We almost lost ours too, it was snowing while they were in bloom but I think the snow actually protected them from freezing off.
The weakness of society disgusts me sometimes. It seems that many are seeking out fear as an excuse to defer responsibility.
I'm jealous! Fingers crossed I get access soon.
Food forest harvest: peaches. First year this peach tree has fruited!
This Flamin Fury peach seems to be an earlier variety than the other two variations we have that started fruiting last year. This tree almost died back to the ground when I planted it a few years ago and it's come back strong so I'm impressed that it is already producing.
Been picking a few ripe peaches here and there for the last few days but it seems that now is the time to harvest the majority of them. We don't do anything as far as treatments go to our fruit trees. Last season we noticed if we tried to wait until most of the peaches reached peak ripeness on the tree that we lost many to mold. This year we are trying to harvest a little early and let them ripen in the fridge.
Most of our peach trees are different variations of the flamin fury variety from a local breeder that has been working on breeding cold tolerant peaches for a couple generations. You can order them from Grandpa's Orchard Nursery.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #foodforest #peaches #harvest #fruittree
Ginseng seedlings looking good!
I planted this ginseng bed on the north side of my house in the understory of mature oak trees. It's well drained sandy soil with low fertility. I tried planting in neat rows but found it too tedious so I ended up broadcasting the seed into the bed then covering with woodchips. Maybe I should thin it out but I think I'm going to observe for a while longer before I start pulling plants. Hopefully I can transplant and thin it at the same time.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #ginseng #perennial #forestgarden
Elderberry flower in the Bitcoin mining dehydrator
Every year I want to harvest elderberry flower, it smells so delicious, but I always miss my chance because there is no way for me to find time to do anything with it. Now that I can dry it in the Bitcoin mining dehydrator I finally went out and harvested some.
I'm looking forward to trying this as an ingredient in sheep's milk ice cream and peach cider too. I wonder if it makes good syrup after it's dried?
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #elderberry #flowers #enchantingaromas
Looks like it! I'm no expert when it comes to mushrooms, barely a novice. A few months after the trees were logged, had a friend who was cultivating mushrooms as a hobby try to help me get some mushroom production going here at the homestead. We started off with an experiment to try to grow golden oysters in a swale filled with horse manure and straw. They put out lots of mycelium but never fruited. They must have somehow made their way to the tulip poplar naturally. The sugar bush is about 200ft from the swale where we did the initial innoculation. Thanks for the information, didn't know it was unusual to have these mushrooms in my area. Pretty amazing that they took hold even after I thought our experiment was a failure!
No africanized bees here.
Wild oyster mushroom cream sauce pasta with meatballs
Featuring wild foraged oyster mushrooms from the maple sugar bush, homestead grown ground lamb, fresh sheep's milk (milked this morning), homegrown garlic, foraged henbit (dehydrated in the Bitcoin mining dehydrator)
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #foodstr #dinner #mushroomcreamsauce #meatballs #oystermushrooms
This is honeybee abstraction cuckery.
How about exploring the relationship between colony collapse disorder (CCD) and the soil quality's impact on pollen quality. Why not look critically at monocropping and conventional chemical fagriculture?
If atrozine is making the frogs gay, just imagine what it's doing (and all the other bullshit they spray) to all the lady bees we need to pollinate our food.
#permies
https://www.israel21c.org/now-robo-bees-are-pollinating-avocados-and-blueberries/
I've hardly seen any honey bees around here this year.
Wild oyster mushrooms in the maple sugar bush
Wild oyster mushrooms have been flushing out of tulip poplar stumps and tree tops for a couple years now after the logging in the maple sugar bush. Previously there was only a cluster here and there. This is the first time I noticed oyster mushrooms flushing everywhere at the same time.
There was more than enough to harvest for a load in the Bitcoin mining dehydrator. And it looks like there will be more on the way too.
While these may be a little past peak ripeness, they aren't too tough and still have excellent flavor. The essence of the tulip poplar wood comes through in the flavor of the mushroom, cinnamon like.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #foraging #mushroom #oystermushroom #wildforaged #dehydrator #mushroomhunting #sugarbush #mycology
Excellent! I've got some black walnut in the nursery. Haven't quite pinpointed where I want to plant them.
I'm not sure if he is intentionally making hybrids as part of a breeding program. The nuts I got from him were from American chestnut trees, what they were pollinated with who knows. They are definitely expressing the branching characteristic rather than one main leader.
Wild American Chestnut Seedling
Found this wild american chestnut seedling just a stones throw away from the large mature wild american chestnut growing here on the homestead. I put some protection around it and have been watching it grow vigorously! I haven't been able to grow and seedlings from the few nuts I collect each year from the tree so this wild volunteer is very welcome.
The other seedling american chestnuts (seeds from twisted tree nursery) are growing well too. They are planted less than 100ft away. My intuition was confirmed on where to plant these chestnut trees when I discovered the large american chestnut. Sandy soil, very well drained, southern exposure. I haven't watered these trees once and even through the late spring drought they have continued to grow.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #chestnut #americanchestnut #silvopasture #swales #seedling
Here is a montage of what's been processed by the Bitcoin mining dehydrator lately. Didn't get any pictures of the yarrow but here's a look at everything else.
Spicebush
Mullein
Wild Rose
White Clover
Now with summer in full swing I feel like I need two dehydrators to keep up with all there is to harvest. Got my eyes on elder flower, red clover, gooseberry, dill, oregano, oyster mushrooms and on and on...
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #foraging #wildforaged #dehydrator #plebminer #bitcoinmining
It's a common shrub on the homestead with fragrant leaves and wood. The berries ripen red with a rich allspice flavor in the fall and have a lemon peppery taste when young and green. I used the leaves and twigs for the cider. I will be harvesting some green berries soon.
Took the first tastes of these pear ciders that have been fermenting for a couple weeks.
Six five gallon batches each with different ingredients harvested on the homestead and dehydrated with the Bitcoin mining dehydrator (except the grapes). White clover, dandelion/burdock, henbit, wild rose/spicebush, concord grape, and plain pear with maple syrup.
I steeped the ingredients in boiling water for a few minutes and poured the tea over 10lbs of frozen chopped pears along with some additional water to get to 5 gallons. I added sugar until the starting gravity was at 10 brix.
After a couple weeks the flavors are starting to develop but the cider is still too sweet at 6 brix. I let it ferment for a couple more weeks and taste again. The wild rose spicebush pear cider already tastes like something special.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #cider #wildforaged #craftcider #localfood #alcohol
nostr:npub1f5pre6wl6ad87vr4hr5wppqq30sh58m4p33mthnjreh03qadcajs7gwt3z might have some left or knows of someone
I'm sold out but nostr:npub172mu27r5yny0nnmvgjqwhx055dmsesrrx7j0p5d3pxagfx6xgxfsv75p3q might have some maple syrup still.
I've used 3 different satellite internet providers as well as two different cell companies and starlink is the best by far but also more expensive with the upfront equipment costs and relatively high monthly fee. However, it offers over 10x the speed and has been very reliable for the couple years that I've been using the service.
Katahdin hair sheep eating mulberry leaves
https://i.imgur.com/PRAaLxK.mp4
The grass has slowed down with the lack of rain but the trees are still growing strong. I bought the sheep a little more time in this paddock by breaking the out of reach branches down to where the sheep could eat them. They devoured this mulberry.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #rotationalgrazing #silvopasture #sheep #lamb
Katahdin hair sheep mowing lawn around yurt with rainbow in sight
I caught a slight of a rainbow while moving the sheep to mow the grass around our yurt. They will be in this paddock for the next few days while there are a few days without guests at the yurt. The timing of this move worked out so that I didn't have to spend time mowing and waste the grass that the sheep could be eating instead. Always feels good to put the animals to work and feed them at the same time.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #rotationalgrazing #regenag #regenerativeagriculture #sheep #lamb #yurt #rainbow #lawnmower #pasturemanagement
Planted squash in-between the rows of perennials in the food forest
I decided today was the day to put the squash seeds in the ground even though the bed has been prepared for a while. It rained the day before and is due to rain for the next few days which should create good conditions for germination. Last year, the squash crop didn't really turn out but the year before last was an excellent crop. Planted butternut, spaghetti and a new on we haven't grown yet, called patti pan. There should be just enough time left in the growing season here for the squash crop to mature. Fingers crossed, we are swimming in squash come fall.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #foodforest #gardening #squash #subsistancecrop
Reducing waste with hay nets
Had to get the haflinger draft ponies a fresh bale of hay today. We use two hay nets on the round bales to force the horses to eat more slowly and to reduce wasted hay. After each bale only a few handfuls of hay can be found on the ground uneaten near the hay ring. Over time the nets have paid for themselves in the savings of wasted hay.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #horse #drafthorse #hay
I find a lot of inspiration from edible acres YouTube channel. I also like The Resilient Farm and Homestead by Ben Faulk.
https://youtube.com/@edibleacres
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-resilient-farm-and-homestead/
Food forest harvest: garlic scapes
Picked all the garlic scapes in the food forest. Planning to make pesto, and dehydrate a bunch but they keep in the fridge for a long time so we will be using them in our cooking fresh too. First up as a pizza topping for dinner tonight.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #selfsovereignty #foodforest #garlic #garlicscape