Rooter Pot Update and Other Things Goin On.

New Nursery Area.

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Other Peoples Trash

Conetainers Planted full of tree seeds.

I made friends with a guy from down under, a fellow permie and an aficionado of all things nitrogen-fixer.  We’ve made a couple trades and this go round I ended up with some varieties that are going to be questionable at best for the climate here on the farm.  

Turns Out The World Is Round

That’s right it’s round and we didn’t fall off of it or anything we’ve just had a really weird and exciting winter.  Never fear though, we are back and in top form.  We will be ramping up the posts because we are going to be ramping up the projects here on Off Kilter Acres.

Late last fall our internet started acting wonky for lack of a better word.  One minute it would run fine the next it was

Battle Of The Invasives

Autumn Olive Leaves and Blossoms.

I hear so much stuff about invasive plants.  “Oh you don’t want to plant that it’s invasive!” or “You better get a jug of RoundUp! That stuff will take over.”  About a  year or so ago I found a plant growing in the woods across the road and inquired on social media as to what it was.  It turns out the only right answer that I got was from a Kansas University Plant ID Twitter account.  That person told me it was the “Dreaded Autumn Olive”

Listen, Observe & Change When Needed

Ma here. I was headed to the house for some ice water and a minute out of the sun. I looked down and saw this message from the farm. Awww, the farm loves us.

Things Goin On.

Our temporary makeshift rain catchment.

Ma and I have been hard at work around the farm getting things ready for the upcoming growing season.  I found an ad from a friend on facebook that had these lick tubs for sale for $5 each.  They will serve as a good part of our water catchment until we get something a little more permanent and then we can use them for tree planters and who knows what else.  Maybe a water feature in the food forest.  Hey, that’s an idea!

Clearing A Path To Fungus… Hopefully.

The “before” shot of the area we worked on today.

I have been so stir crazy with the spring taking its time getting here that just about every waking minute is spent thinking about permaculture, thinking about all the fruit trees and berry bushes and garden veggies that I have to plant that it’s just about to make me go crazy.  But today at lunch I remembered a project that we talked about, and actually started, before we were plunged in to the

Drip Irrigation Install

This is our veggie garden and it is a large portion of the irrigation that we will be doing.

We have had what many considered a 3 year drought, by this time last year our water bill was through the roof and most of our veggies were drying up and dying off.  The previous two years weren’t quite as bad but they were no doubt hot and dry.  It was all we could do to

18 Day Compost Ala Geoff Lawton

Sorry that it’s been so long since I posted last but this is the busy time of year for being in the garden and making the magic happen.  As far as that goes, the sheet mulching that we did is working like a champ the garden is not doing so well and I think it has to to with the soil that I used when I planted.  In combination with the soil I mixed up and used we have also had a really sort of wet chilly spring.  Now, I’m not griping after the last 3 years we welcomed the cooler temps and moisture.  Anyhow this post is going to illustrate how I plan to remedy my soil woes by making the most kick ass 18 day compost in the manner that Geoff Lawton teaches on his Permaculture Soils  DVD.

Mulchin’ It Up Baby, Back To Eden Style!

Looky what Ma and I found!  That is a pickup load of  tree mulch that we got for a big ol’ whoppin $5 and change. We went back and got another one today and decided to get to work on setting up a bit of a Back To Eden test.