Jen Anderson

I am growing the trees in small containers that can be shipped.  They are young. 6 months - 1 year.  I was hoping to maybe find someone local to swap.  I am in zone 9, 9 inches of rain a year if I am lucky, more like 5 or 6 lately.  For my zone one by my house I utilize rain water capture and also grey water.  Grey water pretty much takes care of my orchard. I have well water to supplement with if needed. Zone 2, the botanical garden uses well water but those trees will be drought tolerant in another year.

I live in an area with very mineral rich soils and rocks.  I have read that free range goats chew on rocks to get the minerals they need. I need to keep my new goats in pens due to predation.  Do I have to purchase minerals, or can I collect a sample of rocks/stones/mineral rich soils from the area and keep those in the pen along with a salt lick?  

Hi!

I am missing a few things from my food forest.  And I am growing additional trees/plants that I do not need because I sprouted more seeds than anticipated.  Would anyone like to swap trees/plants?

I am looking for:
Date palm (4 female 1 male)
Olive - 2 trees (for pressing oil) heat and cold tolerant variety
Coconut palm
Pecan

I can share:
Mimosa
Moringa
Catclaw acacia
Toilet Paper plant
Anna kiwi vine

Hi!  I foraged some seed pods in Lake Havasu from trees that all looked like some sort of acacia or wattle.  I have no idea what these two are.  Seed pod identification is something surprisingly hard to find on the internet.  I should have taken photos of the trees they came from, alas I did not. Anyone recognize these? (the pen is for size comparison, I know it is not a seed pod - for all you jokesters out there!)

Coyote gourd!  The tap root/tuber can reach up to 200 lbs.  The tuber and leaves are both full of saponins.  Great stuff.  Totally drought hardy.  Die back in winder in colder climates.  Inedible squash like fruit. Can be very invasive and hard to get rid of.  So you will never run out of detergent!  You can find it growing along roads in the Southwest. webpage

Yes I am!  310-717-7812

The burros are starving and burros will test a fence for miles to find the weak spot.  And I have four small canyons crossing my property that make any kind of fencing near impossible.   Maybe I could try an electric fence around my botanical garden area.  I can't even use a drone to chase them off because I have breeding bald eagles so no drones.  The BLM is supposed to be rounding up a couple of thousand burro in the area but they have not made it to my place yet...

The first thing I did when I moved in was separate the pipes from the black and grey water.  I water about 20 trees with the grey water from my house.  During the summer I also use the water that is pumped out of the evaporated cooler to water the cactus and other landscaping around my house.  I love having visitors stay in my guest room because they make extra grey water!  Especially during the summer when my trees are extra thirsty!

Hi!  Who out there would like a pitfire pottery retreat in Southern Arizona next fall?  I am in a fantastic area for collecting clay and minerals to make slips.  I have a campground with facilities and other fun permie oriented projects as well.  If you are an pitfire expert and would like to be part of the orchestration of the retreat, let me know!

Hi!  Does anyone else out there have horrendous wild burro problems?  They have destroyed almost every Palo Verde tree on my 330 acres.  I have a property that is nearly impossible to fence (quotes start at $250,000).  They are a federally protected species.  I liken them to 800 pound locust.  They are destroying the beautiful desert ecosystem where I live.

Any suggestions?  I am considering Anatolian sheparding dogs to keep them at bay.  They are hard to come by.  Has anyone had luck using German Shepards to guard property from ungulates?