Thought to be the combination of two words.   First word being  – permanent 1.  existing perpetually; everlasting, especially without significant change.  2.  intended to exist or function for a long, . . . → Read More: Episode 178 What is Permaculture?]]> In today’s episode I explore the meaning of permaculture.  Not just the definition but why the definition probably doesn’t really scratch the surface. 

Thought to be the combination of two words.   First word being  – permanent 1.  existing perpetually; everlasting, especially without significant change.  2.  intended to exist or function for a long, indefinite period without regard to unforeseeable conditions.

• And Culture:  a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period: Greek culture. 
• Or Agriculture – the growing of crops for human uses. 

 But I submit that we actually need a new word to describe what permaculture does. 

•  For one – nothing is permanent. 
• The first definition of culture  – reflects something that resists change but permaculture doesn’t resist change it rolls with it. 
• The second definition – implies that its permanent but may not be permanent if conditions change. 

 Nothing is permanent – books, people, plants, animals even ideas fade in time.  Even cultures come and go.  The thing about permaculture is that it transcends a specific idea or thought or project.  Its purpose is to replicate nature in the best possible outcome to make positive things happen.  It doesn’t matter if the culture is on Earth or Pandora or Tattoine or in the twilight zone.  It doesn’t matter if the lifeform is trees or giant sandworms. 

Lets take a look at culture.  The form of civilization.  To a point this is applicable.  We want a civilization that values nature and works not to harm the earth, to help its people and takes only what it needs.  But we’ll get to that in a minute.  Civilizations come and go though.

 Agriculture is also not wrong but also not right.  Growing useful things is part of permaculture but its only a part.  Many people have a bad view of agriculture but growing things is agriculture to a limit.

So what’s with the defining and categorization.  It probably doesn’t help but its to show people that even permaculture has to rise above its definitions. 

Its natural forces at work in the nth degree.

• Earthcare – any organism that destroys its environment perishes. 
• Peoplecare – We are as a whole, greedy and selfish and thoughtless.  If it doesn’t benefit us we don’t do it.  So the system has to benefit people or else what’s the point? 
• Fairshare- not even distribution and not wealth sharing.  Take only what is needed.   

So what IS permaculture?  A process of system design that attempts to replicate nature or utilize it to the purpose of bettering people without hurting the environment and ecosystem. 

 No one can tell you what you are doing is or is not permaculture. Using the ethics as a guide is wise.  Using it to judge others is foolish. 

I often see a post there that really catches my attention and gets me excited.  So when several of you posted a . . . → Read More: Truly…and I Mean Truly Hacking a Garden]]> I cruise Facebook in the evenings sometimes during my downtime.  There’s a ton of good information there and I get to interact with people from the comfort of my own home like a true introvert should.

I often see a post there that really catches my attention and gets me excited.  So when several of you posted a link to an article called 10 DIY Garden Hacks (linked here) I clicked on it excitedly – hoping to learn something new.  While I found the article to be a neat collection of garden building projects I found it lacking.  When I read about a “hack” I want to know some real secret sauce stuff.  I mean I want to know something that’s going to make heads spin – something that makes my life (and garden) better by letting me take some shortcuts or make the system work to my advantage.

I realize my expectations are high but do I know any hacks?  Am I malevolent enough to buck the system, throw caution to the wind and really, I mean really hack the garden?  Well I’m gonna try.  Here are my 4 Top Garden Hacks:

1.  The Auto Fertilizing Garden -  What if you could fertilize your garden weekly or even daily (well anytime it rains) without doing anything you wouldn’t normally do?  What if said fertilizer was organic and sustainable? 

There are two ways to do this and it certainly won’t work for everyone and every situation.  Your garden should either be on a slope or have some drainage feature nearby. 

Option 1 is that you build a  chicken, duck, quail or other animal run and house directly upslope.  The manure during a rain runs right into the garden, pretty much diluted already. 

Option 2 is that you build animal housing above an existing drainage feature and connect it to your garden via swale.  The plan at my property is to fence in an area for pigs that is directly above the drainage ditch for my drive.  The theory is that the manure runs into the ditch and the water carries it over to my swale in the orchard and garden area.

2. Magic Mushrooms - At the Mother Earth News Fair last year I saw several people packing around preinnoculated shiitake logs.  They were 20 bucks or so and they made me think back to Pet Rocks.  Not that I’m old enough to remember pet rocks but rather the concept of selling something ubiquitous and ordinary but repackaging it, calling it something fantastic and taking a profit. 

For those of you who think a little 1 foot, 5″ diameter stump is amazing you really should check out King Stropharia or Winecap Mushrooms.  You essentially innoculate your garden mulch (wood chips or straw) and these little babies grow in the shade of your tomatoes, potatoes or whatever.  Not only are they edible (be careful and positively identify!) but they also break down the mulch faster and more effectively. 

3.  Making Your Garden a Kill Zone (not for the faint of heart) – Block two sides of your garden.  Maybe with a trellis, maybe with the animal housing mentioned in #1.  It really could be anything.  Make sure you have easy access to one side, allow unfettered access to the other.  Your garden will draw in rabbits, squirrels and deer.  They enter on one side, you shoot on the other.  Varmints check in but they don’t check out if you know what I’m saying.  Actually most things of reasonable intelligence will not check in because they will easily see this for what it is.  So the repellant effect is greater than the threat actually.

4.  Dibbler / Planting Bar – I am hesitant to call this one a hack anymore because I use it so regularly but I’m still very surprised that it has not been adopted beyond my little corner of the world.  Its really simple.  You take a piece of wood.  You attach wooden dowels at equal spacing.  You push it into the ground so the dowels puncture the soil and you plant seeds into the holes.  How simple is that?

So what did I miss?  Does anyone want to share their personal garden “hacks”?

I don’t purposely try to tread on what she believes but sometimes when teaching my son he repeats something to Gretchen that sounds like I’m causing him undue mental anguish. 

He is getting a . . . → Read More: From Where We Came]]> I have a bit of a confession to make.  My Buddhist leanings get me in trouble with my wife quite often. 

I don’t purposely try to tread on what she believes but sometimes when teaching my son he repeats something to Gretchen that sounds like I’m causing him undue mental anguish. 

He is getting a healthy dose of life and death on the homestead.  It seems like everytime he visits the chickens before me he finds the dead ones.  The hen in the tractor with a probable broken neck (maybe due to him – but I’d never tell him), the juvenile dominique that flew into and drowned in the water bucket that I neglectfully forgot to cover. 

So how to explain what happened to him? 

I think some parents might be tempted to sidestep the question.  I certainly was hesistant at first.  But I find that he is very adept at understanding death.  He understood that the chickens died of natural things (mostly).  He also understood after watching me slaughter the first two broiler chickens why we were doing it and most importantly that they were food.  I asked him if he had any questions and he said no.  This is obviously to me the best of both worlds.  In my era I watched my Grandma (whose job it was to slaughter) chop heads off turkeys and chickens with a hatchet.  That was the way things were done. 

I say this the best of both worlds because we can do the things necessary now to not cede responsibility for our food but its no longer faux pas to talk about how it feels.  There’s no need to get touchy/feely about it but as least we can make sure our children understand. 

So I can’t tell him that the chickens went to chicken heaven because I don’t believe that and I won’t tell him something I don’t believe to be true.  I simply tell him that they will feed us and become soil.  That’s the best any of us can hope for - to live a good life, make a difference, nuture others and in the end return to the soil from where we came. 

Even if I have to explain later to my wife why I told him we will all eventually be soil again…

*Locating the pond.  Where does it make the most sense?  It . . . → Read More: Episode 174 Building a Garden Pond]]> On today’s episode I talk about building a pond for your garden.  The garden pond is such a great way to encourage diversity not only in the forms of wildlife it attracts but also in the form of planting surfaces and microclimates it creates.

*Locating the pond.  Where does it make the most sense?  It needs to be accessible by animals and in a location where the water is easily usable. 

*Three ways to make the actual water holding device.

1.  Straight dig
2. Liner – hard or film.
3. Gley – either through pigs, manure/paper or bentonite clay.

 With all methods you have to dig a little at least to start.  Method 3 requires just cursory digging if you use pigs. 

*Details on digging the hole, building a dam and making sure its level.

*As soon as is practicable you need to plant on the dam and on the ground around the pond.  The purpose is nothing more than to prevent erosion and runoff.  Plant something that grows fast but is annual. You want to be able to plant more thoughtfully later. 

*Adding organic matter to the water to get things going.

*Plantings – you get into a whole new category of plants.

• Edibles – watercress – a member of the brassica family – spicy green leaves.  High in vitamins and a cancer fighter.
• Rice
• Water lily and lotus – both have edible parts.  The leaves of the water lily sits on the water, but the lotus rises and its leaves sit up to four feet above the water. 
• Cattails
• Duckweed – livestock

*Fauna

• Frogs come on their own as do crayfish dragonflies, water spiders, etc. 
• You can add some fish – depending on the size all the way from goldfish (make excellent bait) all the way up

This is always my answer:  I don’t do much about pests.  I pick them when I see them and I can.  . . . → Read More: PLEASE BELIEVE ME!!!]]> I am constantly asked for advice about “pests”.  If I were to do a pie chart on the questions I’m asked about – pests would be more than a few pieces of said pie. 

This is always my answer:  I don’t do much about pests.  I pick them when I see them and I can.  When I can’t I plant more plants.  I plant lots of flowers and umbeliferous plants and I keep wild areas and I don’t worry about weeds.  I let pests take a foothold into the garden.  That’s it!

And I swear that the reaction I get is not much different than if I told people that I believed in the Loch Ness Monster.  I don’t know if people pity me or they think I’m being tooooo zen about it.  But I am always left with the desire to yell “PLEASE BELIEVE ME!!!”

You don’t need to spray pesticides.  You don’t need to worry. You just have to do the right thing and believe it or not the universe will balance itself out. 

So today I’m out checking on my potatoes and I’m ever vigilant against potato beetles (before anyone suggests it – these are not potato beetles!).  I’ve noticed some small holes in the leaves though.  But I was shocked once again (I’m not sure why at this point) to find this:

Larval stage one day!

Pupa the next!

And then there’s this beautiful beast!

Tiphiid wasp!

Nature reacts.  The reaction to what?  This:

Flea beetles!  Which couldn’ t harm the 3 foot tall potato plants if they tried. 

If I had saw the shot holes and dusted with Sevin or sprayed I’d still have flea beetles but no ladybugs and no wasps - PLEASE BELIEVE ME!!!

On Monday I’ll have the normal blog post.

Tuesday’s podcast will be on Wednesday.

Thursday and Friday I will not be posting.

Regular schedule will return next week!

So tune in as I answer questions on the following topics:

Last time we discussed the basics of raising rabbits.  Today Rick tackles some questions about advanced topics for the more experienced rabbit breeder.  Including:

Breeding questions

 Its paradoxical I know.  If you don’t have “pest” insects then you don’t have a food source for the beneficials.  I’m not saying introduce pests but I’m saying when you spray them you prevent the rest of the ecosystem . . . → Read More: Episode 171 The “Truth” About Pests]]> Series of truths 

1. A garden without some level of “pest” presence is not a healthy garden.

 Its paradoxical I know.  If you don’t have “pest” insects then you don’t have a food source for the beneficials.  I’m not saying introduce pests but I’m saying when you spray them you prevent the rest of the ecosystem from filling in.  The best gardens I’ve ever had were packed with pest but each one was under control by a benevolent insect population. 

2. The root cause of most pest problems is plantings incapable of surviving predation.

Thomas Jefferson knew this.  He told his daughter this.  Anyone who tells you they don’t have pests is either lucky or lying.  But strong plants resist adverse circumstances.  

3. Not everything in the garden is under your control.  You can’t fix all pest problems.  Deal with it. 

Sometimes handpicking is the only option.  Sometimes the only sustainable option is to do nothing.  You have to learn to let go the attachment.  If a plant has to be sacrificed it has to be sacrificed.  Like the old Kenny Rogers song – know when to walk away and know when to run.  

4. Beyond organic gardening – no sprays is tough and it takes time.  Pesticides are the dark side – anger, fear, etc.  

As soon as you turn to sprays without trying every option you have failed.  Sure you might get produce and your garden might look nice but you’ve robbed Peter to pay Paul.  You’ve sold your future for the present.  

5. If you can’t think broadly you’ll never succeed. 

A healthy garden is not achieved by concentrating on any one thing.  You have to be a generalist.  You have to know how to grow healthy plants, how to attract beneficials, trap crops, shield crops, polyculture, hand picking, entomology.

 What’s really being measured is the concentration of hydrogen (H) ions — the more hydrogen ions there are, the more acid the thing being measured is.

An anion (−) (AN-eye-ən), from the Greek word ἄνω (ánō), meaning “up”, is an ion with more electrons than protons, giving it . . . → Read More: Episode 170 Soil Ph Demystified]]> What is PH? – Power of hydrogen

 What’s really being measured is the concentration of hydrogen (H) ions — the more hydrogen ions there are, the more acid the thing being measured is.

An anion (−) (AN-eye-ən), from the Greek word ἄνω (ánō), meaning “up”, is an ion with more electrons than protons, giving it a net negative charge (since electrons are negatively charged and protons are positively charged).

A cation (+) ( KAT-eye-ən), from the Greek word κατά (katá), meaning “down”, is an ion with fewer electrons than protons, giving it a positive charge. Since the charge on a proton is equal in magnitude to the charge on an electron, the net charge on an ion is equal to the number of protons in the ion minus the number of electrons.

Sources of Acidity

Acidity in soils comes from H⁺ and Al³⁺ ions in the soil solution. While pH is the measure of H⁺ in solution, Al³⁺ is important in acid soils because between pH 4 and 6, Al³⁺ reacts with water (H₂O) forming AlOH²⁺, and Al(OH)₂⁺, releasing extra H⁺ ions. Every Al³⁺ ion can create 3 H⁺ ions.

• Rainfall: Acid soils are most often found in areas of high rainfall. Excess rainfall leaches base cation from the soil, increasing the percentage of Al³⁺ and H⁺ relative to other cations. Additionally, rainwater has a slightly acidic pH of 5.7 due to a reaction with CO₂ in the atmosphere that forms carbonic acid.

• Fertilizer use: Ammonium (NH₄⁺) fertilizers react in the soil in a process called nitrification to form nitrate (NO₃^-), and in the process release H⁺ ions.

Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Cl cause salinity.

• Plant root activity: Plants take up nutrients in the form of ions (NO₃^-, NH₄⁺, Ca²⁺, H₂PO₄^-, etc.), and often, they take up more cations than anions. However plants must maintain a neutral charge in their roots. In order to compensate for the extra positive charge, they will release H⁺ ions from the root. Some plants will also exude organic acids into the soil to acidify the zone around their roots to help solubilize metal nutrients that are insoluble at neutral pH, such as iron (Fe).
• Weathering of minerals: Both primary and secondary minerals that compose soil contain Al. As these minerals weather, some components such as Mg, Ca, and K, are taken up by plants, others such as Si are leached from the soil, but due to chemical properties, Fe and Al remain in the soil profile. Highly weathered soils are often characterized by having high concentrations of Fe and Al oxides.

Sources of Basicity

Basic soils have a high saturation of base cations (K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Na⁺). Alkaline soils are characterized by the presence of carbonates.

Too Much Acidity

Plants grown in acid soils can experience a variety of symptoms including aluminium (Al), hydrogen(H), and/or manganese(Mn) toxicity, as well as potential nutrient deficiencies of calcium (Ca) and magnesium(Mg).
Aluminium toxicity is the most widespread problem in acid soils. Aluminium is present in all soils, but dissolved Al³⁺ is toxic to plants; Al³⁺ is most soluble at low pH, above pH 5.2 little aluminum is in soluble form in most soils. Aluminium is not a plant nutrient, and as such, is not actively taken up by the plants, but enters plant roots passively through osmosis. Aluminium damages roots in several ways: In root tips and Aluminium interferes with the uptake of Calcium, an essential nutrient, as well as bind with phosphate and interfere with production of ATP and DNA, both of which contain phosphate. Alminium can also restrict cell wall expansion causing roots to become stunted.

Below pH 4, H⁺ ions themselves damage root cell membranes.

In soils with high content of Manganese (Mn) containing minerals, Manganese toxicity can become a problem at pH 5.6 and below. Manganese, like aluminum becomes increasingly more soluble as pH drops, and Manganese toxicity symptoms can be seen at pH’s below 5.6. Mn is an essential plant nutrient, so plants transport mangnese into leaves. Classic symptoms of manganese toxicity are crinkling or cupping of leaves.

Why is pH is so important in gardening? Because soil acidity or alkalinity directly affects plant growth. If a soil is too sour or too sweet, plants cannot take up nutrients like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). And plants need specific amounts of those compounds–just like we need proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins to grow–to thrive and fight off disease and stress. Let’s look at it another way…

Most nutrient deficiencies can be avoided between a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5, provided that soil minerals and organic matter contain the essential nutrients to begin with.

Plant Preferences for pH

 Many environmental factors, including amount of rainfall, vegetation type and temperature can affect soil pH. Here are some general guidelines:

• Areas with heavy rainfall and forest cover have moderately acid soils.
• Soil in regions with light rainfall and prairie cover tend to be near neutral.
• Areas of drought and desert conditions tend to have alkaline soils.
• The pH of cultivated and developed soils often differ from that of native soil. During construction, for example, the topsoil may be removed and replaced by a different type. Hence, your garden soil pH could be very different from your neighbor’s.

To RAISE the soil pH
(Translation: If you have acidic soil)
If your soil is too acid, you need to add alkaline material. The most common “liming” material is ground limestone. Ground limestone breaks down slowly, but it does not burn plants like “quick lime” does. Apply it to the garden and lawn in the fall to allow time for it to act on soil pH before the next growing season. A rule of thumb for slightly acid soils: apply 5 pounds of lime per 100 square feet (say a 5 x 20-foot raised bed) to raise the pH by one point.

Apply limestone: 5 pounds per 100 square feet

Applying wood ashes also will raise soil pH. Wood ashes contain up to 70 percent calcium carbonate, as well as potassium, phosphorus, and many trace elements. Because it is powdery, wood ash is a fast-acting liming material. Be careful, a little goes a long way. Limit your application to 2 pounds per 100 square feet and only apply it every other year in a particular area.

To LOWER the soil pH
(Translation: If your soil is too alkaline)
In this case, you need to add a source of acid. Options include pine needles, shredded leaves, sulfur, sawdust and peat moss. Pine needles are a good source of acid and mulch. Peat moss with a pH of 3.0 is often recommended as a soil additive. Before you use it though, consider the other options, because peat moss is nutrient-poor, expensive, and it’s a nonrenewable resource.

Name:  Squash . . . → Read More: Two Insects You Should Get to Know!]]> This is the first in a new series of posts called Two Insects You Should Get to Know!  These will be posts about two insects.  Totally randomly I’m picking out insects that are thought of as good or bad but either way these are insects you want to know and learn about.

Name:  Squash Vine Borer

Eats:  Your squash vines…from the inside.

What makes them good: If your garden can withstand an onslaught by squash vine borers it can pretty much withstand anything.

What makes them a pain:  The parent moth can fly at night when you aren’t in the garden.  They find yellow (cucurbit blossom!) like gangbusters.  You don’t realize your vines are in trouble until its too late.

Management strategy:  Plant or leave other things in your garden that are yellow.  The moths may lay eggs around these things, killing the larvae quickly.  Use row covers.  Plants lots of flowers and hope some other brave beneficial insect will man up and fight these things.  Jack Spirko (www.thesurvivalpodcast.com) believes that ants may help control after the larvae have started boring.

Name: Ladybug

Eats: Aphids, flower nectar, various other insects.

What makes them good: They are fun to watch and they do take care of plant predation issues.

What makes them a pain: There never seems to be enough and they take their dear sweet time showing up sometimes.

Management strategy: Plant tons of large flowers like sunflowers.  Leave them some insects (such as aphids) to eat.  Mulch (they like to hide in it).  If they don’t come natural introduce some.  But make sure you have things there that will keep them!

Whether you raise them for meat, eggs or simply as pets I’m sure you hear some of these misconceptions repeated to you as fact:

I posted this photo . . . → Read More: The Power of Observation, Identification and Imitation]]> It strikes me that as a species we don’t spend enough time or energy observing our natural world.  I’m guilty of it as well.  Heck I’ve been known to trample or hoe down plants that I planted!  So I’m not always the best at observing the world around me.

I posted this photo to Facebook a week or so back. 

This is a honey locust branch.  I almost ran right into the thorny trunk but avoided it at the last minute.  I knew from the thorns that it was a locust – either black or honey.  Luckily I was able to observe it, then I took the photos and information home and positively identified it.  Now I’ll never forget the difference.

Then a few days later as I was cleaning out some brush and moving it to the edge of my property I saw this little guy:

Now this guy I’ve seen before on my pawpaw trees.

 Its either a barking tree frog or a green tree frog.  Likely its a green tree frog since the barking tree frog is just a bit out of range.  Just to be sure I’ve sent off pictures to WKU’s biology department to help with ID.  Why is that important?  Well its not in the scheme of things.  I suspect the range of the barking tree frog might have expanded and I’d like to help the biologists if it has.  I’m interested in diversity on my property no matter how minute the small changes might be.

So in summary, I encourage anyone reading to not just take things you see at face value.  We shouldn’t see a butterfly and just think “oh butterfly”.  We should take the time to get to know it.  Learn its name and begin the process of discovering its role in the ecosystem!

Also known Orcon, Steve has chosen to support the show by becoming a sponsor.

Join us today as we discuss:

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Tune in today as we discuss:

I’m not really sure why.  I’ve been immune to poison ivy since about 1993.  But it does make me think about how we perceive the world.

Things fit into two nice neat . . . → Read More: Finding Virtue In Not So Virtuous Places]]> I would be lying if I said I was always really zen about everything.  After all I DO avoid things like this:

I’m not really sure why.  I’ve been immune to poison ivy since about 1993.  But it does make me think about how we perceive the world.

Things fit into two nice neat little categories for most people - good or bad..  Poison ivy is in the bad category for the majority of us I think.  Why is pretty simple.  It produces a pretty potent sap full of a compound called urushiol.  This compound – unless washed immediately from the skin – will cause painful and itchy blisters.  But most of us know this.

So is poison ivy good for anything?

Well its little white berries provide food for birds so that alone justifies its exisitence!

What about this:

I have to admit that I was excited at first when I found this.  I knew it was either black locust or honey locust.  One fixes nitrogen the other – well there’s some debate about that.  So the thorns are not such a big deal if it fixes nitrogen.  But alas, it turned out to be a honey locust.

The thorns – other than being an evolutionary defence against mastodons and other large megafauna – are really good for poking me when I’m not expecting it.

So where’s the virtue?

Well its an excellent food for livestock – the leaves that is – as long as they can avoid the thorns.  It makes a great hedge as well.

Sorry for the rambling post I’m just excited about finding virtue in not so virtuous places.  Maybe I’m more zen than I think!

There are several ways to get your question on the show. You can call me and leave a voicemail on my googlevoice hotline at:  (502) 230-1787.  You can email me at Jason at Theselfsufficientgardener.com.  You can post a question in our forum.

Tune in today . . . → Read More: Episode 165 Listener Questions and Feedback]]> Today I go through another round of questions and feedback.

There are several ways to get your question on the show. You can call me and leave a voicemail on my googlevoice hotline at:  (502) 230-1787.  You can email me at Jason at Theselfsufficientgardener.com.  You can post a question in our forum.

Tune in today and hear:

• Rock dust amendments – are they worth it?
• Which woods are not ok for mulch?  Can they be made ok?
• Which mulches “rob” nitrogen?  Do they really rob it?  Is it a concern?
• What’s the deal with innoculating legume seeds?
• Is a raised bed a good spot for tomatoes?
• A slight correction to my episode on Soil Basics.
• Should leaf litter and grass clippings be mixed into the soil for a new bed?
• Is mycchorizal fungi worth adding to your garden?  How does it work?