began by Looking

 

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o KAY!!!!!  ok.  so,  What…?????   now is in the very center of Everything

 

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a local pecan.  that had some kind of Experience.

 

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but then…maybe THIS is where i can put the seeds to germinate????  i have put them in the ROOM, always in the past.  but  it's cold there.  probably the coldest place in this house except for this end where i am typing away on this computer.  so….What about This?  just behind the wood stove?  and look.  i'd somehow neglected to put plastic on this window…… and forgot…..

 

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hauled in two cement blocks and a piece of plywood.  set the flats to see if it might work.  i think so.  and maybe even, the cement blocks will hold a little heat in the night?  maybe.   but i think this might be it.   i won't set the seeds for another couple or few weeks.  but….stuff's ready.

 

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and while working Out There,  fooling with the buck Goats,  i see how beautiful the Mirror Chair is from behind.

 

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stuff begins to Connect.  i can feel it in my brain.  but have no idea what it is.

 

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received my Permaculture Calendar….because of Ronnie's blog  rhondaayliff.blogspot.com because Marti saw it through India Flint…permaculture in practice    I really, really, like Australians.

 

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it's my birth month.  it's a woman in Pakistan with her camels.  but it Could be ME, with the Goats, couldn't it??????   Use edges and value the marginal it says

 

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this is the uhhhh, berm that i have been creating behind that Oasis that contains the Raft and the Mirror Chair.   it was just to create some small Terraine in an otherwise FLAT space.  and also to do something with debris.  it's a small mound of pulled grass lumps, bark.  with dirt layered from the bowls under and around the trees and bushes.  But i stood staring at it.  because  last night, just before going to sleep,  i had read this, in Gaia's Garden:

"Most of the techniques offered in this chapter involve the decomposition of readily broken-down organic matter such as grass and kitchen scraps.  But most of us generate woody debris, too.  Tree prunings, logs, even rotten firewood or lumber scraps.  Wood is decomposed mainly by fungi, which we welcome into the ecological garden for their superb ability to keep soil moist, break down otherwise stubborn substances, and produce disease fighting compounds.  We can't add much wood waste to a compost pile, but rather than burn or landfil surplus wood, we can use it to build soil, too.  Here's how.  Hugelkultur.  In the carefully tended forests of central Europe, no scrap of wood is ever wasted.  Branches and brushy prunings are used in a gardening technique called by its German name Hugelkultur, or mound culture.  To create a hugelkultur, pile up branches or brush a foot or two deep in a mound four to eight feet around.  Stomp on the pile to compact it a bit.  Then toss compostable materials…grass clippings, sod, straw…into the pile.  Moisten the pile to that wrung out sponge stage,  Sprinkle some compost on the mound and top with an inch or so of soil.  Then plant the hugelkultur with seeds or starts.  Potatoes really love hugelkultur.  The decomposing organic matter raises the temperature just enough to boost plant growth. Another advantage, as the woody brush rots, it releases nutrients slowly, while it holds quite a bit of water.  You don't need irrigate hugelkultar very often."

 

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and i looked A LOT at this….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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26 responses to “334”

  1. judykeathley@cox.net Avatar
    judykeathley@cox.net

    damn, grace.
    so much going on.
    oh i have read about hugelkultar –imagine it –& am excited by it-but have done nothing –maybe this will get my ass in gear —
    those goat eyes .
    it most certainly could be you.
    stuff’s most certainly ready.
    go you.xo

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  2. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Hugelkultur seems just perfect for you and the space!
    How I love the light and color in all your pictures.
    I’ve missed it while away, but have scrolled back through time, then forward to now. Lovely, lovely images and thoughts.

    Like

  3. Mo Crow Avatar

    will be interested to see how this hugelkultar goes in such a dry environment Grace… if it was me I would add more water than recommended for German conditions as here in Sydney mounding and raised beds is not all that good an idea as we already have such free draining sandy soil sitting on sandstone ledges and drying winds… the idea is good but think about adding quite a few shovelfuls of well decomposed compost into the hollow bits in the mound… that could create some microclimates…
    Oh and love how the cloth is taking centre stage!

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  4. saskia Avatar

    the hugelkultur sounds like something I could do in our garden! oh I know just the spot, on the dike where we now have the boys’ old swing, which is on the point of collapse….love your permaculture lectures Grace, thank you!

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  5. saskia Avatar

    …have just read youmeus post and commented there but that got lost, it seems so relevant to me now with all the losses in my circle youmeus, we’re all in it together, it’s all we have

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  6. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    everything here makes me smile this morning…the cloth..rising..the earth rising
    oh but .i get in so much trouble with the hugelbeets on the farm..they are planted in long parallel rows and now are well established..but in the beginning…three years ago.when i would weed or harvest..i would want to lean in or step back… and our rows are close..which would compress the soil..a total do not do that…since the veggies grown there are for the csa or the farmers market it is truly important…but seriously the howls of the kids gave me chills..and made me so cautious…so i guess it worked..
    but as we put ours in this spring we have all agreed that my personal hugelbeets will be spaced and shaped differently…but they are so beautiful and so efficient..
    now the kids have tracks on each side of several rows so large high tunnels can be moved over them, enclosing them..and providing fresh amazing greens for winter market…
    i look at your beginning ..it looks so alive..what a wonderful way to move into a new year..enjoy the day

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  7. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Looked too and happy to see where you set up the seed pots; will be a good place for them I think. It is so very good to show that it doesn’t take a lot of fancy to make things work, saved containers, (we have also used them as well as yogurt cups with holes punched on the bottom), a board, a few cement blocks and you are good to go. Using what you have; takes a good eye to see the usability and possibilities. Seeing on the cloth, that dark “eyelash” piece, could be sunflower petals, could be rays from a dark sun but to me, looks like eyelashes; have them on my mind since finding blue gramma grass on our walk and you telling me that they are also known as eyelash curl grass…simple things but things that require looking and I think that you show us how to look in so many ways.

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  8. patricia Avatar

    what you say–“now is in the center of everything”
    i read it again. that’s what it says. “now is in the center of everything.” and i wonder, has there ever been anything more clear than that?

    Like

  9. Jan Avatar
    Jan

    that cloth at the center reminding me of The Red Tent. the place where women gather. the table we keep for each other. as patricia affirms “now is in the center of everything.”

    Like

  10. Judith of N. CA Avatar
    Judith of N. CA

    Besides seeing glimpses of HER here and there..my 4 favorite things today are…1. the pecan EYE…2. the 3rd goat photo, is that Nogel ?…3. the lady and her camels and,yes, that could be you..I’d even sew you your very own goat lady dress…4. “use edges and value the marginal”…OMG, this could be interpreted so many ways besides how it was originally meant. I feel like it could become a daily mantra..I’m going to try it !
    For those of you any where but CA please stay warm and safe ! Also, please send me your extra water !!

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  11. jude Avatar

    you can hang seed trays too, string them one over the other. water from the top and let it drip down, drip tray underneath. i do that till they sprout.

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  12. Susan C Avatar

    That draped cloth at the beginning is like another person in the room.
    So great you already starting with the seeds and things. Spring will come. Thank goodness.

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  13. Yvonne Avatar

    Thanks for showing the pecan, Grace – I’ve never seen one in the pod or shell. It’s strange to think of how many things I eat that I really know so little about.

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  14. grace Avatar

    when i looked at the post i saw that all the Goat pics
    were “askew”, as not upright. and thought maybe i would
    fix that, but then thought, no…it’s how it feels Out
    There.

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  15. grace Avatar

    i’m glad you are back

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  16. grace Avatar

    Mo…yes. good thoughts. i think it would work where it
    is because it’s at the edge of the oasis where the tree
    bushes are and also where i dump out the buck Goat water
    tub to refresh it from wind debris and poop from their
    comotion of living…it flies up from their hooves and they
    play
    but…today…the Next Day…i think more

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  17. grace Avatar

    there is SOOOOOOO much to learn

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  18. grace Avatar

    oh…saskia…the losses are comings and goings. and we
    are yes, all in it together, even those whose life has
    taken that turn to Go. Them too. even Tungsten. it’s
    all just Life. which includes birth/living/going/birth….

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  19. grace Avatar

    oh lordy…a personal shape and space designated for
    Cynthia’s hugelbeets…this the BEST

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  20. grace Avatar

    it gives such intense satisfaction, to have a thought, then a question, then a possible solution….knowing you might
    need to change it, but that you are at least half way
    there…

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  21. grace Avatar

    no. now, is the center of everything.

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  22. grace Avatar

    affirm. what a beautiful word,
    affirm
    a table we keep
    for
    each other.

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  23. grace Avatar

    well, sort of….Nogal…it’s a mix up of him and Sunny Ray.
    the pic is sideways.
    if it were me and the Goats, i’d be wearing my Judy Martin
    Morning dress
    and isn’t it???? just the Best? #4?
    we have no moisture to send…but i send moist thoughts….

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  24. grace Avatar

    this is wonder FULL!!!! dripping down….the trays always
    drip…this is just a GREAT way to do it…

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  25. grace Avatar

    spring Will. it does.
    and yes…that cloth has an enormous Energy…i’m listening.

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  26. grace Avatar

    Hey Yvonne…i’ll show you a pecan any time! HAPPY
    to see you here! and also back at your blog. Happy.

    Like

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