[Squashmania]

Are red wasps specific to the Southern U.S.? I have never heard of them here in Ohio.

[Squashmania]

Jack: what new trends today are making you really interested in what permaculture can do for you?

John: you mentioned that you sat back for an amount of time and didn’t work up to your potential. What caused this jump shift in thought paradigm and kicked you in the butt?

[Squashmania]

This last Fall, my hens molted and decreased laying to one egg a day, but they have ramped back up, despite the very low light.

I have a hen who is probably lowest on the totem pole and skittish. She is small and not laying yet. Her hatchmate had been laying for at least a month. I bring her in to the house to get some extra food in her before it gets bitter cold, and she is SUCH a picky eater. Last night it was raining, and I didn’t want to walk her back out to the coop yet… Here is where she ended up. At least she was up out of the way. 🤣

[Squashmania]

That is quite a website reference. Every man needs to hear that poem. I scrolled down on that site and there are several selections that caught my eye.

[Squashmania]

i keep coming back to this post to see what others have written. Well, I guess that’s for me to do.

Health is more than the absence of disease.

It carries with it an innate robustness and “joie de vivre” ( joy of life) , balanced demeanor, and spiritual connectedness.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Squashmania.

[Squashmania]

Hibiscus flower tea for hypertension (high BP). It grows outdoors in the Southern U.S., or can he grown as an indoor houseplant.

A friendly houseplant tip for perpetual fertilizer, add two earthworms for each plant pot, and then add some peelings or veggie scraps occasionally.

[Squashmania]

I am very interested in your pepper sauce recipe. I back to undeveloped park land that has deer, coyotes, fox, owl, hawk, raccoon, possum and probably a sasquatch. The deer love to behead the sunflowers and I planted sweet corn 3 times last year. The rabbits loved the peas. It was like a salad bar🙄.

[Squashmania]

So Jersey Giant Chick is right with tunnels to extend your growing season at the “shoulders”, to start earlier and finish later.

Private Cluck is also right with trellis……To conserve space, I may have a thought to combine the two.

This will take some imagination, so come with me on the magical mini garden tour!

Imagine February and you start with the trellis curved into a tunnel with plastic over it. It will be a low tunnel with the plastic extending our over the ends and twisted and weighed down

Not like a greenhouse end wall. More like the twisted plastic wrap over the end of a loaf of bread. If you can gather neighbors’ veggie scraps and put a compost pile IN the tunnel, BOOM, heat for a better start. Think of your cold crops. Spinach, kale, chard, pak choi, etc. In a row at the back, plant some peas. When the weather starts to get better, mid-March, let’s say, move the “tunnel” and make it a trellis for the peas.

Meanwhile, you can start some seeds indoors and avoid the pricey plant starts. DIY garden. And you can even check out some local libraries that have seeds to “lend”. Don’t forget to put a marigold in for bug control, and because flowers make people happy. A tasty bug controller is a nasturtium as well. The flowers and leaves are edible and the flowers are beautiful in salads, and are reminiscent of wasabi. This incorporates Big Kidd’s interplanting. Later the peas will give way to a cucumber or squash or malabar spinach, all vying for trellis space. BE PICKY. Lesliensky is right on the $$. If you only have (—–) this much space, grow what you like. You may LOVE radishes with wild abandon, and they only take 20 days. Or you may not be able to live without X, Y, or Z. The longer the growing season (parsnips are around 100 days) the longer a bed space is “taken up”. You may also find new varieties that you never tried before (strawberry spinach or lemon cucumbers, vine peach cantaloupe) Then, in the fall, the summer trellis can stay busy as a tunnel to finish out cauliflower, or keep the pepper plants popping!

I hate to say it, but this topic has me SO excited to plan the garden for next Spring. We’ll just stop by to help 😁🤣

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Squashmania.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Squashmania.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Squashmania.

[Squashmania]

Thank you for the update. I was following your story. The older folk become so very fragile, and can decline so rapidly. Prayers that God would give you the wisdom and discernment to get through her final steps in life, and that good kind God loving and God fearing people are placed in your path to help you along your way.

[Squashmania]

My friend with the intestinal mass continues on an upward trend and is going back to work. He is healing and whole again. God is good.

[Squashmania]

That is a LOT of coconut oil! Any suggestions how to work it in to the diet?

Another great natural that has been proven to regenerate neural tissue is Lion’s mane mushroom. My dad’s side of the family all have memory issues, so I am trying to get ahead of it. Maybe I can break the cycle.

[Squashmania]

Health may be a modern unicorn. We are masked and distanced. We are numbed with drugs and alcohol because of perceived problems and medicated for sadness. There are many of these situations that being in a cabin on a mountain would solve, and Florence Nightingale had it right. Clean environment, clean water, fresh air, sunshine, daily activity and wholesome food all contribute to the health of a person. There are other factors, but if a good base is established, a strong structure can be built.

[Squashmania]

The recommendation I got for the same problem was to “snatch them up” when you open the coop in the morning, and as inconvenient as it may be, carry the little rotten rascal around with you while you do chores. They will squirm and pitch a fit, but keep some choice snacks in a pocket; BSFL or mealworms are serious enticements. If you have never seen him do the “tidbitting” for the girls, look it up. It’s hysterical.

When you put him down, praise! And give treats quickly. He will soon associate you with the good stuff and become more gentled and willing to be toted around. It doesn’t happen nearly as fast as you want it to, but I saw it make a difference. It’s kind of like bronc riding at the rodeo. They are STRONG! So do your best to hang on and reward for being your pal.

[Squashmania]

I am trying like heck to get a homestead rotation group together like Tag has. Community would be wonderful!

[Squashmania]

Let me know when you’re coming through town. You do some quality work! 😁