Hi Ashley. Loved your post! Here in Sydney we are currently experiencing rain for days and cool weather even though it is Summertime. But, they assure us that next week will be right back up there in temps! One day is 16 degrees centigrade and then the next will be 30 plus centigrade....BIG Difference! And then hopefully, no bushfires...Still.....I have not had to deal with extremes like you have with the storms and snow....You have done well. I love the idea that you can still go foraging if only you open your eyes...and many of us need to do just that! Thanks for all your sharing. Hugs, Barbara from South of Sydney xoxoxo
Oh my goodness, bush fires! In California where I grew up, fires are a constant problem...here it's just the opposite. Floods, rain/ice storms are the norm. I could drag a lit blow torch on a cord behind me everywhere I go and never start a fire that didn't fizzle out in 5 seconds...everything's just so wet. I'm thankful for it, fires are scarier (in my opinion at least).
We rake & save pine cones & pine needles. We use them for fire starter in our large wood burning stove. The stove helps keep our utility bills low. We also cut down dead trees on our property. When chopped up go right into the stove.
Nice! Pine cones are such good fire starters. We have a lot of birch here too, and we pick up shed bark on walks/hikes and that is an amazing firestarter too.
My husband has been scavenging firewood for decades, how we still heat our house. Several years ago, after a good storm, he was cutting up a down oak in the nearby state park. A very large tree, at least a couple feet in diameter, more at the base. Lots of good wood for the following year. As he cut down the trunk, as you say, removing the small stuff, finally getting into the trunk, the slices getting quite large, about 12 feet from the rootball, the tree started moving ever so slightly. He finished the slice, backed off, and in slow motion, the tree creakily righted itself. He'd never seen that happen! It was fun to go past it and see an upright stump 10 feet off the ground that looked like Paul Bunyan cut it.
It’s fascinating to read about your journey and experiences. I have learned so much from reading your articles and appreciate you sharing with us. I’m a paid subscriber, and it’s well worth it. Thanks again.
Happy New Year! This week I will be harvesting dandelion & goldenrod from my backyard. We had a lot of rain in Phoenix last week and all the winter green is growing. These are all fresh grown in last couple months, about knee high. Plentiful non bitter dandelion leaves. Have a great day!
NICE! February is peak dandelion season in the Pacific Northwest I've heard too. Seasons are so different everywhere! (We won't see dandelions until mid may...)
Another very informative post. The tree bent over with the ball is very informative. Never thought about that but I've seen it after tornadoes here in the Midwest. The best advice, leave it to the professionals! They don't call BRANCHES of tree widowmakers for nothing...
On a happier note, although I forgot to look prior to this, can you describe some of your raised bed material? I have two brothers in construction and I picked up some old 2x12's Douglas fir from demolition I think could work. Is 11-1/2" deep enough for raised beds?
I guess being as rural as you are, you don't have a natural gas or propane whole house generator? My friends in Southern Vermont have one that works in conjunction with their wood burning furnace...
Yes, 11 1/2 is wonderful for raised beds! You want to leave the bottom open though, and let the roots go down into the subsoil there. Most of the "feeder" roots pulling nutrients will be in the top of the soil, but even tomatoes send down 2-3 feet as exploratory roots. If they're constricted, the plant stunts a bit (even if it has lots of nutrients at the ground level). Container tomatoes are never quite as lush as ground ones because of that.
That is, if you can, that is. Even if you can't and it's impermeable underneath, that's still will work.
Douglas Fir is a great material too.
Ours are made from 2'' by 12'' rough cut hemlock from a local mill just up the road. There's so much hemlock around here that's what most the lumber is for everything, but it also holds up as raised beds really well.
They're either 1 board deep for the shallower rooted stuff (strawberries, cranberries, lettuce) with it open to the soil beneath. Our big beds are 2 boards deep, mainly because our soil is only about 6'' deep in most places before you hit hardpan clay. (Thus the trees tipping over, they can't break through, and neither will our tomatoes).
Yes, we have a propane generator, and we love it. I like the idea of a Deisel generator, but most of our power issues happen when it's well below freezing, which isn't idea for diesel....but I do really like the idea of riggin up something wood fired some day. Is your friend's setup something they put together themself, or is it an off the shelf option? (if you happen to know)
Central boiler.com . Would add another item to your already exhausting list of chores.😁..gathering a winter worth of firewood. They work like a car heater. The boiler heats up a "antifreeze" type liquid. It flows through an A-coil in your furnace (if you have an air furnace as opposed to electrIc heat) The site probably explains better. I don't know how it would compare to a good wood burning stove. Good insulation is really the key to staying warm in the winter.. Thanks for your raised garden reply
Happy new year :) I love your blog so much thank you for sharing!
I'm about to order some books and most of them are on your recommendation list. I would love to use the affiliation link so that you can get your share but amazon isn't really a thing in my country, not all books are getting shipped here and if they do, the shipping fee is higher than the price for the actual book. Therefor am I going to order through bookdepository and was just wondering if you have affility codes/links there too since it's owned by amazon. Would love to use them. Thanks again and lots of love from Norway, Ronja
I've just applied to the program for book depository, but programs often take a long time to get back to me. I'll let you know when/if I have a link for them. It could be today...it could be 6 months from now, you never really know how quick they're going to be about setting it up.
Don't wait on me though, take care of yourself and enjoy your books!
Hi Ashley. Loved your post! Here in Sydney we are currently experiencing rain for days and cool weather even though it is Summertime. But, they assure us that next week will be right back up there in temps! One day is 16 degrees centigrade and then the next will be 30 plus centigrade....BIG Difference! And then hopefully, no bushfires...Still.....I have not had to deal with extremes like you have with the storms and snow....You have done well. I love the idea that you can still go foraging if only you open your eyes...and many of us need to do just that! Thanks for all your sharing. Hugs, Barbara from South of Sydney xoxoxo
Oh my goodness, bush fires! In California where I grew up, fires are a constant problem...here it's just the opposite. Floods, rain/ice storms are the norm. I could drag a lit blow torch on a cord behind me everywhere I go and never start a fire that didn't fizzle out in 5 seconds...everything's just so wet. I'm thankful for it, fires are scarier (in my opinion at least).
We rake & save pine cones & pine needles. We use them for fire starter in our large wood burning stove. The stove helps keep our utility bills low. We also cut down dead trees on our property. When chopped up go right into the stove.
Nice! Pine cones are such good fire starters. We have a lot of birch here too, and we pick up shed bark on walks/hikes and that is an amazing firestarter too.
My husband has been scavenging firewood for decades, how we still heat our house. Several years ago, after a good storm, he was cutting up a down oak in the nearby state park. A very large tree, at least a couple feet in diameter, more at the base. Lots of good wood for the following year. As he cut down the trunk, as you say, removing the small stuff, finally getting into the trunk, the slices getting quite large, about 12 feet from the rootball, the tree started moving ever so slightly. He finished the slice, backed off, and in slow motion, the tree creakily righted itself. He'd never seen that happen! It was fun to go past it and see an upright stump 10 feet off the ground that looked like Paul Bunyan cut it.
Yup! Sounds about right!
It's amazing how many of those Paul Bunyan trees you see around here, in people's side yards...and that's often how they're made!
It’s fascinating to read about your journey and experiences. I have learned so much from reading your articles and appreciate you sharing with us. I’m a paid subscriber, and it’s well worth it. Thanks again.
Thank you so much Annie!
Happy New Year! This week I will be harvesting dandelion & goldenrod from my backyard. We had a lot of rain in Phoenix last week and all the winter green is growing. These are all fresh grown in last couple months, about knee high. Plentiful non bitter dandelion leaves. Have a great day!
NICE! February is peak dandelion season in the Pacific Northwest I've heard too. Seasons are so different everywhere! (We won't see dandelions until mid may...)
Another very informative post. The tree bent over with the ball is very informative. Never thought about that but I've seen it after tornadoes here in the Midwest. The best advice, leave it to the professionals! They don't call BRANCHES of tree widowmakers for nothing...
On a happier note, although I forgot to look prior to this, can you describe some of your raised bed material? I have two brothers in construction and I picked up some old 2x12's Douglas fir from demolition I think could work. Is 11-1/2" deep enough for raised beds?
I guess being as rural as you are, you don't have a natural gas or propane whole house generator? My friends in Southern Vermont have one that works in conjunction with their wood burning furnace...
Yes, 11 1/2 is wonderful for raised beds! You want to leave the bottom open though, and let the roots go down into the subsoil there. Most of the "feeder" roots pulling nutrients will be in the top of the soil, but even tomatoes send down 2-3 feet as exploratory roots. If they're constricted, the plant stunts a bit (even if it has lots of nutrients at the ground level). Container tomatoes are never quite as lush as ground ones because of that.
That is, if you can, that is. Even if you can't and it's impermeable underneath, that's still will work.
Douglas Fir is a great material too.
Ours are made from 2'' by 12'' rough cut hemlock from a local mill just up the road. There's so much hemlock around here that's what most the lumber is for everything, but it also holds up as raised beds really well.
They're either 1 board deep for the shallower rooted stuff (strawberries, cranberries, lettuce) with it open to the soil beneath. Our big beds are 2 boards deep, mainly because our soil is only about 6'' deep in most places before you hit hardpan clay. (Thus the trees tipping over, they can't break through, and neither will our tomatoes).
Yes, we have a propane generator, and we love it. I like the idea of a Deisel generator, but most of our power issues happen when it's well below freezing, which isn't idea for diesel....but I do really like the idea of riggin up something wood fired some day. Is your friend's setup something they put together themself, or is it an off the shelf option? (if you happen to know)
Central boiler.com . Would add another item to your already exhausting list of chores.😁..gathering a winter worth of firewood. They work like a car heater. The boiler heats up a "antifreeze" type liquid. It flows through an A-coil in your furnace (if you have an air furnace as opposed to electrIc heat) The site probably explains better. I don't know how it would compare to a good wood burning stove. Good insulation is really the key to staying warm in the winter.. Thanks for your raised garden reply
Happy new year :) I love your blog so much thank you for sharing!
I'm about to order some books and most of them are on your recommendation list. I would love to use the affiliation link so that you can get your share but amazon isn't really a thing in my country, not all books are getting shipped here and if they do, the shipping fee is higher than the price for the actual book. Therefor am I going to order through bookdepository and was just wondering if you have affility codes/links there too since it's owned by amazon. Would love to use them. Thanks again and lots of love from Norway, Ronja
Thank you, that's so kind of you to think of me!
I've just applied to the program for book depository, but programs often take a long time to get back to me. I'll let you know when/if I have a link for them. It could be today...it could be 6 months from now, you never really know how quick they're going to be about setting it up.
Don't wait on me though, take care of yourself and enjoy your books!
Thank you :) I just ordered three of them now. Hopefully you will have gotten in the program by the time I will order more!