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Last year I failed miserably at my brassica starts on the windowsill (amateur) so this year I bought lights. Zone 7b

However, in order to conserve space under the lights and start a lot of seeds, which species might be just fine in the windowsill? I did successfully grow squash, zucchini and basil starts in the windowsill last year. Fluke?

Because of my short growing season (lots of shade) I want to start: Arugula Tomatoes Cauliflower Cabbage Broccoli Black kale Lettuce NZ spinach Snapdragons Butternut squash Zucchini Strawflowers Cosmos Marigolds Yarrow

Hey guys,

Just starting down my permaculture rabbit hole actually by hearing a talk by Mark Sheppard who has a cool farm in Wisconsin and wrote the book Restoration Agriculture.

What he asserts (permaculture in general?) is that with the constant of plowing needed to grow annual plants we are oxidizing all the organic material and losing precious topsoil. That civilizations have risen and fallen by the plow as once fertile soils are now devoid of nutrients transformed into dirt. I know that 10,000ish years since the advent of agriculture is quite short in terms of the geological timescale which built all of the soils but is the premise of implementing a sustainable agriculture (around perennials, agroforestry and animal grazing) pretty much requires for us to throw “modern” agricultural practices out the window?

I am not a soil scientist and don’t know enough by agriculture really and would like to hear your input. My family hails from a pretty ancient village in Greece and it just occurred to me that this idea of “ancient” is only old on this human timescale. When I usually think of sustainability I think of this rustic stone village in the mountains since its existed for all these years but I am realizing its existed as a result of modern agriculture. I am sure it wasn’t as bad in years past but when I talk to the shepherds on visits they are all heavily supplementing their sheep with grain and corn derivatives in addition to the forage. The region relies on the cultivation of wheat and beans in the low lands for quite a long time, which are annual crops that need plowing, whether by ox or john deere.

I am not really sure what I am trying to ask, but I just had an unsettling thought this morning as I am learning that even this 2000 year village arose through “modern” agriculture and isn’t as sustainable on first inspection. Any input to my thought process would be appreciated.

Hi All – I wanted to share an idea that is working well for me. I copied an overhead image of my place (check with your county’s parcel tracker) and used drawing software to identify features and for planning new spaces. You can use a different layer for each component. For instance in my case… trees; structures; garden areas; invasive species. When you remove the base image layer you are left with a cool diagram of your place.

In my case I used Krita, which is open source. Didn’t take to much to learn the basics although the full breadth of the software is a bit overwhelming.

Just wanted to share as I’ve seen some questions related to this, and know there is even some paid solutions out there.

I’m a landscaper, and I’m hoping to introduce perennials to some of my clients annual beds. I’m in baton rouge Louisiana and I’m wondering if there’s cool season bulbs that could be planted under spring annuals? Hoping for something that doesn’t sprout until it cools enough for the warm season annuals to start dying. Wanting to do this in containers. Thinking vinca, pentas, coleus, or blue daze on top, and thinking of arranging the bulbs in a crescent moon shape around the annuals so they come up around the edges before the annuals die. Any thoughts on how this might look and what bulbs I could use to fill in for cool season annuals?