Andrew Michaels

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Lofthouse-Astronomy Sweet Corn

(source)

My population is more resistant to pheasants and small mammals.

How does a plant become resistant to animal predation?

The plant doesn't taste as good to them because it has some sort of natural pesticide in it? It becomes harder to chew?

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Here are the same plums, shown 4 weeks ago in this thread.

Wow! Those are some beautiful plums! I've never seen any with that vivid coloring.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
This weekend was a great time to be a farmer.

Looking at this pic, I see that you're selling those huge squash for $2! At the grocery store, they'd sell something like that for no less than 99 cents a pound, and often more. Do your low-cost farming methods allow you to sell so cheaply and still remain profitable?

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
I found a fat photo from about 20 years ago. Took one today for comparison. Ha!!! I like being fit and trim. Too bad I don't know how much I weighed back then. I've been saying that I lost 70 pounds, but it looks like a lot more than that!

What lead to your impressive weight loss? Farming and eating the food you farm vs junk food?

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:

Joseph, I notice that you plant corn, beans, and squash in your fields, but do not seem to mix them up, three sisters style. Can I ask if you've ever tried to do so and what you found the results to be? Pros/cons?

Hey guys.

I'm currently in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and just wondering if there are any cool permaculture farms in this area. In particular, I'm interested in tropical fruit growing. Any suggestions?

Anyone know if Mollison has said why the Permaculture Designer's Manual isn't in ebook format yet? Is it even still in print? I tend to see mostly used copies around on Amazon.

That book blows me away each time I crack it open, and it's a shame that it's so inaccessible. I travel a lot and it would be helpful to have an ebook version for laptops/tablets/phones, etc, so you can double check things.

I'm guessing it has to do with the pirating of the book, but I imagine overall profit would go up selling an ebook that was sometimes pirates rather than no ebook at all.

You don't hear permaculturists talking about soil remineralization very much.

Some organizations make it out to be incredibly critical: http://remineralize.org/

Why don't we hear about this much in permaculture circles?

Awesome! Chaffin Family Orchards looks like what I'm looking for. Hopefully I can work something out.

Tyler Ludens wrote:http://www.chaffinfamilyorchards.com/

Hi guys.

I've reached a point where I'm ready to spend some time working on a profitable permaculture / sustainable / organic fruit orchard somewhere in the US, either as an intern or employee. It's my goal to own a small orchard myself, but I need some hands on experience.

My preference is in the South, Southwest, or Westen part of the country (warmer areas).

My criteria is that they make the majority of their income from the production and sale of fresh fruit from trees. They must be a profitable business that supports at least one person full time, not a backyard operation. I want them to be organic at the least, but preferably fairly sustainable in terms of inputs, and it would be amazing if they were doing permaculture.

Can anyone make any suggestions?

Thanks.