Fodder trees are an under-appreciated asset on homesteads. They allow so many levels of resilience, primarily around the raising of livestock.
You can use them to supplement pasture or feed for goats, sheep, rabbits and cows (maybe alpacas and llamas as well?). They can be fed fresh, dried or fermented, and they can be coppiced (cut at the base) or pollarded (cut above browse level).
Our pastures are very steep, which means it's relatively difficult to develop lush grasses. Along with traditional silvopasture (trees in the pasture) we're experimenting with browse blocks in the pasture so that animals can harvest some of the tree leaves themselves.
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Good morning, Maria!
I love your updates.
Our fodder trees are shipping next week.
We actually got some last year as well but couldn't resist the elms in this year's package. (we'll use some as shade trees and others for fodder). Our trees from last year are doing great and just to test coppicing, I cut one of the hybrid willows down to the ground and it looks like it's resprouting beautifully.
wait - hang on. Does he know you're posting his photos? Nostr is censorship-resistant, but it's fully public.
meat rabbits, quail then. Or grow awesome veggies and trade them for fresh eggs from a neighbor.
In any case, the habit and spirit of food production go deeper than the food itself
Yes! also most people don't realize that you need very little space for some livestock (meat rabbits, quail especially, or even muscovies in the backyard).
I heard an interview with someone yesterday who grew 40% of his family's calories on 1/3 of an acre.
And along with the sovereignty: time outside, valuable chores for the kids, connection with the soil.
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A neighbor called this morning: "Want some strawberries?" and then he dropped off about 50 strawberry plants!
Each of our brand-new plum trees got 4 strawberry plants around it as ground cover. Tomorrow I'll add them around other fruit trees that are already planted. It was a glorious day, and getting to spend time outside with the plants felt like an incredible gift.
There's a ton of nasty stuff happening in the world, but boy am I having fun on our homestead. š»āļøš£
#permies #homesteading #gardening
Agree with someone who wrote that it would be nice if the child looked happier!
Also - I didn't follow the earlier feedback so maybe this has been covered, but every time I see the cover in my feed I think the child is holding large beans. Took me starting at it for a while to realize that the thumb was covering an egg shape. (Obviously eggs make more sense than beans, but I just didn't see them at first. Not sure if I'm just weird that way...)
Ketanji Brown Jackson is concerned that the First Amendment could hamstring the government.
Yes, ma'am. That's literally what the Constitution is designed to do.
wow
I figured it was headed this way but didn't realize that we were already there for the kinds of things you post
Hi everyone, this is my first note, and maybe it could be my last since I don't understand anything about Nostr and Bitcoin.
If I'm here it's all because of nostr:npub17nd4yu9anyd3004pumgrtazaacujjxwzj36thtqsxskjy0r5urgqf6950x so if you don't like what I'm going to put up take it up with him.
I dabble in watercolour and pencil illustrations.
Like this one:
#introductions #illustration #art
Welcome, tusefossitu! Please hang around and keep sharing your art
Yes! I'm nerding out on this right now because we're looking into different ways of growing fodder trees for our animals. Many trees can be cut at ground level (coppicing) or higher up (pollarding) to be able to harvest the new growth for wood or animal fodder.
It's generally good for the trees themselves - they live for much longer - and there are examples in Europe of trees that have been pollarded or coppiced for hundreds of years. It sounds like CA tribes had a complex rhythm of coppicing and burning segments of forest to harvest different diameters and types of wood, and for forest rejuvenation and management. It's pretty cool.
All that said - I'm not an expert on identifying pollarded trees! They just tend to have that same knobby look as the ones in your photo.
Having a rough night. Saw the telephone pole I hit with my car today ( https://cumberland.crimewatchpa.com/nmiddletontwppd/14259/post/reportable-crash-vehicle-utility-pole ). Realizing how I could have died. Donāt think Iāve ever been so close when having had a seizure.
Feel like Iām putting this on Nostr because I feel alone and canāt keep talking to my mom about it.
Iām exhausted. I tried so hard to smile today. Never had so many people before tell me how glad they are Iām not hurt or worse, but itās that same look Iāve seen for the past ten years after having had a seizure. Like Iām a different person than I was.
Donāt mean to complain. Not asking for zaps, reactions, or reposts. I just need to get out of my head is all.
Sometimes I look at my stack and think, āwhat am I doing this for? Why do I get up in the morning? Why do I go to work.
Iām not gonna do anything. Promise. I came to a point years ago that suicide is for cowards. Iāll die when God is ready for me.
Just donāt know what Iām doingā¦ feeling lost.
oh, I'm sorry. Hugs from this internet stranger. š«
I'm glad that you're ok.
Just last night I watched a documentary on pollarding. It's an ancient practice for feeding livestock and making polewood, though here it's probably so that the new growth won't interfere with electric wires?
I recently had a layover in #DetroitAirport in my way back. When I was walking to find my gate a noticed a statue of someone name McNamara, for some reason I remembered the name, 3 days later, Iām reading #AlexGladstein book #hiddenRepression, and suddenly I found out who this Robert McNamara was, āthe most transformative person in world bank historyā famous for massively expanding its lending and sinking poor countries into inescapable debt.
I didnāt find #AlexGladstein nostr account but nostr:npub1s05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5qrdraqshxdje9sq6eyhe
Please tag him, amazing book so far, eye opener.
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I loved the book as well! I passed my copy on to my parents and bought a copy for a young (16yo) student of mine.
