tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69137782920700400652024-03-01T09:14:13.289-05:00Thunder Bay PermacultureArticles and thoughts on the application of permaculture in an extremely cold climate and in Thunder Bay in particular.Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-33455459368072973572021-02-07T12:20:00.005-05:002021-02-07T12:20:56.508-05:00Establishing Growing Spaces with Potatoes and the Ruth Stout Method<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Can the Ruth Stout Method Tame Even the Toughest Ground? </span></h2>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It's April 2020 and we are deep into a community lock-down. The food supply chain is broken, and people are out of work.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Attention has turned to local food security and we decided to bring extra growing capacity into production.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">We were already committed to establishing a large growing area on the other side of town, and so there just wasn't the labor available to establish and attend this new space. To complicate matters, this new space was old pasture located at the back of a property, and we had no fencing, no irrigation, and a lot of hungry critters welcoming our planting efforts.</span></div><div>
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<p><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In short, this location was far from ideal. We had to think outside the box...</span></p>
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<div>The year before we ran broilers through this space in a chicken tractor, and as you can see in this photo, the grass and weeds were between 4ft and 5ft tall. When I say this area has heavy weed pressure I really mean it!</div><div><br /></div>
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We started with the next door neighbor popping over with their tractor to plow up the area in the early spring. Once they were done, it looked like a bombed out war zone.<br /><br />We did our best to remove the rocks and large slabs of sod, but as the clay soil died it set like concrete and became impossible to work by hand.<br /><br />To make matters worse, this ground disturbance triggered the explosion of thistles as their seeds were exposed and germinated.</td>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_XBruhmyEc4-Hx-3zzKphtYR2KhhvVPbVmFbLRldQidkJxWBzyWTWtm2CD5lmNz3-wrMP9y2s_Kgo24gM6kBtHxwRXzzhwyGWQeSWgEvvevKnCLIY4tJeL34CjZb9wb7yJ1f2kx6U8t0/s489/plow+pasture.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_XBruhmyEc4-Hx-3zzKphtYR2KhhvVPbVmFbLRldQidkJxWBzyWTWtm2CD5lmNz3-wrMP9y2s_Kgo24gM6kBtHxwRXzzhwyGWQeSWgEvvevKnCLIY4tJeL34CjZb9wb7yJ1f2kx6U8t0/w164-h200/plow+pasture.jpg" width="164" /></a></td>
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<td>The next step was to rototill the area in order to break up the large chunks of clay, sod, and remove more rocks.<br /><br /><br /></td>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizHcoz516N3CfgPN1RhPcFLl8pXCJXOkk_N5C6HXPHRgUqvHNDVAw06M2lHbF2kHPfrbYMXwJ1ZZVLUCxGZy_-amgxwto4JDERVYGfM1QdmmsKer45IWKFUZU6mz5QNn2vqwcrKpcOU4s/s267/4ft+bed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizHcoz516N3CfgPN1RhPcFLl8pXCJXOkk_N5C6HXPHRgUqvHNDVAw06M2lHbF2kHPfrbYMXwJ1ZZVLUCxGZy_-amgxwto4JDERVYGfM1QdmmsKer45IWKFUZU6mz5QNn2vqwcrKpcOU4s/w150-h200/4ft+bed.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br /></div></td>
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</tbody></table></div><div><span style="text-align: start;">Once we did this, we were able to form beds using shovels and a final pass over the top of them with the rototiller. </span>As an experiment, we made 2 4ft wide beds without the rototiller and just threw down heavy hay mulch.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi642z7RhujZmjyiyiLnsqqwrX9t1v1_3m9u_fngcnmhWpMbs0T-M7t1ZAUc_a5KRHndbaS_MNCmMdrIQNm7F0V8RqGyYKWSHWZ7F2zAaW_tU3hy_RlFR234WBoscDHzVNXRyTJorBvIclc/s300/seed+spuds.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="166" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi642z7RhujZmjyiyiLnsqqwrX9t1v1_3m9u_fngcnmhWpMbs0T-M7t1ZAUc_a5KRHndbaS_MNCmMdrIQNm7F0V8RqGyYKWSHWZ7F2zAaW_tU3hy_RlFR234WBoscDHzVNXRyTJorBvIclc/s16000/seed+spuds.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Finally it was time to plant the seed potatoes!</div><div>Some we planted into the soil as usual, and some we just placed on top of the soil and covered them with a foot of hay to see if they performed any differently.</div><div><br />
<span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">You can watch this video to see how things progressed through the season:</span></div><div><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="326" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p96K90TppC4" width="466" youtube-src-id="p96K90TppC4"></iframe></div><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></div>
</div></div>Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-79618708496020845142018-07-30T08:06:00.000-04:002018-07-30T08:06:29.280-04:00Air Layering - The New Awesomeness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj838B2cZa3qrvcL4WgajEtDsSkECnz_BoViMyE5LsYqugTKDPgKNXBKlNmMIUDOt_eorkK55IP4ClpjbEAuP5o_31ASQOW6JtFyHQJVljJI_T4zCFL5EMeXEohpwxQEZQoTHVz0eKx8TsN/s1600/air-layering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj838B2cZa3qrvcL4WgajEtDsSkECnz_BoViMyE5LsYqugTKDPgKNXBKlNmMIUDOt_eorkK55IP4ClpjbEAuP5o_31ASQOW6JtFyHQJVljJI_T4zCFL5EMeXEohpwxQEZQoTHVz0eKx8TsN/s320/air-layering.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Air Layering - The New Awesomeness</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The trees are maturing around the border of my kitchen garden. And they are shading out my grow beds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have a choice - cut them down or start transitioning the space to a more mature, perennial based food production system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since the most shaded beds run along the transition zone between urban savanna and urban forest, I decided that transition perennials like low shrubs would be a suitable place to start.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fastest way to establish this food system is to take a trip to the local nursery with a credit card. In my case, someone else's credit card...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alternatively, I could take my time and start with seedlings or cuttings that I can obtain for free or barter. And that's what I'm doing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I got to reading and researching not only for local plant material donors who are acclimatized to the Northern environment, but to also learn techniques for cloning and propagation. And I just discovered this technique called air layering which I think is just awesome. Expect to see plastic bags on tree branches everywhere!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So What is Air Layering?</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is a basic video introducing the concept:</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Uwq5CrMjDcw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Uwq5CrMjDcw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are two main techniques involved. One is ringing the branch as shown in the video above, while the other involved cutting a notch like in the video below:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some people just make longitudinal cuts along the branch and it seems to work. The point is that it's not a precise science. Whatever works best for you works best!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/sphagnum-moss-vs-sphagnum-peat-moss.htm" target="_blank">Sphagnum moss</a> seems to be the most common packing medium, but <a href="https://www.maximumyield.com/crazy-for-coco-coir/2/1237" target="_blank">coco coir</a> works equally well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Instead of using rooting hormone, I'm experimenting with <a href="https://permaculturenews.org/2014/05/31/propagation-using-willow-water/" target="_blank">willow water</a> I made at home to see how well it works.</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-84616561908164492382018-07-17T11:15:00.001-04:002018-07-17T11:15:28.180-04:00Growing Seabuckthorn from Seed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvfp720NQYhMZxvm34VCsltmxDaAShXtMy3Q7zukNJygNPfPnOSMoaBf-uMlqwZz461xvLVcNbFqZnZuPtpHnacN5osRNF6AnwV21sqaVDxZVs3GNxcXk0CkdkPfqJednDuCQiaSNFsUj/s1600/sea-buckthorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="450" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvfp720NQYhMZxvm34VCsltmxDaAShXtMy3Q7zukNJygNPfPnOSMoaBf-uMlqwZz461xvLVcNbFqZnZuPtpHnacN5osRNF6AnwV21sqaVDxZVs3GNxcXk0CkdkPfqJednDuCQiaSNFsUj/s200/sea-buckthorn.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Growing Seabuckthorn from Seed</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last fall I became aware of some seabuckthorn bushes growing on the Lakehead University campus grounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Apparently they had been planted on the lower edge of a car parking area to help control erosion, and because seabuckthorn is salt tolerant, they were likely to survive the spring runoff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not only have they survived, but they're thriving in their position.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is a street view image of the bushes and I have circled them in red. If you look closely you can just make out the distinctive berries!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some time back, I showcased seabuckthorn in a <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.ca/2014/08/plant-of-weekish-seabuckthorn.html" target="_blank">plant of the weekish</a> post. The most common way to propagate the plant is via cuttings. But it was late fall, and so I decided to see if these plants were producing viable seed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So one evening, in the freezing drizzle I stopped by and picked some berries. We had been experiencing hard nighttime frosts and warm days, so the berries were extremely ripe and mushy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I put the into a plastic bag, and then drove home still covered in the powerful smelling juice that lingered in my car for days. Since I'm looking for genetic diversity, I made sure I collected berries from as many different bushes as possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once home, I mashed up the berries and separated the seeds. It was a pretty easy job as the seeds have a waxy coating similar to flax seeds, and they slip out of the fleshy sheath they reside in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I then counted out 150 seeds and soaked them for 48 hours, during which time almost all the seeds had sunk to the bottom. The few that remained floating I discarded as per the literature I could find (the floating seeds are apparently not viable).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I then placed the seeds into a plastic bag with some wet <a href="https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/perlite-potting-soil.htm" target="_blank">perlite</a>, and placed them into the refrigerator for 3 months...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdoUNnn5KRfAAN8zMyxXAcWmz8zL7CcrtFU0ds0FCMvwwZz7Zbj6d5WJwD0qY7l5_R5KTd-1B2iLEZ0LB4sPih2VE8USh_BkIi3Dmy6w1YiVTF5jJ33pQ1HXeDw9GN6Ek-DyNOtnqmMzn/s1600/seabuckthorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="600" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdoUNnn5KRfAAN8zMyxXAcWmz8zL7CcrtFU0ds0FCMvwwZz7Zbj6d5WJwD0qY7l5_R5KTd-1B2iLEZ0LB4sPih2VE8USh_BkIi3Dmy6w1YiVTF5jJ33pQ1HXeDw9GN6Ek-DyNOtnqmMzn/s320/seabuckthorn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next, I removed the plastic bag from the cold store, and placed it in a sunny position since the seeds require exposure to light for germination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If all goes well, the seeds should begin sprouting with a week or two.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5 days later and I spotted the first germinated seed, and the day after that I potted the first 4 seedlings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Despite my initial optimism, these 4 seedlings were the only ones to germinate from the 150 seed sample. And to add insult to injury, the 4 seedlings all died within a few weeks of germination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So this experiment was a total bust folks. Was it the way I stratified and propagate them? Maybe. But I think that my next adventure in Seabuckthorn propagation will be harvesting the abundant suckers that are popping up.</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-3586029103909094352018-07-12T12:10:00.000-04:002018-07-12T12:10:51.556-04:00Domestic Vermicomposting<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXD4Tml0E-bTE_tFDMAVsfIUKG1lNHQzTvWHNieGSbdvwYZ2f4BNBwnlo-pkfTzBvkbiezyzGm463Ru48mTUPAmyJ9hxWY-2w5kmt7iwePvV6Vsx3WlBdQQES_64-KCGYkdWK1tYbdkPR/s320/composting-worms.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Domestic Vermicomposting</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few years ago I started vermicomposting and only just now realized that I never wrote about it, so here we are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wanted to have compost worms, and I needed a system that would operate all year round even when it was 20 below outside.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This meant a system that was capable of being moved indoors during the winter months. And <b>that </b>meant a clean and odor free system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After some research I arrived at a stacking 5 gallon pail system like in the video below:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That worked for a few months and then I discovered some fatal flaws in the system advocated in that video. The weight of the worms and bedding and castings forced the pails into each other to the point that I couldn't get them apart when the lower one became full of leachate. I eventually did separate them, but it was a huge stinking mess. I also found that there was not enough air getting into the composting chamber and things were getting a little anaerobic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My solution was to drill a lot more holes not only in the bottom of the pails, but in the sides as well. That fixed the smell issue, but it introduced a new problem. When I cleaned out the system, I couldn't line up all the holes again so that the airflow was maintained.</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yFP-hR01bICXnHVmFrpwFb8_xVcJqO8J8r9NJil8jYuFrXzWf6Lx7Gsr-i0r50aPN6RaboLhllKzTTHkQxLx7zPF3GTi3wFbed1mSchlyXCCEHz1ftIGgfzca63GvZiC5tiSq95m938Z/s1600/Complete+Tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="539" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yFP-hR01bICXnHVmFrpwFb8_xVcJqO8J8r9NJil8jYuFrXzWf6Lx7Gsr-i0r50aPN6RaboLhllKzTTHkQxLx7zPF3GTi3wFbed1mSchlyXCCEHz1ftIGgfzca63GvZiC5tiSq95m938Z/s320/Complete+Tower.jpg" width="179" /></a></td><td><div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a lot of trial and error I present to you MkIII of my worm tower. It is dialed in and problem free.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The system uses 5 pails. Two of these are actual composting compartments (one for active composting and the other for finishing off), but you can add more as desired.</span></div>
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<tr><td><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One pail (the bottom one) is the sump which collects leachate, and I have a spigot (a tap) mounted in the bottom so I can drain it off without disassembling the system. This is a huge improvement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also added a sighting tube to the sump, and drew a line around the outside with a permanent marker at the point where the bottom of the upper pail is positioned. This means I can tell at a glance if the sump needs emptying. It is another huge improvement and it prevents stinky leakage / overflows.</span></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBFczTKpE9p9F1Bko0Rc6yS0DcP0pyoIX3W-YLm0GyqyhX-DhuMGkqnSdw4a93VtQc1prXPZWcPANUMD88x0Hnp8CJPUR-pNEq_lf43MxlIYJ-Fo9DGpKKpMYBE79uVMxlJEenTSZcnn0/s1600/Sump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="539" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBFczTKpE9p9F1Bko0Rc6yS0DcP0pyoIX3W-YLm0GyqyhX-DhuMGkqnSdw4a93VtQc1prXPZWcPANUMD88x0Hnp8CJPUR-pNEq_lf43MxlIYJ-Fo9DGpKKpMYBE79uVMxlJEenTSZcnn0/s320/Sump.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCq3ePt9a6vlULORn1IvKv9aVgZ-CdF6LXFNCRfBWoFSZfdy1c2eFLdi6JUi1cWMyQ4_xtj19f6Z7TXbjjm0Xwl16nwiEcFBrGQg6_4CdE_G2Gay2JlqyjyGMP2RO3mn03urqm5Q6RJvm/s1600/Parts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="800" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCq3ePt9a6vlULORn1IvKv9aVgZ-CdF6LXFNCRfBWoFSZfdy1c2eFLdi6JUi1cWMyQ4_xtj19f6Z7TXbjjm0Xwl16nwiEcFBrGQg6_4CdE_G2Gay2JlqyjyGMP2RO3mn03urqm5Q6RJvm/s320/Parts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td><td><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two of the pails are used as spacers. This prevents the pails from jamming together when there is weight in them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A spacer is made by cutting the bottom of a pail off like shown in the image on the left.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A spacer goes between every composting pail you have in the system, and also between the lowest composting pail and the sump.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once all the pails are stacked together in order, I then drilled the breathing holes so that there is a clear path for air to travel into the composting chambers through multiple pail sides. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since these pails stack inside each other, the hole has to pass through the wall of two pails, and also a spacer depending on where the hole is.</span></td><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHFzk2deIZj-NpAbNJuQ70f0TTqqIOi-r6noegiTxnSlnvb7khXWSIYM8ai4VRK1qQBB9uMQR4R31WCUoG6Uqq47vOfjwQLEbhsLJvC1xOwlvaubiIEWqjcqUQVpzEbpU7SR2JDKbxPnC/s1600/Tower+Inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="539" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHFzk2deIZj-NpAbNJuQ70f0TTqqIOi-r6noegiTxnSlnvb7khXWSIYM8ai4VRK1qQBB9uMQR4R31WCUoG6Uqq47vOfjwQLEbhsLJvC1xOwlvaubiIEWqjcqUQVpzEbpU7SR2JDKbxPnC/s320/Tower+Inside.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWtmKeW42XvhDQL4TxzZbaZDgMdHpCZXs4P7X5eJx-1PVYDoTYXfplz8A2xcddEVwd_GBo7DWETVCutv7DbPgkXar5S7dC5EjFT1Nyir2cfVUEYlAPyPkcoqwoZbo5Xj95fypuKiLJUcQ/s1600/Locking3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="539" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWtmKeW42XvhDQL4TxzZbaZDgMdHpCZXs4P7X5eJx-1PVYDoTYXfplz8A2xcddEVwd_GBo7DWETVCutv7DbPgkXar5S7dC5EjFT1Nyir2cfVUEYlAPyPkcoqwoZbo5Xj95fypuKiLJUcQ/s320/Locking3.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I then drilled some larger holes that will be used to align and lock the pails together. In the image, you can see I use a piece of scrap coaxial cable for the job, but it can be anything really. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The important thing to note here is that the two holes are bigger than the ventilation holes so they can be easily identified during reassembly.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUEjf-GPFxDlAO3UXp5_InFulMbO3-IJF0Gay27RxHUWU-w_JOukgXmljCiARGfzzAs97aDXSL6UUq6UR1VOrFPDzzFxuQBKoW3NDNbBC4HSREln8JS8LVsNYcxr45oziujHCk0ces7k_/s1600/Locking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="539" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUEjf-GPFxDlAO3UXp5_InFulMbO3-IJF0Gay27RxHUWU-w_JOukgXmljCiARGfzzAs97aDXSL6UUq6UR1VOrFPDzzFxuQBKoW3NDNbBC4HSREln8JS8LVsNYcxr45oziujHCk0ces7k_/s320/Locking.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Since these holes go all the way through the pails, alignment and reassembly is simple.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The locking mechanism also prevents the pails from separating when you go to move the system, since we now have these spacers that prevent the pails from fusing together. If you don't have the locking pins, then the pails will separate during transport and make a huge mess.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's probably worth mentioning that these locking pins are installed at every spacer, and there are two locking pins per spacer - on opposite sides from each other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes time for cleaning and removing castings, simply remove the locking pins and everything lifts out. It's as simple as that!</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-29338522048267442282018-07-12T09:43:00.001-04:002018-07-31T11:18:13.826-04:00Cider Time - Crushing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7om1g_hxwthdq9biV1UNiWDnfsu8zQGWrCZek5nosAF_YlVZMlglGi_7-8hd7fCQxkVk31SlzcwY_Igydi07LCGye12mlcxr1F1FKwzvWXarybDjUwSaCf_ZIECU_GA5bQgRAPCvfQjj/s1600/cider-press-front-400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7om1g_hxwthdq9biV1UNiWDnfsu8zQGWrCZek5nosAF_YlVZMlglGi_7-8hd7fCQxkVk31SlzcwY_Igydi07LCGye12mlcxr1F1FKwzvWXarybDjUwSaCf_ZIECU_GA5bQgRAPCvfQjj/s320/cider-press-front-400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cider Time - Crushing</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fall means apples, and apples mean apple juice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our primary use of apple juice around here is apple cider vinegar (ACV) due to its many uses and <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-proven-health-benefits-of-apple-cider-vinegar" target="_blank">health giving qualities</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To make ACV, a good starting point is apple cider. And to make apple cider, you need apple juice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And of course, if you need apple juice then you need some equipment...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I spend a lot of time scouring the internet for solutions to extracting apple juice from apples that is both economical and efficient.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During this search, I found the <a href="http://whizbangcider2.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Whizbang Cider</a> system that involves the use of a garbage disposal unit to turn apples into pulp.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HVvbjnf08xw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HVvbjnf08xw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are lots of videos on Youtube showing how a continuous use garbage disposal unit is a great solution for grinding apples. But they cost about $200 to purchase new, so I went to the restore and bought a standard second hand disposal for $20 and gave it a thorough clean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I found an old solid oak coffee table at a second hand store for $20, and so I bought that and cut a hole in it so I could mount the disposal unit into.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/isCo3m-lZ8Q/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/isCo3m-lZ8Q?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I did not modify the disposal unit, and it did get hot. I found that if I pulped only enough apples at one time to fill the press then the grinder had just enough time to cool while I processed the juice. If I was going to be processing more than 5 gallons of juice, then I would seriously consider investing in an upgrade. But for $50 I'm personally OK with doing things a little bit slower.</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-9083157597982910102018-07-12T08:42:00.003-04:002018-07-12T08:42:47.311-04:00Mycelium in the Garden - Part 1 Update 1<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="625" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsowkffGl0NYPzuNSi3C0ZKz86eUg_2PtkS5LLPA-BZK3GEl2qVopIFxK-ZXIqc_S04Ye3YBtA4a9_2nLmifhbcad68Rz-KbboUvG2rXv0g_Dyvlmbdq79VL_P59FzViLM_BtSbnLhzkD/s320/crop-hand-with-magnifying-glass-near-mushrooms_23-2147770959.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mycelium in the Garden - Part 1 Update 1</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's been roughly 3 weeks since the first mycelium in the garden experiment was conducted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.com/2018/06/mycelium-in-garden.html">Part 1</a> of this series, I show how the experiment using newspaper, hay, and oyster mushroom substrate was used as a sheet mulch to see how the introduction of mycelium might enhance the biodiversity in the garden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So yesterday I pushed back the hay in a few spots to see if anything was happening. In the image below, you can clearly see that the newspaper is starting to become less distinguishable as newspaper. What might be more difficult to see is that the reason why this is happening is because of a white growth beginning on the surface. That would be mycelium establishing itself. Yay!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An even keener eye may spot the odd green patch on the newspaper. This is seed from the hay that has germinated and is growing. This was expected. Stay tuned to see if it turns into pasture.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_eXY29hplA8e0O0ahxrbM_T02IquXNXH4DibxPrCdpeYP3VA-sVEojpq-wMhYIRCAcbAqf29wtNfbmYOvupwxj-Vg93LB7V9CCsnSa6VGccrIDBi2G6pel7bE_-6RTpXxpkUn0tQ2VVd/s1600/growth-hay-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_eXY29hplA8e0O0ahxrbM_T02IquXNXH4DibxPrCdpeYP3VA-sVEojpq-wMhYIRCAcbAqf29wtNfbmYOvupwxj-Vg93LB7V9CCsnSa6VGccrIDBi2G6pel7bE_-6RTpXxpkUn0tQ2VVd/s400/growth-hay-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next photo shows a different area I uncovered at random. You can see the grass seedlings much better in this shot, and you can also see that the mycelium are colonizing the newspaper much faster. You might also be able to spot white patches on the hay, which means that the mycelium are advancing into the upper mulch layer.</span></div>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkYaLsqEPi1btJ8FPimx0kq0LWfiHcmtOeFLq6U0JZMLXGY7AhTLB6QDXMeptqHRe6MiyatqP2jjSrD_iCqzVBs6eezHk3eG0Kq3SSOZr0rB6y5IUxrD37u4mn0p1TLNpgZiRUgLV7eSV/s1600/growth-hay-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkYaLsqEPi1btJ8FPimx0kq0LWfiHcmtOeFLq6U0JZMLXGY7AhTLB6QDXMeptqHRe6MiyatqP2jjSrD_iCqzVBs6eezHk3eG0Kq3SSOZr0rB6y5IUxrD37u4mn0p1TLNpgZiRUgLV7eSV/s400/growth-hay-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So far so good. Stay tuned for more updates!</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-52234108860527598272018-07-10T13:01:00.000-04:002018-07-10T13:01:56.717-04:00Mycelium in the Garden - Part 2<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74YgyrtfZGKVPT5UGFWCbh56rL_1NLX-vSWJocFIH4FJzDH3rR1vq30tL3TfEj-gmjRbdOKudBmv9Kz8YM_8l0W2crxY8yFO0db2aKL4DUvnmZIY4_VCalQNkjGxL_8XB-RQK67y7htpj/s320/oyster-mushrooms.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.com/2018/06/mycelium-in-garden.html">part 1</a> of this series, I talked about my intentions for introducing mycelium into the garden and documented the first experiment which involved newspaper, used coffee grounds, and hay (not straw) in a shady spot in the garden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this post, I'm going to talk about my second experiment. This one involves utilizing the space beneath my bean and pea frames which gets too shady to grow much of anything as the summer advances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This experiment will be making use of newspaper, used coffee grounds, and straw (not hay) as I want to see if there really is a difference between the two mulches.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5C7PjEThVGGHCMNHwMz9GbnVeU3H0zM278goUxsDHjTDI6Yakmndq5g1C5FeIBGLiUPUFuRfYHScKZqE0u8ditMLpGb-Mgo2707_O2p39xpe-U7MrrWP4_Kk5HUpZ4QvUHg2AwaP9daX-/s1600/exp2_fir_layer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="737" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5C7PjEThVGGHCMNHwMz9GbnVeU3H0zM278goUxsDHjTDI6Yakmndq5g1C5FeIBGLiUPUFuRfYHScKZqE0u8ditMLpGb-Mgo2707_O2p39xpe-U7MrrWP4_Kk5HUpZ4QvUHg2AwaP9daX-/s320/exp2_fir_layer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td><td><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The space under the climbing frame has grown thick with weeds, so I simply piled the newspaper over the top of them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I did pull a few of the weeds from around the newspaper edges, and stuffed them under to make it look neat and tidy.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once I had a good thick layer of newspaper down, I covered it with 15 gallons of used coffee grounds. This is much thicker than with the first experiment, and I decided to do this after taking a peak under the mulch in experiment 1, and saw the mycelium really infiltrating the coffee grounds, and to my surprise, no mold!</span></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PDVDQfJmmt9w646g6OPfJ4cGJyIlaWo7YlFrV1VCX2Iwv4AGH-iK3vtomo2sKJqo0E_Pc8lYw6z42Le3WKMry7aBFWxWGYYeMiv3vGsagMG4MWAUhTk44v-XIq8F2l93hM2Ar8892-0F/s1600/exp2_coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PDVDQfJmmt9w646g6OPfJ4cGJyIlaWo7YlFrV1VCX2Iwv4AGH-iK3vtomo2sKJqo0E_Pc8lYw6z42Le3WKMry7aBFWxWGYYeMiv3vGsagMG4MWAUhTk44v-XIq8F2l93hM2Ar8892-0F/s320/exp2_coffee.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next I sliced the used mushroom log into disks and placed them directly on top of the used coffee grounds just like in the previous experiment.</span></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjza5BZMgHqo-5qj0GZhWKUERSaowO9mKyKpN0naM7EegkmI-NHizWcM8IDw9Tdx1jrLhyrYmxFswugSnX8UDrO390JtzddrmumAe5iwATNUhxLcks5x394XNiGfSX9pgzOoSrX6dc1OnlN/s1600/exp2_myc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjza5BZMgHqo-5qj0GZhWKUERSaowO9mKyKpN0naM7EegkmI-NHizWcM8IDw9Tdx1jrLhyrYmxFswugSnX8UDrO390JtzddrmumAe5iwATNUhxLcks5x394XNiGfSX9pgzOoSrX6dc1OnlN/s320/exp2_myc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlVMxFZZXb68cO_vgf9h2jDkFi7jznTifbydw3W8OnhtMjOM-6t_zMcmBJk2O4p8PxYWkc-UqDIyhWJUJr1WUZ3gz1AGiI3FLUM7Nua7a1nBUjgdtSGv58O5UQYXifVmSZoRAkSr4dGTs/s1600/exp2_las_layer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="600" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlVMxFZZXb68cO_vgf9h2jDkFi7jznTifbydw3W8OnhtMjOM-6t_zMcmBJk2O4p8PxYWkc-UqDIyhWJUJr1WUZ3gz1AGiI3FLUM7Nua7a1nBUjgdtSGv58O5UQYXifVmSZoRAkSr4dGTs/s320/exp2_las_layer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td><td><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next, I covered the disks with a single sheet of newspaper just to help with moisture retention and wet it down so it would stay put while I collected the straw.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, I covered everything with a generous layer of straw, being careful to ensure that there was no newspaper sticking out.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrgQ_X6gKhtE7aQBqDu9UMCQyGliUT23IJoUI3hWycA7k3OaP27L86_U0zbxHH9mxWs0vUvApPQH_HFeE5n2CJsQrsAGlys6gwYfnUWwWMzdatSEUkXtwtbNrovkHX20krFi6bASXeNvXL/s1600/exp2_complete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="554" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrgQ_X6gKhtE7aQBqDu9UMCQyGliUT23IJoUI3hWycA7k3OaP27L86_U0zbxHH9mxWs0vUvApPQH_HFeE5n2CJsQrsAGlys6gwYfnUWwWMzdatSEUkXtwtbNrovkHX20krFi6bASXeNvXL/s320/exp2_complete.jpg" width="295" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So that's it! Now all there is to do is sit back, let the peas grow, and see if the mycelium processes all that used coffee grounds before the freeze comes.</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-53922852044878173192018-06-26T12:07:00.000-04:002018-07-10T09:25:14.097-04:00Mycelium in the Garden - Part 1<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="625" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ztROE0gfvAMPAK183vSXzh7L-xM56fXch3ykeCBVnuCLXBWvC_rugkpVCpMCH6PMMozqBA-CvJ3VfT1tXOjmpxEM4H4Nfcpmk7qAKqZPQERl3He9ipTH2KY16VrYyD5rUyK1ripr4pZL/s320/mtc.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gardeners often freak out when they see toadstools growing in their garden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, if we replace "toadstools" with edible mushrooms then we have created another stream of productivity while at the same time fill a decomposition function within the landscape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This post is about my experiments with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycelium" target="_blank">mycelium</a> not just as a source of tasty mushrooms, but as a decomposition accelerator in my sheet mulching system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But doesn't accelerating sheet mulch decomposition mean you have to replace it more often I hear you ask? Well, yes it does. But the reason I sheet mulch is keep plant competition down, regulate soil moisture, and encourage soil biodiversity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I actually want my soil to eat the sheet mulch and incorporate all those nutrients and organic matter into the humus. Since my sheet mulch contains a lot of woody material it makes sense that a wood eating organism will do the job for me.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1q9GncsEBUiwFpKPwdMetIWwilZ7DNv-zrJvyjhEmMpJOJ6q2amI8TuIdTtdNcvkRQiNmT9yTB7Jc0AmNy0h7uj5ifhQWf-tKqJp_ZACRnEOAJzVPU-KPVjjDGurmAFXKLlHRExD7CFku/s1600/straw+log.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1q9GncsEBUiwFpKPwdMetIWwilZ7DNv-zrJvyjhEmMpJOJ6q2amI8TuIdTtdNcvkRQiNmT9yTB7Jc0AmNy0h7uj5ifhQWf-tKqJp_ZACRnEOAJzVPU-KPVjjDGurmAFXKLlHRExD7CFku/s320/straw+log.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I started with a used straw log that commercial mushroom growers use to grow primary decomposers like oyster mushrooms in. I could have used spawn, or a slurry, but this is what I had available to me locally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since the log contained <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurotus_ostreatus" target="_blank">oyster mushroom</a> mycelium, I decided to <a href="https://www.growveg.com/guides/growing-gourmet-mushrooms-at-home-from-waste-coffee-grounds/" target="_blank">incorporate used coffee grounds</a> into the sheet mulch bed. I collected a week's worth of used coffee grounds from a local coffee shop and stored them in sealed 5 gallon pails to prevent molding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 4ft wide garden bed I was working with had about 6ft of available space. It had some old newspaper and straw from last season on top of the soil, and I spread out the 15 gallons of used coffee grounds as my base layer directly on top.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next, I cut the plastic off the straw log, and sliced it up into disks about 2 inches thick. These I placed on top of the coffee grounds as shown in the images below:</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwfnteBhyphenhyphensh7Tv9ElOERwwytoJ951TpHm2wGaakAVt5HShgRGwVNAy5XMExHUC2pEteb60MhzhlEz3ekWjCMV2lL2Ba3ag-n03GyO9O9C6u6af-euohYZjA47WRNRdNZ6O5r_Tle5vEF5/s1600/disks_on_coffee_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwfnteBhyphenhyphensh7Tv9ElOERwwytoJ951TpHm2wGaakAVt5HShgRGwVNAy5XMExHUC2pEteb60MhzhlEz3ekWjCMV2lL2Ba3ag-n03GyO9O9C6u6af-euohYZjA47WRNRdNZ6O5r_Tle5vEF5/s200/disks_on_coffee_2.jpg" width="150" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj86v9V2pZIvcm_dpYfaH5hTIAAb9y2xsFk97lzJCsjEQBq4YDbWhOruxN4y34xg4AupfYR4rVEArqVXAW_ht2bHDi_Sa_LoOuYb9ValbdmfYKH-7NC95ChmBRofpqkICZkMJW06AvcEUGm/s1600/disks_on_coffee_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj86v9V2pZIvcm_dpYfaH5hTIAAb9y2xsFk97lzJCsjEQBq4YDbWhOruxN4y34xg4AupfYR4rVEArqVXAW_ht2bHDi_Sa_LoOuYb9ValbdmfYKH-7NC95ChmBRofpqkICZkMJW06AvcEUGm/s200/disks_on_coffee_1.jpg" width="150" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5oxicjAl-sX1-hOh0HCcaSRjgy-07nmP_fhlhfMMKVpG-UC4VIOM-KzkmTXpOG7G5EqA3w6lYk2nN2VqG6x0d8PTlvfoRVPxo2uo1JHQ8z1PTirT1wIFs3Dbj8K6Dxyy4JM2bK553uhB/s1600/disks_on_coffee_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5oxicjAl-sX1-hOh0HCcaSRjgy-07nmP_fhlhfMMKVpG-UC4VIOM-KzkmTXpOG7G5EqA3w6lYk2nN2VqG6x0d8PTlvfoRVPxo2uo1JHQ8z1PTirT1wIFs3Dbj8K6Dxyy4JM2bK553uhB/s200/disks_on_coffee_3.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After this, I layered newspaper over the top of the disks and gave it a good watering:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5TT5QeEST0tNQdOzIYebGHMoMAk9fyVwluF0K5LH1Sz3aqhe59eBBilnYUpiGkXW2E1sy58ETqFF9L7UFDjqBk4dX9pAZFz9sV-0DeZGTI_5Co4VrwFKV1_je4BWPYhoj3ix4todJGnx6/s1600/dry_paper_on_disks_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5TT5QeEST0tNQdOzIYebGHMoMAk9fyVwluF0K5LH1Sz3aqhe59eBBilnYUpiGkXW2E1sy58ETqFF9L7UFDjqBk4dX9pAZFz9sV-0DeZGTI_5Co4VrwFKV1_je4BWPYhoj3ix4todJGnx6/s200/dry_paper_on_disks_1.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
</td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBj5ucaY2UUD7q_hXzJsST4dHnwXF6q9MYaNTdKKfRCC9Zq_QIGzoOXIaoXIRdXFo-NbRs4FO6NyX6nLFSb8cR9fp9IA54UddPTCesJDZe9ecAswEMdG0-Gug4nZu4Nl_w_Lxr3XbRZrO3/s1600/dry_paper_on_disks_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBj5ucaY2UUD7q_hXzJsST4dHnwXF6q9MYaNTdKKfRCC9Zq_QIGzoOXIaoXIRdXFo-NbRs4FO6NyX6nLFSb8cR9fp9IA54UddPTCesJDZe9ecAswEMdG0-Gug4nZu4Nl_w_Lxr3XbRZrO3/s200/dry_paper_on_disks_2.jpg" width="150" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepbybSt7o4rRfqXnGeTlbDzqXtNplhZIvQMCrEKru56B33C8iRzTbfJgZpNyswisdqXVi7YVuhq2GrADuWTF0X64nzphV44JjsqYfVMTZ2-bJbQBS_l0tcYJrwwSaXK-BJsOXEQZJAvlh/s1600/paper_on_disks_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepbybSt7o4rRfqXnGeTlbDzqXtNplhZIvQMCrEKru56B33C8iRzTbfJgZpNyswisdqXVi7YVuhq2GrADuWTF0X64nzphV44JjsqYfVMTZ2-bJbQBS_l0tcYJrwwSaXK-BJsOXEQZJAvlh/s200/paper_on_disks_1.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, I covered everything up with a deep layer of hay and gave it a final watering.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPlNNBWIYIX2y4TfYRLGLzaiMDMcC5E1AKoDhhpc7vLgXjYto7EsEKzCbNjXPrD8umHaE1gc9uhUuZtIk0sddgLcNYA6padggspxiwNQeV-wezE97-X4UgHJjQX5sEd8cTAVQeXzka37h/s1600/bed_complete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPlNNBWIYIX2y4TfYRLGLzaiMDMcC5E1AKoDhhpc7vLgXjYto7EsEKzCbNjXPrD8umHaE1gc9uhUuZtIk0sddgLcNYA6padggspxiwNQeV-wezE97-X4UgHJjQX5sEd8cTAVQeXzka37h/s320/bed_complete.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stay tuned to see how this experiment in active sheet mulching turns out! </span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-35766045151169314452018-06-18T15:11:00.001-04:002018-06-18T15:29:08.955-04:00High Productivity in Dry Conditions - Part 2<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="349" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3eaT6LoJVBYwdJIMfK_yJPG7LNsyVqyQr1tWYrC5R4olutfRvGuVVrFuTXBBMyY8u17ErrOsagNGRd41CgbSxxkAqmnD68Usx4Kwkzz40UnCAu0DRQkM1cymqifQkXevBOlzlYxn8xa4g/s320/Plant-on-cracked-ground_0.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">High Productivity in Dry Conditions - Part 2</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.com/2018/06/high-productivity-in-dry-conditions.html" target="_blank">part 1 of this blog post series</a>, I talked about a design for growing water hungry plants in dry conditions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In this post, I thought I would share my experience installing some of these in my own garden to see how they go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My garden beds are 48'' wide double-reach beds, so a 48'' diameter circle bed was the natural choice for this project.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqp5_iIyaakZJkUnJAEGtEuQK0AMc4Zk-dZQ5xKeN9aX8RjSb9WDIQVf36lLtsoHcnl35SfgJ_u3z6ekZ0JXBn1touYBms9ejaTsrzPAK-fs4t5IkvWW_rCAYHo3AQerXx36cDphcRB4K/s1600/20180615_163858_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqp5_iIyaakZJkUnJAEGtEuQK0AMc4Zk-dZQ5xKeN9aX8RjSb9WDIQVf36lLtsoHcnl35SfgJ_u3z6ekZ0JXBn1touYBms9ejaTsrzPAK-fs4t5IkvWW_rCAYHo3AQerXx36cDphcRB4K/s320/20180615_163858_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I chose an area that has not been touched this season, and was overgrown with horsetail, chickweed, lambs quarters, and grass.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I started by digging a hole in the middle of the garden bed, and building up a doughnut shape of soil. I pulled the biggest plants out and left the rest in there as you can see from the photo to the right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a rough as guts installation, and took less than 5 minutes. I then scrunched up the plants I pulled previously, and stuffed them into the bottom of the hole.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XxxigG-QErMBp-ujvf2-Ff2_0p48PxFLYoLhIcoTta0BriwyfOCHwNyhUUCHsjOHSm8neaiX8FSjKKQ0d1HUPYOLxB0U_y3oMmw476Mp0kLIDJholwuI1G_MRr1j1CTRgwhmU050bAau/s1600/20180615_164424_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XxxigG-QErMBp-ujvf2-Ff2_0p48PxFLYoLhIcoTta0BriwyfOCHwNyhUUCHsjOHSm8neaiX8FSjKKQ0d1HUPYOLxB0U_y3oMmw476Mp0kLIDJholwuI1G_MRr1j1CTRgwhmU050bAau/s200/20180615_164424_sm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DG_axIM79BDR66venAXAT0QaOB9PsRmkcsdvELNwKg57a774FynqnMmPr-jfqFycqyurLrmwGdMA-i2YHIG1ULXyIraz9vqOtM99sX3tIGsCh5gqcOi4eD_-nBT-ttRJfeTgy_J8rLFR/s1600/20180615_164225_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="600" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DG_axIM79BDR66venAXAT0QaOB9PsRmkcsdvELNwKg57a774FynqnMmPr-jfqFycqyurLrmwGdMA-i2YHIG1ULXyIraz9vqOtM99sX3tIGsCh5gqcOi4eD_-nBT-ttRJfeTgy_J8rLFR/s200/20180615_164225_sm.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I patted the soil and shaped it a bit to make sure I had a solid ring into which I will plant the seedlings later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After that, I took some garden debris from last year and filled the hole with it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOuwrlBLg-l3SnL4hTVo6ld82H8KcYgz4va8QRNT0Q6JLzcpFRd9yEoURuvAMiV4FVnWErelhCddrXKrrJeR3je_lSpGOQ8OEPQjPKhtWu5rPPme02RkQ0WxaVq6dCO8nrn-B91K9c5hNm/s1600/20180615_164918_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOuwrlBLg-l3SnL4hTVo6ld82H8KcYgz4va8QRNT0Q6JLzcpFRd9yEoURuvAMiV4FVnWErelhCddrXKrrJeR3je_lSpGOQ8OEPQjPKhtWu5rPPme02RkQ0WxaVq6dCO8nrn-B91K9c5hNm/s320/20180615_164918_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next step was to cover the entire thing in newspaper. Each placement you see in the photo is approximately 6 sheets of newspaper thick, and I started at the base and worked my way into the center, making sure there was a good overlap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This will act to keep moisture in the soil, and prevent any unwanted plants taking over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also made sure there was a ready pathway for water to enter through in the center of the circle.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3bce9Zim1et3wnyD2ss1QU2mR6_GY6PfNOcoSl85gXaG3zELksr7QrXcKDHVZpSo9y4midMqH6S5HR1Cn41jb4GJoHMgWPm2-VEUIckqdtKGQSQURX6ycXRas-SbV0KgONO_cqeKITb0/s1600/20180615_165233_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3bce9Zim1et3wnyD2ss1QU2mR6_GY6PfNOcoSl85gXaG3zELksr7QrXcKDHVZpSo9y4midMqH6S5HR1Cn41jb4GJoHMgWPm2-VEUIckqdtKGQSQURX6ycXRas-SbV0KgONO_cqeKITb0/s1600/20180615_165233_sm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnD1KnFhO4LpadpsRYTexVWHWx7sWm6DTl4cBs5u8bVX758y0xePmrWwOYOkgtQmN1u_Gx8wf2jjes2MKzoy24GjI4Nt5pmpzUboVptbW6xDF7sOSczfQGpofe5L1Cltfgfr4QKzlnjig/s1600/20180615_165600_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="600" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnD1KnFhO4LpadpsRYTexVWHWx7sWm6DTl4cBs5u8bVX758y0xePmrWwOYOkgtQmN1u_Gx8wf2jjes2MKzoy24GjI4Nt5pmpzUboVptbW6xDF7sOSczfQGpofe5L1Cltfgfr4QKzlnjig/s1600/20180615_165600_sm.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I watered the paper down to make it all stick together, and topped it off with some semi-finished compost.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, I covered the entire thing with a thick blanket of old straw and gave it a good watering.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gJ_cm3Vo-J6zrJoK39VMq1xnRvMeYZhfQwxLQx7fy-KZv4bfUVgD0vS4-rH7lwuzwgOLznPRr-kpWqtyOF-XHy9YZpFqo18T3CpyND4Z1iEPn4LiJX_tn9PiH2gx9CBfgNdtQ0b2l0ek/s1600/20180615_170110_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gJ_cm3Vo-J6zrJoK39VMq1xnRvMeYZhfQwxLQx7fy-KZv4bfUVgD0vS4-rH7lwuzwgOLznPRr-kpWqtyOF-XHy9YZpFqo18T3CpyND4Z1iEPn4LiJX_tn9PiH2gx9CBfgNdtQ0b2l0ek/s320/20180615_170110_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I made two more of these. One that used hay instead of straw to see if it really makes that much of a difference.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigsvTNq1pxfcg5tts3Rg4LO6LmLHooDndNqd83Cxm_ihU_29ncqJoGdimPUFMgcTeQww5Um84j5lKjB9MbaBlieprorbecPI0NSRs9k57hOBbqO1bq-DLQFORLS3Di_rvoQHH6lwYiccW9/s1600/20180615_180134_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="572" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigsvTNq1pxfcg5tts3Rg4LO6LmLHooDndNqd83Cxm_ihU_29ncqJoGdimPUFMgcTeQww5Um84j5lKjB9MbaBlieprorbecPI0NSRs9k57hOBbqO1bq-DLQFORLS3Di_rvoQHH6lwYiccW9/s320/20180615_180134_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And the final one is positioned under a tree where it receives lots of sun but very little water. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In fact, it is so dry, and the soil so sandy, that I couldn't really form a decent doughnut shape because the soil wouldn't stay in place.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5JlyRA4bq-89liQkDZqgxoot2H-EU-WebvNlXLufNPDRY64PwPTUJW3N7mQEfvutrGvwqkggREd7LTYNXzbqPOcgLvpcFblqmnJEOQV_VSVDdLCCrmqi05siBUuh1hDu1QwOH6YDjhE1/s1600/20180615_180121_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="541" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5JlyRA4bq-89liQkDZqgxoot2H-EU-WebvNlXLufNPDRY64PwPTUJW3N7mQEfvutrGvwqkggREd7LTYNXzbqPOcgLvpcFblqmnJEOQV_VSVDdLCCrmqi05siBUuh1hDu1QwOH6YDjhE1/s320/20180615_180121_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This spot barely grows anything except the odd dandelion and some grass. It's a very difficult corner of the garden and so it will be a great test location for the circle garden.</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-100204160530525042018-06-14T09:44:00.003-04:002018-06-18T15:29:41.959-04:00High Productivity in Dry Conditions<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRe0HZ7-ta6S2udk6_dj-aWwxR2GPgdokEzGBdHPlM_zMcPDGInmZO6B_OXkAJYuRsx40U3SqF9_4lwtUvLEPdt85q3VSuc-Ze2pi3GBdX2J6sUCqc0jlkj_-_fZWFJr8kSqQ0PUqbDWLH/s320/drought-stress-tool-600x401.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">High Productivity in Dry Conditions</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The spring of 2018 has turned out to be unusually dry, and it's now pretty safe to say that the spring rains never came.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was also an unusually cold start to spring which delayed everything by a few weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The long term climate forecast models used for things like commodities markets, launching rockets into space, and other critical sectors of human activity are pointing to a continuation of the global cooling trend that has been in place for the past decade or so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The geopolitical implications of this, should it come to fruition, isn't the topic for today. Rather, I thought it would be good to write about some techniques that can be employed in the garden if this exceptional dryness becomes the norm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hopefully by now everyone should be aware of the benefits of mulching and how it reduces the need for watering by a factor of 10. Direct seeding in a mulched garden bed can be a challenge which means that more often than not a mulched garden bed also means seedling transplants.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But let's focus on mulching systems as a means to conserve water and hold nutrients within the system longer.</span></div>
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<a href="https://permaculturenoosa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BananaCircle07-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="617" height="240" src="https://permaculturenoosa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BananaCircle07-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The image to the right is a <a href="https://permaculturenews.org/2017/03/02/banana-circles-important-benefits/" target="_blank">banana circle</a>. It is a mulching system used in the tropics for the production of bananas, and it has been reported to produce 100 times more bananas per square meter than the traditional plantation method.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pretty much every permaculturist knows what one of these are and how it's constructed so I'm not going into the details here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But what if we can adapt the principles of a banana circle and apply them to the great white North?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The system is constructed by building a doughnut shape with your soil into which you will plant your crops. The middle of the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">doughnut</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is then filled with coarse unfinished compost / mulch and then the whole thing is covered in a thick layer of straw or hay.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhjadiEv5ajaRplqyPIL_WEkKjLLLFBiDdtNY8RSU5o85WJAIbhy8TXiNZUK_BPe06tQGg0UqbkkvwNctGJYDtSzL1xeXDKVwiNBZ0EdkNxavB87oMFjmGXbxZlYILAmtGSJAaEUIJAL4/s1600/Garden+Designs+-+Circles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="760" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhjadiEv5ajaRplqyPIL_WEkKjLLLFBiDdtNY8RSU5o85WJAIbhy8TXiNZUK_BPe06tQGg0UqbkkvwNctGJYDtSzL1xeXDKVwiNBZ0EdkNxavB87oMFjmGXbxZlYILAmtGSJAaEUIJAL4/s400/Garden+Designs+-+Circles.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Converting a 15 foot long double reach bed will yield roughly 50 square feet of growing space as illustrated above. I employ double reach beds in my garden, and find that 3 rows in the bed are manageable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This method delivers the same amount of growing space as I usually have, and there is the added bonus that I'm utilizing the center areas to finish off my compost from the year before. I have essentially stacked two functions into a space that I'm currently using to perform just one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When you go to water the bed, you simply pour the water into the center area and let it wick into the growing bed from the center. No drip irrigation or sprinklers required. Just dump the water in there!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This system is suitable for water hungry plants like squash, melons, tomatoes, peas, beans etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.com/2018/06/high-productivity-in-dry-conditions_18.html">Part 2</a> to follow my implementation of this concept.</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-11618825432472590102018-03-26T17:25:00.001-04:002018-03-26T17:25:07.947-04:00Siberian Pines - Part 2: Seed Stratification<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/61/2c/ae612c950f396aa5e860ff773adc9803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/61/2c/ae612c950f396aa5e860ff773adc9803.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Siberian Pines - Part 2: Seed Stratification</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.ca/2018/03/siberian-pines.html">Part 1</a> of the Siberian Pine series, I wrote about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_sibirica" target="_blank">Pinus Sibirica</a> and its value within the Northern permaculture ecosystem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this installment I will be writing about how I prepared the seeds for germination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you spend any time on the internet looking for information about growing pine nut trees, you will quickly discover that many of these species require some form of cold stratification to mature the seed kernels and trigger germination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you research stratification for Pinus Sibirica in particular, you are likely to find all sorts of weird, wonderful, and often conflicting information about how to do this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I decided to document the process I followed, in the hope that others may benefit from my success or failure.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCmZTrAXptC8E2yIQFeXp341jGRvlXr345hxjpLpLeFEQSFurG5krq94MHWKKBWWUX2eW7xUZ8TKSi6FOEYdXdLwIe0qF5kNZX0t6KW-TpA338tCkXYQRXFE4YNBrybelzeH6f7BXvq0F/s1600/BagAndNuts_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="600" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCmZTrAXptC8E2yIQFeXp341jGRvlXr345hxjpLpLeFEQSFurG5krq94MHWKKBWWUX2eW7xUZ8TKSi6FOEYdXdLwIe0qF5kNZX0t6KW-TpA338tCkXYQRXFE4YNBrybelzeH6f7BXvq0F/s320/BagAndNuts_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I received 200 seeds in the middle of March.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had contacted the supplier with some concerns that there would not be enough cold stratification time to be able to plant the seedlings in June. They informed me that from their experience only 1 month of cold stratification is needed, and they usually don't even bother with that. Without any seed treatment the supplier reported they get roughly a 50% germination rate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The seeds came with instructions about how to cold stratify them, but they were a little vague, and of course conflicted with the other online info.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My conclusion from this research is that the cold stratification protocol is a reasonably flexible one, and it usually starts with soaking the seeds, which I did using filtered water. I also decided to ignore the warm stratification advocated by the likes of <a href="http://www.nuttrees.com/about-us/our-history" target="_blank">Rhora's</a> because the majority of stratification protocols I found for Pinus Sibirica did not mention it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During my research I read something about the seeds that sink during the soaking process being more viable than the seeds that float. I also immediately noticed that when I poured the seeds into the water, they all floated. Not a great start...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My research also suggested soaking times ranging from hours to days. I decided to soak them for 8 hours and see how things progressed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8 hours later maybe 5 seeds had sunk to the bottom of the container, and the water was stained brown from the pine residue / resin. So I drained the water off, let the seeds sit for half an hour or so, and then put them back on to soak overnight in fresh water.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_-jTYfBc36Bzia_y_k1EB2xZfHyO6x1z5N3vbxuowRxkZP7Pcdub5MJ1mNCjPVQfGkBlWfMe40HRXTUdWCypEHrWey1dkJ1aXGoTI0UbWfNT_WiTjFqsuwuSyMNO7E-lDj4c5tJW7tJ9/s1600/SoakedNuts_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="500" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_-jTYfBc36Bzia_y_k1EB2xZfHyO6x1z5N3vbxuowRxkZP7Pcdub5MJ1mNCjPVQfGkBlWfMe40HRXTUdWCypEHrWey1dkJ1aXGoTI0UbWfNT_WiTjFqsuwuSyMNO7E-lDj4c5tJW7tJ9/s400/SoakedNuts_sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next morning a few more had sunk, and so I repeated the process from the day before - letting them sit for half an hour, and then soaking them in fresh clean water for another 8 to 12 hours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My thinking around the seeds sinking is that as the seed coating absorbs water and it infiltrates the seed, the seed becomes heavier, and therefore sinks. Seeds that don't absorb water probably stay dormant which is why there is a lower germination rate. Anyway, time will tell and we shall see...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">36 hours after putting the seeds into soak and roughly half of my seeds have sunk to the bottom of the container. It's beginning to appear that all the floating seeds at the beginning was a false alarm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3 days soaking in water, and changing it every 8-12 hours and my seeds are ready for cold stratification. 156 seeds had sunk to the bottom, leaving 44 floaters which is roughly 25%.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I chose <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlite" target="_blank">perlite</a> to stratify the seeds in simply because I happen to have some handy.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMKyeXYfssWqLAZsWlmcSmR2kEjsG5UuwkBcE0PFCX_ppAiQxtvYa-BO-69no1K3Eotph1kQ9Cb-4d12VbAKxnF-nG61pbx6gIs1KMrXPJDSyWqdW2GkDF21fKXHw_787lZeq00w3E9ed/s1600/20180324_085718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="800" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMKyeXYfssWqLAZsWlmcSmR2kEjsG5UuwkBcE0PFCX_ppAiQxtvYa-BO-69no1K3Eotph1kQ9Cb-4d12VbAKxnF-nG61pbx6gIs1KMrXPJDSyWqdW2GkDF21fKXHw_787lZeq00w3E9ed/s400/20180324_085718.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I decided to perform two different cold stratification protocols to see which one is better. And I kept the floating seeds separate from the sunken seeds to see if they responded differently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first one will be my control, where half the seeds are placed in a plastic bag with vermiculite and simply placed in the refrigerator for 10 weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The remaining seeds were placed in a different bag containing vermiculite, and will be subjected to the following:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 weeks in the </span>refrigerator </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 weeks in the freezer</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4 weeks alternating between the refrigerator and freezer every other day</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 weeks in the refrigerator </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What I am attempting to do is replicate the freeze / thaw cycle that these seeds would naturally experience as spring arrives. Anyone who has made maple syrup knows that this time of the year is when the first signs of life get kicked into gear as the phase transition cycle drives the sap out of the roots and into the upper branches of the trees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This phase transition cycle of water inside the seed will also create a slow pulsing pressure upon the outer shell from the inside. As the moisture inside the seed freezes, it expands pushing out upon the seed casing. Then as it thaws it contracts, releasing the pressure, and drawing a little more moisture into the seed via capillary action. As this cycle repeats, I think that it will weaken the tough outer casing so that the seedling may successfully emerge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This <a href="https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43967090/PDF" target="_blank">research study from 1925</a> on white pine seeds indicates that this protocol might indeed prove effective at increasing germination rates.</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-82107082040348324742018-03-21T11:09:00.002-04:002018-03-21T11:09:57.180-04:00Siberian Pines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSM9q7WteyeDmCVHBJMwLy23irGDTq7BEqZNLqtRp4p1-IhSDeE-UhtNjb_ZGSOUGNGRDdIW279jF2nlXna4VgXE82kvVhCXqnFIR56jP_RklutDiZUXCH49qhb_qt0rTdMhAOzrX4CN2/s1600/pineseedling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSM9q7WteyeDmCVHBJMwLy23irGDTq7BEqZNLqtRp4p1-IhSDeE-UhtNjb_ZGSOUGNGRDdIW279jF2nlXna4VgXE82kvVhCXqnFIR56jP_RklutDiZUXCH49qhb_qt0rTdMhAOzrX4CN2/s1600/pineseedling.jpg" /></a></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Siberian Pines</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This year I decided it was time to grow some pine nut trees. But there is a challenge involved in growing these delicious nuts in the North. The pine nuts we know that are used in things like pesto, do not grow in our climate and is more suited to the Mediterranean and North Africa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But there are alternatives, and they all happen to be very close relatives of White Pine. For example the Swiss Stone Pine, the Korean Pine, and the Siberian Pine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I decided on the Siberian pine (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_sibirica" target="_blank">Pinus Sibirica</a>) or Russian Cedar for a number of reasons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Firstly, their native habitat is the boreal forest (called the taiga) and so both the climate, soil, and ecosystem is very close to Northern Ontario.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Secondly, these trees produce thin shelled pine nuts which makes them easier to process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And finally, Pinus Sibirica seeds are easier to germinate than the notoriously difficult Korean Pine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But before I get into my experience raising these trees, let me explain why I think they are a great addition to a Northern permaculture landscape.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These trees are big. Like 100 ft tall at maturity big. Not a lot of trees around here do that, and so they will likely make great shelter barriers from the cold winter winds; creating small warm micro-climates in the landscape.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Economics</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These trees live for about 800 years although the typical forest age currently is around 400 years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each tree produces on average 5 Kg of pine nuts every year (up to 10 Kg in a mast year). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the current price of $75 per Kg, a tree can produce an annual income of $350 per tree once you factor in squirrels, "processing slippage", and the odd bad year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now consider a shelter belt of 100 trees and let the math sink in. That is a $35,000 per year income for maybe 1 month worth of work harvesting and processing. Every year for 500 years (Allowing for old age retirement, tree losses due to disease, fire and natural attrition).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That is an income lasting half a dozen lifetimes, or a dozen generations. Such a shelter belt would have the potential to generate $17.5 million in pine nuts alone. Not to mention the other benefits these trees have in the ecosystem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OK enough of the boring numbers. Needless to say, these trees pay the bills.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNRuXcTeRFSq8qgePoj_j789Aqff0GslpP6OD1wi9FS4P-QgPkhwjPXJqRtvKbxOl4fpi2mP_vf1sgSm7rVxWowytO-edgBgrPawWe7XtlaaNsZrzPJgV5vCwTvjMKuLO7VGAb7OArPb6/s1600/kedry_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="740" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNRuXcTeRFSq8qgePoj_j789Aqff0GslpP6OD1wi9FS4P-QgPkhwjPXJqRtvKbxOl4fpi2mP_vf1sgSm7rVxWowytO-edgBgrPawWe7XtlaaNsZrzPJgV5vCwTvjMKuLO7VGAb7OArPb6/s400/kedry_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The tree is seriously hardy. It even grows in permafrost. And its resin doesn't crystallize quickly as common pines do. In its native land, this resin is a natural resource useful for many different applications that I won't go into here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Nuts n' Bolts</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pine nuts are generally ready for harvest about 10 days before the green cones begin to open. And in the case of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pinus Sibirica, the cones never actually open which makes determining ripeness difficult. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In its native habitat there is a bird called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_nutcracker" target="_blank">spotted nutcracker</a> is responsible for extracting the nuts from the cone and dispersing them. The spotted nutcracker doesn't live in North America, but the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark%27s_nutcracker" target="_blank">Clarke's nutcracker</a> does. It may be a good indicator species for nut ripeness but alas, they don't range into Northern Ontario.</span><br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Sitta_canadensis_CT2.jpg/220px-Sitta_canadensis_CT2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="155" data-original-width="220" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Sitta_canadensis_CT2.jpg/220px-Sitta_canadensis_CT2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This little guy is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-breasted_nuthatch" target="_blank">Red Breasted Nuthatch</a>, and they do migrate into Northern Ontario. They also happen to be great eaters of conifer seeds. Maybe, just maybe a flock of these descending upon your pine nut trees to feast could be subtle sign that it's time to harvest.</span><br />
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<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/com-aab-media/photo/67356151-720px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="150" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/com-aab-media/photo/67356151-720px.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another possible indicator bird is the </span><a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pine_Grosbeak/overview" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Pine Grosbeak</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The cones are harvested with either long poles (often bamboo), long-handled pruners, or long-handled saws which knock the cones down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The harvested cones are placed in a breathable bag and then exposed to heat / left in a sunny, sheltered position for 3 weeks. The drying process causes the cone to fully ripen, and at this point they can be broken apart to extract the seeds. This is generally done with a mechanical threshing machine to save time and labor.</span><br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Tamiasciurus_hudsonicus_-_juveniles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Tamiasciurus_hudsonicus_-_juveniles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now I'm wondering if these little guys might be eager workers we can recruit to harvest the pine cones. They naturally chew through pine cone stems to detach them from the tree. They then collect the fallen pine cones and stash them away in a safe spot for future use.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It will be an interesting experiment to see if they will harvest and store pine cones if they are provided with a convenient storage space, and the cones they collect are replaced with another food source, like peanuts in the shell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-70901894235476021172018-03-15T09:10:00.001-04:002018-03-15T09:10:19.472-04:00Efficiencies in the Barn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytDFAoYDWrKDyKI-iSoSgn0XIeFRoewQ0ah7-uWxLo0XJr1x6fGUy1b2tuyROgDMJcffKUUBxG1l3ZDAcZ84D9ocDVJevwaL8Yred0NRpKQxQbMmMWMGkgN8njDBR_57hr1xCqODesQi_/s1600/barnyard.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="721" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytDFAoYDWrKDyKI-iSoSgn0XIeFRoewQ0ah7-uWxLo0XJr1x6fGUy1b2tuyROgDMJcffKUUBxG1l3ZDAcZ84D9ocDVJevwaL8Yred0NRpKQxQbMmMWMGkgN8njDBR_57hr1xCqODesQi_/s320/barnyard.jpeg" width="320" /></a></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Efficiencies in the Barn</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was born and grew up in New Zealand, where animals eat grass / hay, and live outside year round as a matter of course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moving to Canada, it struck me as an incredible amount of work, albeit necessary work, having to move livestock indoors for the better part of 6 months and tend to their every whim.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was also left with the lingering question over who exactly worked for who on the Canadian farm...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Surely, if we look at the whole animal housing landscape through permaculture lenses, we will discover innovative ways to care for livestock during the winter months. Ways that are energy conservative, lighten the burden on the farmer, and do so with respect to the welfare of the animals.</span><br />
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<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5731ecf6044262dc5a805300/57449943c2ea51e72bb1c7cd/58667a13c534a540cf4dd727/1483111872591/SHCattle_Winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5731ecf6044262dc5a805300/57449943c2ea51e72bb1c7cd/58667a13c534a540cf4dd727/1483111872591/SHCattle_Winter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It turns out that livestock may not need to be housed quite as long as traditionally thought. Cows are capable of finding forage under snow, which means not only less heating costs, but also less feed storage, and the work required to make hay, muck out, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Researchers at the University of Guelph <a href="http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/news/vbn0706a4.htm" target="_blank">conducted some research</a> on this and came back with some interesting findings. Even though the cattle lost weight over the winter, this is not necessarily a bad thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The advantages of putting the cows outside during the day include access to clean air, sunlight, and exercise. These factors influence the efficiency of immune systems, lymphatic systems, and general cardiovascular performance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Selecting breeds more suited to this kind of lifestyle may reduce the direct output of the herd (in terms of milk etc), however when the overall energy audit of the system is conducted, the reduced output is more than compensated for by the reduced energy inputs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another approach to increasing efficiency in the barn is to have the livestock perform work that the farmer would otherwise do with machinery or simple hard labor.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZmpFpeytnQ6jHBJbZlLNOLq0h-eyr0s9IrNYRQ09tiC4-8SQw6sB4zjnNFWqwh04V0J4iryvmBGBJWm-WffEFCdbi-aFLL2eBsmvZbHbdPMGz3Oj9RnWXFL-AkuXy6uV2N4okBhyphenhyphenFDsW/s1600/pigs_aerating-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZmpFpeytnQ6jHBJbZlLNOLq0h-eyr0s9IrNYRQ09tiC4-8SQw6sB4zjnNFWqwh04V0J4iryvmBGBJWm-WffEFCdbi-aFLL2eBsmvZbHbdPMGz3Oj9RnWXFL-AkuXy6uV2N4okBhyphenhyphenFDsW/s1600/pigs_aerating-300x200.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">An example of this is what is termed pig aeration. In a typical barn, cow manure builds up during the winter and the compacted mass off manure and bedding must be removed in the spring time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pig aeration involves adding more carbon to the bedding than is traditional so that the correct Carbon:Nitrogen ratio (30:1) is achieved for making compost. Corn is intermittently dispersed over the bedding as it build up and it sits there slowly fermenting until spring.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the cows are moved out, pigs are moved in, and they dig up the compacted bedding in search of the fermented corn which they seem to think is candy. As they turn the bedding, they introduce air, and the composting process accelerates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the time the pigs are done, they have put on a significant about of weight, the bedding is nicely composted, easy to extract, and ready to be used for fertiliser.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/PQPWYISSI0M?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An Ontario farmer is reportedly using long stem barley for the same purpose. I doubt there is such a thing as a long stem barley, so I suspect that it is in fact a heritage wheat. Anyway, he simply cuts the cereal, bales it, stores it with the heads on, and uses it as required for the bedding. The pigs then go in after the grain and aerate the bedding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It takes 10 weaners a month to aerate 200 sq feet of bedding that is 3ft thick, and during this time they get no other feed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A final thought I will leave you with is the possibility of using chickens to turn bedding or compost. Chickens love to scratch, and when they work bedding over, they push it all downhill, rather than in a random fashion as one would assume. They do this even when the floor is only a little off level, which means that they might be a useful cleaning crew in the barn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-61124894165015547442018-03-09T18:32:00.000-05:002018-03-09T18:32:14.186-05:00Lean Ag Start-Ups<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.1780501.1398965968!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.1780501.1398965968!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lean Ag Start-Ups</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is it possible to apply the business models that tech industry embraces in the Silicon Valley start-up community?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What are these models anyway?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Basically, lean start-ups apply a circular process to their venture. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The process starts with ideas, followed by the act of building results in the form of a product (or service), the performance of which is measured, and the data used to learn various facets about how successful the product is in the market.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The business owner hopefully comes away with some new ideas for improvement, which are then applied and the cycle repeats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lean start-ups are also characterized by a "fail fast" ethos, which translated into more meaningful English, means to commit as little energy as possible to investigate the viability of a venture in such a way that it's success or failure can be quickly determined.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But agriculture businesses are typically capital intensive activities. The land is expensive, as is much of the machinery needed to effectively farm the large acreage needed to extract profitability from low margin / high volume commodity products. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have previously talked about <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.ca/2014/09/why-own-land-when-you-can-control-it.html" target="_blank">the option of leasing land</a>, which is a way to drastically reduce capitalization costs and subsequent debt loads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I have not yet discussed the issue of machinery and infrastructure costs and how they can be largely mitigated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If a square meter of land can be utilized in such a way that the productivity is doubled, or even tripled, then the space required to generate a viable agricultural business reduces accordingly. With less land required, less machinery and infrastructure is also necessary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So how small can you really shrink an operation and yet remain economically viable? You might be surprised to discover that it's smaller then you think...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCjrjhUTDbWvv7Kn1p1tHZQi_HZ9nxVFqGSgRme3JxHIT-Ffm1DF9DS7MNdvkYFoRP3MtgnB-pk2EvU8QYEyZnLv2d4qBjXmAqz_VpqAha6BnhJ52JqJNoSmbmpibCxBJo9ny9hXCUoEh/s1600/curtis-stone.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="480" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCjrjhUTDbWvv7Kn1p1tHZQi_HZ9nxVFqGSgRme3JxHIT-Ffm1DF9DS7MNdvkYFoRP3MtgnB-pk2EvU8QYEyZnLv2d4qBjXmAqz_VpqAha6BnhJ52JqJNoSmbmpibCxBJo9ny9hXCUoEh/s400/curtis-stone.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Curtis Stone started <a href="http://www.greencityacres.com/" target="_blank">Green City Acres</a> in Kelowna with only $8,000 and turned a profit of $20,000 in his first year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">His business is now generating $100,000 per acre of land due to his lean approach to market gardening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Curtis uses a system called <a href="http://spinfarming.com/whatsSpin/" target="_blank">SPIN </a>(Small Plot INtensive) and applies it to an urban setting where people let him convert their backyards to productive vegetable gardens in return for some of his produce.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He doesn't own the land, and the land comes with infrastructure such as water supply and electricity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can follow Curtis on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-BlDCX__nCLs_ZF9meYQbw" target="_blank">Youtube </a>where he publishes tips, updates, and how-to videos.</span><br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Jean-Martin_Fortier.2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="534" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Jean-Martin_Fortier.2017.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Martin_Fortier" target="_blank">Jean-Martin Fortier</a> is another Canadian doing exceptional things with small areas of land.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He also uses an intensive growing system in his market garden and generates revenues similar to Curtis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jean-Martin is currently engaged in a very interesting project called <a href="https://en.fermequatretemps.com/" target="_blank">La Ferme des Quatre-Temps</a>. This is a project attempting to demonstrate how farms of the future might operate by blending modern technology with models developed from nature.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jean-Martin is known for his ability to produce industrial quantities of produce without the industrial equipment (and associated price tag).</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-10678496181392281542018-02-16T10:59:00.001-05:002018-06-14T10:16:11.140-04:00Seedling Trays for Almost Free<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://tendingourcommonground.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/temp4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://tendingourcommonground.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/temp4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I have a beef with the folks who make those plastic seedling trays. Around here they cost a little over $5 each and they are about as flimsy as they could possibly be and yet survive the ride home to your place from the store.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They are so flimsy that they tend to crack and split even just washing them, let alone transporting one that's loaded with soil. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So you're forced to buy two at a time and stack them. Now your seedling flats cost $10 each and even then, a fully loaded one is prone to splitting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If I were a cynical person I would tend to think this was all by design...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since I have 500ft of growing beds to plant out in the spring, there is no way I'm prepared to bankroll one of these crappy manufacturers. There must be a better way I thought. And indeed there is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recall those awesome paper pot transplanters you can buy for the low price of $1,000? Well they use paper pots to start the seeds in. And got to wondering what the seedling stage of that system looks like.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/paperpot3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="500" height="213" src="https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/paperpot3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As you can see, the paper pots themselves come in some sort of honeycomb configuration, and this sits in some special plastic tray.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since I love the concept of taking a seedling in it's own pot and simply popping it into the garden just like the paper pot transplanter, I haven't had a lot of success with paper pots that I made out of newspaper.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBqduQjiY71K_6_lhoDOTQJVbFn0Sv7Q3HgBNVP9Xx9zEbXzxLvXXR7n47POZeXUta5DoPZXI4pRuVpXWPk3yKLJ9lyqZX6HPl6oqSLoh5s4ufMZ_xID73J79zMEv8HKZJoGHsxu65juA/s1600/ppots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBqduQjiY71K_6_lhoDOTQJVbFn0Sv7Q3HgBNVP9Xx9zEbXzxLvXXR7n47POZeXUta5DoPZXI4pRuVpXWPk3yKLJ9lyqZX6HPl6oqSLoh5s4ufMZ_xID73J79zMEv8HKZJoGHsxu65juA/s320/ppots.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although the seedlings grew OK, they never really took off in the garden and I suspect it had something to do with the newspaper inhibiting root growth (because I dug them up later and had a look to find out why they weren't growing).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They were also a lot of work to make.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then while I was studying the paper pot transplanter, it occurred to me that the people who invented this amazing device, probably got their inspiration from some sort of low tech system that existed before. But what could that be?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I realized that a low tech version of the paper pot transplanter flat looks a lot like a bunch of toilet paper rolls jammed together. Why I hadn't thought of toilet paper rolls before now is a mystery to me, but there they are already formed. And just like the paper pot transplanter pots, they are bottomless so root growth is unobstructed in the garden.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now a toilet roll is about 4 inches long. But for most seedlings I only really need 2 inches of soil. I measured the depth of a commercial flat to confirm my assumption. So this means that every toilet paper roll produces two seedling pots if I cut it in half.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I started hoarding toilet paper rolls through the winter. Cutting them in half, and folding them down to minimize the space they were taking up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the meantime I got to thinking about these annoying flats...</span><br />
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<a href="https://karton.md/images/Fruit/5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="352" height="256" src="https://karton.md/images/Fruit/5.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We do a decent amount of grocery shopping at No Frills, and as a result I need to break down the various cardboard boxes for recycling on a regular basis. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One evening as I was doing this chore, I noticed that the boxes fruit gets shipped in are particularly difficult to break down because they are made of really sturdy stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"Hey, these would make awesome seed raising flats if only they were waterproof"</i> I thought to myself as I struggled to break them apart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I put one aside anyway because I also realized that they fit my seed screening frames nicely and I have some grains to clean.</span><br />
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<a href="https://homeplaceearth.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/seed-cleaning-screens-cost-about-190-blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="448" height="247" src="https://homeplaceearth.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/seed-cleaning-screens-cost-about-190-blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Later that week I went to screen the wheat and barley I had harvested in the fall and found that the cardboard flat did indeed work quite well in collecting all the chaff that my screens separated out from the seed. But the cardboard flat had holes in it through which some of the finer chaff would fall and make a mess on the floor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To fix this, I grabbed a plastic garbage bag and placed the cardboard flat inside. Encased in this plastic film, the flat was now sealed and I could screen my small grains without making a mess all over the place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It then occurred to me that this plastic encased cardboard flat was also waterproof, and would make an excellent seedling flat for the cost of a plastic bag!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cardboard flat, toilet rolls, and a plastic bag. I don't think it could be more low-tech than that.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYC4kVk4MDwni6v4d46LJpChLo5XzZidE9RVnl5_nureiLwYya0hepqrnYxJY063PZ60ysPr3ZNVJIqItlxUhIw_R0oK7CdC-1_Qa9kBq8ODRAZBOBhxjL5ObP5i-8DJu6Cw_Erct7RpoA/s1600/Seedling+Tray_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="500" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYC4kVk4MDwni6v4d46LJpChLo5XzZidE9RVnl5_nureiLwYya0hepqrnYxJY063PZ60ysPr3ZNVJIqItlxUhIw_R0oK7CdC-1_Qa9kBq8ODRAZBOBhxjL5ObP5i-8DJu6Cw_Erct7RpoA/s400/Seedling+Tray_sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-11970959251721519322018-02-15T13:08:00.001-05:002018-02-15T13:08:49.031-05:00Permaculture Seed Raising Mix<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.diggers.com.au/media/products/147051/m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="622" height="192" src="https://www.diggers.com.au/media/products/147051/m.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is a follow on from my <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.ca/2018/02/thoughts-on-growing-seedlings-for.html">Thoughts on Growing Seedlings for Transplant</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this post, I'll talk about making my seed raising mix with the focus being on the life within this growing media as opposed to the typical focus on moisture and nutrients.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.planetnatural.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/vermicomposting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="400" height="220" src="https://www.planetnatural.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/vermicomposting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My partners in this exercise will be these guys. Composting worms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vermicompost, or worm castings are packed full of living organisms and organic exudates which absorb and regulate moisture within the soil. It also happens to be a nutrient dense medium which means that it's a perfect candidate for a base ingredient in a permaculture seed raising mix.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I already have a vermicomposting system, and a ready (and free) source of high quality vermicompost. I recommend you keep your own composting worms too. Not only are they low maintenance, but you have complete control over what goes in (and eventually comes out) of your system.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3osOuyCwMDwbbIJuvasCLVJrQNWB7TllUakcen2_bxnKB_fcrqJ3ErMR9lKGH0m7ZHVtHgvSEdVq_04eqhcBrIxpuKpAm1CFUZ3ZmRHtema1hxS4UT0sWI3UDBZo9RDJDxVKXnG7vCtNz/s1600/Screened+Worm+Castings_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="500" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3osOuyCwMDwbbIJuvasCLVJrQNWB7TllUakcen2_bxnKB_fcrqJ3ErMR9lKGH0m7ZHVtHgvSEdVq_04eqhcBrIxpuKpAm1CFUZ3ZmRHtema1hxS4UT0sWI3UDBZo9RDJDxVKXnG7vCtNz/s320/Screened+Worm+Castings_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first task in making this seed raising mix is to screen the finished vermicompost. It's loaded with seeds from melons, squash, apples, pears, and the odd banana sticker. So they all need to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used a mesh trash can from the dollar store to do this and it worked incredibly well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nKL9f76G8LQM0cicHf07x0paFlhPT8JX9mEk-B2yiS6OiqpDGmdTQhk9zraH3rA3smrxHnd3AytWzdAYsODPuXUZ10nmBiEDa7aXEivvDJK2wcNzJ4Ah7FuBKZU04qFaZymj-1mO7xoI/s1600/Seed+Mix+Ingredients+Packets_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nKL9f76G8LQM0cicHf07x0paFlhPT8JX9mEk-B2yiS6OiqpDGmdTQhk9zraH3rA3smrxHnd3AytWzdAYsODPuXUZ10nmBiEDa7aXEivvDJK2wcNzJ4Ah7FuBKZU04qFaZymj-1mO7xoI/s320/Seed+Mix+Ingredients+Packets_sm.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next step is to assemble the ingredients:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screened Worm Castings</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coconut Coir</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perlite</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vermiculite</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to use coconut coir as a replacement medium for peat because it's a renewable resource. It tends to have a few chunks and long fibers in there, but they can be picked out easily as you find them. The coconut coir acts as a binding agent and moisture absorbent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The perlite adds a lot of microscopic surface area for the living organisms to colonize, and it also helps regulate moisture levels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The vermiculite acts similarly to perlite, but it also introduces trace minerals into the mix. However vermiculite has better water holding capacity than perlite, while perlite has better aeration properties than vermiculite.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, vermiculite is a much better buffering agent than perlite, and acts as a pH stabilizing influence in the mix.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkW1i4Fmfk2_BNcUKIZksKnuCQy6eGSTcbFIILIlj3UTvPSEo9mxkm0Je3PFLX90rze1qjwAwJdHHdkm4uVuwFZvvqvlSALFtCAtp4TGzjHNRu0vGVv3ZbvU4MEqzMmHQm9AI_WhOqmsc_/s1600/Seed+Mix+Ingredients_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="500" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkW1i4Fmfk2_BNcUKIZksKnuCQy6eGSTcbFIILIlj3UTvPSEo9mxkm0Je3PFLX90rze1qjwAwJdHHdkm4uVuwFZvvqvlSALFtCAtp4TGzjHNRu0vGVv3ZbvU4MEqzMmHQm9AI_WhOqmsc_/s320/Seed+Mix+Ingredients_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next step is to combine the ingredients:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 Parts Worm Castings</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 Parts Coconut Coir</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Part Perlite</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Part Vermiculite</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was initially taken aback by the cost of the coconut coir. But when I went to measure it out, I found that is comes highly compressed, and it expands a lot so you need a lot less than you think you do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I chose the ratios printed here for a number of reasons. Typical seed raising mixes that incorporate vermicompost use a lot less of it. However, these mixes are based on traditional paradigms which focus on sterility, air, water, and nutrients. This mix focuses on soil life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I noticed while doing research online that there are a lot of mixed signals regarding worm castings. A lot of it has to do with people incorrectly assuming that because it looks like soil, it can be treated like soil. This is not the case at all. It absorbs a lot of water. It is incredibly sticky (from the bio-exudates), gooey, and unless you have worms actively turning and aerating it, it will set like concrete.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During my research, I stumbled across this article on growjourney:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.growjourney.com/make-diy-seed-starting-mix-garden-seeds/#.WoXI-KjwaM8" target="_blank">How to Make Your Own DIY Seed Starting Mix For Garden Seeds</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lot of what they were advocating fell in line with my objectives, so I stole their recipe. Thanks guys!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhLEA9osYWVLSGrxgcniKs26d4-jjf6tdTzitnrnerJvgKCQWE_bf0Jz3bWDvXviIg-bnpBb5Gk0Z0HCAhyphenhyphenkj3vUfHQVWsKao9Jx0qiaLg4NjXDCywyx_zBYP1YxY9MrQPPv-nQtdW_uQ/s1600/Seed+Mix_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="500" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhLEA9osYWVLSGrxgcniKs26d4-jjf6tdTzitnrnerJvgKCQWE_bf0Jz3bWDvXviIg-bnpBb5Gk0Z0HCAhyphenhyphenkj3vUfHQVWsKao9Jx0qiaLg4NjXDCywyx_zBYP1YxY9MrQPPv-nQtdW_uQ/s400/Seed+Mix_sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final step involves mixing it all together. You can see coconut coir chunks in there still, but overall it looks pretty much like the usual seed raising mix you buy, if a little heavy on the perlite by comparison.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I am optimistic for my seedlings. I know exactly what's in this mix, and because I make the worm castings for free, this will probably work out cheaper than buying high quality commercial product.</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-12226965795905920432018-02-15T09:10:00.000-05:002018-02-15T09:10:00.428-05:00Thoughts on Growing Seedlings for Transplant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cf.ltkcdn.net/garden/images/std/144588-425x274-basil-seedling-tray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="425" height="206" src="https://cf.ltkcdn.net/garden/images/std/144588-425x274-basil-seedling-tray.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year I am experimenting with a growing system that departs from my ongoing efforts with direct seeded crops, and this means that germinating seeds indoors and transplanting them out in the spring.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This got me thinking about how a permaculturist would approach this exercise considering that the typical gardener takes a sterile seed raising mix, puts it into one-shot plastic seed raising formers / trays, and plants their seeds into this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is all in an effort to avoid mold and a condition called "damping off" where young healthy seedlings all of a suddenly keel over and die.</span><br />
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<a href="https://cdn.eyeem.com/thumb/ddacfc5536fcbee4cb72b56b9673021c52e9d1e6-1470476807047/w/1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://cdn.eyeem.com/thumb/ddacfc5536fcbee4cb72b56b9673021c52e9d1e6-1470476807047/w/1280" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here's the thing. These seed raising mixes contain <u><b>a lot</b></u> of peat which as you hopefully already know is not a renewable resource. They essentially strip mine these deposits with machines that look like giant vacuum cleaners. Peat is also acidic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Commercial seed raising mix also contains "special ingredients" that the manufacturer puts in to make their product better than the others. And since "special ingredients" often tends to be described as toxic gick depending on your point of view, I chose to make my own permaculture seed raising mix this year.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://ucanr.edu/blogs/byg/blogfiles/22147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://ucanr.edu/blogs/byg/blogfiles/22147.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I am also lazy and tight, I decided to not buy these plastic seed trays to raise my seeds. I found that they always split (by design?) and even though theoretically you can reuse them, in reality this isn't the case.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pulling the seedlings out of these trays and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">gently placing them into the garden beds seems like a lot of tedious w-w-work to me too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what is a permaculture seed raising mix then and how is it different from the stuff you buy at Canadian Tire?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well for starters, a sterile environment is really the antithesis of what permaculture is all about. I strongly suspect that the reason seed raising mix is sterilized is because the pre-sterilized mix is biologically so far out of balance that the cheapest and easiest way to address this is to nuke it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shouldn't plants be born into a rich ecosystem containing fungi, bacteria, and all sorts of living things we haven't even classified yet? Since stability arises out of complexity within natural systems, shouldn't we be seeking to make our seed raising mix as far from sterile as is humanly possible? Is it possible that the issues gardeners experience in raising seedlings comes from their growing media not being complex enough?</span>Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-40085704307453455382018-02-02T08:34:00.001-05:002018-02-02T08:34:20.454-05:00Perennial Forage Crops for the North<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/42/4206/I11NF00Z/posters/one-of-a-herd-of-scottish-highland-cattle-picks-pears-from-a-tree-in-gockhausen-switzerland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/42/4206/I11NF00Z/posters/one-of-a-herd-of-scottish-highland-cattle-picks-pears-from-a-tree-in-gockhausen-switzerland.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Perennial Forage Crops for the North</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is not widely known that the cattle we are familiar with in our part of the world originated in the forests and swamps of Northern Europe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During the warm summer months, they would spend their time in the swamps, keeping cool, and grazing on the grasses and aquatic plants, much in the same way as moose do here in these parts today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When winter descended, the cattle would move into the sheltered forests and survive through the winter by foraging on the undergrowth, and lower branches of trees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tree hay is a term used for the practice of pruning trees in July, when nutrients are high, and stored until winter when it is fed to livestock. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The animals strip the leaves, tips, and bark from the tree hay and it provides a mineral rich alternative to standard hay made from grasses.</span></div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/_GAR1FN-qwc/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/_GAR1FN-qwc&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/_GAR1FN-qwc&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Notice in this video that they are using standard coppice tree species, which means that the tree will grow back vigorously. A multi-functional aspect of this technique is that the animals process the wood so that the end product is suitable as fuel for a rocket mass heater.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pines (so long as you don't plan on butchering the animal shortly after as it imparts an unpleasant flavour), Alder, Poplar (except black poplar), Silver Birch, Linden, willow, mulberry, elder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gorse has historically been used as a highly nutritious animal fodder which is preferred by livestock. It is cut right to the ground once every 2 years, with the top of the plant used for fodder, and the rest for animal bedding and fire wood. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Be aware that wilted maple and cherry leaves contain toxins that are harmful to animals, however fresh and dried are fine.</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-28214506072772003362016-11-15T09:31:00.002-05:002016-11-15T09:34:24.655-05:00What They Forgot To Tell You About Compost<h2 style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQMHOr25i-XbQekzkDENPgY4d7oZFeJaOg3-PU16-HpAbHg6KC9BORXa0_LZci5zEQjMa-cisyrwJrTDXlMRJiDPVuqQqji1jG6uvyDY6SxGEL8GB7UclLFTqryvq5xYJwO1el4CyHl4C/s1600/compost.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQMHOr25i-XbQekzkDENPgY4d7oZFeJaOg3-PU16-HpAbHg6KC9BORXa0_LZci5zEQjMa-cisyrwJrTDXlMRJiDPVuqQqji1jG6uvyDY6SxGEL8GB7UclLFTqryvq5xYJwO1el4CyHl4C/s400/compost.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have noticed that soil microbes tend to take longer to do stuff in the far North. Maybe it's because for 6 months of the year they are locked in ice. Maybe there is something in the soil itself - I don't know. But I do know that it takes longer than it should to make compost.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I find this odd, because I've also noticed that my wooden fences and growing frames break down faster here than in other places where I have grown things. This is likely due to the increased role mycelium fulfill in this climate, which is a topic for another day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So this compost business. Why does it take so long, and what is the dirty little secret i discovered recently?</span><br />
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<tr><td><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSyBfUneCkBY86oug0kKkGbayUYmPstTvSyCPkdge9J7Ew14Zg25LTYpeBNs7o_hNTWFYAWu6jR_65OZYUICVPQPllFRfz4WZAAImxKPhvi4qqHiL2_ma5ny1fU6vZk8prRgetk4ZWNYt/s320/2m3.jpg" width="320" /></td><td>Every fall, I build a pile of compost approximately 2 cubic meters by volume.<br />
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That's about enough to fill this little dumpster.<br />
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But with sustained temperatures of around -15C for months at a time, the pile freezes solid.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To prevent this happening, one has to either:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Make a much bigger pile.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last fall I decided to add composting worms to my pile. My intention being that they would accelerate the composting process and improve the overall quality of the finished product. And if they survived the winter then I know that the pile didn't completely freeze since composting worms die at around 4 degrees Celsius.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I built the pile as usual, wrapped in with corrugated cardboard, and then covered it with a tarp, allowing some gaps for air exchange.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When spring came, I still had worms and there was a slight improvement in the composting process. However, over the summer months, this pile really broke down into excellent compost so I think the worms made a big difference in the long run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zucchini as an Indicator Plant</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0ycFts-b6LM0Exu01Og2FcBsoPhpMX0z-GjFOHrc7_OxYHRH7VbIRnSqtA_d7lpYdlBiE6dQlxhyphenhyphenrnGAb8d1iRVo_ECs-EEZAW_wcfg2YIhXqkBbAqug3XowpF-_rmUonk1nP1MFrk6y/s1600/Zucchini-on-compost-pile.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0ycFts-b6LM0Exu01Og2FcBsoPhpMX0z-GjFOHrc7_OxYHRH7VbIRnSqtA_d7lpYdlBiE6dQlxhyphenhyphenrnGAb8d1iRVo_ECs-EEZAW_wcfg2YIhXqkBbAqug3XowpF-_rmUonk1nP1MFrk6y/s320/Zucchini-on-compost-pile.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did you know that Zucchini love growing in active compost? Well they do. Growing up off the ground, and being embedded into what is essentially a giant sponge is something that they really like. The heat given off by the pile also protects the young plants from late spring frosts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I unwrapped my compost pile in the spring, planted my zucchini seedlings in the top, and placed some mulch around the plants for all the reasons why you should use mulch in your garden. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everything went awesome until the plants started to fruit, and I noticed end rot developing. </span></div>
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<tr><td><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZtoZM1PY_luxJQnGV8F7JzHNIWGcF7iU-Htp1zeLTTxaR4WIsLyviolCVFsCP338FNy1N3t8v7Wd1rJGzxXVPl0Ecph4cESaaeyHPLb0hQoGtIU-Z2v2kgGzBiLRSU3qWejEi3zsug-dl/s320/blossom-end-rot.jpg" width="320" /></td><td>This is what end rot looks like, and it is an indicator of a Calcium deficiency in your soil.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But wait. This can't be happening. Compost is awesome! it provides everything your plants could ever need and more because, well, it's compost!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, it turns out <a href="http://www.highbrixgardens.com/victory-gardens/putting-compost-in-its-place.html" target="_blank">I am not the only person who has a Calcium deficiency in my compost</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Do I still compost? Yes I do because my soil is very deficient in organic matter. And thanks to my indicator zucchini, I have amended my compost pile with lime for when I incorporate it into my garden beds in the spring.</span></div>
Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-49855898866036758772015-05-21T08:51:00.002-04:002018-06-15T09:08:00.115-04:00Seed Tape - Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Seed Tape - Part 2</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsvD6CDCBUcwcTHfDEvCZv-xTTWRZvZIv_5k196hkFRdkgQYA0wX69o2LaCUiywtseuD86eNIYbdPCzKrfjZn9e4exii8JDw_A_JIC6IreZXPdqCN4isRNPW8q7ZYcxVOIjpV56TUKT9gc/s1600/seed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="425" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsvD6CDCBUcwcTHfDEvCZv-xTTWRZvZIv_5k196hkFRdkgQYA0wX69o2LaCUiywtseuD86eNIYbdPCzKrfjZn9e4exii8JDw_A_JIC6IreZXPdqCN4isRNPW8q7ZYcxVOIjpV56TUKT9gc/s320/seed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a previous post, titled "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=m6wleE0BAAA.vR19RrUlrqIJBY4uNH9k1Q.MLEKo1mvfrS82iyqyrA4Xg&postId=3336004617436898785&type=POST" target="_blank">What To Do When It's 40 Below Outside?</a>", I wrote about making your own seed tape using toilet paper and cornstarch glue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the following months, I have refined my process for making seed tape, and have found it to be an awesome time saver when planting in the garden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have made seed tape for parsnips, carrots, spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower. All have been wildly successful, and I was thinking about how far could this process go for improving my spring planting experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although seed potatoes are probably not a likely candidate for seed tape, peas and beans might be, and so this post is about making seed tape for large seeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The issue with large seeds is that they are heavy, and the cornstarch glue isn't all that strong. Simply sticking a bean to some toilet paper isn't likely to work all that well, as my experiments with coriander seed indicated when I found a lot of the seed comes unstuck during the rolling up / unrolling process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So another tactic was required, and I've devised a way to secure large seeds to toilet paper that actually works well.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5o4gp44zln7xav9w7wQEfmQAs8WPbl3xaFGN4UL9ij6wjP3THKYMafg1G6kyCoVd7Ag_3b0nNnoLHc_TSdWztniFW1ol_eFSOaRJS7T_vbbYTW6SIS3MduV5TxcALo9lnAgthCeAgK6vX/s1600/20150520_120735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5o4gp44zln7xav9w7wQEfmQAs8WPbl3xaFGN4UL9ij6wjP3THKYMafg1G6kyCoVd7Ag_3b0nNnoLHc_TSdWztniFW1ol_eFSOaRJS7T_vbbYTW6SIS3MduV5TxcALo9lnAgthCeAgK6vX/s400/20150520_120735.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first step involves getting a strip of toilet paper and separating the sheets so that one strip yields two (for 2-ply paper). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once you have the paper separated, you then fold each strip lengthwise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the photo to the left, I used 3 strips of toilet paper to create 6 strips, all folded lengthwise down the centre.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEtVakEtqUfQjBfyrBzqa4pSo4QQvfHYwP68l8v1g3IjI5-_rUZKT4MMp6Q7eIMGd55_iv-73zXnT4vx_TozMoncoKczTYUM_EchwYN-3WXNMTxE0BsvE9R-xEefZSzuw7TOW7lmwXHDu/s1600/20150520_121745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEtVakEtqUfQjBfyrBzqa4pSo4QQvfHYwP68l8v1g3IjI5-_rUZKT4MMp6Q7eIMGd55_iv-73zXnT4vx_TozMoncoKczTYUM_EchwYN-3WXNMTxE0BsvE9R-xEefZSzuw7TOW7lmwXHDu/s400/20150520_121745.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next step involves placing blobs of glue in a line along the each strip. For my peas, I am placing them 2 inches apart, and so the blobs of glue are also 2 inches apart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once I finished putting the blobs of glue onto the paper strips, I then places a pea on top of each blob as shown in the photo to the right.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBT_DoDY5ntKCdAf1Ofb0AtmOEXvtkjb8A-r8TTxmXZSjMD_At0YUc029SOmbt8tJ0WVP7zED7s-CQGh3eSblOH1cB0x_Yohpd98G4aqbNhuGKBATZ_CzL5ZTpeXGvPGzdr00guxLagVsC/s1600/20150520_122607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBT_DoDY5ntKCdAf1Ofb0AtmOEXvtkjb8A-r8TTxmXZSjMD_At0YUc029SOmbt8tJ0WVP7zED7s-CQGh3eSblOH1cB0x_Yohpd98G4aqbNhuGKBATZ_CzL5ZTpeXGvPGzdr00guxLagVsC/s400/20150520_122607.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once all the peas were placed onto the paper, I then went over them again with my glue bottle, and placed a drop of glue on top of each pea, so that there was glue underneath as well as on top of the seed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I then folded the toilet paper strips lengthwise along the centre again, so that the seeds were completely covered with paper, and the glue held everything together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this image above, you can see the top 3 strips have been folded over as described, while the bottom 3 are patiently waiting their turn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once all the tape has been done, then I left them to dry overnight, and you can see the result below.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerCuLmrB_Ff9QQZ85e3Mj-jnqokm9vPARgqYIEK9mCFuNVAWDeSaMeTSugJXeU8CzcBY5TQthbTrl3zhKyrD5B4cEvT6X5kKJ7y0bbr2A9scZ1gSSuFtb476rv75Ir65X-VXkBQQtctRt/s1600/20150521_080433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerCuLmrB_Ff9QQZ85e3Mj-jnqokm9vPARgqYIEK9mCFuNVAWDeSaMeTSugJXeU8CzcBY5TQthbTrl3zhKyrD5B4cEvT6X5kKJ7y0bbr2A9scZ1gSSuFtb476rv75Ir65X-VXkBQQtctRt/s400/20150521_080433.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each pea is solidly encased in a hard shell of dried cornstarch glue and toilet paper, almost like a little Papier-mâché </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ball. Having two layers of toilet paper on each side of the seed means that there is no way that it's going anywhere during transport and handling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This technique works extremely well for seeds of any size, except for maybe coconuts.</span>Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-31323948891255560412015-03-27T09:30:00.004-04:002015-03-27T09:37:46.723-04:00Bring on Spring!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/944971/99102521/stock-vector-when-in-the-spring-snow-melts-everything-is-full-of-dog-poo-99102521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/944971/99102521/stock-vector-when-in-the-spring-snow-melts-everything-is-full-of-dog-poo-99102521.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">March is not my favourite month in Thunder Bay. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's the time of year when everything is still frozen, and yet the snow pack recedes to reveal 6 months worth of accumulated sin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The air is full of the smells of early spring. In my neighbourhood, that means liquid dog excrement above all others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that is not what this post is about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">March is as important month because things start to happen in the environment. One major event I noticed when I first moved here was that the streets and side walks turn into rivers and streams. This is in stark contrast to the lawns and gardens, which remain under feet of snow pack. So what gives?</span></div>
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<a href="https://uconnladybug.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/spring-soon-vjpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://uconnladybug.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/spring-soon-vjpg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I noticed pretty quickly when I moved here that in March, the snow turns from a pristine winter white, to a rather ugly shade of dirt. Over the winter, grit spread on the roads and side walks accumulated in the snow pack, and then magically appeared again as the snow began to melt. I wondered if this darker shade of snow had anything to do with why side walks and boulevards appear to shed their winter coats so much faster than the gardens and lawns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year I decided to conduct an experiment on the garden to see if I could accelerate the spring thaw by applying used coffee grounds to the snow pack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I collected a pile of used coffee grounds from my local coffee shop, and carted them to the garden where I found the beds still under a few feet of snow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taking a shovel, I located the garden paths and shovelled the snow off them and onto the garden beds themselves so I would have somewhere to walk as I applied the grounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The image below shows the job done and the coffee grounds sprinkled over where I think the garden beds are:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHyjTnoNYcZ9xWBqTE-SMvoULeEXhX_xyhcFePX_wRGnsYes2I9B4xHNSFsP-pF-xKhbPEhR508BL8SVVKqtHYK34EzQkJgVcVl2BC379KEzQQnekG1fONX4Q7ULnq7YC1r60_11rXYvS/s1600/20150315_170040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHyjTnoNYcZ9xWBqTE-SMvoULeEXhX_xyhcFePX_wRGnsYes2I9B4xHNSFsP-pF-xKhbPEhR508BL8SVVKqtHYK34EzQkJgVcVl2BC379KEzQQnekG1fONX4Q7ULnq7YC1r60_11rXYvS/s1600/20150315_170040.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can clearly see from these photos that there is still a good foot or two of snow on top of these beds. However, the side walks are clear, and grass is beginning to be seen in patches along the road sides.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can also see from the photo below that some melt has happened at some point and solid ice is sitting in the garden pathways.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fzpRazFeS9CLnlCotvT-dMMzP1KWIfL3wyT8jKwN37rQkffAcH2ZxPsw3QMvE1-aXOYbgYs8zcZAyG9ndc2ZwC7SO-tQswofZDOhF6JLtt3VCil6I8_4QLNh8Jjc7NlnfoY3AuXbSQbH/s1600/20150315_170029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fzpRazFeS9CLnlCotvT-dMMzP1KWIfL3wyT8jKwN37rQkffAcH2ZxPsw3QMvE1-aXOYbgYs8zcZAyG9ndc2ZwC7SO-tQswofZDOhF6JLtt3VCil6I8_4QLNh8Jjc7NlnfoY3AuXbSQbH/s1600/20150315_170029.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I left the garden like this and returned a week and a half later. There had been some warm weather followed by a cold snap and an inch or so of snow the day before I took the following photos.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80ohAp7zwawYSWIlneiGgBECpCT0-pERF8cc8M0nVe92NomwKX0ajloqQpDjJ57wXiU_wUSLl43NgkKwCwSONeH2Oa0XM309V2F_Erleg9rjtQ6QABoXxr3aZScczFhoCN9OeP7ru_Ls8/s1600/20150326_180259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80ohAp7zwawYSWIlneiGgBECpCT0-pERF8cc8M0nVe92NomwKX0ajloqQpDjJ57wXiU_wUSLl43NgkKwCwSONeH2Oa0XM309V2F_Erleg9rjtQ6QABoXxr3aZScczFhoCN9OeP7ru_Ls8/s1600/20150326_180259.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The photo on the right clearly shows where the garden is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everywhere I had sprinkled the coffee grounds there is no sign of any snow, and indeed, the top few inches of the garden beds have already thawed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was also no sign of the snow that fell the day before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as important to my experiment is that everywhere I did not sprinkle the used coffee grounds there is still a significant snow pack which I would estimate to be approximately a foot deep.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrV-1ddzFPmwYA0FSQPAwJFL-Pm-aBsw9Dcc5_tI9FkaiT7jpeGcgAol8JrdMGF0SGB7sgiczQ7jpHWx9Syf__dk9rb9apU5qWGXh2mEDoN-5c3WtMq098JZ75p3eYriVczbIWRW0xsy6/s1600/20150326_180324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrV-1ddzFPmwYA0FSQPAwJFL-Pm-aBsw9Dcc5_tI9FkaiT7jpeGcgAol8JrdMGF0SGB7sgiczQ7jpHWx9Syf__dk9rb9apU5qWGXh2mEDoN-5c3WtMq098JZ75p3eYriVczbIWRW0xsy6/s1600/20150326_180324.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The photo above shows a clear demarcation between treated and untreated areas of the garden. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why did I choose to use used coffee grounds? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly, they are a dark colour, and my theory is that being dark in colour means that they absorb solar energy and transfer their heat back to the surrounding snow pack. The snow, being white, naturally reflects heat and is why the rest of the garden remains under snow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Used coffee grounds are also a rich organic source of Nitrogen and minerals. By utilising them in my garden, I am diverting an industrial waste stream that would otherwise go into land fill. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll leave you with a short video on the use of used coffee grounds as a soil amendment and fertiliser:</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-33360046174368987852015-01-06T08:16:00.002-05:002016-11-15T09:37:15.771-05:00What To Do When It's 40 Below Outside?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://rt.com/files/news/russia-freeze-cold-temperature-379/ria-nvosti-alexey-malgavko-917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif25St2LAVPscWtltHMlqY99KAVwJjvV74BEe6g-NmpjcMW1FDxnjmpUHTUv8C6EQeKTM7HBd1GIESyFISzhU7D8LcEu812PtZ1FMYPxPjech-l8LXZVVT5DjzONutzTB4Heb7WMU4bq3T/s1600/thermometer.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif25St2LAVPscWtltHMlqY99KAVwJjvV74BEe6g-NmpjcMW1FDxnjmpUHTUv8C6EQeKTM7HBd1GIESyFISzhU7D8LcEu812PtZ1FMYPxPjech-l8LXZVVT5DjzONutzTB4Heb7WMU4bq3T/s320/thermometer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The advantage of being stuck inside during the cold winter days means that there is ample opportunity to plan for the coming growing season and prepare for planting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This year I plan to use seed tape in an effort to cut down on the time spent sowing seed and thinning seedlings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But seed tape is unbelievably expensive, so I thought that a great indoor craft for the whole family would be to make seed tape ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I looked about and quickly identified toilet paper as a potential ideal candidate for this exercise. All I needed was seeds and glue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A handy biodegradable glue can be made from simply heating a mixture of corn starch and water. To make things more interesting, we added a bit of food colouring to two batches of glue (one for each child), so we could easily distinguish one seed line from another. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this post, we made seed tape for parsnips (using purple glue) spaced at 1/2 inch intervals, along with radishes (using green glue) that we will utilise as a quick crop while the parsnips are growing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We made the glue quite runny, (1 tsp of corn starch to 250 ml of water) so it would dispense easily from a squeeze bottle in small blobs. Make sure the glue is not lumpy, as the lumps tend to get stuck in the squeeze bottle nozzle, and then release in a flood of glue all over your paper. It makes quite a mess!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbaTLcdkCF0DvDs7jf4Rr_XoOAgIOWcing8yApnOo8AZlmJ2yIzsdFzjtgEOpi1mu4gSzoLQKOmAYCHdcoklmCwcR_W2P-aDPzmq1_HsM7F2XMS_5VT5Zr-Lh1MxVfNS1Ogeevg84en86c/s1600/Former.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbaTLcdkCF0DvDs7jf4Rr_XoOAgIOWcing8yApnOo8AZlmJ2yIzsdFzjtgEOpi1mu4gSzoLQKOmAYCHdcoklmCwcR_W2P-aDPzmq1_HsM7F2XMS_5VT5Zr-Lh1MxVfNS1Ogeevg84en86c/s1600/Former.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since different seeds need different spacing, I put together a few spacing markers using wheel shaped objects I salvaged from the toy box, and attached rubber bands such that they were separated by the desired distance. In the picture here, I have a marking wheel with 1/2 inch spacings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1821554249"></span><span id="goog_1821554250"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We rolled the spacing marker on an ink pad, and then rolled it down a strip of toilet paper. In under a minute, we had dozens of evenly spaced marks as guides for placing the glue dots.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygxmCBJq8bVXUfwBItXwLzAxcF82HgINz_ylTsw86zkBLyCn62xS1HB-nD-DKSF9PtWytV1rRw7FOd6SqhcNQp7JQgD-Y5MXL3UrnfMgVKR6w1yDzxeoii9JyWGufwj7baICj0JCpesQ0/s1600/Parsnip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygxmCBJq8bVXUfwBItXwLzAxcF82HgINz_ylTsw86zkBLyCn62xS1HB-nD-DKSF9PtWytV1rRw7FOd6SqhcNQp7JQgD-Y5MXL3UrnfMgVKR6w1yDzxeoii9JyWGufwj7baICj0JCpesQ0/s1600/Parsnip.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxv96D88GNsabYgVViQtxUbswEZ4RZKTibnLuYUP_xHaWD1tRgguVoEjkd1lKAlIpTSMQZ4IoZMXn4Xd8v7KYI7M0P8-s0KQfr_xliWAMJdijhV7LlqmsCsh3mho3_1fT0XvlNKB09URkS/s1600/Radish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxv96D88GNsabYgVViQtxUbswEZ4RZKTibnLuYUP_xHaWD1tRgguVoEjkd1lKAlIpTSMQZ4IoZMXn4Xd8v7KYI7M0P8-s0KQfr_xliWAMJdijhV7LlqmsCsh3mho3_1fT0XvlNKB09URkS/s1600/Radish.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First off was the radish seed, which one of the kids glued to the toilet paper with green glue by first making a series of dots where the marks indicated and then placing a seed into the dot before it set hard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once that was complete, the second child used their purple glue to attach the parsnip seeds in a similar fashion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once all the seeds were attached to the paper, they were left to dry overnight.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49KAnW22HFfv5EFlp7McujLEkk5H7ONK8v2pUrl6Eovy8AjjzsabpzhIMH2o9M70q5JG0AKPLPTdQ2_4REC0mvjo3h6F7W-hwzXQDVgEYJ3U8HUaZ5oZCdYSxKtEG9Ht6QxGk6bXiZGXq/s1600/Complete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49KAnW22HFfv5EFlp7McujLEkk5H7ONK8v2pUrl6Eovy8AjjzsabpzhIMH2o9M70q5JG0AKPLPTdQ2_4REC0mvjo3h6F7W-hwzXQDVgEYJ3U8HUaZ5oZCdYSxKtEG9Ht6QxGk6bXiZGXq/s1600/Complete.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The toilet paper I used was a two ply variety, and I discovered that once dry, I could still separate the sheets if I was careful. This meant that I could get two strips of seed tape from one strip of toilet paper.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZS_LM4gpnx-jreanU13nh_vezO4B5v1a-r7Mwh9xUKN2wBps3dDjk3QFi81DO6beBcBC6CXq_8H44_ZM-Z50xM1RxYxUIELTMyqTYEBTltM3PBOWDEKwvr7N_mG1mXfcCrga7dJTdQXh/s1600/Separate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZS_LM4gpnx-jreanU13nh_vezO4B5v1a-r7Mwh9xUKN2wBps3dDjk3QFi81DO6beBcBC6CXq_8H44_ZM-Z50xM1RxYxUIELTMyqTYEBTltM3PBOWDEKwvr7N_mG1mXfcCrga7dJTdQXh/s1600/Separate.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I flipped the paper over, and made a line of glue dots 2 inches apart into which I placed lettuce seeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once these dried, I separated the sheets and rolled them onto old toilet rolls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So there you have it. Very cheap seed tape, and you have the added benefit of making up whatever combinations you desire.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Come spring, all I need to do is roll out the tape and cover it with a little soil or mulch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If the past two seasons have taught me anything, it's that sowing seed in Thunder Bay involves being hunched over in the wind and rain, struggling to get dry seeds out of their packet with wet fingers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This spring things will be different!</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-44335761061440783422015-01-02T11:53:00.000-05:002016-11-15T09:40:37.742-05:00Economics and Permaculture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzlNwr152dCHHuutgKpmnFF6AzIcxlvSvj-SdPCoo4ghqN1THKoxHYDqBKxULm5w_aq17wI0VlK9Bm8DaqfrS4nBeu9aCir4xb4NPLjslyDmOsVVDu3J6QqpdnfB-DYWgmD6e5FzWQEF2/s1600/logo+master+.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzlNwr152dCHHuutgKpmnFF6AzIcxlvSvj-SdPCoo4ghqN1THKoxHYDqBKxULm5w_aq17wI0VlK9Bm8DaqfrS4nBeu9aCir4xb4NPLjslyDmOsVVDu3J6QqpdnfB-DYWgmD6e5FzWQEF2/s320/logo+master+.gif" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www2.uregina.ca/yourblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/HiRes-resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Economics and Permaculture</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Permaculture is as much about developing sustainable and non exploitative economies as it is about sustainable and non exploitative agricultural systems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If permaculture is going to survive and thrive, it must also make economic sense from a business perspective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are two business models I am currently aware of that have been developed for the specific purpose of acting as a template that other people can utilise when going into industrial scale permaculture for profit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first model is the "Fiefdom" model developed by Joel Salatin. Joel is a multi-generational farmer who argues that young farmers can't get into the farming business unless old farmers are getting out. Meanwhile, old farmers can't get out unless young ones are getting in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To address this conundrum, Joel recognised that young farmers want their own independent, yet connected, profitable enterprise (f</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">iefdom</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">) within a farming operation to which they are wholly responsible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He maintains that a farm is not robust or sustainable unless it is generating at least 2 income streams, and the fiefdom model addresses this </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by creating many independent businesses within the overall farming operation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A fiefdom is created when a business agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed by the farmer and an independent business owner who wishes to operate within the farm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Provided that the business concept fits well within the network of other fiefdoms, and the farm as a whole, then a mutually beneficial agreement is reached and the new operation is introduced to the mini-economy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Polyface Farm, there are very few employees, as the people who work there operate their own business on the premises.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is a great article describing the <a href="http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/why-polyface-farm-so-successful-how-joel-salatin-creates-self-generating-profitable-enterpr" target="_blank">fiefdoms on Polyface Farm</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and a link to Polyface Farm's </span><a href="http://www.polyfacefarms.com/principles/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">guiding principles</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The second model is very new (as of April 2014) and is spear headed by <a href="http://www.jackspirko.net/" target="_blank">Jack Spirko</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The initiative is called <a href="http://permaethos.com/about/" target="_blank">PermaEthos</a>, which is a business that has created a template for establishing community based farming operations as profitable enterprises. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is a very good pod cast series available where Paul Wheaton (the Duke of Permaculture) interviews Jack on this new undertaking:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_685904027"></span><span id="goog_685904028"></span><a href="http://media.blubrry.com/permaculturepodcast/p/permaculture-podcast.com/Podcast/2014/wheaton-permaculture-297-permaethos-part-1.mp3" target="_blank">Part 1</a> and <a href="http://media.blubrry.com/permaculturepodcast/p/permaculture-podcast.com/Podcast/2014/wheaton-permaculture-298-permaethos-part-2.mp3" target="_blank">Part 2</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Their flagship proof of concept farm is called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/elishasspringfarm" target="_blank">Elisha’s Spring Farm</a> located in West Virginia and is currently in the early stages of establishment:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The main difference between these two models is that PermsEthos provides a template and a more traditional corporate structure to their organisation. For example, they have an advisory board, shareholders and a board of directors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fiefdom model is more of a conceptual design, and Polyface farm is a successful working implementation of this concept.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whichever system you follow, be it your own, or one of the models described here, the role of debt in your enterprise will play a key part in determining your success.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Modern farmers are typically heavily indebted due to the huge capital outlays required for a modern operation. They indenture themselves, and their future generations to the bank, effectively enslaving themselves to the point of perpetual serfdom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It doesn't have to be this way. There are alternatives. Social networks within your local community are as powerful as they ever were, and yet we seem to have discarded them and taken on the mantra of being "self made".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why borrow half a million dollars from the bank to purchase a big fancy combine that you use half a dozen times a year when you could rent one from a neighbour? You pay for it as you need it, and you don't have the headaches of storage, maintenance, and insurance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Joel Salatin: Debt Free Farming</i></span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-47018111642455786282014-09-09T13:24:00.000-04:002018-02-02T08:43:47.029-05:00Plant of the Weekish - Silverberry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.arborfoliage.org.uk/pic-shrubs/elaeagnus-commutata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://www.omcseeds.com/image/cache/data/products/american-silverberry-elaeagnus-commutata_0-600x600.jpg" title="Silverberry Shrub" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Silverberry</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This shrub is <a href="http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Elaeagnus+commutata" target="_blank">Elaeagnus commutata</a>, and is also referred to as Wolfberry, or Wolf Willow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is not to be confused with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goji" target="_blank">Goji</a>, which is also referred to as Wolfberry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is also not to be confused with Autumn Olive, which is also known as Silverberry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They are entirely different plants and look completely different.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now that we are all thoroughly confused, lets continue :-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A close relative to <a href="http://thunderbaypermaculture.blogspot.ca/2014/08/plant-of-weekish-russian-olive.html" target="_blank">Russian Olive</a>, this particular shrub is a native of Canada, and is a valuable Nitrogen fixer in the boreal forest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People typically place this plant in their yard as an ornamental feature, but it can be much more than a pretty face when put to work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This shrub flowers in late May and provides hungry bees with an much needed source of food.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Growing to around 10 ft tall with a dense, thick foliage, Silverberry makes an excellent under story support species that can be used extensively as windbreaks, hedges, and <a href="http://permaculturenews.org/2011/06/14/chop-n-drop-mulching-permaculture-style/" target="_blank">chop n drop mulch</a>, due to it's vigorous growth and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing" target="_blank">coppicing</a> ability. The bark is also a source of fibre for making rope and weaving baskets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The wood itself produces an unpleasant smell when burned. This would probably be eliminated in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_stove" target="_blank">rocket stoves</a>, and mass heaters due to their high internal operating temperatures. However, there is little information about its suitability as a firewood due to this undesirable characteristic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It produces a rather unattractive, yet edible fruit that can be used to make jelly. I have no idea what it looks and tastes like, so it might be more in the "survival food" category of value added products.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is interesting with Silverberry, apart from what I've already written, is that fact that it is thorn less. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, a nitrogen fixing tree that doesn't require gloves to prune!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Widely considered as invasive, a permaculturist can put this plant to good use in a managed forest system. Furthermore, this plant does not tolerate shade, and will naturally die off as the primary tree species grow and the forest canopy develops. The very attributes that demonise this plant in the eyes of traditional agriculturists are essential in a regenerating forest ecosystem. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It provides shelter and nutrients for the mature forest as it grows, and then gracefully steps aside at the appropriate time. It really is a rather polite plant.</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6913778292070040065.post-10551446966359069082014-09-03T08:55:00.002-04:002014-09-03T08:55:36.337-04:00Why Own Land When You Can Control It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagNE87YfJKtgLrUo3wNRrtZg5D-M9jheg4vjI_BGqVk3OLEYdBjuVG3ksPrOahGdN6_9UHkJK-pxBVo-ornZOaCahqy2rip60vlZrB-KQNX512AVTaqjXcO9JIEBdTxU5zc_4AmDC6FnN/s1600/MobGrazing_Geese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagNE87YfJKtgLrUo3wNRrtZg5D-M9jheg4vjI_BGqVk3OLEYdBjuVG3ksPrOahGdN6_9UHkJK-pxBVo-ornZOaCahqy2rip60vlZrB-KQNX512AVTaqjXcO9JIEBdTxU5zc_4AmDC6FnN/s1600/MobGrazing_Geese.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why Own Land When You Can Control It?</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People seem to be fixated on the idea of owning land. They always have, and probably always will.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a young person looking to work on the land, loading up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt just to acquire land is often a daunting prospect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before they even get to the starting gate, they're debt slaves to the bank, and the possibility of ever achieving financial independence is somewhere off in the distant future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throw in a gazillion dollars of more debt for tractors, combines, other farm equipment, and of course stock, and it quickly becomes obvious why there are so few young people getting into farming. Quite frankly, you would have to be insane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile the existing population of farmers are getting older and less physically capable of maintaining a profitable enterprise on their farm. The chances are they're also in debt with very few options for retirement. Many farmers have actually died, and their widows are left with a farm to run, but no idea how they will cope.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a result, many farms slowly run down and eventually revert to some semblance of it's natural state as the forest reclaims the pastures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was listening to a podcast recently by a man named Greg Judy. He was speaking about how he went broke as a farmer in the late 1990's, and with less than $10 to his name he lost his farm and had to start over with nothing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLbBBnFIgXSgFhevaETDQ5tpXuAWvQ23tJljCCIsnzRzFDBRpYbE0Q9dciWuSb4hjgQCeBhGydeIrq2r3XGwkCNgqW2rI-9-aRYHPrAAPTotR_pBLx5rn33lm9rfccGKTfB2dvx1kPbaK/s1600/jan+and+greg+judy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLbBBnFIgXSgFhevaETDQ5tpXuAWvQ23tJljCCIsnzRzFDBRpYbE0Q9dciWuSb4hjgQCeBhGydeIrq2r3XGwkCNgqW2rI-9-aRYHPrAAPTotR_pBLx5rn33lm9rfccGKTfB2dvx1kPbaK/s1600/jan+and+greg+judy.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, Greg operates 12 farms totalling over 1,500 acres on which he runs over 1,000 head of cattle along with sheep and pigs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The key to his success was the realisation that he didn't need to own the land or the livestock to be a farmer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greg leased some land from an absentee land owner for a ten year period, and then rented his services to livestock owners who paid him a monthly fee per cow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because he could not afford farm equipment, he simply did without it, and changed his farming methods accordingly through the application of high intensity mob stocking and movable electric fences.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.penncomm.com/penn_store/viewphoto.php?imgID=9" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.penncomm.com/penn_store/viewphoto.php?imgID=9" height="320" width="289" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even today, he doesn't own a tractor, doesn't make hay, doesn't fertilise, or irrigate. And yet the land he controls gets more fertile and productive every year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily for us, Greg wrote a book about how he achieves this, and you can purchase a copy from his <a href="http://www.greenpasturesfarm.net/index.php" target="_blank">web site</a> and you can watch a handy book review below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Granted, Missouri is a far cry from Thunder Bay. For example, he gets snow, but not for 6 months of the year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, I believe that many of the principles of his practice still apply. Lease instead of own, rent instead of buy, and stay out of debt as much as possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll finish with this... After Greg had been farming his leased farm for a year, the land owner turned up to see how things were going. When the tour was over, the owner took out the lease and tore it up in front of Greg, told him that they are going to forget about the arrangement they had, and drew up a new lifetime lease for him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People who own land typically love the land, and have an emotional connection to it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine the effect when they see someone being a good steward, and who demonstrates through their actions that they value the land in a similar way.</span></div>
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Thunder Bay Permaculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16811079662051981489noreply@blogger.com0