I spent the afternoon weeding and mulching the backside of the lower
berm. Some of the Buck Wheat is going to seed.
Wow things grow fast. The orchard is full of life. Bees, lady type
bugs, lots of what look like young box elder bugs and spiders.
A huge black and yellow striped spider has a large web between a few
towering buck wheat. The male seems to share a side portion of the web,
waiting to be loved or consumed I suppose.
Such is life.
I see a few (now dead) aphids attended by ants and many wasps and
beetles.
Some of the BW is over 3' tall and shading the perennials. I have had
to thin out the timber a bit. Some of the stems are half an inch thick.
I think I need some geese to eat the grasses, I haven't kept up with
all the weeds, but at least the clover is filling in the under-story.
I am laying down more straw and mulch and have started using thick
paper around the Chicory to keep the weeds at bay.
Stripping the hill f all plant life matter might have been better in
hind sight.
The roof catchment is all connected to the pond now, so the complete
plan is done for sourcing pond water.
Tuesdays 6 inch rain finally stopped running across the driveway today
and must be an underground trickle.
In years past that would have been done in a day and washed down the
hill to the pond in hours.
Now, I think we kept a large percentage in the hill. Since it rain so
much the hill is not the local watering hole anymore so not as many
birds are around.
I am on part 3 of Gaia's Garden. Its a very good book and a must read
for those serious about Permaculture.
Diversity also pertains to sources of information.
Last week i took all the old seed packets and brought them to my Dad at
his "Nursing Home". He read the packets to me as I wrote them down.
A good twenty minutes of focused attention for him. He is an old
school Soil Scientist majoring in Soil Fertility. Most of that acumen
is gone now. Too bad.
I need to get photos of the plants now so I do not pull them as weeds.
Any news out there?
Dan Halsey
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