No.33648[View All]
Old thread (v1):
https://leftypol.org/hobby/res/7136.htmlThe practice and principles of Permaculture are one of the most important tools for not only creating a sustainable socialism, but also for repairing the damage done to the global ecosystem by capitalism, and lessening your individual reliance on the current capitalist system.Permacultural practice and socialism are two very powerful allies, and learning about permaculture should be necessity for modern socialists and communists.
No.35163
A few years ago I built 4 2'x4' raised beds out of the old fence we had replaced. Filled them with dirt. Never planted anything. Now it's just weeds I pick out every few months. They are located on the side of the house next to an 8 foot fence. So they get decent indirect sunlight and shade, unlike the rest of the yard that's basically the south texas sun death rays all the time.
What should I plant there? What do I need to do? Do I just grab a few bulbs of garlic and plant them now in july and wait? I feel like the cost of new soil, labor, storage, and water would outweigh the cost of just getting more garlic at the store?
No.35164
>>35163cost usually isn't the motivator here. you could aim for planting various cash crops like chilli and herbs
No.35168
alternatively, you could create shade in those sunnier spots by growing trees
No.35169
>>35163also focus on perennials for the biggest bang for you buck
No.35733
>>35671Beautiful thank u anon
No.35884
>>35752forestry mostly focuses on producing lumber. this might change as we move to more biofuels
No.35931
>>33653>>33654>>33655>>33656>>33657>>33658>>33659does any1 agree with my unhinged potsmoking rant from earlier in the year,…?
No.35932
>>35931I obviously don't agree entirely, however I did and do appreciate them.
No.35933
>>35932your a real one, tank sister :praying hands:
No.35949
Most of my yard is dead. I just bought a thatch rake. I’m gonna be so swole with so much hay for compost in my little garden beds. Call me Johnny apple sneed. Call me green buns. Call me, please. Just call me. I’ve raked so much.
No.35961
>>35949update: Oh fuck this is exhausting. There's so much fucking thatch. My hands are blistering at the metacarpals.
No.35962
>>35961I hope you're wearing gloves for that.
No.35963
>>35962I am but I was still getting blisters from the glove rubbing on the internal side of the metacarpal base of the thumb. Like I’m literally raking wrong or that my grip was wrong. I have it in the same spot on both hands so presumably my technique is just wrong.
No.35967
>>35949They call me Johnny Appleseed, they call me Green Thumb, they call me Big Rake, they call me Shed, they call me Peanut Seedbuckle
No.35969
>>35963You may just not be used to it. Even with ideal grip and technique you will still develop blisters if you aren't used to that kind of repetitive movement.
No.35973
>>35967I am the Thatcher. I thatch thatch.
>>35969I’m used to slowly growing callouses from guitar and lifting. This is just in such a weird spot I’m not used to.
No.35974
>>35973Different grips will put friction different places in your hand, so yeah.
No.36046
>>35974I’ve been trying to do thumbs along the shaft as a grip now, it makes shovel and pitchfork work just fine but I haven’t tried thatching again. Thanks for the tip, senpai.
Blog post time. Basically no one has cared for the yard since my grandad died a decade+ ago. Things have slowly died and been removed over the years.
Yesterday I took some rocks and mulch that were decorative and made cute little tree rings around the 2 trees that are left, making sure the mulch wasn’t too thick, the rest of it went in the front of house beds that still have some living stuff in it. With the back strip stuff removed I had room to move the 4 raised beds I made a few years back to along the back fence. Had to scoop out all the previous dirt and remove all the bricks I used to make walk ways. These beds were previously in the side of house garden bed so I tried to even out the soil and I covered it with fabric and boxes for whenever I get around to planting. Cool part is the dirt looks so much healthier than the rest of the dirt in the yard. With some of those leftover pavers I made a little platform along the driveway for the 3 garbage bins to stand on.
I really think I need to get a giant truck load of dirt for the whole yard, but before I do that I need to finish dethatching and get an aerator. hopefully the dirt plugs and dead grass can fill up the standing beds a bit.
I’d also like to xeriscape a bit of the front yard. Make a big island where the oak used to be and plant some big beautiful bushes that don’t need much attention. Maybe install rocks on the hell strip. This shit just gets so expensive. And my body is exhausted today from all those little projects yesterday. Part of the fun though is that I won’t need to go to the gym for a while, I guess.
No.36121
>>36046Went to chain store and found some sad plants on clearance so I got a Mexican heather and 2 little Japanese ferns. The Heather goes in the pond garden and the ferns went into little pots on the patio. New soil and mulch. It’s so fun to play in the dirt. Let’s see if I can keep them alive!
No.36228
>>36121There are four bushes in the front yard. The first is a beautiful stemmy thing that looks like it should be next to a Japanese pond. It’s doing fine. The other three are supposed to be some kind of box hedge thing. They are at least 40 years old and each one is dying in its own way. I spent some time today cutting off dead branches. The first I think is infected and getting too much sun. The second has ivy growing in it, stealing its resources. The third was humming and I was confused until I cut off a large dying branch only to have strange black wasps fly out of the dead tree. I quickly ran away. Later, I went to the back yard. A few years ago I let a weed grow into a tree, eventually cut it down. The stump is still in the garden bed. Today I pulled out an 6 foot long 4 inch wide root. Fun times. Tried to axe+hammer the stump a bit. Exhausting and didn’t do much damage.
I also tried out my manual aerator. It looks like a pogo stick that produces dog turds. It was fun to use.
No.36265
HOLY SHIT THE MEXICAN HEATHER IS SPROUTING LITTLE PINK FLOWERS. ITS SO FUCKIN CUTE. AAAAAAAH. ITS NOT DEAD!!!
No.36292
>>36265Today I went to a giant seed factory that works with the state government and universities to produce native seeds for farmers and such. I got a small pouch of native wild flower seeds I’m going to plant along the dead strip along the fence in the back yard. I will need to clear and til the whole area, maybe 4ft by 100ft. I’ll need to get enough dirt to cover it 1/4 inch or so. I’m excited to see if anything grows.
I also went to habitat for humanity and found some nice tools for dirt cheap. most all my grandfathers tools are rusted out and refurbishing them would be a whole project in itself. Anything I’ve bought in the past decade has also been pretty used, abused, and forgotten. So I got loppers, sheers, trowel, transplanter, cultivator, a rubber mallet, steel brush, watering can, sprinkler, nozzle, and a nozzle with a stake on it. All for less than 60 bucks total.
I am equipped.
No.36301
>>36292Bought some on sale, already opened soil from box store. Got a salvia plant and popped it next to the heather. It is very cute.
No.36331
>>36301I primed and painted the rusty ol wheelbarrow. It’s now a very cute orange and blue! I still need to replace the wheel.
I also kept working on that fucking stump. A few more roots clipped, but god damn is that hard work.
No.36333
>>36331Fuck this stump. I got a 2 inch blister that ripped off my skin from shoveling at the stump. God fucking damn it. I’m so close. It finally jiggles. Fuck stumps.
No.36335
>>36333Have you tried digging a wider hole and cutting from below?
No.36336
>>36335The stump itself grew into basically a spiked rock flowerbed that’s about 2 feet tall, I have been digging a wider and wider hole as I go but it’s been difficult to maneuver around. Today it finally started working when I hit it with a hammer or pushed it with my foot which leads me to believe there’s only a few more roots down there.
No.36337
>>36336What tools are you using? I find a good spade can be real helpful… that and really good rock music to work to.
No.36339
>>36337The injury was from a shovel from the 1970s. I was mostly using it because of the kinda pointed tip. The shorter newer spade(?) I have is flat so I thought it would be difficult to get into the hole. I also have a some mallets(?), some metal bars I was trying for leverage with, bigger saw that didn’t fit, one of those little Japanese style hand saws, two sizes of loppers, some tiny hand shovels.
Also I checked it just now after having it soak in a puddle all day, it now bends 45 degrees in one direction. I’ll have to look at it tomorrow in the sun or when I can use my hand again.
No.36340
>>36339SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER
WHEN YOU SEE THE WEED STUMP
WHIP YOUR BACKS AND CRACK YOUR HATCHETS MEN
IF YOU WISH TO PREVAIIIIIILLLL
I WAS SO CLOSE
No.36341
>>36340UPDATE: I FUCKING GOT IT OUT. YEET.
No.36346
>>36341I transplanted this weird spikey palm thing to where the stump was. I put the stump on a pike to warn other stumps and a lizard friend liked the view. I finished half the rock trim in the front, running out of easy rocks but I only have about 20 feet left, so it’s fine. Mulched more of the back garden. Things are slowly starting to come together!
No.36351
Do I blog that I got wasted instead of working on the yard? Well, I did. It rained yesterday so I don’t gotta water shit.
No.36352
What's a good ground cover for an orchard in a subtropical climate?
No.36355
>>36352depends on the trees, depends on the specific region, find a native local plant that has some symbiotic relationship with the trees of the orchard. not only that, use multiple plants. use bushes or something. dont do monoculture
No.36401
>>36400Are there any community gardens near you?
You can do a lot with house plants, my neighbor has one that he moves outside when it's warm and at first I assumed he was transplanting a tree. its huge. That oughta suck up some carbon also it looks nice
As for creating an ecosystem; do you have a balcony? I'd stuff it full of native plants for the birds and bees to enjoy. Maybe make a little rain garden. If not my next thought is to look into making terrariums but if you're only objective is to contribute to improving the environment however marginally than that might not satisfy you.
No.36411
>>36400Anon, depending on your skills, you can do A LOT
I suggest going down to Home Depot and buying about 20 small flower pots and lining them up against the bottom row of your window. fill them with INDOOR potting soil (not outdoor, and NOT "organic", you don't want bugs, get the most capitalist processed shit you can find like Miracle Grow. Just trust me
Then start planting seeds. Go to the seed store and buy like 20 little bags of seeds. Plant them randomly in your pots and see what starts growing. Start planting the seeds from your fruits and vegetables and seeing if they sprout. Start collecting seeds from your local environment and growing them. It will help you learn the life cycles of your local plants
Let me be real anon, that window space is basically equivalent to a plot of land of that size. Its just much more limited and you cant build interlinked root systems as easily unless you use long trough flower beds, which id suggest not doing when you start. using individual flower pots will help you understand the water requirements of individual plants better, and prevent pest and fungus spreading
You can also build shelving units upward, or create a hanging pot wire system, to have multiple layers of pots all the way up the window, as much as your heart desires
Do not let yourself think you can't grow a healthy thriving and productive garden in that space, because trust me you CAN do it.
Start with succulents and do NOT hesitate to go ahead and buy some plants which you can't practically grow from seed, nothing wrong with buying plants to learn this process. think of it like, you are growing the plants in your brain, moreso than growing them by your window. those plants by your window don't matter. you can start learning NOW
No.36413
>>36411Also, start small scale at first. Learning to deal with mold, fungus, and pest bugs is your first priority honestly. You'll also have to revise your cleaning habits significantly, and start regularly dusting and vacuuming. So start small at first or it will get overwhelming and you will more likely fail
No.36419
>>36355Mainly fingerlimes, some macadamia trees as well. Region is eastern Australia, but that's the extent I'll disclose. Have taken over a rundown 5-acre farmstead, so keen to figure out what to plant.
No.36433
>>36411Thanks comrade.
I've started with a few succulents because it's a warm environment and they're tough and low maintenance, and I've managed to keep them alive for a few months so I think I'm ready for some herbs.
>>36401Unfortunately no open area that a bird or bee would visit. There are a couple of community gardens I can try visiting now that you mention it, so I can go see what's up there.
No.36567
u ppl think asking random people in neighborhoods if you can garden on their lawn is viable?
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