Spinning Cotton

Spinning the cotton on the drop spindle is giving me lumpy yarn. I've just started (last night), so I suspect my technique will become refined with practice. The yarn is strong though, and soft. I like the variation in color and shade that I see within the twist.

Cotton Roving

This is green cotton lint that I've cleaned of seeds and other unwanted plant debris, and then gently formed into roving - or long skinny sections ready to spin. I did not card this cotton, but that can be done, I simply worked the lint into the roving. I'm going to spin the cotton with a drop spindle. I think this will not make very much cotton yarn, but I will plant more seeds next year and so on until I have enough cotton yarn with which to make something useful.

I've been practicing knitting (with purchased wool) and crocheting (with purchased cotton yarn). I made a scarf out of blue wool, and a dish cloth out of ecru cotton. I'm working on a larger piece with ecru & cream-colored cotton, that is supposed to be a wrap or something.

Frost & Green Tomatoes

The tomato plants finally wilted in the cold weather. I picked most of the tomatoes green and brought them inside. I've been advised to put them into a bag with a banana to get them to ripen. They've been slowly ripening on their own, a few at a time. I think they look beautiful in the shiny green state.

November Harvest

Vegetables from the garden, picked Nov. 12, 2008.
Clockwise from top left - Collards, Chard, Mizuna, Butternut squash, summer squash, baby red chard, trombetta summer squash, tomatoes, daikon radish.

Oh, a pumpkin pie sits to the right - made with butternut squash - and it was delicious!

Berm & Basin (swale progress)

Swale expansion went well. Many hours of digging, shaping and planting have produced a basin and berm next to the road. The first few rains happened after the first digging/planting stage of the project and the water came in, filled the basin, then infiltrated the soil. It worked. Now with the larger area ready to accept water, it should be ready for our heaviest downpours. The pineapple guavas look very pretty out there, as do the lavender plants. The fava beans from the first digging/planting stage are up a few inches. I planted more fava beans in the newly-completed area and Daikon, salvia verbenacaea, and others. I am lacking in much mulch materials but I did bring some mulberry leaves and pine needles from the back yard to start that. I'll continue gathering materials to have the area better mulched before the rains really get going.

Cotton Plant

A cotton boll before it bursts open with the lint.
The cotton lint from my plants has a natural green color. In Permaculture we hope to provide for as many of our needs as possible, fiber being one of them. Cotton is a thirsty plant, which requires rich soil and sunshine in a long growing season.

Swale Progress

When it rains heavily some water pools at the corner of the driveway where it meets the county road. My hope is to aleviate that pooling and direct the water into the soil.

This is just a small, beginning section of the swale and berm.
It isn't really a swale since it isn't on contour. The place is pretty flat.
It is a basin that will deal with some run-off issues from the road and a berm.
I took out some of the lawn, shaped the soil to direct water to an infiltration basin, planted shrubs (pineapple guava), perennials (malva moschata, lavandula), and a ginkgo tree to help distribute the water. I also planted seeds of fava beans, daikon radish, salvia superba, salvia verbenaceae, borage, and other random seeds I came across in the garden.

I mulched with pine needles I swept off the roof when I cleaned the gutters.

Gathering Ginkgo

The female Ginkgo trees around town are few. Now is the time to gather the seeds though. The mother of my two Ginkgo trees was cut down. Today I went to a tree (one of two in town of which I know) to look for seeds. I drove there and parking wasn't available so I circled the block and found one more female producing a large quantity of seed! Parking was easy at this new tree, so I grabbed my bag and picked up some seeds with their mildly stinky coating intact. Later I put on surgical gloves to clean them and now have a nice selection of Ginkgo seed. I'll plant them soon and hope for good germination.

International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists the Ginkgo as endangered. Probably since not many trees exist in the wild outside of China and it is often recommended to plant male grafts since they do not fruit. Growing from seed creates diversity within the species and only females produce seed.
Apparently it takes about 20 years to determine the gender of a Ginkgo so when street trees start to make seeds they get cut down and replaced.

I have approximately 70 seeds now.

First Rain! & Fermented Food

Today our first rain of the fall started. I checked the downspout where I have created a slope and basin in order to direct the downspout water to a nearby apple tree. The system was working as I intended. The water is directed away from the house, across the path and into a basin around an heirloom apple tree. The basin has various other plants that are part of the apple guild - yarrow, comfrey, daffodils, clover, etc. Also near the basin is a blueberry bush, heavily mulched with pine needles.
Now I'll have to get that swale in the front yard started.

---

Today I decided to taste the fermented summer squash I made at the end of August. I had grated up some Trombetta squashes and packed them into mason jars, sprinkling with salt as I packed. Then I topped the jars with water and away they went! Now, just over a month later the squash tastes tangy and salty and sour! So delicious, and I've been craving pickles and salty stuff for a few months. Now I'll get the satisfaction of eating my own creation.

Amaranth starting to bloom

Amaranth is an ancient food plant, used by the Aztec, Incan, and Mayan cultures. Both the leaves and the seeds were used for food. Much information is available on this plant and its uses at Wikipedia.
The flowers on this small planting are just starting to open and will develop into bright pink plumes.
If I leave some of the plants after they go to seed, the birds will enjoy eating the seed.

Going to seed

Many of my plants are going to seed - basil, hyssop, agastache, nepeta, fennel, cosmos, salvias, chard, sunflowers, and more. Benefits include lots of bird activity (sunflowers especially encourage birds) and seeds for more plants. Earlier this summer I collected and sowed seeds from my salvia verbenaceae and the second generation are blooming and creating seed. This is especially good for biennials like chard. I'll now have first-year and seeding chard plants every year. One of the red chard plants has been producing seeds like crazy. The birds love this plant and lots of baby chard (pictured) are growing near the mother plant and in places where I've scattered the seeds.

Planning a swale

This section of the front yard is currently a buffer of plants along the road. I am planning on creating a swale here instead. 12 ft wide at the widest and 4 feet wide at its narrowest. I am currently making calculations on the appropriate depth and appropriate berm height. Also planning the vegetation to go in the swale and on the berm. Trees and shrubs will go on the berm (ginkgo tree, pineapple guava) and annuals and perennials go in the swale (italian parsley, daikon, bell beans, chard (biennial), valerian, thyme, lavender and more). The plants currently along the road (lavender, lavatera) will be moved to suitable sections of the swale. These plants are drought tolerant plants. This swale will help deal with the deluge of water runoff from the road during the rainy season and focus that to a target tree (ginkgo), which will offer shade from the afternoon sun. The swale will replace a section of lawn with a wider diversity of plants, create visual interest from the road side and the house side, and encourage diversity of insect and bird life.
I'll start digging as soon as the temperature cools to a more reasonable range (80s).

Corn & Squash

Ripe dent corn (Maize) "Bloody Butcher" and squash - Butternut & Trombetta.

Vegetables from the garden

Green beans, two kinds of summer squash, and tomatoes harvested from the garden.

Permaculture Class

In New Mexico with the Permaculture class. Scott Pittman expounds on invisible structures in Permaculture.

Stacking functions

Bowl gourds on a trellis at Seeds of Change research farm. Growing on a trellis saves ground space, creates a shaded tunnel, and brings the fruit off the ground, which helps to keep the fruit clean.
Also growing on this trellis: bitter melon, and other various gourds.

Artichoke

Artichoke blossom. Member of the thistle family. Part of my apple tree guild. Used as a mulch plant, the artichoke has large leaves that will regenerate. I pull some leaves off the plant and put them around the apple tree. The leaves will eventually be incorporated into the soil by worms and microbes, thus making the leaf nutrients available to the apple tree, and other plants in the guild.

Melon

Bidwell Casaba melon. 15.5 lbs. Grown in the front yard. Sweet & delicious.

S.O.C. Farm

Seeds of Change research farm in northern New Mexico.

Permaculture Design Certificate

About to embark on part III of my PDC course in NM. The first two sections were very informative and educational. Permaculture design, water harvesting, bees & honey, and many other, wonderful things. Each time I come home I make changes to my existing design and make plans for more changes.
I leave in less than a week for the last section of my course, and then I will be certified to practice Permaculture!
Looking forward to it.