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To Build A Guild: Defeat analysis paralysis and plant something
What is a permaculture guild? A permaculture guild is a concept that describes the organization of multiple compatible species of plants together in a group. The premise is that different plants occupy different niches. By planting various species together, you can utilize the maximal amount of sunlight and produce the maximal amount of crop. For…
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7 more exceptionally easy permaculture plants to get excited about
For my second grouping of permaculture plants that I think are quintessential for improved self-reliance, I’m thinking somewhat outside-the-box. Rather than focus specifically on plants that people will want to harvest from directly, I’ve picked plants that humans and animals both distinctly benefit from. A perennial plant that can be harvested by an animal is…
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7 weird permaculture plants you need to get excited about
A friend of mine recently asked me to suggest plants for his new home. I’ve spent a lot of time doing research on permaculture and the plants that are ideal for our climate in Upstate NY. I’m kinda obsessed. In doing my research, there’s a few plants that keep coming up for me that I’ve…
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The Beautiful Fruit of the Exotic North – Sea Buckthorn
Elevate your culinary game with these easy-to-grow backyard plants. Before I started my permaculture plant-nerd journey and learned about sea buckthorn, I used to think that exotic fruit grew only in the tropics. At least only south of where I live in Upstate New York. Mangoes, kiwis, pomegranates, the exceedingly hyped açai berry which was ostensibly…
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Honey Locust: Friend, Not Foe!
I’ve written previously about my endeavors to grow honey locust seedlings in an air-prune bed, and initially, this was just a proof of concept for my air-prune beds, which were built to house hazelnuts, chestnuts, and various fruit tree seedlings. Recently though, my research has lead me to realize just how valuable these trees are…
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What happened to chestnuts?
What happened to chestnuts? Everyone is familiar with the line “chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” from the classic Christmas carol. But I’d be willing to bet that most of the people reading this article haven’t even ever had a chestnut in their life. There’s a tragic reason for that. The good There was a…
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Restoring What Was Lost – Nitrogen Fixers
The land that we purchased down in Spencer was cheap for a reason. It’s pretty bad land. You can poke around for yourself if you want to learn more about soil types with this soil survey map. It offers a bunch of information about various soil types and their properties. It can be tricky to…
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Attract Deer All Year! Plant the Amazing Mulberry for Perennial Deer
The property where we’re planting the chestnuts and hazelnuts on is primarily a hunting property that I purchased with my in-laws. Unfortunately, the soil is poor. That makes it challenging and expensive to plant out annual food plots, which is the industry-dominating strategy for attracting deer. But I don’t want annual deer. I want perennial…
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Between the Ant and Anxiety: Honoring God with Diligence
When you’re taking on a task like the one we are, and you have a goal that’s positively absurd, and you have children, and you’re trying to buy a house, and you and your wife are holding down full-time jobs, it’s easy to get a little stressed. More so, even, if you also have a…
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Hay to Nuts Conversion Strategy 2: Protection & Planting
While hazelnuts and chestnuts are incredibly hardy once established, they are very vulnerable during their first 3 years of life. Here’s our strategy to protect the investment during that vulnerable period, and how we’re going about the daunting task of planting 250 trees. We’ll be planting the trees on contour, using the A-frame level described…