Big Blue

In Permaculture when you are doing a design one of the things that you need to do is list all your current resources.  What do you have?  What can you do? What can't you do?  You need to do an evaluation that show your potential or lack of potential to do things.  One of the many things that we all need are tools.  There are the shovels, picks, axes, etc that we all need to get things done and then there are those things that most people don't have but may need from time to time. 

That's where Big Blue comes in.  Everyone needs a 4 horse / livestock trailer in the suburbs of Atlanta Ga. don't they? 

Before

After

 It's ready new lights, floor, paint, and it has working brakes.   Some things are better if they are available and ready when needed.  Not everyone needs every type of equipment out there.  In my quest to create social capital (I'll have to talk more about that later) I have bought and cleaned up this trailer for my use and local like minded individuals that may have need for such a thing.  If you need help picking up a new backyard goat, or a pig or two, let me know I'd love to meet you and we are up for the adventure. 

I am going to need some practice pulling this thing...

The What am I going to do about it part of the last post.

So here we go.  I start this thing off with all the good stuff I have read.  Any questions?  I have the books if you don't have the funds or access to the reading I will be glad to look something up just give me a shout.  If your local and want to look something up let me know we can meet for some coffee, I always want to meet like minded individuals.

Next, I want to connect with some different groups around atlanta and do a bit of volunteering.  Maybe I can help them with what I have read and they can help me with the hands on stuff.  On that note I found a great group of people down in Decatur  at a place which used to be called the Oakhurst Community Garden but they changed their name to The Wylde Center , here is the link: http://wyldecenter.org/  They are really nice people with a great program.  I only helped for 2 days and the director Stephanie Van Parys showed me how to remove seedling plugs and transfer them to larger containers for later sale.  They are a non profit and sell a lot of plants to fund activities that they have going on from beekeeping to raising rabbits and chickens to composting.  I took a composting class last year and built a composter for my backyard. 

There is no great science to transfering seedlings but what I did learn is the trays with the square holes allowed the plug to come free much more easily and whole (which I would think should lead to better growth due to less root disturbance) 

 

These are the ones I liked : above

These are the ones that were a bit more difficult : below

 

 

Another thing I learned was the that volunteer that was before me either created more work or made things much easier for me.  If the volunteer was careful and put 1 seed in each plug hole they were quick and easy to get out and transplant, if they put 3 or 4 in each hole then you had to spend time seperating the seedlings and taking more time.  It was fun and I'm sure I will do it again soon. 

 

 

Why I don't Post, and what I am going to do about it!

Initially, when I created this blog I wanted to have a place where I could store all the information that I found online that I felt related to one of my interests. Whether it be a blog site or an interesting article etc. What I have since realized is that blogging can be a useful tool to chronicle my learning and a record of my growth as well as a place to learn from others.

Over time I have read many blogs and I follow the ones I like best but in reality can't follow them all.  One thing that I have found from time to time on many of the blogs is a listing of what they are reading or have read.  Thru this list created by multiple different people and different thinkers in different places etc. I have over time developed a library of my own and thought I might list all the books I have read so as to possibly help others find a title that might be of interest to them and or help them find an answer they were looking for.  If anyone has any additions that they feel I should add to my library please let me know.   The list is long and it has taken some time to find many of these books used so as to not break the bank.  You might also ask how did you read all these books :  I was told by my first permaculture teacher that if you are going to make a commitment to gaining knowledge that you need or want to acquire, you need to commit to reading at least 1 hour a night.  I have done that and more and have more questions now than I began with. 

This list is in no particular order:

Intro to Permaculture

Permaculture a Designers Manual

Gaia's Garden - a guide to home scale permaculture

Designing and Maintaining your edible landscape naturally

Gardening - When it counts ; growing food in hard times

How to grow more Vegetables - (and fruits, nuts, berries, grain, and other crops) Than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine

The Resilient Gardener - Food Production and Self Reliance in Uncertain times

The Ruth Stout: No-Work Garden Book

Water Storage - Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and beyond
Vol 1 and Vol 2

Edible Forest Gardens
Vol 1 and Vol 2

The Power of Duck

The Freshwater Aquaculture Book (Mclarney)

Tree Crops - A Permanent Agriculture

Water for Every Farm

The book of Bamboo (Farrelly)

Farmers of Forty Centuries - Organic Farming in China, Korea, and Japan

The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable

The One Straw Revolution - Masanobu Fukuoka

Worms Eat My Garbage

It will Live Forever : Traditional Yosemite Indian Acorn Preparation

You Can Farm (Stalin)

The Owner-Built Home

The Integral Urban House

The Solar Greenhouse Book

The Passive Solar Energy Book

Craft Cider Making

Reference Books:  (not fully read but skimmed for info)

Cornucopia II - A source book of edible plants
Plants a Plenty
The Fruit Garden Displayed
Seed to Seed
The Grafters Handbook
Deciduous Orchards
Low Cost Passive Solar Greenhouses
The Soapmakers Companion
Smart Soapmaking


All the books listed were good and informative but of all the books listed my favorites are:

The Power of Duck
The Freshwater Aquaculture book
The Integral Urban house
Farmers for Forty Centuries

Not just Permaculture but very much related. 

As I finish additional reading I will be posting my additions.

Small Size Cider Operation

As one of my income streams I want to produce cider. I have been reading about english cider production and have talked with cider producers. A small size cider operation that could be profitable is a minimum of 2000 cases. 2,000 cases is equal to 18,000 liters. A standard 2,000 liter tank used for cider production requires 180 bushels. A bushel of apples in the US is 48 lbs and 2,000 lbs is a ton. With that said a ton of apples is equal to 41.66 bushels(2000lbs/48lbs). From my readings a good cider orchard will produce 5 tons per acre. Back to the origional numbers if I need 2,000 cases or 18,000 liters I need 9-2000 liter tanks full of juice. So 9 x 180 = 1,620 bushels. At 5 tons per acre 5 x 41.66 bushels a ton = 208.3 bushells an acre. In an ideal world with good fruit production I would need 7.77 acres of apple production (1620 bushels needed / 208.3 bushells an acre ). If you want to check the math please do. Next we need to look at the types and percentages of those types that need to be planted on this hypothetical 7.77 acres.

Then there are the things I can't produce

Well if I am able to produce all the items listed in my previous post I am in pretty good shape. The problem comes when I need those modern items that I have gotten so accustomed to. I like to think in three's so my three are the computer, electricity, and plumbing type things. These items aren't absolutely necessary but make life much more enjoyable. In these cases I need cash. These type of items require manufacturing and I need to be part of the broader economy to make that possible. Well looking at my lists of producible items from earlier I have to determine which if any would lend themselves to production for cash.

I know everyone likes to stay clean. Soap is an area that I believe to be very salable. In addition to that all humans are inherently addicted to sweet things like honey, and syrups. When talking about addictions people love their beer, wine, and alcohol. In the south many of the founding fathers of the US produced cider from different types of apples and this is a possible higher value product that could be produced on a farm scale. This is an item I am going to research and learn more about as time goes by. When talking about producing food items a u-pick blueberry farm could provide some income with minimal labor. The idea of producing feed for animals for others to purchase (the city folk) such as chicken feed, or hay for horses may be a possibility but the idea of removing fertility from the farm without an equal input needs to be well thought out.