Reminder - If you have a question to ask please start a new thread (and just say "hello" here!). We love perennial discussions and others may find your issue difficult to find if posted in the welcome thread.
Posts here also don't count towards the book giveaway!
Bronwyn Olsen wrote:Hi Hazel, I am curious to know more about the importance of keeping standing stable snags in the landscape for reasons other than homes for wildlife? Also, the forest around me is pine and cedar. I have distributed ash and charcoal from a central burn pile to all over property in smaller raked out piles. The grasses you recommended. Do these have a better chance where trees are? I want to improve the soil, don’t want to kill trees. The biggest lack is consistent water and organic matter which makes it hard to keep anything else going like elderberries ,Oak or Oregon grape root. Right now, I’m just annoying my husband with the ash everywhere!
Hello Bronwyn! There you are on the ground. And I am coming to you through the ethers. I worry about the ash. It can be too caustic for some soils. If you have sandy loam, maybe fine. If alkaline clay, maybe not good. But the charcoal, always yes. Lots in the book on this. You might leave the ash piles and scatter the charcoal with a shovel throw from your very convenient distribution. Meanwhile I might think about the Four S’s (page 187): sequence, stage, sort and stash. You have done some stage and sort perhaps and sequence might mean high pruning first, to open things up. Yes, trees and grasses can work great together especially in your sort of dry forest. Fescues and Bromes would be a good start. Most Pine and Cedar woods are overstocked and the tree tops (crowns) close to a complete canopy. By high pruning we get ready for cool under story burning which recycles potassium and germinates latent soil seeds. There is a lot to tending a woodlot. Since the Pine and Cedar are pioneer species you may be able to open the tree cover by selective thinning and plant the next forest under the nurse trees. I would want to ask so many questions!
Shari Clark wrote:Welcome, Tomi! Your book looks amazing! I live in a forest and it's been such a journey to learn how to garden in this environment.
Hello Shari! Yeah, I bet gardening is a challenge. I ended up gardening in 150 gallon tubs to keep the gophers at bay, to be very efficient with water and to hold some overnight heat. Last few nights here have been near freezing. I have worked with “climate batteries” which are partially sunken green houses with lots of mass and insulated foundations, that have a solar fan that circulates heat into the soil through a buried plenum. No water barrels to freeze. But there you are in Zone 3.
Thank you for your knowledge shared! I have been trimming and thinning. Every dead tree has so much biomass although most of what is burned in the only safe open area is pine needles. We built a drum type biochar burner, it only makes small amounts.We are on a sandy hill, ten acres of pine, cedar, manzanita and Bitter brush. I discovered right away that ashes not raked out becomes concrete with added rain. I ordered your book for our local library. I have a lot more questions. As, one of my sayings is “Never go empty handed” it makes sense to take a load of ash away, (Cold ashes only of course!)when going to collect more needles and branches. I have to reduce fire load.We move chickens around ,garden and compost, have worm bins and have been using more wood chips. I will try some grass seeding.Thank you for doing what you do! Bronwyn
Big thanks to Tomi for joining us this week, answering our questions and granting us your knowledge. We hope to see you around the forums more in the future!
Thank you! Permies are my people! I injured my right shoulder very recently and Permies kept me inspired and further motivated to experiment and collaborate and know that I am not alone in these endeavors!
Thank you Permies and Tomi Hazel!!!
I'm very much looking forwards to reading the Social Forestry book (and promise I'll do a book review once I've read it!)
Thanks to all who participated - look out for the next giveaway soon!
Nicole Alderman wrote:Congratulation to our winners!
Bronwyn Olsen
Rob Read
Nancy Reading
Timothy Norton
Winners, please keep an eye on your email inbox for an email from the publisher to arrange for the shipment of your book!
If you happen to be bummed that you did not win the book, have no fear, here's a handy dandy link to purchase the book!
Big thanks to Tomi for joining us this week, answering our questions and granting us your knowledge. We hope to see you around the forums more in the future!
Hello all! Synergetic Press here. THank you for all of your wonderful contributions and a big thank you to permies!! We have sent a follow up email to all of the winners. Please look out for the email address chloe@synergeticpress.com
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