Experiments in 2022

Posted on di 13 december 2022 in blog • Tagged with experiment

This is a list of experiments Ina and I have been conducting in 2022.

  • gardening
    • a third full year of having an allotment garden
    • involved in creating an edible lawn / tiny food forest
    • propagating more plant cuttings
      • elaeagnus varieties
      • fig varieties
      • grape
      • willow
      • red and black currants
  • cooking / baking

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Ikigai

Posted on di 13 december 2022 in tools • Tagged with ikigai

My understanding of Ikigai has changed from my initial contact with the concept. I recently came across two articles by Dave Pollard that explain his take. I resonated with his views more than I did with other explanations. Below is Dave's synopsis. I highly recommend reading the articles linked for …


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Felted slippers (finally!)

Posted on wo 16 november 2022 in blog

Two weeks ago I finally managed to complete the felted slippers we started almost four years ago at the Permacultuur Festival (2019) in Belgium. Even though they came out a bit rough, they are quite comfortable to wear. We found them to work exceptionally well in plastic clogs.

Yesterday I …


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Pseudo olives

Posted on do 03 november 2022 in recipes • Tagged with experiment, harvest, recipe, season: summer

Ina found an interesting video on YouTube a while ago that talked about turning the cherries from Cornus mas (European cornel / gele kornoeille) into something resembling olives.

We have discovered three Cornus mas in the park nearby. This year the trees had a mast year. Naturally we decided to try …


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Contemplation on money

Posted on wo 07 september 2022 in contemplation • Tagged with contemplation, money, global economy

Let's start with some basic questions:

  • What is money?
  • What does it represent?
  • Why is a bank note in my wallet different from a candy wrapper? They're both colored pieces of paper and yet we treat them differently.

What is money?

In today's culture, there is the understanding that if …


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Apple Vinegar

Posted on vr 19 augustus 2022 in recipes • Tagged with experiment, harvest, recipe, season: summer

This month I made another batch of apple vinegar. I had harvested a few apples from my mother's front yard. They had fallen down and were brown and desseccated in the middle. The tree had rejected them as viable seeds because of this. The outer part was still usable to …


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Sheepskin with felted back

Posted on do 04 augustus 2022 in blog • Tagged with experiment, season: summer, felting, wool

We did an experiment with felting a back to a recently shaved fleece. The wool came from a Ouessant sheep. Below is a photo series on how we created a sheepskin without having to kill a sheep.

Preparing the fleece

The fleece we started with; fully detached from the sheep.

We mostly followed …


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Harvesting Nettle Seeds

Posted on di 26 juli 2022 in blog • Tagged with experiment, season: summer

Let's start with a question I get every time I say that I collect nettle seeds: "Why?" Well, for sowing, of course! ;-) ... and other uses. So, why would you want to collect nettle seeds? Here are a few reasons (Source):

  • nettles are a source of minerals: they contain iron, calcium …

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PASTE survey for the backyard (2022)

Posted on di 07 juni 2022 in surveys • Tagged with permaculture, survey, backyard, site information, PASTE, DAFOR(N)

This survey is for a revision of the design for the backyard.

The extra information for each plant is derived from the following sources:

Plants

DAFOR(N)

Dominant

  • Prunus domestica subsp. syriaca (mirabelle plum / mirabel)
    • only …

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Human body energy requirement

Posted on do 02 juni 2022 in blog

Recently I got asked about about creating a garden with the specific aim of keeping starvation at bay. I came to the conclusion you need crops that contain at least sufficient calories to keep you going. So starchy, sugary, oily or protein rich.

Check out the table on the Potato …


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