Urban Herbalist and Sundry Other Projects: A Reminder

[Faunus]

I'm kinda putting together a note to self regarding what I'd like to accomplish wherever I am, wherever I end up; a lending library full of reading nooks and porch swings, with a food forest instead of a lawn (GardensNotLawns), with a bunk for whoever wants to help (HomesNotJails), a long table for feasting and fellowship (FoodNot Bombs), clean water, mechanical windmills, and an Urban Herbalist education program to teach the edible and medicinal uses urban "weeds." Raise pigeons for the eggs in a chabutro over the compost-pile, and a fishpond with ducks and turtles. Maybe a couple of Cashmere-Nigerians for the wool and milk, with a dyeing garden. A vardo workshop to tinker/scratch-build wagons and vans for my rubbertramp-loves. An aluminum-bronze forge for tools. A joinery table and a treadle lathe.
Doesn't have to be a big place, just big enough.

(Thought I could post this on my personal what-have-ya, that 140c limit's a bidge)

 

[Faunus]

Notes on a Squat Farm:
Companion Planting is some Fantastic-Shizz

Beans: You Can Plant Them From the Boil Bag
Friends with: Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Peas, Potatoes, Radishes, Squash, Strawberries, Summer savory, Tomatoes
They Get Pissed-off by: Garlic, Onions, Peppers, Sunflowers

Cabbage: Off With Their Heads
Friends: Beans, Celery, Cucumbers, Dill, Kale, Lettuce, Onions, Potatoes, Sage, Spinach, Thyme
Shit-listed: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Strawberries, Tomatoes

Carrots: Nature's Happy Little Shiv
Buddies: Beans, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Radishes, Rosemary, Sage,
Tomatoes
Hatred: Anise, Dill, Parsley

Corn: The American Grain
Besties: Beans, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Melons, Peas, Potatoes, Squash
Sunflowers
Hold-mah-weev: Tomurders

Cukes: Good for wat ails ya
Friendly-like: Beans, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Corn, Lettuce, Peas,
Radishes, Sunflowers
Not-so-friendly-like: Aromatic herbs, Melons, Potatoes

Lettuce: Leafy and Vitaminy
Loves: Asparagus, Beets, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Corn,
Cucumbers, Eggplant, Onions, Peas, Potatoes, Radishes, Spinach, Strawberries, Sunflowers, Tomatoes
No-love: Broccoli

Onions: It Must Be Hard to Cook if you Anthropomorphize yo Veggies
Digs: Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Lettuce, Peppers, Potatoes,
Spinach, Tomatoes
Has bif with: Beans, Peas, Sage

Peppers: Sweet or Spicy, you pick
Friendleh: Basil, Coriander, Onions, Spinach, Tomatoes
Tsy-friendleh ya digg: Beans, Kohlrabi

Radishes: Red little Radicals
Comrades: Basil, Coriander, Onions, Spinach, Tomatoes
Detractors from the Republic's Glory: Kohlrabi, you bourgie fuck

Tow-Mater: No further pun required
Crew: Asparagus, Basil, Beans, Borage, Carrots, Celery, Dill, Lettuce,
Melons, Onions, Parsley, Peppers, Radishes, Spinach, Thyme
Punk-Ass Bidges: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Corn, Kale, Potatoes

 

[Faunus]

 

[BelleBottoms]

I just finished my garden work for the day. Unfortunately, I am only putting in work to create soil... with the hope that next spring we can actually plant food.

 

[Faunus]

I just finished my garden work for the day. Unfortunately, I am only putting in work to create soil... with the hope that next spring we can actually plant food.

That sounds fantastic. Chickens, Doves, or Ducks are always helpful for soil prep, and in helping there be some food coming in during the fallow/prep years. What climate are you in?

 

[BelleBottoms]

@Faunus we're in the desert just over 5,000 elev. It's a rough place to start from scratch. We have a huge dream projects list too, with all the components basicly adding up to a hand-built home in a permaculture oasis.
I want a library too! I figured it would be a good project to practice building with cob.

 

[Faunus]

@BelleBottoms That sounds lovely! I'm a bit of a anachronism; I love the self-sustained nature of pre-industrial tech (Franklin, da Vinci, Gutenberg, and all those other Renaissance/"Enlightenment" tinkerers), and there's something about a revolution-style print shop and book-bindery that appeals to me. A digital printer is convenient, but requires lots of electricity, and proprietary ink cartridges... while wood, aluminum bronze, ash, and tallow are scrappable. The ability to produce and disseminate information in a relatively fast and tangible form is fascinating to me, and I think an image that stuck with me was a background scene in the TV-show "Revolution," where even in a post-apocalyptic landscape where electricity hadn't functioned for fifteen years, there was a manual print-shop churning out copies of "Deathly Hallows" lol.

In building a library, might I suggest the research-rabbit hole of low-tech engineering tricks monks used in scriptoriums in preventing damp, and literal bookworms? There's a lot of rapidly-fading knowhow regarding the keeping of books in libraries of wood and ceramic architecture, which might be directly relevant.