Symbiosis Farms- Permaculture and More

Winter 2012

2012-02-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

Boy this is a weird winter. It got so cold last month we had a lot of damage on our oranges, lemons, and grapefruits. The cold froze all the buds on the Grevellias just as they were about to flower in all their humming bird-love glory. It killed the above ground parts of the pineapple sage and my salvias from SF Botanical Garden. It sure didn't seem like we live in Western Garden Zone 9. The inner courtyard of the house proved itself to be a good ten degrees warmer than the outside outside. The picture above shows the Yolla Bolly Wilderness that is to the west of our farm. We don't often see it covered in a snow like this. It was awful pretty.

But even after the resounding cold, my Acacia baileyana bloomed a few weeks later in a spectacular display of yellow puffs, and hummed with the sound of hundreds of happy honey bees. In the first picture you can see the tree in reference to the south swale bottom. I have waited a long time to see this sight again and I was not disappointed. The trees gave the bees much needed nectar and pollen after the cold. The soldier-like calendula also suffered casualties but continues to bloom profusely despite the cold and offer much to all manner of insects.

And let me take this time to high-light another hard worker that gets far too little credit here on my little blog. The queen of the Mediterranean, the Rosemary. I planted this evergreen shrub out the second winter we were here from a tiny pot. It is on a drip but in the southern herb garden which has terrible soil and blistering sun. But right now we have the canary yellow explosion of the acacia flowering not far from the brilliant periwinkle towers of the rosemary. And the bees are in heaven. For a much smaller plant, the rosemary has almost as many bees as the acacia. So three winter bloomers for our farm: Acacia, rosemary and calendula.

I planted four more Silk Mimosas and finally pulled out the pine fern tree that was hopelessly tippy and unhappy on the west. Today we have a biting cold wind coming from the northwest at about 30mph but the day is clear and bright. The California Pepper trees planted from liners are finally big enough that they won't get lost in the grasses which are taking over as they always do. But oh, the grass is slow to green up the hills this year. Some places it's only two inches high. Looks like Dec. grass instead of mid-Feb. When I had to remove the ringed persimmon tree last month I got a chance to see what is going on in the soil profile on the south swale. And I am happy to report that much activity was found there, even some worms!
Just gotta keep encouraging Life.

Dry Enough for Ya?

2012-01-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

Ok. So here in the north central part of California at this time of year it should be raining. This is our period of moisture which gets us through the long long drought of summer. And yet here we are in January and we have had no rain this month and none in December. This leaves me with a low level of anxiety which follows me throughout the day. Each morning I wake up and hopefully look outside for clouds. Alas no, nothing but beautiful clear skies. I am learning to accept what is instead of wanting things to be different. Any body else have trouble with this lesson?
All our trees are on irrigation so they will be ok. But we find ourselves worrying about all the baby Blue Oaks who will not survive this droughty winter. It is cycles of weather like this that make it so hard for oaks to regenerate out here. We had the destruction of the 2009 grasshoppers and now the unusually dry winter of 2011-2012. We have asked people who have lived in this area for decades about this dry winter and they have said every once in while this happens. Oh my frail nerves!!!
Anyway life goes on. The goats are doing well. We have been feeding them grass hay which they don't love but since they are dry we don't need to feed them rich feed. We moved their pen to encircle the Storage Shed which caused us to be cited by CDF last summer due to high grass and now this area is down to the dirt. Thanks girls! We are going to make a huge fire break goat pen around the whole property to get them to do all the work for us.
The chickens are also doing well. They lost all their feather in the great molt of 2011 but regained them. Even Hester who seems to suffer more than the others is looking shiny and full. Finally they are looking plump and happy. Unfortunately they aren't giving us enough eggs. But there is a new grocery store in Red Bluff called Wholesome Goods and we can buy Nickler Acres eggs from there! Yippee!
Just this week we planted four Pakistani Mulberries, a Fuyu Persimmon and an Elephant Heart plum. The mulberries went on the north swale. We wish them luck here as it's an incredibly difficult site. But mulberries have proven themselves up to a challenge. We plan on planting more African Sumacs here as well to act as a wind break.
Since we lost several trees last summer I am fitting new trees with hardware cloth wire cages for the first two years of their life. We hope to keep the animal that is ringing trees from doing it again with this tactic. We shall see. I finally got a river willow to strike and set out good roots. So yesterday I could take cuttings from it and propagate some more. It is sitting on my window sill in a jar of water.

Fall Nectar Plants

2011-11-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

As I look around our farm I see the busy work of hummingbirds and various bees. Many of the paper wasps and mud daubers have gathered themselves into large groups and huddle under dry pieces of wood. But the honey bees are working double time. I think they somehow know that a cold front is approaching and rain as well. We have three star plants that really provide nectar in the fall for these bees and birds.

First up is Salvia elegans or pinapple sage. It blooms late, end of October to the beginning of November here in the Central Valley of California. With its bright red tubular flowers it is loved and protected by hummingbirds. However the bees like it too. I haven't really been able to understand how they get anything from such a long flower but they find a way. It struggles a little in the intensity of summer heat and would probably prefer a more shaded position but I don't have many spaces like that to offer. I made the mistake of cutting one back right before a freeze a few years back and the whole thing died. So now I don't cut it back hard until spring. If you don't cut them back they get really leggy and don't flower as well. They make a delicious summer tea and are easy to propagate from cuttings.

Next we have Cosmos sulphureus. They are upright annuals with bright yellow/orange flowers. They are tough and self-seed. Bees especially appreciate that they are flowering right now since most other flowers are gone. They produce a huge amount of seed and I have been spreading them around the various emitters hoping they will establish themselves. This year they have a small colony near the bridge in the basin of the south swale. Butterflies of various colors also love these flowers and I have seen several plants literally covered in them. Always a nice sight. My original seeds came from my sister's backyard where her cosmos towered over the yard next to seven foot tall sunflowers.

And lastly we have the lowly Calendula officionalis. Pot marigold as it it also known is such a tough plant. Way tougher than I thought possible. It has established itself in areas that get overspray but only intermittently. As I have mentioned sometimes the bees don't seem to like it much and then other times they swarm on it. Once we get cooler weather and some rain (which we have already) the calendula all over the farm springs awake. It is a very cheerful plant that demands almost nothing. On top of this it is a very versatile medicinal plant being most known for its wound healing abilities. What is not to love about this plant?

I am sure there are more plants that I will add to this list in the future but these are the stars of Fall. And now that we have so many more blossoms this time of year we have many more bees and hummingbirds which is always a good thing. :)

P.S.
Western Bluebirds have returned to our area for the winter/spring. Many poisonous berries are relished by birds, like poke and pyracantha. All the poke berries from the above picture are gone now. Just remember that a plant has a purpose beyond simple human use. We are part of a much larger and more intricate tapestry. Even the "weeds" play an important role. And plants should occupy a respected place in our world for being, well... plants.

Medicine all Around

2011-11-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I pulled out the poke plant (phytolacca americana) that had invaded my kaffir plant in the courtyard. Funny, every time people came over and looked in there they would ask about the huge poke plant. "What IS that?" They would say. Oh, just poke. You often find it around here growing along the road or in ditches. It has bright red stems and shiny black berries that say,"Hello, I am poisonous but don't you wonder what I taste like anyway?" Well, heh they say that to me anyway.... :)

So I pulled out the poke and found a huge root on it. It had been living there two years due to my benign neglect. I cleaned it, chopped it up and let it dry out for a day before putting it up. I made an oil out of some of the root and a tincture out of the rest. Poke is powerful plant medicine and not something to mess around with if you don't know what you are doing. It is an emetic so it will make you throw up and can stop your heart. People in the south still eat the young spring greens but you have to boil it in TWO changes of water. Is it worth the trouble? Depends on who you are. It is a powerful lymphatic cleanser and mover and helps with lingering infections. Of course I am not a doctor and these statements are based upon folklore. The seeds are the most poisonous part so eating the berries is really not a good idea.

P.S.
We have lots of Western Bluebirds who have returned to our area for winter/spring and they have eaten all the berries off our poke plants. Many berries which are poisonous to us (I am thinking pyracantha here) are relished by birds. So just a reminder that although a plant might not have an obvious human use, there are many other beings out there that make up the whole tapestry of our beautiful life. Not to mention the fact that plants should have a special respected place just for being well... plants.

Tinea

2011-10-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who got ringworm. Such an awful name for a condition that is caused by a skin fungus and not a parasitic worm. The most common locations are feet (athlete's foot), scalp and groin. Nail fungus is a very closely related fungus. We looked into what herbal preparations can help and I thought it might be a good idea to spread the word. Conventional medicine is a several month course of anti-fungicides which is still an option if these herbs don't work but they are hard on the liver. I think more gentle is the way to go at first.

When I say more gentle I am comparing to western meds. These herbs however are pretty strong as far as plants go, especially some of the essential oils so caution is warranted. We came up with a several step protocol:
1. Poor Hygiene is sometimes a large factor. So keeping everything washed and then very DRY is a necessary step.

2. Exposure to sun will help slow the spread down. This is my own intuition. Five minutes a day for the largest spot.

3. A tincture is also good for external application to help dry out the site. I used a tincture made up of Mondarda, Rose, Alder, St. John's Wort, and Mugwort. I got the idea for this combo from herbalist Kiva Rose. She is awesome and linked on the side bar under bearmedicineherbals. After applying this tincture and letting it dry, we applied the oil. I am currently making two more tinctures, one of Black Walnut and another of Calendula because I have read they are specific for ringworm topically. The black walnut is for external application only as far as I know.

4. An oil or lotion that sticks well to the site is good. Our oil is comprised of: Coconut oil, raw sesame oil, mugwort oil, with five drops Thuja essential oil, 20 drops Teatree ess. oil, 15 drops Lavender ess. oil to 1 oz. oil. To this oil mixture I also added some Echinacea tincture and some Monarda tincture to help fight any secondary infections, just s few squirts.

5. For internal use we made a tincture of Alder, Cleavers, Mondarda and Rose. 30 drops, 2xday

6. We are also giving Chinese medicine and Garlic capsules three times a day.

Being told you have ringworm is no fun. But knowing that there is something you can do for yourself or your friends helps a lot. Tinea is not easily defeated and it is contagious; be aware. It may take several months, so be patient and kind during the process. Sleep a lot, eat good nutrient dense foods and some sources say limit your intake of sugar and wheat. Pasteurized dairy might also be something to avoid.

Priorities

2011-10-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked around at your life and wondered "Why do things seem to be moving so fast, and I don't seem to be enjoying them as much as I thought?" Well I recently had that question pop into my head. We have been living in our straw-bale house for almost three years. And to be honest it took ALOT out of us to build this home. Then we got busy planting like crazy. We homeschool. Then I decided to buy goats before we were ready and we had to bust our butts getting that all ready. And then there is/was the milking two times a day. I think I have just put too much on my plate. I need to scale back and readjust the priorities of our daily life.

Sooooooooo, currently I am drying off the goats. We are going on an overseas trip mid-Oct. and I just didn't want to have the added expense and worry. I have to dry Flora off anyway since this was her first freshening. We are not breeding Bea Bea again since we don't like her milk. And then I got to thinking about vegetation cycles coinciding with breeding cycles to optimize the milk's nutrients. This would mean breeding in Aug. Yeah, August for a January kidding. This way the goats would be eating green grass when making milk for their kids and us. Since we don't get frigid weather it makes more sense. August is far away from now. So if I do go through with this plan then we won't have fresh milk again for a year and a half. I am still deciding.

The garden took a back seat to the goats this season. Actually I think it got out and decided to walk. It was pretty pitiful. I need and want to focus this next year on getting the garden to the level of production that I envisioned when I moved here. And we are so far from that right now. As much as I want to, I can't do both the goats and the garden construction. But once things are up and running in the garden then the goats will be more an asset than a drain. Right now I have loads of goat manure waiting to go onto the garden beds. The chickens are doing a great job of gleaning and scratching and I need to plant a cover crop soon to turn in.
Pacific tree frog diggin' it at the mini-pond on the west side in the below picture:

We want to build a green house, a shade house, a mini grey water pond system and construct more raised beds. I really want to do these projects this next building/working cycle. So I need to focus our efforts and not get side-tracked again. I have a few trees I want to add or replace but the major perennial planting is on hold while we assess which plants did well and where we want to expand. There is also the question of water. Some of our irrigation lines are getting maxed out.

There are only so many hours in the day. And for us only so many months where working is realistic. Also we have obligations which are not farm related such as apprenticing, raising and tending to children, various hobbies

and visiting with friends and family. But I do have a great sense of accomplishment when I look around and see our trees growing, our biodiversity increasing, and our children getting excited about their land really turning into a permaculture farm instead of just a vast expanse of wild oats. So onward! But keep your priorities in line with your heart. :)

Confessions from the Grassland

2011-09-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

We live in a grassland/oak savannah prone to devastating fires, like most of the West. I have family members who have lost everything in fires. I am scared of fires. However, I am not willing to live in an environment which is completely fire safe. That would entail concrete or gravel 100 feet around my home. There are new laws now in CA that the clearance around your home must be 100 feet. I don't dispute that this will stop fires or slow them down. I also don't dispute that this 100 feet clearance will make fighting fires much much easier for the brave men and women who are fire fighters. I simply don't choose to live the most safe. I am actively planting trees within this 100 foot area which in essence is increasing the fire load. This is after all sector 1, encroaching on sector 2. The key as I see it, is to keep this area trimmed of dead stuff, and well irrigated. I can't always let things go to seed and get all mangy even if it does help out the birds and insects.

This year we got cited by CDF for failure to keep our grass low enough around out- buildings. This was sadly true. I have no excuse; we didn't mow enough. But just yesterday I got my scythe in the mail!! And now I can mow and then Stephen can weed whack and the whole thing will be much easier. Since we do not have a tractor with a mower attachment (or a tractor for that matter) mowing this time of year is very tricky. We bought my scythe through https://scythesupply.com/. I say "my" scythe because this scythe was made based upon my measurements. So no one can us it but me... well not super efficiently anyway. Unless you have freakishly short arms like I do and are the same height. This company was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Scythe's intimidate me. There is so much jargon. But they helped me pick a blade based upon my needs. In case you are interested I got the 24 inch Ditch blade with a Maine ash snath.
So here are the pics of "after" we did our best to comply. Hope they think so too.

Just as an aside. We do have an eight foot wrap around porch which IS concrete and would stop or slow a fire. Our house does not touch bare earth so in that way we are more fire safe than most houses and we do have a metal roof.

Epic Journey

2011-09-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you really want something you are willing to go to great lengths to get it. This was the case when we saw on Craigslist a 2002 Toyota Tacoma Truck with extended cab for sale. Even though it was in Eldorado Hills (three hours away) we made the journey with our two kids in tow. And even though we had to get it checked by a mechanic, smog-ed, and then drive to the nearest credit union which was another 35 minutes away we did that. And even though this was a private sale and it took another hour plus to sign all the papers, we did that. And even though they run FOX news at our credit union and the kids were starting to bounce off the walls we stayed strong. And even though after all this we then had to make the three hour drive back home again in separate cars, we did that.

And because of all this we have a beautiful truck in our driveway and finally a reliable truck for our family. Yippeee:

It's Not Over Until the ... until I Say So

2011-08-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

There were many disappointments with the initial shrub layer plantings of 2009. As you may remember the Red Buds did the worst. Followed by mismanagement of water on our parts and the demise of the olives and bottlebrush. Harsh lessons. However, I held back my judgement of the Russian Olives because I wanted to give them a good chance, so to with the Scotch Broom. And I am glad that I did. In the picture above you can see the star of our tree/shrub layer, the acacia baileyana which out grew all other trees and shrubs that first year. It casts shade now and is a lovely shade of purple-grey/teal.

On the outside of the south swale's berm, we have what is amounting to a wall of Russian Olives. This was the plan for the whole swale both north and south. This was what I had hoped would protect these fruit trees from grasshoppers and deer. For two years these russian olives that survived just sat there and then BAM they got HUGE! None of them have flowered yet but I am stunned by how large they have gotten. We only have maybe 1/4 of the russian olives we planted out. Again due to my overly optimistic ideas of what it means to be drought tolerant many died from lack of water. I can only imagine what we would have had if they all had survived. You can see them in this picture below, they are the silvery looking trees downslope.

The Scotch Broom proved resilient although to be fair to the Russians, they got closer locations to emitters. ALL the scotch broom on the north swale died but we think the irrigation was broken for a few weeks and we didn't know. All the scotch broom on the south swale survived and I have been chopping and dropping. Only maybe three Red Buds are still around, which I really don't understand because they are native and you see them along the highway.

In other frustrating news we have a jackrabbit or gopher or something eating around the bottoms of some of our fruit trees. I thought the elephant heart plum looked ragged. Finally got a chance to take a closer look and its been ringed at the very bottom. Poor thing. I don't know what to do now but try and protect it from further damage. I don't mind sharing but killing off the tree is not sharing! Our orange has suffered the same fate. Neither tree is dead but I don't know why. And for a completely unknown reason our Pluot looks like it died. It never did do well, limping along while the other fruit trees surged ahead in growth. I am sorry since pluots are so yummy. Ah well. Found out the nursery in Red Bluff carries the Bordeaux- like oil I need to spray the peach trees this winter. And Martins nursery in Corning has fall veggie starts.

When I look out onto our plantings now I can see we are winning. After the grasshoppers of '09 and hungry deer, I really wondered how things would ever get a chance to grow. I began to wonder if they could grow. But now, it's just amazing. Especially the southeast wind guild has really gotten so much more lush and larger. You can see this in the picture below. What I really love about this guild is it's evergreen. And I know from observation that once a site reaches a certain density and age of plantings then things just kind of take off exponentially. I am excited to report we are starting to make good headway towards this goal!

Cast of Characters

2011-08-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

We have a new cast member here at Symbiosis Farms. No, it's not another goat or chicken or dog or cat. It's a new spider. We have lived here on our land for almost three years now. We must have reached a tipping point because the common garden orb weaver spider has finally found a home with us.

Yes, most people probably don't even notice these guys they are so commonly seen. But not for us. We had Daddy- Long legs, Cellar Spiders, Wolf spiders, various house spiders, Black Widows and Crab Spiders. But this summer I noticed the web before the spider. Orb weavers as their names suggests weave the elaborate intricate web a la Charlotte's web. Apparently Orb Weavers re-weave these wonders every day. Now in another post I talked about mud daubers. I have seen several daubers flying awkwardly carrying a stunned orb weaver. And although orb weavers can look as poisonous if not more so than black widows, they don't trouble humans, even with their crazy markings. Their webs are quite strong and you notice them when you accidentally walk through one. For us, a strong web like that would mean black widows and caution. Upon closer examination however, their webs are nothing alike; black widows construct chaotic crossings of web strands but initially it was a little scary.

I don't know for sure what it means that we have orb weavers now. But if diversity equals resilience than we just got a little bit stronger. :) Now if only I could get Scrub Jays to make a home somewhere close by. I know most people would love to box them up and send them to me, but unfortunately they are picky about where they live.

On My Desk

2011-08-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

Let's see what is on my messy desk:
A pot I recently made at a hand-building ceramics class with my daughter Una. We used the coil technique.
Next to that is a bottle of organic Sea Buckthorn Berry Oil which has been remarkable in healing two small self-inflicted wounds on my arm. These wounds were made by applying Bloodroot paste to some suspect patches of skin. It was painful but now they are gone.
Edible Shasta-Butte magazine which has an incredible article on dry/grassland lamb farming.
Living with the Devil by Batchelor
Nourishing Traditions by Fallon
Bioshelter Market Garden by Frey

And the above picture features some tinctures I have made this summer:
St. John's Wort
elder flower/evening primrose
wild prickly lettuce
Mugwort/rue/southernwood

I think I may put the elder flower/evening primrose into an elixir since its so slimy anyway!

Out of Sight, Off site

2011-08-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting and troubling article about the toxic stuff in card board now a days. You can read it here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/andy-firk/toxic-cardboard-an-organic-gardening-expose-by-andy-firk/10150263889289782
Maybe when Mollison et. al discovered the usefulness of cardboard as mulch the stuff was not so full of plastics and chemicals. Or maybe it's always been more problematic than I thought. But talking with Bob Burns of http://udanwest.blogspot.com/ some important points came to light.

First, sometimes card board is the only way to start amending the soil, putting moisture back into the soil, creating a haven for worms and bugs and suppressing other plants that make it harder to plant perennials or/and food. Sometimes card board is the only thing on- site for such a project. Sometimes we have no money to import off site resources.

Second, when you create these conditions fungi almost always show up and these have an amazing ability to isolate, trap, or alter potentially toxic metals and I imagine plastics. If you are interested in this please read Paul Stamets books.

And lastly, where should our garbage like card board go? Sure you can toss it in the recycle bin but that only delays the problem and compounds the toxic load in the end product. Either we figure out a way to deal with our stuff or we push it off onto others to whom we pay.

Currently, China is the industrial world's garbage dump. They take the highly toxic refuse from computers, cell phones and other electrical machinery and manually, back-breakingly sift through it. But the people who do this are forced to by poverty. The places where they do this are poisoned, blackened and sick. And of course the water that runs through these places carries the toxic particulates out to sea. So we push our radioactive and toxic garbage away but ultimately it comes back in the water, in the air, in the food we import or the card board that comes with the stuff we buy.

So is card board non-toxic? No. Is it still useful? Does it still have a place in a permaculture design. I would say yes. If you are planning a certified, USDA organic farm then maybe the answer is no. But as the whole world gets more contaminated we are going to have to make hard decisions by taking responsibility for what we buy, what we bring to our site and what state the world really is in. Creating islands of purity might be attractive (as long as you are one of the people who has access to it) but we can't truly isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. In that way globalism is a harsh reality. The crazy, strange card board that comes out of China or even Washington IS here. Now what do we do with it?

For too long people in America have been able to send to the dump the things they reject, dislike, grow tired of, find revolting or know to be toxic. And yet we all realize don't we that dumps are just huge holes we have dug in the earth and filled with our filth right? We all know the garbage hasn't really gone anywhere.

Goat Milk Tasting

2011-08-05T11:42:00.001-07:00

So. Been milking Flora and Bea Bea for a good while now. And their milk tastes very different. Flora has milk that is some of the best milk I have had. It's rich and creamy and dreamy just like raw Jersey cow milk but it doesn't separate and it's not yellowish, it's pure white. Bea Bea on the other hand has a much more minerally taste to her milk, which I don't mind but doesn't taste like cow's milk at all. I use her milk for kefir, yogurt and cooking. The kids love Flora's milk and drink it readily.

Here is the thing. Bea Bea is still nursing her doeling Lula whom we kept from the last breeding. When we had all the wethers here Lula never got a chance to nurse given her pushy brothers. I thought she was weaned and I think she was. But then they left and she started nursing again. I think the fact that she is nursing might have something to do with the difference in milk taste. Flora has no kids around. I have to separate Lula from Bea Bea at night otherwise I get no milk! Most people would separate the kids from the milking does permanently. But for us this is not an option for two reasons. One, we have no separate pen for kids. Two, if we did, then Lula would be alone since we have no other kids. So for now she will just keep stealing our milk. Or we will just keep stealing her milk. :)

I also purchased a Henry Milker. It's small, portable and does an ok job. When Bea Bea is very full in the morning it can get out half her milk. But since the unit does not pulse it only applies direct pressure, it doesn't massage enough to get it all out. Regular standard milkers are much more expensive and you have to bring a generator with you to power the things. This milker is vacuum powered with a hand pump. I still like it although I wish it emptied their udders. I do like how it's simple to clean, quiet and easy to set up. Recently we had to leave unexpectedly and had to rely on a friend who hadn't milked before to milk the goats. Turned our he was a natural (thank you Alfred!) but he used the milker as well.

Flower Power Elixir

2011-07-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

I read about a woman who makes flower tincture in the summer with many garden flowers which are good for when you feel a flu or cold coming. Kiva Rose talks a lot about her love of rose and elder flower/berry elixir. Then I thought, "I have some great flowers for that too in my garden!" So out I went to collect these flowers (and a few leaves):
Hyssop
Yarrow
Rose
Lemon Balm
Oregano
Bee Balm
Honeysuckle
Lavender
St. John's Wort
Hollyhock
Marjoram
Silk Mimosa

I put all these beauties in a wide mouthed quart canning jar. Then I added about 25% Everclear and 75% local raw honey. It was quite strong after two weeks so I decanted it. Soon after this the kids got a little sick from summer camp. I had them both take some elixir and I took several spoonfuls (no fun for anyone if mama gets sick). I am happy to say that I did not get sick and the kids were only mildly sick for a day or two. But WOW it is strong stuff. I think the Mondarda, Hyssop and Oregano really pack a punch. :) The kids also took the Chinese medicine Yin Chiao which we think also helped move the bug through there system quickly. My husband is studying to become a Chinese acupuncturist so herbs are everywhere at our house both Eastern and Western.

The Tough Ones

2011-07-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a post dedicated to those plants that have been able to withstand and some even flourish under our very difficult growing environment.

First let's talk about a permaculture favorite Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus). They like sun. They need a little water. They multiply like rabbits. Their tubers are edible and their leaves and stalks make excellent forage. The bees like the flowers and when dried they make excellent kindling. They can grow up to 8 feet tall and two inches in diameter. I placed them in the northeast sector which gets blasted by drying winds. They create a buffer and shade for other plants which in addition to water is the one major necessity of many plants here. If a plant says full sun on the tag, for us it would do better with part sun. Only the tough ones can take FULL sun and still grow well.

The next one I want to talk about is Bottlebrush (Callistemon). The grasshoppers don't really like this plant and neither do the deer so it's a good candidate for some of our most challenging locations, ie. north sector above the pump house, down slope of south swale and southeast storm evergreen guild. It does like the full sun and seems rather stunted if it gets shaded by wild oats in spring or has to compete with weeds for water. It doesn't grow incredibly fast but it's tough no doubt and evergreen which is a huge plus for us.

African Sumac (Rhus lancea) has performed outstandingly here. I would suggest anyone with similar conditions to us, terrible wind, blistering sun, little shade and clay soil, to give African Sumac a go. It grows pretty fast with slender, pointed leaves which are evergreen. Once again a huge bonus. The plant can get fifteen feet tall in maturity as you can see on the exit off of I-5 at Orland. It can be trained into a tree form or a very large bush. Chickens like the seeds and goats love the leaves. I don't know yet if its good for them but there it is. The grasshoppers will eat it in an invasion year but they don't kill it. The deer don't seem to care for it at all. Hooray for African Sumac!

Another Australian plant is Grevillea x 'Noell'. We got ours at Orchard and some at Home Depot. They are getting easier to find. They are beautiful and tough as nails. I have one planted on the north slope which has the worst soil, even star thistles are stunted here. And although its not growing like crazy, it is growing. The deer AND the grasshoppers absolutely do not like this plant which is awesome. It can grow to be quite a large bushy shrub but it doesn't grow but moderately fast. It is evergreen which again is wonderful. It has unusual flowers that the hummingbirds go crazy for which is how I first discovered it. Those hummers know where it's at.

Silk Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) is another plant that deserves mention. It is amazing the varying types of conditions this tree can handle. While it can withstand little water and baking in the valley heat, we have friends who live in Cohasset and it flourishes there as well which gets snow. They even gave us some starts since their trees set so much seed. People call these messy trees due to the leaf litter and volunteer seedlings. But I love them so much. And so do the bees of all sorts, butterflies, and hummingbirds. I actually saw a new type of butterfly due to our mimosa flowering so much this year. And recently I discovered they are medicinal. Oh, and the flowers smell divine.

Mulberry (Morus nigra/alba) trees are a love of mine. They are tough, grow fast with some water and some give fruit. Goats love the leaves and I love the berries. They are also used in Chinese medicine. What more could you ask for in a tree? I prefer the black variety like black beauty and pakistan varieties but there are white ones from Australia which are also good. You can get ones that don't produce fruit, as we have, which will help with the fruit production of the others.

So there you have our list of the toughest of the tough. Recently I planted out a Black Locust started from seed (can't find them in commerce here) and a Honey Locust also started from seed. You can find Honey Locusts I know since they are planted in the Raley's parking lot in Chico but I don't know from where. Some of my seed actually came from here. I think these trees will also prove to be good candidates. My Osage Orange is getting big enough to plant out this wet season. I started it from seed as well. I tell you, starting trees from seed is a three year endeavor at least. But if they live and flourish then it will all have been worth it. In other news the Siberian Peashrubs are struggling and several died. The poor soil, heat and grasshoppers are no friend to them. We will see. The Sand Cherry and Nanking Cherry are doing ok though thus far.

Nature Has No Idle Players

2011-07-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

I just over heard/read? (on facebook) an interesting conversation about weeds. An herbalist/plant lover claimed to really love some weeds but then went on to say that many weeds were eating her home state alive and needed to be ripped out and destroyed. Kudzu vines taking over houses and old cars come to mind. Usually this kind of comment comes from people who live in wetter climates, like people who fight water hyacinth in Florida waterways or English ivy in the Pacific Northwest forests. But I have also heard people say that white horehound will take over drier areas and keep other plants from establishing themselves as well as the intensely bad reputation which follows tamarisk in the Southwest. I don't dispute that in degraded landscapes or those that are ripped open some plants are VERY opportunistic.

But when people advocate using herbicides on weeds, I find it outrageous given my belief that everything is connected. You can't just treat one part of nature with complete contempt and hatred and then expect that nothing outside your circle of hatred will be affected. Do I personally like devastation grasshoppers, star thistle, and puncture vine? Well, not usually. But do I want to destroy the short term environment just to eradicate them?, No. And the reason is I don't know enough to anticipate what the affected will be by an act of wanton destruction like that. Humans continue to think we can selectively destroy with chemicals, when in actuality we always end up with much more "collateral damage" than we anticipated. And no matter how you look at it, when you spend the weekend ripping out English Ivy, Kudzu, or Purple Loosestrife you are indeed fighting Nature's attempts to cover with green life.

When I read that there are NO redeeming wildlife uses for these damned plants, I know the writer is not being objective. ALL plants have a purpose. It may not be for people or even the native, spotted salamander we have deemed more important than starlings or fruit flies but I guarantee there are parts they play in the web of life. Nature has no idle players. We as permaculture planners have to weigh what we should pull, or mulch and what we should encourage or plant. It depends on the site. Are you designing for a suburban garden? an abandoned lot? degraded range land? riparian canyons? I am not saying I never cull plants or animals. I do.

It's the broad-scale hatred and poisoning of unwanted plants and animals that I can't support. Will I plant giant reed or even tamarisk on the land I steward? Well, I haven't yet. Would I support the bulldozing of huge stands of tamarisk just to make the land more "native and pure." No, because you have tamarisk colonies due to changes made to the creek or river by people. I have seen time and again in my own area sometimes tamarisk or giant reed is the only green thing in a dry river bed. Take it out and you have no plant life at all. Bad for all life considering just the erosion problem. In this example these river beds used to support, cottonwoods, mulefat, alder, elder, willow, mugwort, sedges, rushes and oaks to name a few. But either due to cattle range practices, diversion of water resources, gravel removal or something else, these species are gone. I think it's wrong to blame the tamarisk. Do they make it harder for the natives to re-establish themselves. Yes I think they do. But ask me if I think the natives will re-establish themselves even if the tamarisk are gone without large human input and/or vast amounts of time and the answer is sadly no. Nature is doing what it can in this instance and so many more.

I don't claim weeds are not pushy plants and I recognize with respect their power of growth. Each weed is a case by case consideration. For example Tree of Heaven makes me pause. I have seen a huge, mature Ailanthus altissma which was a thing of beauty and life giving shade here in the valley. And then I have seen groves of it shading out baby oaks in creek wetlands. But then I have to ask myself, Was it out-competing the oaks because of allelopathic properties or because cows and deer eat oaks and not tree of heaven? And what about those cow and deer numbers?

A plant's desirability for a site depends on the situation and each designer must weigh these. But most if not all "bad" runaway weeds only get this way once the intact ecosystem has been bulldozed, stressed, burned, eroded, grazed down or washed out. I always think of weeds as Nature's band aid to the wounds inflicted by man. Do I want a bunch of poison oak on my land? No! But it sure keeps vulnerable soil protected. As Richo Cech says, "there are no invasive plants, only people are invasive."

Bindweed and Stings

2011-07-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

So one of our beds in the perennial herb garden is over run with Convolvulus arvensis or field bindweed. I made a decision (let's call it that) not to pull the bindweed out. I reasoned to myself that I wasn't going to plant anything there this season and the bindweed would shade the soil/mulch and keep it from blowing away and drying out so badly. True, true. But the bindweed will also go to seed. So this is my question. Which is worse, to leave the soil bare and have it bake in the sun, or have the mulch be blown off or leave it covered by an potentially pushy weed? I will keep you updated. I do pull it off already established plants in these beds from time to time. It does pull and smother. I have also been looking to see if it has any medicinal uses. I seem to recall Juliette de Bairacli Levy using it for something in one of her books. But although there is some research into the plant's anti-cancer properties, I also came across many references to its potential toxicity and emetic qualities. hmmm.

I got a bad sting today from an unknown assailant. This is the second time I have been pulling a plant out and something stung me for my trouble. A very sharp burning kind of sting and my finger swells up and is very painful all the way to the joint. I immediately put chewed plantain on it which helps with bee stings but not so much with this sting. Then I chewed up some calendula flowers and leaves and put that on it. This seemed to help. In the evening I put St. John's Wort Oil on it as well as rubbed in St. John's Wort tincture. The tincture really seemed to help with the itching and burning that was going on underneath the skin. Since I milk goats I had to use the finger and thus push the toxin around. After milking it would swell up more. After three days it seems to be returning to normal. Wearing gloves when pulling plants out is the obvious solution to this problem. But they are also the things I most often can't find when I need them. Kiva Rose, an herbalist says that peach twig/leaf tincture is also very good for bad stings, bites and inflammation. I just recently purchased some of this.

This incident highlights several things for me. One, I am glad I introduced plantain into my garden. Two, I am glad I didn't give up on the easiest medicinal, calendula, and Three, I am so grateful I have the nefarious/lovable (depending on whom you ask) St. John's Wort in my garden and that I had both the oil and the tincture on hand. Also this is the first year that the St. John's Wort has flowered profusely and boy! do the bees and bumble bees in particular love love love this plant. I had to take a double take but the Co-Op in Chico had small St. Johns Wort plants for sale last week from Grub. I was so happy to see it in commerce. :)

Special Places

2011-07-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today we spent a wonderful afternoon at the creek about three miles from our house. After wading across the creek,we put our chairs under the bridge. Then we swam to a deeper area shaded by willows. Fish swam around our legs and hands. Dragonflies zoomed to and fro. The kids had that look you get when you are a kid and everything is just perfect, so perfect you feel like you will explode with happiness. I gazed up at the sky through the tree branches and let my body float in the creek water. Some years this creek is dry by now. But this year it's still quite full and wonderful; just the right temperature and quite clear. On the far bank, a massive group of mature cottonwoods danced in the breeze and the brilliant blue skies beyond them glowed bright. Cows came by farther downstream to drink and check us out. The whole scene filled me up with joy and contentment. Then we went to Flournoy and had lunch. Ah... the perfect day. :)

North Central Valley California Permaculture

2011-07-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

Whew, that's a long and cumbersome title. Anyway, when I first started this blog there were no other North Central Valley California Permaculture sites or blogs that I could find. Now there are two others that I know of and probably more in the works. This is a great development for everyone who lives in this area. The more information out there about permaculture and related topics to be shared, the better. :)

These guys are permaculture teachers who recently relocated to rural Red Bluff on a few acres:
http://udanwest.blogspot.com/

and this one from Chico started the same time I did but I just found it:
http://permacal.blogspot.com/

So if you read my blog and you live in this area or in an area with a similar climate, then check out these two as well. Between us all there are bound to be some good ideas for you. Happy Permaculturing!

Work when its Wet

2011-06-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Flowers in a photo of the north back-filled area near the pump house. They get some water but are in a self-seeding cycle. Last year this area was dominated by red flowers and this year the yellow ones are winning. Things are always in flux and the natural world finds its balance.

Since we got that really odd, late rain yesterday I took advantage of the moist soil. I went all through the north swale and uncovered all the hidden irrigation emitters. Even on this dry and wind exposed site, it's amazing the transformation. The purple vetch is definitely the winner here and it covers the swale in a now decaying mulch. As I pulled away the litter I found a world of bug activity and even earth worms!!! The apples and african sumacs and mulberries are all still alive here. I also pulled out a huge number of yellow star thistle and uncovered the bottle brush that was covered by either vetch or dried grass. They do better in the full sun, Australians that they are. And did I mention the yucca like plant on the north flowered? Underneath the blanket of vetch was also a pomegranate which I thought I had lost in the grasshopper invasion of '09.
Here is the flowering yucca like plant.

Here are the recently uncovered Bottlebrush:

Here is a pic of the north swale and the fruit trees and African Sumacs, the only green here for now.

We had some causalities as we often do during the spring/summer transition. I lost a fig (I think stuff was going on underground) my beloved desert willow, and the elecampane had decided to go into hiding. Its still there but in miniature. Maybe it doesn't like its wormwood neighbor. Anyway I planted a vitex here and a pomegranate I started from seed under the silk mimosa which is blooming!!! The grindelias decided to dominate their bed this year after two years of quiet living. And my Echinacea I started from seed flowered!!! And the one I bought as a plant is thinking about it. For whatever reason I have not had good luck with Echinacea in the past. I planted two different black locusts I started from gleened seed. I have several trees started from seed, probably peaches, which are doing very well indeed. And my apples from seed are vigorous. I think I will plant them out this next wet season. (These fruit trees from seed will probably not bear fruit which is good out of hand but they will provide many other things and I like doing it.)
Echinacea:

Mis-planted astragalus or licorice. Has since been replaced with a real Black Locust. Silly me!

Flowering Silk Mimosa (which has a small pomegranate underneath it):

Apple tree started from seed:

The black walnut which volunteered in the south swale basin is getting very big. And we have several other trees trying to make a go of it here, valley oaks, a blue oak and an unidentified tree. The acacias are for the most part bouncing back from their slow start. The English Walnut we planted has finally leafed out after a very long sleep. The thing was huge even in its bareroot phase. Also the Western Mugwort which I introduced to the south east swale basin has increased in size. It gets very little to no irrigation. I see it along the banks of the Sacramento River doing the same thing.

Note to self: Do not buy trees that are very small. Get only good sized bare root trees and good sized potted trees. The little guys just can't seem to gain a root hold fast enough before the onslaught of sun and drying wind. We bought some clementines and oranges from Home Depot last year which were about 8 inches tall in long potted sleeves. They either died or are still struggling. Jury is still out I guess but at this rate I won't be around to see them fruit. If you plant them earlier then you run the risk of them dying from cold. Tricky tricky those citrus.

This is our Harcot Apricot in the foreground and a mulberry in the background. They were planted winter '09. What I want you to notice is the SHADE they are casting. You can actually stand under these two trees planted on our swale and be in the shade. This small thing is such a huge accomplishment for us. And they are big enough to withstand some deer pruning without being killed.

Rain in the Summer

2011-06-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

For many parts of the world rain in the summer is a given. For us here in the extreme Mediterranean part of California it is strange and unusual. The kind of weather that has you looking out of the windows in wonder. I wrote a long post about what is normal in terms of weather (which I have not posted!). I guess weather doesn't have a normal that you can really experience. It has cycles and averages, long trends and expectations through forecasts. We have lived here in the North State for ten years now, which is a record for me. And this is the first summer rain system that we have ever experienced. What does it mean?

Oh, I don't know. I don't know much about weather actually. But in practical ways it means less fire danger in the beginning of summer and maybe more at the end. It means we won't have to crank up the irrigation to watering twice a week for a few more weeks now. It may mean less harvest for the people who grow peaches and almonds. When the rain comes in this kind of many hour drizzle, it means slower, deeper water penetration to much lower levels of soil. Good thing. The star thistle and wild lettuce will grow better and bigger. Maybe more baby oaks will survive their first summer? The grasshoppers won't be happy; they like it hot and dry but I don't know if it will alter their numbers.

A friend told us that our part of California was heading into a more wet phase after being in a drier cycle for a few years. I remember I did some reading on drought research data collected back to the 800's and 1300s from soil samples and some of the past drought cycles have lasted 30-50 years with very little rain at all. In that context normal for one generation would be so different than normal for the next. And what is "normal" for my generation may be vastly different from the normal weather for my grand kids.

But the rain is nice.

Live and Let Live

2011-06-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been considering the insects around the farm. I have written about and photographed ants, lizards (which I miss), dragonflies, butterflies, bumblebees, and honey bees. If you were to come to my house right now (though it would be a very hot and windy visit) you would see many paper wasps flying around under the eaves. They might make you wonder if it was safe to come any closer to our front door. But for the most part you would not need to worry. Here is a link to a good review of them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_wasp

Ours are more black and yellow rather than the brownish red ones. When we first started building here we would tear down their nests when they built them near entrances. We didn't know but we thought they might attack us. But soon laziness got the better of us and we left them. We have found that when you don't bother them, they don't bother you. Sometimes they land in your hair when they first fall from their nest but we have never been stung. Wasps are considered beneficial but most people fight to keep them away from their homes. However, they are very unlike yellow jackets who look similar but don't have the hyper narrow waist and are more fast flying and VERY aggressive. Luckily we don't have yellow jackets. The paper wasps eat many bugs that pose a threat to garden veggies and they like to eat flies. Come summer we get a huge amount of flies. Right now I feel sorry for the goats due to this fact. I wish some paper wasps would set up shop over there actually. The heat never seems to get them down.

Another resident here is the mud dauber. You can see a photo of it and some bio here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_dauber

They eat some nectar but mostly like insects, especially spiders. They are said to cram their larders full of spiders and know just where to find them. Some even prefer black widows which we have in abundance. I had no idea these slow flying, seemingly mild wasps were such fierce hunters of spiders. Nature is full of surprises and oddities. Given the extreme thinness and extension of their waists, it seems almost impossible mud daubers don't snap in two. But of all the dead bodies I have seen, they hardly ever break here. When we had the grasshopper invasion in 2009 the wasps loved to pick up the carnage of dead and dying grasshoppers from the porch and carry them back to their nests. I must say I liked them for that. Is that wrong?

We Can All be an Oasis

2011-06-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

If you investigate dry(ish) landscapes long enough you come across the idea that plants in these areas need to be planted far apart. This allows for the plants to not have to compete with each other for moisture. In the drylands chapter of PDM Mollison talks about this and advises planting trees like Palms, olives and pomegranates farther apart. And looking at a new DVD http://www.foodforest.com.au/Design%20for%20Life.html I saw that their orchards of pistachios and olives were indeed planted far apart due to an extreme shortage of water in their region.

I was thinking about this while out in my perennial herb garden today. The plants that are doing the best are the ones that are not set apart. The plants that seem to be doing the best are the ones that are getting water AND have other plant partners around them. And this is true even in our harsh dry and hot summer climate. The plants shade each other which is a big advantage and they bring different ingredients to the soil life. Of course this would not work if we did not water them, or if they were water stressed. And in an orchard operation where you are supporting a large number of nut trees or fruit trees with very little ground cover due to extreme drought conditions this would not work. But micro-habitats like those close to the house even in dryland regions, need not be sparse xeriscapes and I argue they should not be.

Our swales (a total of 350 feet) which support around 45 trees are indeed planted densely. Many different plants live on the swale, ground covers, herbs, veggies, shrubs, and trees. We did not reseed this year and we still got a lot of diversity. The swales will change from year to year and we may add more seeds when certain plants we want die out. This year we had a lot of white clover which we did not have last year. And the red clover spread to areas which surprised us. Also as I mentioned in a previous post the carrots really enjoy the swale, but recently I noticed that parsley has also grown into a huge planting and gone to flower as well. I never had luck growing parsley in the garden. Go figure. When the swale soil is bare and exposed to the wind and the sun nothing grows there. Shade, mulch, moisture and plants are the only things that keep soils healthy even in dry regions.

Many people in an attempt to cut water bills in dry regions have ripped out almost all plants and replaced them with garden sculpture, pebbles and a few cacti. They think they are doing a good thing. And in terms of straight water usage maybe they are. Many fancy houses in dry landscapes showcase gardens that look a lot like modern art. Stark, strong, clean lines, dry pebbles or sand and geometric shapes are very fashionable of late. And while I think they are pretty, I find these fashions troubling. Where is the water going that flows from these houses? Where is the fertility that should be spilling out the edges? Where is the life?

In terms of their own home's comfort (its micro-climate), their neighborhood's bio-diversity and the cycling of nutrients on site, these modern xeriscapes are certainly not helping a dried out situation. If the home stays like this than it is a foregone conclusion that everything is imported from off-site. Some dry areas have sandy soils which have good drainage but terribly low soil nutrients. And some dry regions have clay soils which while rich in nutrients can be suffocating and dry as cement in summer. But shade, mulch, moisture and plants can bring life back to both these kinds of soils. And it is never too late. Nature has an amazing ability to wait and wait until the circumstances are right and then spring back to life. It happened here on our land and it can happen anywhere I think. Mushrooms in the desert? You betcha!

Wherever you are, you are a hub of life in your small part of the world (notice I did not say the hub of life). We all are. We all produce waste water, kitchen waste, food waste, body waste and we can all plant something, nurture something no matter how small. Humans can be profoundly destructive. But we can also design our environments in such a way that we aid and abet the full and magnificent regenerative power of Nature. Won't you help?

Common Good

2011-06-10T13:17:00.001-07:00

More thoughts on Vandana Shiva's interview. She talks a lot about the common good. An idea which I think has been somewhat lost in the USA. As long as half of the voting public believes that the real problems stem from the other half and not corporate welfare, we are really running in circles. When a powerful entity needs freedom from scrutiny what do they do? Get the people to fight with each other. So currently Republicans blame Obama's spending and printing more money. Democrats blame wars in the Middle East and bad fiscal decisions from previous administrations. Meanwhile corporations like Monsanto and Cargill are posting record earnings. Did I hear that BP will come out ahead after everything that they did in the Gulf of Mexico?!! We Americans keep poking each other in the eyes with sticks until no one can see anything. We attack each other but allow our democracy as well as our seeds, water and air to be sold out from under us.

The common good. What should be considered the common good? Clean Seeds, clean water, clean land and clean air should be considered the common good, rights for all people regardless. No one should be allowed to defile, patent, or privatize these things to such an extent that they are unusable. Uh oh. Does that sounds like some kind of pinko socialist mumbo-jumbo? God I hope not. Have we come so far that we can't even utter the word common rights without ghosts of the USSR coming up? Does socialism and communism own the ideals of universal community rights? I seem to remember something in our constitution about life and liberty....

Sometimes it feels like if you say your community supported you in your time of need and you are referring to your church, you are American A- OK. But if you say your community supported you and you are actually referring to your town or neighborhood, you must be some kind of leach. What happened to the notion of secular civic duty, common good, community service (that doesn't involve probation?)

Dr. Shiva repeated this notion: When state power and corporate power converge you have Fascism. Now think about that. Our own government protects and supports fundamentally corporate power. Corporate power repels any and all attempts to stem its power with campaign finance reform via lobbyists. Try to curtail special interests aimed at benefiting corporations and OMG! you hate money! you are trying to bring down the whole economy so you can hug a tree!! The whole dialogue just turns farcical. Sovereign countries are beholden to the dictates of WTO and GATT which are both trade organizations. Are we still a democracy or do we just pretend to be one?

Vandanda Shiva also mentioned civil disobedience. She said civil disobedience is not recognizing for example the patents that you deem unjust and morally wrong. Could Monsanto take you to court? Yes and they have many times. But they can't take all of us to court. Simply stating I will not co-operate with that policy can be very powerful if millions of people do it. But she also pointed out that some issues like patents need to be fought through the courts and the U.N.

The coming decades will be turbulent. As countries compete for control over many dwindling resources conflict becomes more likely. And if we allow the complete privatization of the world's systems like fresh water, clean air, and seed production then we are in fact denying it to the world's poor. And there is nothing democratic about that. The common good belongs to us all and should be protected by all of us.

My Milking Gear

2011-06-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post about my milking stuff. I looked around at lots of different goat blogs to get a feel for what other people used. And of course I looked at Hoegger's and Caprine Supply. You can really go over board on the milking paraphernalia. The main thing for me was to get good quality, absolutely essential things. Also since I milk Nigerian Dwarfs some of the equipment is just plain overkill, like milking totes and regular sized buckets.

The glass jar has measurements on the side. It's not super accurate but it's good enough for me. It's an old Prego jar. The small sized funnel is from Hoegger's. And used with it but not in the picture are the mini-filters from the same place. This is what I use to filter out debris from the milk. The stainless steel bucket is a 2 quart pet bucket I got on ebay for $15. It is seamless and does the job. Since I am now getting 2.5 pounds of milk a day, which is roughly 40 ounces give or take, I also bring another small glass jar with a lid. The only other thing I use are WipeOut wipes from Hoegger's. They have a good anti-bacterial ingredient which is derived from wood and not harsh like bleach. I bring everything to the milking parlor in the morning balanced in this metal carrier. In the future if I get more milk I could filter into half-gallon jars which fit nicely in the sides. My milking is pretty no nonsense, low input. But I am happy with it. The construction of the goat shed, the price of the does plus the fencing cost more than I had originally figured, so saving money in other areas is all good. :)