Permaculture, Regrarians, etc. 2017

[Amiga]

And then there are the berries that make a fabulous dye for light- colored natural fiber, just add vinegar.

Soak fabric in vinegar in a jar in the sun for a day.
Soak fabric in poke berries and vinegar in the sun for four days.
Hang to dry.
Rinse in cold water till it runs clean.

 

[Amiga]

Food, fuel, medicine, fiber. Some basic needs.

Coppice and pollard are two methods for yielding fuel. Rather than cutting down huge trees with (nonexistent) chainsaws, my ancestors cut four inch saplings a few inches above the soil, or at breast height.

The former is coppice, the latter is pollard.

Then they let the branches grow to the size needed, for baskets, handles, posts, polls, or firewood....

There were entire groves of these coppiced trees. The word copse comes from this practice. And the old song, Down By The Sally Gardens refers to the Sally, or coppiced willow,that is so useful.

Coppicing helps trees stay young, in a way. There are ancient coppiced trees alive today.

Gonna also mention pleaching, another practice of my ancestors. It is a skill of bending branches and tying them together so that the branches form a living bond, even sharing water and nutrients, even between separate shrubs or trees.

But I digress...

 

[lcertuche]

And then there are the berries that make a fabulous dye for light- colored natural fiber, just add vinegar.

Soak fabric in vinegar in a jar in the sun for a day.
Soak fabric in poke berries and vinegar in the sun for four days.
Hang to dry.
Rinse in cold water till it runs clean.

I still remember how my sister and I painted my 2 year old brother with poke berries. From the top of his head to his toes. I will never forget how mad Mama was. My sister was 4 and I was 5 at the time. Even his hair was colored. DB was a lovely maroon color for a few days.

 

[tortoise]

I still remember how my sister and I painted my 2 year old brother with poke berries. From the top of his head to his toes. I will never forget how mad Mama was. My sister was 4 and I was 5 at the time. Even his hair was colored. DB was a lovely maroon color for a few days.

Did he get sick? They're poisonous and can be absorbed through the skin!

 

[freemotion]

One of the Permaculture principles is that each element - each part of the system - has more than one role. Ducks provide manure, eggs, meat (for some), eat slugs, snails, and weeds.

Another principle is that more than one element does the same job. Ducks eat weeds, I eat some, and the compost eats some.

A principle that is so vital and for many so challenging (I know we will get there), is that there is no waste. Everything coming out of an element provides something to other elements.

Based on this definition, my entire property and life qualifies as permaculture! Yay! I thought it was more about the word "permanent," as in not replanting, etc., and setting up companion planting to mimic the wild. I'm probably combining hugelculture with permaculture, though, since I was doing the reading for both around the same time.

The above definition simply describes the way my grandparents lived and how I strive to live. Joel Salatin does this successfully for a living and writes and lectures and teaches worldwide.

 

[lcertuche]

Did he get sick? They're poisonous and can be absorbed through the skin!

No and we even fed him a few for good measure! What's that old saying 'God looks after children and fools'. I don't know how anyone survived growing up back then, lol.

 

[Amiga]

Based on this definition, my entire property and life qualifies as permaculture! Yay! I thought it was more about the word "permanent," as in not replanting, etc., and setting up companion planting to mimic the wild. I'm probably combining hugelculture with permaculture, though, since I was doing the reading for both around the same time.

The above definition simply describes the way my grandparents lived and how I strive to live. Joel Salatin does this successfully for a living and writes and lectures and teaches worldwide.

Permaculture is reclaiming the ways in which humans lived as part of the living systems that support life. Permanent, as in you can keep living this way for about as long as one can imagine - as opposed to the use it up and crash system.

 

[Amiga]

Perhaps a review of Permaculture principles would be enjoyable. I know I need to look them over from time to time..

Observe and interact - learn from nature, from nature's many different facets, and use that knowledge to design a landscape, a garden, a life.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm attempting a BTE / low-profile hugelkulture to make new soil over blacktop. DH thinks I'm completely crazy! I've been putting layers of dry leaves, wet grass clippings, sticks from pruning, and straw sheep bedding. Just started it this spring, so I have a long wait-and-see ahead.

I don't always have the time to clean out my truck bed after getting wood, so I'll have all kinds of bark, small pieces of wood, etc. in there. Then I'll go to the hay auction and get hay and not clean it out. By the end of the summer, I normally have hay growing in the bed of my pickup. You might be surprised by how soon you'll be able to grow stuff on there.

 

[Denim Deb]

Food, fuel, medicine, fiber. Some basic needs.

Coppice and pollard are two methods for yielding fuel. Rather than cutting down huge trees with (nonexistent) chainsaws, my ancestors cut four inch saplings a few inches above the soil, or at breast height.

The former is coppice, the latter is pollard.

Then they let the branches grow to the size needed, for baskets, handles, posts, polls, or firewood....

There were entire groves of these coppiced trees. The word copse comes from this practice. And the old song, Down By The Sally Gardens refers to the Sally, or coppiced willow,that is so useful.

Coppicing helps trees stay young, in a way. There are ancient coppiced trees alive today.

Gonna also mention pleaching, another practice of my ancestors. It is a skill of bending branches and tying them together so that the branches form a living bond, even sharing water and nutrients, even between separate shrubs or trees.

But I digress...

Amiga, I've been trying to find info on coppicing trees to find out which trees this works the best with. I haven't found much info on it, except for stuff from the UK. It doesn't seem to be done much in the States. But for someone that wants to heat w/wood and doesn't have the access to acres of woods, this can be a good way to go.