This has been a crazy few weeks of scrambling between renovations and garden works. The renovations have mostly been done by myself to establish our friend and primary support staff. The plumbing and electrical is in and the finishing is sufficient for her to start settling into her new home. There was also a wholeContinue reading “Weeds and Edibles”
Category Archives: Permaculture
Hoary Alyssum
Hoary Alyssum has been the bane of Alli’s existence as it is an invasion, prolific plant that is poisonous to horses. We had imagined a large property where we can freely, and inexpensively graze our horses. This was not the case. The poison weeds kept the horses in their paddock and left us hand weedingContinue reading “Hoary Alyssum”
Lamb’s Quarter
Lambs Quarter has been part of our war against weeds for over 4 years but I am now rethinking our attack on this plant. It’s considered a nutritious edible we have not yet tried. The biggest problem is that It grows so profusely, it smothers other crops
Red Root Amaranth
Red root amaranth grows abundantly on our property. They can be as tall as 5 feet and smother other crops. It has been war for over 4 years with red root amaranth, lambs quarter and hoary alyssum.
Creambush
AKA Ocean Spray, Ironwood, Oceanspray A species of Oceansprays (Holodiscus Discolor) USDA factsheet found June 20th 2023 indicate it is “browsed by cattle, deer, elk, snowshoe hares and dusky-footed wood rats but not moose. As a commonunderstory species, oceanspray provides cover fornumerous birds and small mammals and alsotreefrogs. Seeds were eaten by Native Americanswho alsoContinue reading “Creambush”
Sweet Clover, white & yellow
(white sweetclover, Melilots species) AKA: bokhara clover, white melilot, honey clover Toxicity: Melilotus spp (sweet clover) During the process of spoiling, the coumarins in sweet clover are converted to toxic dicumarol, a potent vitamin K antagonist and anticoagulant. Any method of hay storage that allows molding of sweet clover promotes the likelihood of formation of dicumarolContinue reading “Sweet Clover, white & yellow”
Permaculture Credits
After 5 months of lectures on zoom and countless hours of analysis and pondering, Verge Permaculture Design Course has helped me develop a vision for our ranch. The last four years have been like jumping off a cornice on a ski hill into heavily treed terrain on steep grade. The only direction I knew IContinue reading “Permaculture Credits”
Winter Firewood
Much have been said about living the moment, live in the present to maximize your happiness. But to live only in the moment without heeding the past and preparing for the future is complete and utter ignorance that will inevitably lead to more misery than executing proper wisdom from past experience to prepare for futureContinue reading “Winter Firewood”
Permaculture … what is
The concept of permaculture was developed by Australian Bill Mollison “latterally with David Homgren” from 1972-1974. The concept did not mature sufficiently until 1981. Mollison describes permaculture as an “interdisciplinary earth science with a potential for positivistic, integrated and global outreach.” “Permaculature (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems whichContinue reading “Permaculture … what is”
Needs and Yield Analysis
Determining what we need and what resources we have. Need Water improve water lines, rain water collection, poor soil water retention, reservoirs Soil currently very sandy and poor crop production Solar capture Micro hydro Accomodations for guests and income source Food cycling from plant to animals to fertilizer Current Yields Water Small creek and oldContinue reading “Needs and Yield Analysis”
Rough Canyon Ranch 