Hard work for sure, but definitely worth it when successful. And now is the time for people to learn, while there still is food 'on the shelves' in case of an unsuccessful learning period. Just got a bunch of seeds (40 varieties) to start my own journey next planting season. Unfortunately, don't really have the necessary room for chickens (at least not with two dogs in the house), but me and my roommate are considering a move to a more rural area in the near future to make that more possible, and hopefully some goats as well.
Nice - good luck! By the way, you can have a winter garden too. Certain plants like the cold, so you can start experimenting before next spring.
Goats are fun but it’s definitely hard containing them. We got sheep this year and even they’re proving to be escape artists. There are some virtual fence collar systems out there, I plan to experiment with one soon. If it works on the sheep I might get some goats too.
I hope you can move to a more rural property! Shameless plug for Lookout Map to help you in your search :)
Yea, I have to look into which can handle a winter grow, and always can start some inside as well. Our winters can be a bit brutal though. I've had success in the past with a few vegetable plants, although it wasn't started from seed. That's gonna be the major learning curve for me. As for the escape artists, a couple friends had a pair of goats some years back, so yea heard all sorts of stories. But, no poison ivy on their farm. And thanks for the reminder of your map. Have it bookmarked, but forgot about it.
There are likely nut producing trees in your region that can provide you with a lot of high nutrition food, the key is, the best time to plant them was ten years ago, so you know, next best time is now.
Hey, thanks for the tips! I did get a couple of books on foraging recently but not really done much besides harvesting wild blackberries. We seem to have a lot of those. I know there’s much more to find but I haven’t learned the skills and knowledge yet. It’ll be a fun homeschool activity over the next few years with my kids.
I do plan to collect acorns if we get a good mast this year. I saw a video of someone making acorn pancakes and now my kids are really into the idea.
As I reclaim the fields for my sheep (and create silvopastures) - whenever I find a wild persimmon tree I leave it alone and brush cut around it. I’ve even fenced some so my sheep don’t damage them. In a few years I hope to get a good harvest!
I’m a big fan of permaculture and food forests but still pretty early into learning about it. I feel like the depth of knowledge there will take years or decades to really figure out. I do try to build ponds and swales to feed the ponds, and use wood chips for mulch. Hopefully by the end of this year I’ll finally get around to building my compost bin.
I did actually plant amaranth but not into very good soil (it was very rocky and I hadn’t mulched it) and a bit late, so it didn’t germinate. I have some sweet potatoes growing but in a semi-abandoned part of my garden so they’re fighting a lot of weeds. We’ll see what kind of harvest we get.
I fenced a new garden this year but have only really been able to focus on about 20% of the usable space the way I’d like, and most of that focus has gone into cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, and watermelons - basically the fun stuff I was most excited about. I planted far more than that but wasn’t quite able to give it the attention it deserved. Next year I’ll hopefully have time to mulch everything else and really give it a proper go. It was a pretty ambitious 7,500 sq. ft. garden - and I knew going in that it would take me a few years to really utilize the space fully.
I am relatively new to foraging in a serious way myself, though my grandparents and uncle had me out foraging for mushrooms with them a lot when I was a kid.
I just try to take on getting comfortable identifying, harvesting and preserving one new wild plant or fungi a year and I have found that builds my confidence in a solid way.
It makes a big difference now that i`m preserving big Ramp harvests each spring, collecting bushels of hickory nuts and using things like pine needles for a vitamin rich tea or soup enhancing ingredient.
I created this post on spring foraging that has some helpful resources:
I spent about 10 years experimenting in the garden before I started writing my first book called Recipes For Reciprocity: The Regenerative Way From Seed To Table (which took 5 years to write and self-publish) and it focuses on home scale regenerative gardening, preserving and using food as medicine. It offers in depth info on using free resources to enrich soil and it includes lots of info on companion planting the crops you mentioned, cooking with them and preserving.
My next book is going to focus on Regenerative Agroforestry (food forest design) and I have been publishing each chapter as I write them on my newsletter so if you go to the hyperlinked articles in this post below you will find some very in depth info on each species (including oak, hazelnut, hickory) with cultivation, companion planting and recipes
Thank you! I'll check those resources out. Learning to identify one plant or fungi a year seems very manageable, I like that strategy.
This year I also planted some meadowsweet, myoga ginger, and bear's garlic around forest edges and near ponds. And a patch of horseradish in a field. All fairly far away from the house and I'm doing nothing to maintain them, so we'll see how they fare. It's my goal to eventually grow most of my own medicine, too.
Good luck with your book! I'm subscribed now so I'll follow along.
Yep, I think you’re right. Hard to layer on top of a full-time job, but it’s worth it. The other day my 5 year-old went and independently picked a bunch of tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden and came back with a basket of goodies. She was so proud of herself.
Hard work for sure, but definitely worth it when successful. And now is the time for people to learn, while there still is food 'on the shelves' in case of an unsuccessful learning period. Just got a bunch of seeds (40 varieties) to start my own journey next planting season. Unfortunately, don't really have the necessary room for chickens (at least not with two dogs in the house), but me and my roommate are considering a move to a more rural area in the near future to make that more possible, and hopefully some goats as well.
Nice - good luck! By the way, you can have a winter garden too. Certain plants like the cold, so you can start experimenting before next spring.
Goats are fun but it’s definitely hard containing them. We got sheep this year and even they’re proving to be escape artists. There are some virtual fence collar systems out there, I plan to experiment with one soon. If it works on the sheep I might get some goats too.
I hope you can move to a more rural property! Shameless plug for Lookout Map to help you in your search :)
Yea, I have to look into which can handle a winter grow, and always can start some inside as well. Our winters can be a bit brutal though. I've had success in the past with a few vegetable plants, although it wasn't started from seed. That's gonna be the major learning curve for me. As for the escape artists, a couple friends had a pair of goats some years back, so yea heard all sorts of stories. But, no poison ivy on their farm. And thanks for the reminder of your map. Have it bookmarked, but forgot about it.
How much do you guys forage?
Have you looked into food forest design ?
There are likely nut producing trees in your region that can provide you with a lot of high nutrition food, the key is, the best time to plant them was ten years ago, so you know, next best time is now.
Have you ever tried growing this?
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/amazing-amaranth
How about sweet potatoes?
Both of those produce a lot of food with a little space and effort.
Hey, thanks for the tips! I did get a couple of books on foraging recently but not really done much besides harvesting wild blackberries. We seem to have a lot of those. I know there’s much more to find but I haven’t learned the skills and knowledge yet. It’ll be a fun homeschool activity over the next few years with my kids.
I do plan to collect acorns if we get a good mast this year. I saw a video of someone making acorn pancakes and now my kids are really into the idea.
As I reclaim the fields for my sheep (and create silvopastures) - whenever I find a wild persimmon tree I leave it alone and brush cut around it. I’ve even fenced some so my sheep don’t damage them. In a few years I hope to get a good harvest!
I’m a big fan of permaculture and food forests but still pretty early into learning about it. I feel like the depth of knowledge there will take years or decades to really figure out. I do try to build ponds and swales to feed the ponds, and use wood chips for mulch. Hopefully by the end of this year I’ll finally get around to building my compost bin.
I did actually plant amaranth but not into very good soil (it was very rocky and I hadn’t mulched it) and a bit late, so it didn’t germinate. I have some sweet potatoes growing but in a semi-abandoned part of my garden so they’re fighting a lot of weeds. We’ll see what kind of harvest we get.
I fenced a new garden this year but have only really been able to focus on about 20% of the usable space the way I’d like, and most of that focus has gone into cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, and watermelons - basically the fun stuff I was most excited about. I planted far more than that but wasn’t quite able to give it the attention it deserved. Next year I’ll hopefully have time to mulch everything else and really give it a proper go. It was a pretty ambitious 7,500 sq. ft. garden - and I knew going in that it would take me a few years to really utilize the space fully.
I am relatively new to foraging in a serious way myself, though my grandparents and uncle had me out foraging for mushrooms with them a lot when I was a kid.
I just try to take on getting comfortable identifying, harvesting and preserving one new wild plant or fungi a year and I have found that builds my confidence in a solid way.
It makes a big difference now that i`m preserving big Ramp harvests each spring, collecting bushels of hickory nuts and using things like pine needles for a vitamin rich tea or soup enhancing ingredient.
I created this post on spring foraging that has some helpful resources:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/26-spring-foods-to-forage-for-in
The link below offers a collection of books that is helpful to have on hand when foraging with kids.
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/regenerative-resources-20-a-recommended?r=q2yay&selection=69a88758-989a-440f-a181-5a7ba231dd44&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web&aspectRatio=instagram&textColor=%23ffffff&bgImage=true
I spent about 10 years experimenting in the garden before I started writing my first book called Recipes For Reciprocity: The Regenerative Way From Seed To Table (which took 5 years to write and self-publish) and it focuses on home scale regenerative gardening, preserving and using food as medicine. It offers in depth info on using free resources to enrich soil and it includes lots of info on companion planting the crops you mentioned, cooking with them and preserving.
My next book is going to focus on Regenerative Agroforestry (food forest design) and I have been publishing each chapter as I write them on my newsletter so if you go to the hyperlinked articles in this post below you will find some very in depth info on each species (including oak, hazelnut, hickory) with cultivation, companion planting and recipes
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/stacking-functions-in-the-garden-199?
Hope that is helpful and I wish you all the best in your endeavor to grow more of your own food and teach the young ones the same.
Thank you! I'll check those resources out. Learning to identify one plant or fungi a year seems very manageable, I like that strategy.
This year I also planted some meadowsweet, myoga ginger, and bear's garlic around forest edges and near ponds. And a patch of horseradish in a field. All fairly far away from the house and I'm doing nothing to maintain them, so we'll see how they fare. It's my goal to eventually grow most of my own medicine, too.
Good luck with your book! I'm subscribed now so I'll follow along.
Farming is a full-time occupation. Whether its for yourself or for barter or profit.
Yep, I think you’re right. Hard to layer on top of a full-time job, but it’s worth it. The other day my 5 year-old went and independently picked a bunch of tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden and came back with a basket of goodies. She was so proud of herself.