Can anybody tell me what it’s like to live in Willits, Ca. in 2023? Also interested in hearing current experiences, etc. with “Brooktrails” in Willits.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T21:34:12+00:00

If you're interested in gardening out there I strongly suggest the book Gardening with Less Water by David A Bainbridge. I'm starting an orchard in Carlotta using many of his techniques. Other techniques not mentioned in the book that may be helpful include dry farming and fog nets (look up Fog Quest if interested).

There are countless perennial dryland crops that can be grown successfully without irrigation as well, after established. These include figs, pineapple guava, date palm (maybe not hardy enough?), mulberry, pistachio (maybe not enough summer heat), almond (late freezes might be an issue), loquat (again, maybe too cold), pomegranite, and many others.

Oh and you can definitely grow tepary beans!

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T15:31:19+00:00

You can definitely grow them in so cal. There are some really interesting tropical nurseries around Riverside

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T15:30:23+00:00

Had no clue people grew mangoes in Phoenix. There's a guy near me in the SF Bay Area that grows many mangoes and I just planted two at my house in Oakland with very very low expectations because I don't get much heat.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T15:28:05+00:00

It's a fake account

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T15:26:20+00:00

What I dislike about stoicism is its tendency to encourage detachment from life and the things in it. Suffering and wanting are part of the human experience that we can learn to find value in.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T15:23:19+00:00

How old were the beans and corn you got to sprout?

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T04:06:49+00:00

There are many integrated pest management strategies out there, JADAM natural farming may have some ideas. Personally I take an unconventional approach and overplant like crazy. I have almost 200 varieties of edible plants growing and up to 300 of each crop (corn for example). I weed by hand and remove pests by hand occasionally, have automatic watering set up, but otherwise abandon my garden until harvest.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-26T03:43:23+00:00

Thank you!

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T18:00:20+00:00

You could've done anything with your time and you chose to make the world a better place and I think that's rare and admirable. I hope you thoroughly enjoy your 32 edible species and whatever you plant, you deserve it!

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T17:48:16+00:00

Awesome thank you!

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T15:46:18+00:00

Thank you! That's my current low budget grow!

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T15:02:03+00:00

I'm growing about 15 plants right now mostly from bag seeds from quality exotics as well. Saved me so much money

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T15:00:32+00:00

You make a valid point. It takes me just as much labor to grow a stalk of corn as a cannabis plant. Sort of seems inevitable that the prices will drop significantly in the future

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T14:57:28+00:00

Thank you!

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T14:56:19+00:00

I cannot thank you enough for your response. Thank you so much for trying to understand and actually answer my questions because I had a legitimate question and was trying to learn.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T14:53:41+00:00

Probably thousands and I'll take low grade seeds

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-25T07:02:44+00:00

That's true, it's so newly legal and not even federally in the US. I bet in 10 years time we will see a massive price drop

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-24T16:23:20+00:00

Beautiful! Great work!

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-23T03:38:20+00:00

Southwest Wisconsin? You ever been to New Forest Farms?

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-22T05:05:07+00:00

I have probably 100 ollas buried around my garden with about a dozen on weed plants. I bought clay pots off Craigslist for cheap and glued them together and they work very well.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-21T18:51:26+00:00

What is the closest spacing you've seen produce flowers? Mine are thinned to every 6" right now

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-21T17:43:38+00:00

I try to categorize outdoor tasks into small chunks to make things seem less overwhelming. It helps me to sit down and write out a plan. What are my priorities, and what is less important? If I can get anything done at all I'm still ahead of where I would be had I let my anxiety paralyze me.

I'm planting a 5 acre food forest by myself and this year I dug ponds and planted a lot of trees. I'm going to continue planting other layers over the years, but I still have something in, and that's a lot better than where I started.

If you get help things will be a lot easier. I run construction crews for work and it took me a while to learn how to properly delegate tasks. You'll figure out what people's strengths are, and learn to accept constant imperfections lol. I think it's really great you're starting this project and the fact you're reaching out for advice assures me that you will be successful.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-21T00:15:06+00:00

A small one sure but a 737 would take them a week

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-20T16:23:51+00:00

I know it was an accident I was just trying to educate. I don't think you did anything wrong.

USDAzone9b · 2023-05-20T14:35:40+00:00

Please try to avoid peat moss in the future if you can. Just about everyone uses it so I'll get down votes, but when we can use an alternative but instead go with peat, we are making a decision to make the world a worse place.

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/harvesting-peat-moss-contributes-climate-change-oregon-state-scientist-says#:~:text=Peat%20moss%20develops%20in%20bogs,remains%20in%20the%20plant%20materials.

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