The Refuge Permaculture Center
At Tara Farm and Nursery
Category: Seasons
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Bean Harvest Sutra Two: Drying
Bean Harvest Sutra Two: Drying Winter Food1. A light, gentle squeeze of the dry, pale yellow pods in the garden will create a quiet crackling sound. Not too hard..2. Cut shrub leaving roots in the soil. (See Bean Harvest Sutra One)3. Loop cotton or hemp string around the bottom of a bundle of cut shrubs.4.
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Bean Harvest Sutra One: Feed One, Feed All
Bean Harvest Sutra – One: Feeding One, Feed All1. Cut the stem of the pinto bean bush just above the soil. Leave the roots to rot. They will release nitrogen as they decay and leave organic matter to feed the soil. Their death and decay will leave space in the soil for water, air, microbes,
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Leaf Diseases and Human Anxiety
“What is wrong with the leaves on my plants?!?” Not you! Stop blaming yourself. After having the winter of the century two years ago here in Wyoming, last year was practically no winter at all. What does that have to do with leaf disease? Those 20 below weeks we have had most years suppress all
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Native Chokecherry… All Seasons, All Pleasures…and a Warning
Pounded – seeds and all – and thoroughly dried it kept the First Nation’s people healthy through severe winters. Simmered low and slow on the stove until the fragrance of cherry fills the kitchen, with just a little sugar the juice becomes a perfect summer drink. Or add a little more sugar (not a lot!)and
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Special Order Plants: Just Breathe…. Elderberry for Heart and Respiration
From the rich, deep blue-black of the ripe berries to jam simmering on the stove…from full, lacy umbrellas of tiny, creamy white flowers steeped for tea, this native is so beautiful in texture and color and grows amazingly well even in the Wyoming salty clay soil. The Elderberry shrub is native to the entire northern
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New USDA Zone Map: Critical Thinking and Your Observations Are More Important
New USDA Zone Map: GIS and 30 years of data and over 30,000 collection points still requires that you use your elegantly evolved powers of observation. This map is “general” within the millions of years of the planet, and general to your personal portion of the landscape. But it is important for a trend, a
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Squashland… where pollen feeds the workers…
And the fall approaches… the pollinators and I are both preparing for winter. The Squash plants are buzzing, trembling with bee wings. This year will include some Yellow Crooked Neck Squash, a Yellow Winter Squash hybrid (seeds from last year) and firm, large zucchini. I love the hybrid. Easy to carve out and the skin
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Everbearing: Time and Space
A humid, wet spring ends your hope for Red Currants, but a few warm, clear days gives you baskets of Black Currants. A monsoonal down pour destroys the Native Plum blossoms, but the tiny, hidden green flowers of the Valiant Grape give you pounds of grapes in August. Honoring diversity of plants and temporal and
The Refuge Permaculture Center 