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Post by steev on Jan 7, 2013 23:55:55 GMT -5
I totally agree on doing what is possible, but I don't understand how you can have access to hips without canes, on which hips grow! Perhaps it's an ownership thing; do what you are comfortable with. May you be blessed with an abundance of what seems to you to be wealth!
Try whatever comes to hand, shotgun as you term it; lord only knows what will profit where you are; that's what I'm doing, where all the locals are ranchers.
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Post by circumspice on Jan 8, 2013 0:40:10 GMT -5
I totally agree on doing what is possible, but I don't understand how you can have access to hips without canes, on which hips grow! Perhaps it's an ownership thing; do what you are comfortable with. May you be blessed with an abundance of what seems to you to be wealth! Try whatever comes to hand, shotgun as you term it; lord only knows what will profit where you are; that's what I'm doing, where all the locals are ranchers. LMAO! I *don't* have access to either hips or canes. I suspect that if I do find a promising bush loaded with ripe hips, I might be able to propagate a few bushes for myself if I harvest a moderate amount of the hips. I wouldn't feel comfortable cutting the entire bush up for canes... Besides, the owner might object! Like I said... Wishful, hopeful thinking. I live in cow country. Home on the range. Nothing but ranches & subdivisions out here. Even though the cows are pastured, they must be fed supplemental feed. Our area can only support about 1 head of livestock per acre, roughly. There are NO farms around here. (there were peach orchards but they are going the way of the dodo & being replaced with either vineyards or subdivisions) I live a bit east of the West Texas "Dry Line". We get 32 to 36 inches of rainfall annually. The temps range from 20F to 115F. I've seen my water bill double in the last 3 years, not because of increased usage but because of an evil, uncaring water company. My meter charge is $63.50 per month, before any water usage is computed. I've actually decreased my water usage, only to see the monthly bill double.  The only things that grow well out here are the blasted junipers, live oaks, prickly pear cactus & limestone rocks. I seem to be beating my head against a stone wall trying to create a small sustainable oasis on my land.  |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 8, 2013 2:05:04 GMT -5
The only things that grow well out here are the blasted junipers, live oaks, prickly pear cactus & limestone rocks. I seem to be beating my head against a stone wall trying to create a small sustainable oasis on my land. I don't try to fight my desert. I work with it. There are plenty of species that grow with little water. Have you priced juniper berries lately on eBay? Prickly pear cactus seeds are selling for around ten cents each!!! So that makes the value of each cactus fruit about equal to a twenty dollar bill. There is a twisted juniper-wood headboard on sale right now for $6000. I bet if you looked closely, that there are hundreds of seed-producing species at your place. Around here some people make a lucrative living harvesting wild-land-seeds for restoration projects. |
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Post by MikeH on Jan 8, 2013 3:23:09 GMT -5
I totally agree on doing what is possible, but I don't understand how you can have access to hips without canes When we were harvesting hips at Taco Bell, I think that we were considered free albeit strange entertainment for the those behind glass. Had we had sharp instruments that were cutting the plants, we might have been considered vandals. If we get an old normal summer, I might have a go at cuttings. Do you take new greenwood cuttings? |
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Post by steev on Jan 8, 2013 11:45:39 GMT -5
No, I only do dormant cuttings. First, because it's pruning season, so I'm supposed to be cutting the plants; second, because I don't have to baby them in the pots, the weather being colder and damp, they have a good shot at rooting before they run out of steam.
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Post by synergy on Jan 8, 2013 23:06:35 GMT -5
Prickly things are useful in perimeter hedgerows too I should think? I definitely would like to add a prickly ornamental looking layer to discourage tresspass from the road .
I read recently about hostas being edible so I am hoping to divide some and plant hostas, solomon seal and daylillies along my driveway as a low ornamental border . I need to do some more research on the internet on this .
From wikipedia: Hostas are edible by humans and are called "urui" in Japanese cuisine. The parts eaten and the manner of preparation differ depending on the species; in some cases it is the shoots, others the leaf petiole, others the whole leaf. Younger parts are generally preferred as being more tender than older parts. The flowers are also edible.
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Post by caledonian on Jan 8, 2013 23:17:21 GMT -5
Trying finding Japanese butterbur for shady places. Its leaf stalks are eaten. Or used for walking sticks when especially large. Children use the leaves for umbrellas.
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Post by MikeH on Jan 9, 2013 4:02:41 GMT -5
No, I only do dormant cuttings. First, because it's pruning season, so I'm supposed to be cutting the plants; second, because I don't have to baby them in the pots, the weather being colder and damp, they have a good shot at rooting before they run out of steam. Ahhhh. Your climate lets you do things that are more difficult here. |
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Post by steev on Jan 10, 2013 20:35:51 GMT -5
For sure, like make a living as a gardener year-round; I wouldn't bet on being able to do that even in most of NorCal outside the SFBay Area.
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Post by stone on Mar 20, 2013 18:49:12 GMT -5
I attempted to read the entire 9 pages, and failed to find mention of either chenopodium or Oenothera.
I find that evening primrose leaves make fine greens, and the root cooks up just like taters! The plant may be different from region to region, and I've discovered that everything is sweeter when grown in the white sand... there's gotta be some benefit... when the gardening is so difficult!
My preferred lambsquarter weed is the magenta spreen (Chenopodium giganteum) which is purdy enuff fer the flower bed...
The problem with lambsquarter and evening primrose.... the deer will eat them... at my house, lambsquarter has to be fenced in!
Re the super pigweed... Maybe you could grind the grain as a flour?
While finding weeds that are pretty, and good to eat, we shouldn't forget about that other necessity... caffeine.
Chicory makes an excellent addition to coffee, but it contains no caffeine...
There's a nice bush that grows wild out here, and a lot of people ruin it by planting it next to the foundation and keeping it sheared... the yaupon holly...
The natives used to party on tea made from the leaves... but we don't have to make it so strong that we throw-up, do we?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2013 11:42:30 GMT -5
I have read of a couple of different examples, where guerrilla gardens had been sighted from the air, because the plants were in rows or terraces. The only things that grow well out here are the blasted junipers, live oaks, prickly pear cactus & limestone rocks. I seem to be beating my head against a stone wall trying to create a small sustainable oasis on my land. I don't try to fight my desert. I work with it. There are plenty of species that grow with little water. Have you priced juniper berries lately on eBay? Prickly pear cactus seeds are selling for around ten cents each!!! So that makes the value of each cactus fruit about equal to a twenty dollar bill. There is a twisted juniper-wood headboard on sale right now for $6000. I bet if you looked closely, that there are hundreds of seed-producing species at your place. Around here some people make a lucrative living harvesting wild-land-seeds for restoration projects. Spanish missions introduced tough Mediterranean food plants, and natives had good ideas for making weeds productive. I use the names of local tribes and ethnobotany as possible search terms. I have also learned that independent water sources might be exploited to grow more tender plants. It all seemed alien, at first, but eventually becomes routine. I will also say that natives did not use every possible thing, in every possible way. They used what they liked, or what they were taught about, in the way they thought was best. Many ordinary plants around you are potentially useful, if you were to learn about only one at a time, and some had no known use in ancient times. With processing, even some of our invasive, non-native trees can be made into plentiful foodstuffs. |
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Post by steev on Apr 5, 2013 12:31:50 GMT -5
I'm not sure how much carbs you can use from suntoots.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2013 13:46:04 GMT -5
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Post by steev on Apr 6, 2013 14:30:00 GMT -5
So, better to drink than to eat.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Apr 6, 2013 19:12:31 GMT -5
Maybe pit cook them like in this link. Long slow cooking time to convert inulin fully into fructose. |
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