Thriving Community News – Without the Noise
Scott Miller - Thriving News 
Permaculture – Your Plants Will Tell You What They Want by Thriving…Or Not In my previous article, How I created a Food Forest, I documented what I did in 2021 to turn an 80’x30′ corner of my pasture into a permaculture orchard/food forest. The Original Design The original design included hand dug swales, and rows … Read more
Imparting a Sense of Place to Your Children The lilacs on the lilac bush are out in these last days of April. The smell unlocks a strong memory of me being five years old in Dubuque, Iowa and an elderly neighbor who had lilacs. I don’t remember much from that place, but this memory is still clear. But it is somehow deeper … Read more
Community and Fellowship Will Help You to Withstand the Tough Times By Perpend and Scott Miller. What is Community? What is your definition of Community? Is it: 1. a group of people living in the same place 2. a group of people having a particular characteristic in common. e.g. “the scientific community” 3. a feeling of … Read more
How to tell a chick’s sex – is it a pullet (female) or a cockerel (male) We have a new batch of chicks, a cross between silver laced Wyandotte and Buff Orpington, with one Australorp cross. We also have one Brahma/Buff Orpington cross. I like the color patterns, with one of the more yellow chicks … Read more
Permaculture Orchard from Design to Delivery Chestnuts, apples, hazelnuts, asparagus, herbs like Wormwood and mint, comfrey, blackberries, Milpa garden beds, and annual beds. In Spring 2021, I extended my homestead/permaculture orchard by 80 feet. This was the initial design: Initial rough design. Bet you can’t read my handwriting! This was a section at the edge … Read more
Mixing different kinds of seeds in one garden plot Milpa is a warm season cover crop mix that includes greens, squash, beans, corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, and annual and wildflowers. It is designed to grow as much food as possible in a space without weeding, tilling, and planning. In addition, it also adds nitrogen to the … Read more
Turn a corner of your garden into Hassle-Free Permaculture Perennial Production Look at this picture. What do you see? A mess of plants and weeds? This is a permaculture apple guild, with multiple perennials, in the corner of my garden area. This has two apple trees on dwarf/semi-dwarf rootstock (an Arkansas Black, and a Golden … Read more
How to tell a chick’s sex – is it a pullet (female) or a cockerel (male) You just hatched a bunch of chicks. Perhaps you are only allowed to keep females (NO roosters). Or you only want egg laying hens. How do you tell their sex? On a Wing and a Prayer? If you do … Read more
The Spring Tradition of Chick Day is Almost Here! It’s Chick Day. This is the time-honored Spring tradition every year where the tractor supply and the other farm stores have chicks for sale. But with the egg shortage and the demand for chickens, there’s likely to be shortages of chicks at the farm stores for Chick … Read more
Homebrewed vinegar is much better than store bought. Why make your vinegar? Store bought vinegars are made from cheap ingredients. Many are made from non-food sources! The white vinegar (for pickles) that you see in the store is often made from cellulose, the grain leftovers of ethanol production, or even from wood alcohol! (No wonder … Read more
