guildfordcycads

Hi guys, I’m having a real issue with this bug. There have been no cold winters lately, so the root eating larvae is thriving. My little hereditary orchard has suffered brutally. I lost over 20 trees this year and initially thought that the drought has been the cause or some kind of mold . Eventually I spotted these assholes. Turns out that the whole area has been having issues with these bugs, and unfortunately my garden is being surronded by abandoned orchards and I honestly do not know what to do. My goal was to plant enough native trees along the fruit trees and create a food forest. Now I’m at a point where everything is dying and I’m supposed to dig out all the infected ones Do you guys have any tips on saving them or …tree species that could resist thia bug?? Locals use brutal chemicals to fight them that I’m not ok with.

Hello all!

I’m an urban farmer who was recently tasked with creating a community food forest. I’m fairly new to doing this work on my own, and still have a lot to learn. while I’ve built up some theoretical knowledge, putting it into practice feels like a whole new journey.

I’d love your advice: what steps would you take to remediate soil with lead contamination? I’m considering phytoremediation using sunflowers and possibly mustards. Before sowing seeds, how should I prepare the soil knowing it contains toxic metals?

I’m based in Oregon, and since our season is wrapping up soon, my goal is to at least get the soil prepped this year so it’s ready for planting sunflowers and other remediation crops next season.

Any insights, resources, or experiences would be greatly appreciated! Please feel free to ask me questions if it helps give more specific guidance.

Hi All,

New to permaculture. Last year created a compost (putting kitchen scraps under a tarp) that was done on a contour since we have a good slope in the yard and was amazed this year that volunteer cherry tomato plants did fantastic and had an amazing crop of volunteer butternut squash. So thinking, that’s the way it should be. Curious if anyone has advice, references (book,youtube) they’d recommend on how to get another season from last seasons crops with minimal work. Just started watching Geoff’s video’s but it wasn’t jumping out to me how to do this.

Thanks and kind regards,

Joe

I live in zone 4, with low drainage silty clay loam in a very flat area. The previous owners had large stacks of firewood, many of which are now at least 2 years out from having been cut, and starting to rot with clear fungus activity. There are logs with multiple different kinds of fungus visibly growing. Rather than throw these logs away, I have been thinking about semi-submerged hugelkultur as a way to grow some things with better drainage and put this rotted wood to good use. Not a full mound, but just digging down about 6 inches, and then using a 8-12 inch layer of logs, followed by compost top soil, probably getting me to about 1.5 feet off the ground. This will be for small scale home gardening: at least some tomatoes, onions, garlic, peas, squash, and herbs.

I know that many people say hugelkultur isn’t a one-size fits all solution, but I am wondering if it sounds like a good fit for my situation? Or should i just grow in the ground and throw the logs away?

My plan was to keep the borage alive and well through the season just for its use as a great companion plant, then right before first frost I’d take a machete and do the hard thing to these beautiful plants, chop that up and just scatter it around.

Does it have to be green to get the full benefits, though? Is right before first frost a good time, since it’d be dying after that anyway? Does anyone have any resources for research? My quick googling didn’t bring up much for some reason.