quickest method i've seen so far for making seed balls is to push the combined mix through a 1/2" wire mesh.
Seed Ball Test ...complete. I made 2 last night to see how the process can, should, might go. This morning they were already dry which surprised me. Upon close inspection they have formed micro-fissures which may help with germination. I can harvest clay for the remaining balls I need once I go past what I have on hand. If memory serves when I used to collect clay for face paint & / or horse paint I would collect it, let it air dry, and then bake it at 250f for 30 mins. This will powder it and sterilize it some what so I will most likely do that prior to making new ones if I need to. Later today I will be making a lot more seed balls when help arrives.
Help never arrived so I did it on my own. I made about 100 so far, and I even put them out after drying because it's that time of the year here. When nature decides to rain when it wants. The aggravating thing is, I went outside today, and 99.999999999999% are gone. They looked like quail eggs, & I found 2 out of all the places they were scattered. Someone suggested that Bluejays might of carried them off, but I have not observed that. Seems to occur at night from what I have seen. Not sure what to make of it all.
some versions of seed balls i've read about have the outside coating made with critter repellent materials to deter raiding. i've no idea what creature might have gotten yours as i don't know what your area is like. top suspects around here are raccoon, possum and skunks for larger objects. for smaller it is mice, chipmunks and some of the birds... win some, lose some, a return in advance.
Not worried about it at all, because today we were gifted with a "Buffalo" grape vine. ((All purpose))
Google finally replaced the satellite photos for here, so I can finally do some actual mapping. This is a rough property outline of my pork chop above the river. All those downed trees to what is my west (top is North)... yeah, they are utterly buried under blackberry now because I couldn't get to them in time, and some I was trying to sell to the numerous lumber mills but no one wanted them. That is subsidies for you I guess. Anyway, from this I can start doing my final map. Oh, the reason this got so cleared... my electrical co-op came in and did it for free.
I'm trying to figure out how you all get the contour lines on your maps. ? https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ is one link I've found on here to download them, but I can't read it once I download it. Google Earth doesn't have contour lines - that I can find anyway? Love what you're doing at your place. I've just started to finally implement what has been in my head for years!
Thank you Eden.. Problem for me is the contour lines are too far apart to do me much good due to a cliff or 2 on the Northern slope. One by the main house (bottom right of image) to the forest area below, and another impressive drop between the forest & the highway to the north. Eco, this is the 50'+++ Myrtlewood in desperate need of cutting back. When it snowed a few winters ago, the entire tree bent over like a laden bush.
So I didn't like our Chinampas and how the area turned out with the ducks, so I reverted the area back to keyhole gardens. I put in transplants and started filling it today with perennials.. I really want to use every inch possible. In this area is Cardoon, Gladiolas, garlic, mustards, kales, bok choy, goosefruit, fava beans, nasturtium.
ah, i was wondering if they were for watering by drip feed or if they were some interesting decoration idea.
Right now I get so much condensation as fog that watering is a non-issue. One more thing, edible mushrooms were found this morning in the Woodrow chicken tractor garden area in the plot from 6 weeks ago.
Woodrow, not working. We had an unexpected, unusual drop from normal temps by over 30f. In the center of this property sketch between zone 1, and zone 2 border area you can see the new chicken run as well as a lot of other information. Water flow is going towards a banana circle in the future primitive.
https://www.brewgeeks.com/build-a-ferm-chamber.html Hmm, a fermentation room perhaps...made greener. This would give me some place to store fermenting beer, wine, kambucha, kim chi, cheese... but should they all be in the same room?
Wolf (goji) berry have arrived along with other perennial fruits. Daytime temps are in the 50's lately and lows in the mid 40's. Everywhere I looked today I saw signs of spring, including the one tell tale sign that even bears will awaken shortly... Skunk Cabbage has started sprouting in the usual places. For those of you that don't know, when a bear comes out of hibernation they are very cranky & constipated so they look for Skunk Cabbage to expel scat. Almond, and plum trees are starting to sprout. Currants already have sprouts; and perennial bulbs have started coming up.
When you say the Woodrow system isn't working what do you mean exactly? Bears give me the shudders just thinking about it. Australia might have all manner of things that'll kill you, but at least they are too small to rip you limb from limb. Except crocs - don't swim in croc infested water and you are pretty safe. And drop bears of course.
oh thanks Eco for that, but they give up the gig too soon... : ) as for bears, the smaller black bear are around here, rarely seen. when i was up north fishing the streams even further north where it was wilder, we'd see signs of black bears in the woods, but never saw them. the other guy carried a large pistol just in case, i figured if he was going to stand there and shoot i could run... in comparison to a grizzly, black bears are impressive and can do some damage, but not the same. i really would not ever want a mad grizzly coming after me.
