Thanks for the update. Your links are dangerous. I went down the rabbit hole of a few of them including fascinating reading about ollas and wondered if they would work in our raised beds using the rain barrels to refill them.
My "farm" is a square 40 acres and is entirely devoted to wild things just for the sake of knowing they have a place to be. I have restored about 10 acres of prairie, 18 acres of oak woodland, and the rest is in low quality existing woodland that was pastured hard and managed very poorly. I am 67 - and have about given up trying to fight the never-ending battle with invasive plants.
I try to keep even my own disturbance there to a minimum. It seems like a few places like this make sense in a land of corn and beans and corn. I am pretty sure that 40 acres isn't large enough to protect even the center from vapor drift from various pesticides of the neighboring industrial ag operations - but it is what I have to work with.
I belong to a CSA and I'm a member of a local food coop, and try to support local food production as I can. Thanks for all you do! And it's good to know you have time now to experiment and have a bit more fun. Good for you both!
I appreciate your writings, Rob, regarding the challenges so many of us face, including time management. I especially enjoy that you recognize that complete victory here is probably never possible, yet we muddle on: make lists, cut back, add on... We keep trying our best. Thanks, too, for being an active advocate for a better environment for all of us. Please keep in mind the "Rule of 100": For every compliment you hear, there are 100 others that are voiced but never reach your ears.
Thanks for the update. Your links are dangerous. I went down the rabbit hole of a few of them including fascinating reading about ollas and wondered if they would work in our raised beds using the rain barrels to refill them.
Well, of course the links are dangerous. They already caught me, apparently.
They get you thinking, a dangerous pastime indeed.
Thanks Rob!
My "farm" is a square 40 acres and is entirely devoted to wild things just for the sake of knowing they have a place to be. I have restored about 10 acres of prairie, 18 acres of oak woodland, and the rest is in low quality existing woodland that was pastured hard and managed very poorly. I am 67 - and have about given up trying to fight the never-ending battle with invasive plants.
I try to keep even my own disturbance there to a minimum. It seems like a few places like this make sense in a land of corn and beans and corn. I am pretty sure that 40 acres isn't large enough to protect even the center from vapor drift from various pesticides of the neighboring industrial ag operations - but it is what I have to work with.
I belong to a CSA and I'm a member of a local food coop, and try to support local food production as I can. Thanks for all you do! And it's good to know you have time now to experiment and have a bit more fun. Good for you both!
pb in Illinois
I appreciate your writings, Rob, regarding the challenges so many of us face, including time management. I especially enjoy that you recognize that complete victory here is probably never possible, yet we muddle on: make lists, cut back, add on... We keep trying our best. Thanks, too, for being an active advocate for a better environment for all of us. Please keep in mind the "Rule of 100": For every compliment you hear, there are 100 others that are voiced but never reach your ears.