would eat them repeatedly.

The information here on goumis makes me think I will try them.  Thanks berry much