Archive for December, 2010
Living Off The Land
For some the phrase living off the land brings back an audio memory of a song from the 1970s; Dog Named Boo by Lobo. For others it means foraging and companionship farming. In the beginning of time all people lived off the land hunting and gathering food. Eventually people learned how to grow crops and raise animals for food. These agricultural societies were dependent upon the land for their existence.
Living off the land can mean learning how to grow food plants easily without employing high till soil eroding methods requires that you give up the idea of neat rows of growing plants with dirt paths between them. A large amount of time is spent pulling weeds from traditional gardens. Weeds that are usually edible and give back nutrients that food plants remove from the soil.
American Indians used a method for producing three staple vegetables that they called the Three Sisters. Using primitive stone and bone tools they would prepare the soil in a circle. They would mound up the dirt. In the center would they would plant corn. Close to the corn seed they would plant three bean seeds. Around the edge of the mound they would plant squash. As the corn grew the bean stalks would wind around the stalk of the corn. As the squash grew the large leaves would help retain the moisture from the rains to keep all three growing strong. Each plant uses different nutrients from the soil and puts back what the other plants need. Each species contributed to the well being of the other.
Planting large leaved food crops such as squash pumpkin and melons near other smaller leaved plants helps retain moisture in the soil. Planting quick growing plants like leaf lettuce and greens in the rows between longer growing plants such as beets and turnips you harvest food long before the next one is ripe. Planting flowers in between rows has been a common practice for companionship planting. The flowers draw the bees to the garden helping with pollination.
A word of caution: If youre using heirloom seeds keep pumpkins away from squash and allow lots of space between corn varieties. While cross pollination of Blue Corn and Yellow Corn may be pretty it takes many years to return each to their genetic purity. Mounding on different sides of the area solves this problem. Pumpkins take to mound planting as well as squash. Watermelons and other melons also do well when planted with beans and corn. Heirloom varieties require about 100 feet between them to be safe from cross pollination.
Foraging is almost as important as companionship farming when living off the land. Wild fruits such as raspberry blackberry cranberries and blueberries grow wild. Gathering these add variety and flavor to the daily meal. Many wild greens mushrooms and roots gathered when they are ripe also add nutrients to the diet long before garden plants are ready to harvest. Wild Mustard Lambs Quarters and Amaranth are ready to be eaten when lettuce spinach and turnip greens are just barely recognizable.
Later in the fall the various nuts gathered and added to the stores of food that the garden produces increases volume and variety. Walnuts Butternuts Hazelnuts Beechnuts and Hickory nuts are just a few of the many nuts that grow on the North American continent. Nutmeats are high in oil that can be extracted for cooking and they are high in protein. They are well worth gathering.
Living off the land requires that you store what you grow and gather. Canning water bath and pressure canning through drying or freezing or cold storing the food that you have foraged or grown will feed you through the winter. Almost all the stems and stalks of food crop plants can be dried and then fed to livestock.
Chickens turkeys guinea hens rabbits and goats are all valuable to a family that is living off the land. The birds will eat the left over plant produce as well as the bugs that bite and irritate. Using tractors a type of small animal cage that is mobile and the entire yard can be pest free all season long. Additionally using animal tractors keep your yard fertilized and “mowed” without you spreading any fertilizer or running the lawn mower.
The most important aspect of living off the land is the knowledge that you have provided a healthy balanced diet for you and your family. Watching the fruits of your labor ripen on the vine or stalk seeing that tiny egg grow into an adult bird with chicks of her own are things that no supermarket or grocery store can provide.
About the writer: C.L. Hendricks is a “jillofalltrades” and an expert in some. She writes on a variety of subjects for several websites including InvitingSmiles and Survival Homestead to name a few.
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Learning About The Different Types Of Roses
A rose is a rose is a rose right? Actually roses come in numerous discreet varieties and each has its pros and cons. Before you store for roses for your new rose plot you should know which types of roses there are.
If you dearest the way roses look climbing over an arbor then you may want to take a close look at climbing roses. While most people call any rose that shoots up cleansing a climbing rose some of these roses are actually extensive roses. However they all basically are roses with vigorously rising canes small plants that tinge liberally during the rose’s thriving season and very wicked thorns. As climbing roses become well established some gardeners reinstate their pruning cutters with a ranking saw to slash these plants down to a manageable dimension. These roses are regularly entirely diseases anti.
When you place a climbing rose you should cut down all but three of the strongest most good canes. The gives the rose adequate of energy to put into rising stronger more brisk vines. Tie the three canes gently into place to conductor them in the bearing you’d like them to grow.
If you fancy verdant aromatic blooms you will want to take a close look at the tea rose. These roses thrive the epoch a year. The flora was large especially if you pinch off the high quality buds so that the seat bud on each stem can get all the nutrients and energy.
The floribunda rose blooms in groups of flowers. The flower in the heart of each group matures closer than the other flowers so rose fanciers often pinch that flower off so that the total group or spray opens at the same time.
Once acme roses are those roses that blush just one time each year. These roses are absolutely amazing and are exactly packed with blossoms when they do tint which is why they are still rather common.
Shrub roses are incredibly toughs sharp roses that are fairly low growing. The blossoms on these roses are rarely spectacular but there are so many that the bushes are quite colorful even from aloofness.
Finally you may want to deem minute roses. These tiny roses are the hone ways to sharpness a garden border with influence. Many of these roses are a bit delicate and susceptible to disease but others are very tough and grow so vigorously that eventually the only thing tiny about them is the volumes of their plants.
About the writer: For tips on tulip care and dutch tulip visit the Planting Tulips website.
Kitchen Remodeling Hawaii- The Best Way To Make Your Kitchen Trendier
While some of the people day dreams of dancing sugar plums in the head and some people dreams of flowers blowing beautifully in winds others dream to renovate their kitchens completely. Kitchen is a most integral component of any home. Your guests can conveniently guess your personality as well as your preferences by just having a look at your kitchen. Planning to renovate a kitchen is one of the projects that one may do only once in the lifetime. So this is surely worth all the sweating in order to remodel the kitchen in the best possible manner.
The best way in which one can have an innovative kitchen design is to opt for a modular kitchen. Kitchen remodeling Hawaii not only contributes in transforming the overall dcor of a kitchen it makes this space all the more fabulous and elegant. The most striking quality about remodeling is that the overall space of the kitchen is duly utilized and that too in the best manner.
Kitchen lightning plays an integral role in this remodeling process. Directional lights which are hung inside a metal frame is one of the most astonishing idea to offer sufficient light in the kitchen area. Also it is imperative not to forget that lights are very important to improve the overall feel and look of the kitchen. The lack of lightning in the kitchen can result in some severe problems or mishaps.
Finishes designs storage capacity and compact appliances when all are combined together contributes in offering a classy as well as modular kitchen. Subdued and serene color blends of yellow metallic and brown can be easily used in order to provide one’s kitchen with a fantastic look. It is also imperative to know that bright lights can prove to be the best possible option in case you have a cozy and small kitchen space. Even the pastel shades and colors can be used in order to make the kitchen look spacious and elegant. In addition while deciding on the fixtures and interior design of a kitchen flooring needs to be paid due attention. There is a huge variety of linoleum and ceramic tiles that are available so that they can serve as the most stylish and affordable choice and give the kitchen a definitely trendy look. If you desire to have a kitchen that is more lavish and sophisticated in its look choosing the granite flooring is the best choice.
Pull down drawers warming cabinets cutlery holders wallmounted sauces and cups and wall ovens are some great ideas that can help in providing the maximum possible style as well as functionality to one’s kitchen. By installing designer yet small drawers appliances and cabinets one can easily maintain an organized and spacious looking kitchen. With the great services of a good kitchen remodeling Hawaii and Oahu one can easily change the overall look of the kitchen. Choosing the installation of seethrough glasses and wood for the cabinets is another decision that needs to be made with due care. So as soon as your kitchen is perfectly remodeled as per your tastes you can then set the multiprocessors and microwaves in order to provide the kitchen with a complete appearance.
About the writer: Bob Smith is an architect and certified kitchen designer from Oahu Hawaii offering ideas on innovative kitchen design Contemporary kitchen remodeling kitchen cabinet design finishes Energy Efficient Interior Design
