pretty and edible is the goal.

My little garden is shaping up, planted a boy and girl Sea Buckthorn, with one pathetic yellow berry. We will see how they take.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippophae_rhamnoides

Found some bastard Peonies growing by the road on the remains of a demolished garden. Tore the roots out and planted them as well, they do say Peonies sulk for 3 years after you tear them out.

Some great ideas to replace decorative japanese garden plants with edible.

http://balconyofdreams.blogspot.com/

Replace Bamboo with Asparagus

Replace clipped pine with clipped rosemary

7800 square meters of mountain.
Will need to import earth, as right now it is barren.
Ponds in the planning.
Clover, rosehip, lupine, potatoes, jerusalem chokes. Looking for fruit trees.
Planning for chickens and pigs or yaks. Will need more farm help.

I am interested in perennial plants, that live for years, have deep roots and require no maintenance, while producing food.

Naturally, I am atracted to permaculture.
Sepp Holzer and Fukuoka and

http://www.richsoil.com/sepp-holzer/sepp-holzer-permaculture.jsp

We have very little soil on our mountain, but we do have 7000 square meters of it.

One slope has accumulated quite a lot of oak leaves over the years, that have turned into mulched/ composted leaves.

I have made two raised beds, one out of wood and one by laying earth over a long dead and rotten birch.

Potatoes and
jerusalem artichokes / Helianthus tuberosus

and some beets, pumpkins and wildflowers to fix nitrogen.
are the start of our garden, planted in July so not hoping for any crop this year.

Need to find more local swedish tubers, but also thinking about the North American Ground Nut /
Apios Americana dutch seller
One can only learn anything by doing it, so this is simply starting now as opposed to waiting for the perfect conditions in the future that does not exist.

Anna got the potatoes for free, and the Jerusalem artichokes cost 12 crowns.
I bought a mix of heritage seeds on ebay for 17 dollars, and will try to get as many local permaculture compatible plants as possible.

Dont know if I should bring earth to the mountain for raised platform beds, as there is literally no earth, just rock covered with a thin layer of grass and roots.

Now I will go harvest some willow and plant it around our outhouse, if it takes, next year maybe I will convert it into a treebog.

http://www.ee7drs.org.uk/bog/treebog.html
http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Tree_bog

So we got 8000 square meters of land. It is time to start growing some permaculture crops, and we have no idea how to do it. Contact us if you have experience in permaculture want to be part of a grand learning experiment- can someone with no experience and time grow food for themselves and their family?

Holy Scrap Hot Springs

One couple’s journey to independence with a green house and motel.

Papercrete, reuse and recycle, and a lot of great ideas.

http://blog.holyscraphotsprings.com/

Found via Ryan Is Hungry

http://ryanishungry.com/2007/04/26/green-acre-the-40-yr-old-mobile-gets-a-green-re-do/

Going to make a bicycle trailer cart

something like this maybe but out of metal or regular wood.

<img src=”http://carryfreedom.com/images/P_Bamboo_FL_Line.gif”>

<a href=”http://carryfreedom.com/bamboo.html”>http://carryfreedom.com/bamboo.html</a>

<a href=”http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1981-07-01/Dime-on-the-Dollar-Bicycle-Trailer.aspx”>mother earth bike plans</a>

thinking about how much energy we can produce with a wind generator and some solar panels, in Sweden, which is not the most energy abundant place on earth, with little sun and low winds where we are.

Maybe with 2 laptops to power and 4 LED lights for the house we will be ok, store food in the basement cellar (will have to cut some rock, it is all rock in Sweden, all the way down)and do laundry in a hand-crank machine.

http://www.velacreations.com/

I have a friend, farmer Paul, that put up a wind turbine on a 30 meter pole, and no wind…. This was in NY. So i am sceptical of alternative energy, no hippie that I am. It’s just that it does seem the only way for independence.

Russian Evgeny Gvozdev sails around world 2 times in home-made boats, that cost him less than $200 – and endless hours- to build.
Continue reading Evgeny Gvozdev sails around world 2 times in home-made boats

A new well in a rocky terrain will cost upwards 10 000 USD.

I am thus looking into atmospheric water generators. $1300 and up

Continue reading Atmospheric Water Maker