Hugelkultur

Its a German word that's fun to say and a way of making a "no till" "no fertilize" "no water" eventually "no plant" raised Garden bed. Here is a good link on how it works:http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur

So this was my brainstorming idea for Star to have some productive, low maintenance no till garden beds for her 70's 80's and beyond.

Here is what I have done so far:

So what I did here is grub out a rectangular bed. The bed runs roughly north-south with open areas on the east and west. So its a fairly sunny area. Its roughly 20 feet long by three feet wide. On this bed I put these really old hand hewn beams. There is an interesting story behind them.

Jeff's neighbor rescued them from a demolished building. They date to before the Civil War. He used the good ones to build a Timber frame house that he uses as a silboat building shop. They are very beautiful, you can see the hatchet marks. The ones that were a little rotted he had in a pile by the timber frame. They are some kind of really dense hardwood that no one has been able to identify. They come from the Primeval forest that once blanketed upstate NY. Really really close grained wood. 200 years old at least when they were cut. Jeff knows his wood but was unable to identify it. He showed them to a neighbor who is a carver and he had no clue either. My guess is Elm. Because since its extinct no one knows what it looks like any more.

So He cut these up with a chain saw into three foot length and I hauled them to the site from the edge of the drive way and managed to kick my own ass that day. The three foot lengths were close to a hundred lbs. Some were 4 feet. So I put these down as the foundation layer of the bed. On this foundation I placed some green polar logs Jeff cut into chunks and on top of that I placed variuous branches and sticks, some from a downed apple tree. Hardwoods are better than conifers. Over this layer I will place more rotted limbs from around the area and then mulch and manure and then finally the top soil. Then Star will plant it with buckwheat and allow it to season for the fall and winter.

Stay tuned!

Podcast # 1 no till discussion and Nature Walk

No Till discussion and Nature Walk account from Theodore Scott Heistman on Vimeo.

Cat Biological Survey

Star's pet tabby cat "pickles" is conducting a bio-diversity survey of the local rodent population. She previously applied to conduct and bird survey but was turned down.

Each night she collects samples in the field and brings them onto Star's bed. Usually by early moring.

Then We  examine, identify them measure them, catalogue them and discard them.

The above we identified in the Petersen Guide as an Eastern Jumping mouse.

Species previously identified:

masked shrew
Eastern Bog lemming
Short tailed shrew
meadow vole
pygmy shrew
chipmunk -catch and release(inside the house)

Stay tuned for updates

Living a Life of Abundance without Money

Living a life of abundance without money. I am not ready to make any type of categorical decision, like the guy out in Utah, and vow to live without money. But for the past couple months I've been pretty much living without it and I haven't felt any lack. I mean, I am doing all the same things I would do if I had a shit load of money. If I had a few hundred thousand dollars, I would buy some rural land, basically in the type of location I'm at now. Then I would live in a tipi while I built a cabin and taught myself how to grow, hunt and gather all of my own food. So that's basically what I am doing anyway, except I don't own any of it, and I am not teaching myself everything, rather I am doing an internship. I work 20 hours a week, for room and board.

The “work” is all this cool stuff I am really interested in. I like physical outdoor type work, anyhow. The most fun job, I have ever had so far was working in the Nursery of a Garden Center. So this is right up my alley. I do keep track of my hours though, because it is a job and not everything is pure enjoyment. Like for example edging and weeding is not my favorite thing. But so far I have been building a lot of deer fences and stone walk ways and that has been something I have really enjoyed. The time flies when I am doing that. Usually when I am building a stone walkway and then I catch my breath and wonder what time it is, its usually 4 hours already and it blew by. Conversely its amazing how much weeding and edging I can cram into 4 hours!

But I am becoming more Zen, I think, and becoming more at one with the present moment, so that nothing really sucks. Everything seems to have its own magic and purpose. I've always liked physical work because I feel like I am getting in shape. I think of it like doing exercise or a sport. I've always admired people with strong bodies from doing physical labor rather than from just working out in a gym. Gardening is the kind of work that makes my back and forearms strong, my hands are getting stronger too. Of course I can't guarantee any results for others. Gardeing is not really a macho thing. Star, my mentor, is a 68 year old woman and there is nothing I can do that she can't do. I can pull larger stumps out of the ground maybe but that's not really a major part of the job. Still, though, it feels really good to go to bed tired everyday.

 I learn many new things everyday. Its a lot to absorb, because Star basically knows the latin name for every single plant or weed on her property. Everything she looks at she basically knows what it is. If she doesn't know right off, she becomes fascinated and consults four or five field guides until she solves the mystery. She identifies all these weeds for me as they are sprouting and don't look like anything yet to me. She knows what type of roots they have and how fast they grow and weather or not they will interfere with whatever we are planting in that spot. Often she tells me to leave them. Many are very beneficial, like pigweed and dandelions, which we eat a lot of.

Probably Field guides is another thing I would buy with money. But I can read hers any time I want and she has plenty of them. She consults them constantly. She is always identifying something. She has new one on insect sign that is really cool. Insects leave all these signs of their presence.

So I am getting in shape, spending time outdoors, connecting with nature, learning about plants and animals, eating delicious organic food everyday, building fences, learning how to grow all my own food and building a tipi. Basically at this present moment I don't want anything else at all. My sneakers are wearing out. So may have to buy a new pair of those.

Eventually I want to tan a deer hide from a road killed deer and make moccosins. But for the time being I decided to take a walk barefoot. The experience was delicious. I took a walk just as it was getting dark after a cool rain. The path in the woods was wet and clean. I felt like I could taste the clean water through my feet. There were all these beautiful new ferns sprouting, one species, I recently learned is called an “interrupted fern” buts also many many different species of them and frogs hopping all around. I caught one frog beside the path and it was pretty big and dark brown almost black in the twilight. It was a wood frog, I identified it from the barely perceptible dark patches on the sides of its head, that usually look much more noticeable. But these frogs can vary their color and this one had made its whole body as dark as those two patches.

These woods aren't mine, but I don't see how much more I could possibly enjoy them if they were. All I can experience of them is contained in the present moment walking there barfoot after the rain, feeling the forest with my feet. There is no way to buy that moment even if I had a hundred billion dollars.

Fun with trees

Making a Garden Gate Threshold from old Bricks

Step One Collect a bunch of old bricks that have been laying around the Homestead for 50+ years.

Step Two Dig a hole about three inches deep in the area you want to lay the bricks

Step Three Level it out and place the felt.

Step Four Get distracted and take a photo of a wood frog you spot in the garden:

Step Five Lay down a one inch layer of sand:

Step Six Arrange Bricks into a pleasing pattern:

Next Step: Get some more sand to fill in the cracks! (I ran out)

"Of Wolves and Men" Book review by Ron Frye

 Here is a book review of Of Wolves and Men by my soon to be Step Dad Ron Frye, a musician, and speech teacher at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, WI. Its funny because he did the same thing I did, when I read it, over 20 years ago, as a kid, read a chapter or two, get really excited about some cool facts or lines from the book and then excitedly share it with my Mother. Its a testament to Lopez' quality as a writer, I think.

I starting reading the book just as there were news stories that Wisconsin is considering allowing wolf hunting again. This was in startling contrast to information in the book that there were no more wolves in Wisconsin and most of the US. This highlighted for me the 2 things I was to gain from the book. First, I learned about wolves. Secondly, I learned about Barry Lopez as a persuasive writer. Most people’s best learning comes when they can connect the new information with what they already hold in their mind. The connections to me are of ethos or credibility. I remember being stunned while reading, that Lopez details the limits of his own knowledge about wolves and also does a good job of describing the various points of view available. In the introduction he told of dog-killing incidents in Goldstream Valley, Alaska. He describes strong emotions elicited by wolves. He describes reactions of biologists, Eskimos, dog owners, and all of us. This is classic stuff that makes up persuasive people. It is also the basis for his book. Persuaders can tell you their own limits and they can accurately describe the positions of those that disagree with the thesis presented. To me, this is some of the roots of his power to create long-lasting change. Ethos sets the stage. Being trustworthy makes other people move to more flexible positions and better ability to consider what they haven’t been able to see. The shift over 35 years from no wolves to consideration of wolf hunting is proof of his impact. I plan to keep the book and reread it. For me the latter chapters about fables, gods and literature got tedious, but they do prove the thoroughness of Lopez's research. Then wham, he comes in with the epilogue and his open experience raising 2 wolves. More ethos and a power closing. Thanks for helping get me connected to this book and author. Ron