~SUSTAINABLE LIVING FOR CHALLENGING TIMES

[sumisu]

Good question. I qualified the statement by saying "living off the land" and I have learned a lot from that phrase. Simply put, you need to grow a lot of things in a lot of places, to achieve that objective.

Since I'm just one person, it took a long time to put everything together. If I had a group of people, it would have been much faster.

After Cimi accurately analyzed my soil through a picture, he basically said that the soil was worn out and lifeless, and from that time, I wanted to do the right things right.

Since my property is dust resting on ledge rock, I needed to build up to maximize my vegetable yields. In the last five years, I have built 15 raised beds, modified 7 oil drums into rain barrels, and added five composters.

My skill set also had to grow to accommodate my objective to maximize my growing objectives. Cimi, eagle, and others gave me book titles to read to improved the soil and create an ideal garden sanctuary. It took me five years for this creation.

Good story here and an example. A gardening friend living 600 yards from me had ideal soil and could not fathom my problem of time. He then moved to Charlotte, clay country, in 2013. He had to build upward to add the compost/soil mixture, added chickens for manure and used straw that went into the garden. I speak to Bruce every Monday night and he admitted that by next year, his fifth, he will achieve his food objective.

While Bruce has his chickens, I do have friends who take me to farm supply companies. I do buy Coast of Maine soil products. My two favorites follow:


Coast of Maine Monhegan Blend Black Earth is a rich blend of naturally composted barks and compost. The result is an easy-to-use, all-purpose organic soil ideal for top dressing lawns, filling in bare spots or as a general purpose soil amendment.


Coast of Maine Dark Harbor Blend Enriching Mulch is an exceptionally rich, naturally dark, fine-textured blend of self-composted barks. It is ideal for mulching beds, borders and gardens and for use around shrubs and trees. It also helps retain moisture, will not rob the soil of nitrogen (as raw barks will) and helps insulate the surface soil against excessive cold and heat that can damage plant root systems. Because the barks in Dark Harbor are fully composted, it can be dug into your beds in the fall, providing a rich and immediate source of organic material.

My process of mixing is as follows:

Using a compos tumbler, I add the above two products with azomite [trace minerals], mycorrhiza [root stimulant], bio-char, and earthworm castings. [After five years of this activity, my former spaghetti arms are now huge] I have hand filled every spot of my 15 raised beds and 45 containers with this mixture.


COMPOS TUMBLER


VERTICAL COMPOSTERS FEED THE COMPOS TUMBLER


COMPOST TEA MAKER

Each year the raised beds and containers need to be replenished, which entails a lot of time.

For cold climates especially, the raised beds warm up more quickly.

For me, it took five years. If I had a hard-working Filipino farmer wife, it might have been three years.

Good questions and thanks,

sumi