Category Archives: Permaculture

Herb Spiral Design

Posted on January 20, 2016 | 5 comments

The herb spiral design is complete. Once the weather starts to warm up, we’ll start construction using patio pavers my neighbor gave us.

I picked herbs for both culinary and medicinal purposes. I’ll also plant herbs good for tea like lemon balm, bee balm and chamomile.

I added Nasturtiums and marigolds to the design too. Nasturtiums will ward off aphids and white flies while the marigolds will attract pest predators.

The (semi) final list:

Sage
Oregano
Lemon grass
Basil
Lavender
Nasturtium
Chives
Lettuce
Lemon balm
Bee balm
Thyme
Rosemary
Parsley
Marigolds

I thought about planting borage too, but it takes over any space it is planted in so I opted to skip mint and borage altogether.

Lemon balm and bee balm are members of the mint family, but they are a bit easier to control so I am comfortable putting them in the spiral. I’ve planted lemon balm in a container and it did not take over like the chocolate mint in the vineyard.

I want an herb spiral, not a mint spiral…although that might be nice for the front yard. Hmmm…

My spiral it will smell so nice
And look so pretty too
A yummy meal, a tasty spice
And healthy tea to brew

5 Comments

Posted in Garden Stories, Garden Stories, Permaculture, Poetry, Writing

Mapping It Out

Posted on January 16, 2016 | Leave a comment

I started to map out this year’s garden…itching to do something after flipping through the pages in my seed catalogs. When I pulled out the maps I’d drawn up last year, I realized that they were not completely up to date.

We added some new shrubs and trees late last season.

I had not made a note of the honey berries I planted in the fedge.

I had not scribbled in the goji berries I planted in the vineyard.

I had not jotted down the purple plum hedge I planted along the drive.

The raspberries I put in the swale were missing from the map as well as the comfrey we transplanted.

So…on a less cold, less blustery day, I’ll don my boots, gloves, coat and hat and walk the property and update my maps.

I’ll walk through the swale.

I’ll stroll through the back garden.

I’ll amble through the vineyard.

And I’ll wander through the fedge.

I’ve already plotted out the kitchen garden and just need to note which plants go where. I’ll need to draw up the herb spiral and order the best for culinary and medicinal use.

Then, with a cup of tea I’ll sit at the table and start mapping out this year’s garden.

Last year’s maps are incomplete
It’s time to plan again
I’ll walk around on my two feet
Write what we planted when

I’ll make a note, I’ll plan anew
I’ll jot, I’ll write, I’ll map
I’ll add some new plants, just a few
Before Spring wakes from her nap

Plant-astic

Posted on January 13, 2016 | 1 comment

Today we started seeds
The boys were full of glee
We used a carton kit
Went on a planting spree

Pumpkins, gourds and melons
Flowers, herbs and more
Hands deep in the soil
Dirt spilled on the floor

Smiling as they planted
Choosing seeds to sow
Place them in the sunlight
And wait for them to grow

For Christmas, my mom gave Joe and Jake their own garden kit. Jake’s had white, pink and yellow 4 0’clocks and Joe’s had pumpkins, gourds and squash

Today, Joe brought me both kits and asked if we could “plant some stuff”. So we sat at the table and I helped them each start their seeds.

Joe wanted to start watermelon seeds so we swapped out a tickle me for a watermelon.

When we were done, we set them up on top of our bookshelf to sprout.

Once they sprout, we’ll move them downstairs under the grow light and check them daily. We’ll also track their growth on the charts that came with the kits.

My favorite thing about this project is how excited both boys are to watch their plants grow. I had almost forgotten that we had the kits until Joe brought them to me and wanted to plant.

Enthusiasm is contagious.

1 Comment

Posted in Education, For the Kids, Garden Stories, Garden Stories, Permaculture, Poetry, Writing

Medicinal Herb Spiral

Posted on January 12, 2016 | 6 comments

For several years, I’ve wanted to build an herb spiral. I’ve wanted to create a beautiful addition to our garden and provide fresh herbs for cooking and curing.

Now that our climbing tree has been destroyed by a wicked ice storm, I have the perfect spot to put it.

An herb spiral is a method of vertical gardening and has several benefits over gardening in a bed.

Saves space
Provides microclimates
Makes pest control easier
Makes harvesting easier
Allows a higher crop yield in a limited space
Makes companion planting easier
Creates a beautiful ‘show garden’

I want my spiral to be both culinary and medicinal.

I’ll plant chamomile and use it to make a medicinal tea to soothe an upset stomach or help with sleep.

I’ll use rosemary to make a tasty pasta sauce or cure a headache.

I’ll make a delicious salsa with cilantro and lower my blood sugar.

Below are a few more herbs I’d like to plant in my spiral.

Basil (Culinary)
Chamomile (Medicinal and Tea)
Echinacea (Medicinal and Tea)
Cilantro (Culinary)
Lavendar (Medicinal and Tea)
Parsley (Medicinal and Culinary)
Rosemary (Medicinal and Culinary)
Sage (Medicinal and Culinary)
Thyme (Medicinal and Culinary)
Marigold (Medicinal)
Mints: Peppermint, lemon balm, bee balm

Mints are the super herb. They help with everything from headaches and digestion to skin care and weight loss.

However…they have a tendency to take over.

We already have chocolate mint creeping throughout the vineyard and lemon balm taking over the kitchen garden, so these will go in pots on the deck or in the swale.

Herbs are not the only plant that do well in a vertical garden.

Tomatoes, peas, beans…any climbing plant work well on a trellis and almost any vegetable, including squash, will thrive in containers.

Maybe I’ll try trellising my squash this year.

Maybe it will make battling the squash bugs easier.

Maybe we won’t get squash bugs at all.

Herbs in the garden
Fragrant, beautiful, tasty
A spiral of health

6 Comments

Posted in Garden Stories, Haiku, Permaculture, Writing

Tagged rellising

Homestead Goals 2016

Posted on January 11, 2016 | 1 comment

We always, always, always set more goals than we possibly have the time and the energy to get to.

And, we always, always always feel that we are failing when we don’t get to all of them. We feel that we let the season slip by without really getting anything done.

Until…the season ends and we look back at all we have done on the homestead, when we see the forest instead of just the trees, we always, always, always feel pride in all that we accomplished.

I’m sure that this year, even though I will try not to, I will feel discouraged when I don’t get everything on my list done or even started. But I’m confident that when we look back in the Fall…I will once again feel proud of our progress.

This years goals:

Get the carrots in the ground earlier so that we actually have more than a few to harvest.
Make sure to plan for pests like slugs, cabbage worms, Japanese Beetles and squash bugs so that they don’t get away from me and take over.
Really take the time to fertilize with natural and organic materials. I’ve already started by scattering calcium-rich powdered egg shells.
Pull and/or transplant volunteer tomatoes, borage, dill and squash so that the kitchen garden doesn’t turn into a jungle of tomatoes, dill, borage and squash…even though the boys loved it.
Rework the vineyard so that, when we get kiwi, we will have a strong enough system to support the weight. I’m thinking cattle panels or something similar. The kiwi at full production will be too heavy for the gauge of wire we are currently using.
Get brussel sprouts grow. I’m not sure why I’m having such a problem getting them to even sprout.
Keep those dreaded deer away from my fedge, my vineyard and my trees in the swale. By any means possible.
Learn more about pruning trees.
Grow a medicinal herb garden.

But first, I have to get my schedule going, order materials and start my seeds.

Ready, set…go!

Let the fun begin
Order the seeds and supplies
Time to get started

1 Comment

Posted in 13 Skills, Education, Garden Stories, Haiku, Joe the Bug Hunter, Life, Permaculture, Preparedness, Writing

Sowing Seeds Outside…in Winter?

Posted on January 6, 2016 | 2 comments

The seed catalogs have come and are sitting on my counter, taunting me, ready to be rifled through and dog-eared.

It’s time to pick my seeds and get my schedule going.

Every year I comb the internet for a good seed starting schedule and every year I start my seeds either too early or too late.

Not this year.

This year I found a schedule and method that will be different, at least I hope.

Winter Sowing

I found this method on a blog called A Garden for the House.

No expensive materials. No difficult methods. No space issues.

The seeds are sown and then put outside and left alone until Spring.

That’s right. Outside. In the cold and snow. Left alone until Spring.

The Steps

Pick and order your seeds.
Make mini greenhouses using milk or water jugs. This is genius.
Add soil to the greenhouses then pre-soak. The soil will need to be well-drained. I usually have a problem with this due to my paranoia that the seedlings will not get enough water. I end up with a layer of fluffy fungus on the top of the soil that stunts and eventually kills the growing seedlings.
Label jugs with date started, seed variety and (if possible) number of seeds started and plant your seeds.
Place outside and leave them alone until Spring.

The Benefits

No need to transplant to larger pots which can damage the roots and slow the growth of the seedlings.
No need to take up valuable space on the kitchen counter and in window sills.
No need to pre-soak the seeds. The freezing and thawing will naturally loosen the seed coatings.
No need for grow lights, heating devices, or seed-starting kits.
No need to check to make sure seedlings are getting enough water…until Spring. There will be enough condensation during the freezing and thawing to manage moisture.

I admit I’m skeptical and still plan to start a few flats indoors as a control for this, possibly risky, experiment. And I still plan to check the soil a few times a week to make sure it is moist enough.

But…a few google searches on winter sowing showed me that this method works. Hundreds of gardening sites and blogs supported the method including Burpee.

And why not? Just think of all the volunteers that sprout and grow, most of them ending up being stronger than the seeds I start.

They are outside, hibernating all Winter.

They aren’t watered and pampered…to death.

They wake up in the Spring and push through the soil and end up being stronger than the seeds I start in my basement.

It’s observing then interacting with Nature. It’s Permaculture.

It’s worth a try.

Sowing in Winter
Interacting with Nature
Experimenting

2 Comments

Posted in Garden Stories, Haiku, Permaculture, Writing

13 in 16: Skills and Goals for the New Year

Posted on January 3, 2016 | 1 comment

In 2015, we had a rather aggressive list of skills and goals to accomplish. Although we made great progress, this year’s list will look much like last year’s but revamped with more extensive and detailed intentions.

1. Writing
I took, what I perceived to be, many risks with my journey to publishing. By risks I mean scary jumps into a world where rejection is not only possible, but highly likely.

I’ve decided to focus my efforts on writing a chapter book/story book starring the mice from my Adventures in Homesteading series.

I’ve laid out the “chapters” and started revising and submitting for feedback in my writer’s critique group and I’ve joined the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)…finally.

This year, I am going to clean and tighten up my manuscript and submit it to agents and/or editors for feedback.

2. Seed Saving
Beyond saving amaranth and cilantro seeds, we made absolutely no progress on this goal.

That is three years of setting this goal and doing nothing about it.

Maybe with the extra day this year, we’ll move forward.

3. Concealed Carry
Another goal we have not tackled. We found a range near us that offers the class, but I want to get some range time in and get comfortable holding, handling and shooting my gun.

4. Essential Oils
I’ve been using essential oils on a weekly basis and as remedies for many common ailments…sore throat, cold, mood and anxiety.

There are a few classes offered in the area where I plan to learn more and use them even more and on a daily basis.

5. Back to “prepping”
We started to get back to prepping but sticking to it is almost like making that New Year’s resolution to “get fit and stay fit”.

It lasts for about six weeks and then the excuses start.

“I’ll start again on Monday.”

“Ok, after Valentine’s Day I’m really going to do it.”

We did get better at storing food and water. Not so much on home defense.

Our biggest progress on this goal? We added to our 72 hour kits. We took a day and, as a family, reviewed what we had in our bags and added what was missing. It’s still not perfect, but at least we did something.

6. Curriculum Planning
This is the one goal that I feel REALLY good about. The boys and I have a routine that often gets disrupted…and that’s ok.

That’s the beauty of teaching them outside the school system. We don’t have to make up days or ram through the rest of that ‘material’ in order to stay on track. Our goals are loose and our schedule is flexible.

Breakfast, playtime, work booking, playtime, lunch, playtime, field trip or fun activity, playtime.

They get plenty of play and they learn, learn and learn some more.

Sometimes we don’t see what they’ve learned until a day, a week, a month later, but it is so gratifying when I hear them apply something they learned to real life.

“Heel, toe, heel, toe…that’s a pattern!”

7. Meal Planning for Paleo/Primal/Healthy Meals
This is a skill and takes a great deal of organization to plan for, shop for and and stay on track with both the planning and cooking of healthy meals.

It’s so easy to buy the pre-cooked, processed box of potatoes rather than take the time to prepare fresh.

By the same token, it’s so easy to log on to Pinterest and search for sites where the planning and prepping guide has already been laid out in simple steps.

8. Stocks and Investing
We took the steps and invested the money. We are diversified…stocks, cash, silver, bitcoin, etc..

We’ve used our bitcoin to buy a laptop, a tablet and two bookshelves. More and more sites are accepting bitcoin and payment including dell.com, overstock.com and the list goes on.

9. Fitness
I joined a fitness club and have been taking classes 2-3 times a week. I feel really good about this and my balance and strength have improved…drastically.

So far, I’ve been focusing mainly on muscle toning and not so much on cardio. I’m going to rotate in cardio classes so that I’m doing weights and toning 2 times a week and cardio two times a week.

Learning the correct and safe way to lift weights intimidates me just a little bit, but I have learned that a balance between cardio and weights is the best way to get fit.

10. Blogging
I have 268 followers now. 268! While I haven’t changed the design of the site, I have revamped it by adding category buttons to make it easier for visitors to navigate to what interests them.

This year I’ll continue watching 5 Minutes with Jack and seeking out how to turn my blog into a business.

11. Tree Care
We have planted many trees over the past two years, but done little to make sure they thrive and grow.

Well…they’ve grown, but I’m not sure they’ve really thrived.

This year, our plan is to learn more about propagating and pruning trees to ensure maximum growth and production. And, if we are feeling ambitious, we might try grafting.

12. Propagation
Our only try at propagating perenials last year was cutting off a blackberry branch, dipping it rooting hormone and sticking it in the vineyard.

That’s it. That’s all we did. But it worked!

We are going to try several methods of propagation this year including using root cuttings, leaf cuttings, stem cuttings, rooting hormone and layering.

13. Brewing
We know how to brew and we know how to make wine…but I don’t remember the last time we’ve actually done either. We’ll be focusing on getting our kegs full and learning more about making meads and cysers from fresh fruit.

Not so many skills
But goals to drive us forward
Start the year off right

1 Comment

Posted in 13 Skills, A to Z Blog Challenge, Canning, Chickens!, Education, Garden Stories, Life, Permaculture, Preparedness, Writing

Scattering Shells

Posted on December 30, 2015 | 1 comment

The garden bug is nibbling.

Every day I wake up itching to get started.

Every week I get more seed catalogs in the mail and tear into them plotting and planning the 2016 Garden.

According the the Farmer’s Almanac, the last frost date for my region is April 20, so I’m feeling the pressure to get my seed starting schedule together. This means I need to plan, pick and start planting if I want to start tomato and pepper seeds by the last week in January.

SO MUCH TO DO!

In an effort to calm down and feel like I’m taking action, I discovered a good use for the eggshells we’ve been powdering all winter.

Scatter. Let the chickens do the scratching. Scatter some more.

Why?

Egg shells are made of almost entirely of calcium carbonate. Plants need calcium to thrive. And…it’s free fertilizer. All we have to do is throw the eggshells in a pan, let them dry and pulverize them in the food processor.

It’s that simple.

So, armed with two and a half coffee cans full of powdered eggshells and a couple of colanders, the boys and I took turns scattering powdered eggshells all over the kitchen garden.

The chickens have been happily preparing the kitchen garden for a month or so now. They scratch, eat the eggs of those pesky garden pests and fertilize the soil with their waste.

Now, they’ll help even more by scratching the calcium rich egg shells into the soil.

We ended up covering the entire kitchen garden with powdered shells. As the chickens move across the garden they will help scratch and dig and mix the powder in to the soil.

Scattering egg shells
Gardening in the winter
Preparing the soil

1 Comment

Posted in Chickens!, For the Kids, Garden Stories, Haiku, Life, Permaculture, Writing

Swales in Winter

Posted on November 27, 2015 | Leave a comment

I looked out my window
And what did I see?
Water was standing
Under the tree

Then I grabbed my coat
And I ran outside
The swales were all full
The pond deep and wide

And I walked around
I saw water flowing
From north to south swale
How fast it was going!

Such gladness, such glee
To see it all that water
Even in winter
Not just when it’s hotter

When I looked out the window this morning, I saw standing water in the yard, so I knew the swales would be full.

I grabbed my raincoat and fairly ran out to check. The sky was gray and softly misting. While walking around, I saw worms and frogs and water flowing.

The swales were so full that there was standing water between them and in the lower parts of the pasture.

All of that water is being held on our property instead of eroding the land or filling our basement. Every time I see these hard at work, I feel an overwhelming excitement that we made this happen.

The pond is also full and, if it still has water when the big freeze hits, we’ll have a nice little skating rink.

Homestead Lessons 2015

Posted on October 28, 2015 | 3 comments

Every year, I write a post on the lessons we learned on the homestead.

Every year we make mistakes.

Every year catastrophes beyond our control occur.

But, every year we come away from the season with many triumphs and a slew of lessons learned.

Seed Starting

I’m pleased with the when and how we started seeds this year. I started the first round in the basement under the grow lights.

Then, my neighbor graciously offered space in his new greenhouse for me to start the rest.

We had some seedlings that didn’t make it far, but were happy with the overall result. I’m determined to have brussel sprouts and cauliflower one of these years.

Japanese Beetles

I’m still miffed at the damage the Japanese Beetles did to the apple tree, kiwi, cherry trees and seaberries this year.

Last year, the prairie grasses and borage kept them far away from all of our trees and hedge.

Perhaps they grew wise to our traps.

Next year, we’ll have to try using a product like Grub Guard early in the season to prevent them from hatching.

Squash Bugs

We tried to stay ahead of the squash bugs by squishing eggs before they had a chance to hatch. It was a morning ritual for the boys and me to don gloves and hunt for eggs on the underside of the leaves.

As the summer stretched out, they became more aggressive and we became lazier. When I saw that they were crawling all over the pumpkins, I decided enough was enough and harvested all that were ready, taking the rest out to the chickens.

Chicken Integration

We learned quite a bit this year about the temperament of chickens. Never a very friendly brood, they turned even nastier when new hens were introduced.

Trying to integrate nine new birds into the existing flock was challenging, frustrating and at times brutal. They originals fought, bullied and intimidated the youngsters to no end.

When the new hens were fully grown the brutality increased. Now, every hen save one, is scarred with feathers missing.

Our plan is to keep 6 birds through the winter and butcher the rest. We’ll start our new chicks in February and, once they start laying, butcher the last of the old hens.

Chicken Fatalities

We lost a few ladies this year, and unfortunately they were two of the new ones.

We are still not sure what happened, but we went from 15 to 13 birds in the span of a day.

I still think the other hens had something to do with the killings, but we will never really know.

Volunteer Invasion

I love volunteers. They are some of the strongest plants, and they produce some of the best and largest tomatoes.

That being said, I’ll have to pay a little more attention and work a little harder to transplant and pull them out next year. They took over the kitchen garden and choked out the peppers and carrots.

I love tomatoes, but a few more peppers and more than three carrots would have been nice.

Pond Life

I will be the first to admit that I was sceptical when Ray started to dig the pond, but once it filled with rainwater, I saw all of the benefits of having a new ecosystem on our property and another spot to collect rainwater.

By adding this feature, we are adding more biodiversity to our property. We’re letting Nature do what she’s meant to do.

Next year, we will dig it out a little bit more and start to line it with rock so it can hold water for more than just a month or so.

Seed Mix

The seed scattering we did this year finally paid off, albeit late in the season.

We scattered seeds in the wake of the chicken tractor on the freshly fertilized and scratched up ground.

We threw seeds on the berm of the pond and peppered the swales with the mix.

We spread the mix where ever there was bare dirt.

And recently, we saw the results.

Autumn Olive Loss

We lost two, maybe three, autumn olives this year. It was a particularly sad and puzzling loss as these are supposed to be so hardy and invasive.

To make up for this betrayal, the two that are still standing produced bright red berries for the first time.

We had so much fun harvesting them and eating them.

Grape Harvest

We also harvested grapes for the first time this year. I don’t think we would have had enough for wine or even to juice, but we sure did enjoy picking them and eating them out of hand.

The boys especially.

We had many other small losses and wins, but overall we had a great season.

Time passes swiftly
Boys get older and stronger
Nature gets her way

3 Comments

Posted in Chickens!, Garden Stories, Garden Stories, Haiku, Life, Permaculture, Preparedness, Writing

Category Archives: Permaculture

Herb Spiral Design

Mapping It Out

Plant-astic

Medicinal Herb Spiral

Homestead Goals 2016

Sowing Seeds Outside…in Winter?

13 in 16: Skills and Goals for the New Year

Scattering Shells

Swales in Winter

Homestead Lessons 2015

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