It appears my first blog post comes after a whole quarter year has passed and amidst a global pandemic. Alas, the Winter was brutal for business and we were really coming out of Winter with some work lined up and heading into the major building season. All hope is not lost but it'll make for some excruciating long days in the Summer to make up the difference. We were on a formidable earnings projection path when this all screamed to a halt. So I though I'd take this time to revisit the blog since the blog was originally the birth child of the Great Recession and one of my outlets into writing, documenting and diversifying.
With that being said, as an entrepreneur it's me default to immediately look for some positive spin, "the play". After the Great Recession I took many lessons from that experience and looked to incorporate them into my future plans. I guess it's the logical progression along with my running injury posts that an injury will always heal but the scar shall remain. With that being said (yeah, that saying gets on my nerves a little bit too, but it's a verbal segue) I've tried to diversify my revenue streams as much as possible. I'm still working on taking the YouTube channel mainstream so please Subscribe to that and help me get some numbers up, we've done a couple of small brand deals and are getting into tool and equipment reviews, and we should have some brand deals coming down the line. I've divided the channel by labeling the titles as they would appear in a playlist (they're also arranged by playlist) and we're going to be uploading more Home Renovation videos as we complete our projects. Those will have a long video and a short explainer video, the short explainer video will also be placed on our new channel through Spatial Recognition. I hope to take both channels in similar directions but with slightly different intentions. JasonMichaelKotarski will continue to be broadly defined and random as my interests and Spatial Recognition will be both explanatory and showcase our business of Residential Commercial Design | Build, Planning, and Historic Preservation. The goal is take the Spatial Recognition channel into a transition as we visit Cultural Sites, Historic Preservation Projects and launch our non-profit foundation for traditional building practices for both historic sites as well as home owners. Spatial Recognition will also be launching an Environmental Planning element for Natural Resources as well as Landscape Design.
This hiatus has also given me the chance to get back to The Farming Prospectus and start building up inventory for the Nursery. The goal is tri-part, 1) to establish a plant nursery for sales that offsets the costs of product acquisition for the Orchard (the Orchard offers Market Grade produce but more importantly on site product for WellHaus Winery, 2) create a native plant inventory for Spatial Recognition clients, 3) serve as a future Educational Events Centre.
My goal has been to use our current property as a prototype and upscale that as funding and land becomes available. I am creating analysis on scaled increments of 5 acres (current land costs have our ceiling at only 20 acres, best case scenario)
So keep up to date, I'll be adding inventory to my Amazon store as I finish them, creating content on YouTube, adding merchandise including logo shirts and hoodies.
Hopefully, we'll rebound from this and get financing for some property development so we can transition into a Development Corporation as well as Professional Services.........
Showing posts with label Permaculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Permaculture. Show all posts
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Raised Garden Beds- How to Make a Hugle Culture Lasagne Masterpiece!
In a post I made last year I added a video from my YouTube Channel Jason Michael Kotarski on a method to create a raised bed that would age in place, continuing to provide the garden with broken down organic matter. HugleCulture is the method of mounding wood debris including logs and branches, covering with more organic material and planting on top of it. Boiled down this is the farmhand style of cleaning up alot of storm debris, stacking in a pile and watching turn into dirt for later use. This is perfect if you have a lot of space but if you're confined and want to keep things tidy a raised garden bed is the perfect way to build up your soil in a natural way.
The previous raised beds have worked wonders already and as this is the fourth year for these beds we've had a full rotation of crops. Ideally I think I would've liked to do units of five instead of four. For instance, each area in our master plan is designed as a unit, scalable up or down in size, but repeatable by duplication. The four beds are typically, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Beans/Peas, and Tomatoes, each moving to the next bed the next year in a clockwise direction and they all over winter as salad greens. I think the fifth would have been a good way to add one fallow box to add to during cleanups, instead we're building a seperate space out the will be insulated with a glass top to increase temperature to kill off weeds and seeds.
Here's' a a quick photographic journey of the raised bed method. In these instances I combined both rotten logs with new logs to jump start the mycelium. Mycelium breaks down the material providing nutrients and minerals to the soil, it also creates a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the plants.
On these raised beds, I used $3 cedar fence pickets. they're six foot so if I buy six boards I can build a 6' x 3' raised bed for $20. Notice I place my stakes on the inside of the boxes, feel free to do as you please as they are technically stronger on the outside but I like to be able to line trim quick and easy around these things. All the water entices grass to grow and grass growing intices slug growing!
Yup, skip the bagging, these wonderful maple leafs are going to break down just nice! By adding a leaf layer, the leaves will be pushed down into the branch crevices and help keep our soil from washing to the bottom to quickly.
Next comes the mulch layer, you can skip it if you only have leaves but the leaves break down very fast. The mulch acts as a bit of weight, and insulation blanket to keep the bed warm, and another sponge layer.
This is the part I love! Mabe because its the dirtiest! The worm bin compost is added. Typically by this time of year there is a healthy mix of compost and worms working to break everything down. There is still moe work to be done so we add a layer of coffee grounds over the compost to reduce any smell ( it's not a foul smell, we just don't want the critters digging it up) and heap another layer of mulch on that.
ahhh......all year I keep these little things fed and wen it comes time to plant the soil is a beautiful rich black earth with plenty of aeration. The compost layer will be almost completely gone within two weeks of spreading. The worms will multiply and work it into the bed with ease. The warmth of the beds and the cracks and crevices of the branches allows the worms in the ground to work their way up. The wood chips will be decomposed after the next winter cycle at which time we will add store bought compost as a topping to bring the beds back up. They'll be half of the bed by the end of the Fall and the following year we add the commercial compost that we plant directly into and cover with mulch again after the sprouts are established.
I'll leave this video at the bottom for the squeamish! Me personally? That's an amazing thing dans la jardin. Make sure you check out the YouTube page and follow what we're doing, we hope to spin off to ventures from what we've been working on. I'm working on WellHaus Winery and we have the Farming Prospectus (working title)
The previous raised beds have worked wonders already and as this is the fourth year for these beds we've had a full rotation of crops. Ideally I think I would've liked to do units of five instead of four. For instance, each area in our master plan is designed as a unit, scalable up or down in size, but repeatable by duplication. The four beds are typically, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Beans/Peas, and Tomatoes, each moving to the next bed the next year in a clockwise direction and they all over winter as salad greens. I think the fifth would have been a good way to add one fallow box to add to during cleanups, instead we're building a seperate space out the will be insulated with a glass top to increase temperature to kill off weeds and seeds.
 |
| Regular trimming, pruning and cleanup debris |
 |
| Big logs on the bottom, branches on top. These will help hold water like a natural sponge in the soil |
Yup, skip the bagging, these wonderful maple leafs are going to break down just nice! By adding a leaf layer, the leaves will be pushed down into the branch crevices and help keep our soil from washing to the bottom to quickly.
 |
| A good wheel barrow heaping should do the trick |
Next comes the mulch layer, you can skip it if you only have leaves but the leaves break down very fast. The mulch acts as a bit of weight, and insulation blanket to keep the bed warm, and another sponge layer.
 |
| mmmmm......a Summer's worth of compost!!!!! |
ahhh......all year I keep these little things fed and wen it comes time to plant the soil is a beautiful rich black earth with plenty of aeration. The compost layer will be almost completely gone within two weeks of spreading. The worms will multiply and work it into the bed with ease. The warmth of the beds and the cracks and crevices of the branches allows the worms in the ground to work their way up. The wood chips will be decomposed after the next winter cycle at which time we will add store bought compost as a topping to bring the beds back up. They'll be half of the bed by the end of the Fall and the following year we add the commercial compost that we plant directly into and cover with mulch again after the sprouts are established.
 |
| Well that photo looks like shit |
I'll leave this video at the bottom for the squeamish! Me personally? That's an amazing thing dans la jardin. Make sure you check out the YouTube page and follow what we're doing, we hope to spin off to ventures from what we've been working on. I'm working on WellHaus Winery and we have the Farming Prospectus (working title)
Friday, February 16, 2018
Planting Season Gamble
Well crap............!!!!!!!
I decided to plant out an early crop of spinach, arugala, kale, peas and beans with the hopes of getting a jump start on the year after a relatively mild winter.
The forecast says otherwise with some nights dipping into the low 20's, thats cold enough to do cellular damage to the just sprouting plants. Well, I better scramble up some protection for them as it looks like its going to be a cold week at the shortest. Hopefully a little plastic cover and the warmth of the raised beds composting will give them what they need to survive!
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Mulching the orchard with the wood chipper
Although it is still considered Winter I am getting excited about this Spring's gardening. I plan on taking the orchard to the next level this year and have the next phase of the food forest installed. So far we have our Fruit trees laid out with Plum, Persimmon, and Apricot in the first tier terrace, Italian Prune (Plum) in the second terrace, Cherry in the third, Pear in the fourth and Apple in the fifth.
Each terrace has a row of fragrant herds for scent masking, pollinator attractant and cooking/ medicinal uses. these include Rosemary, Lavendar, Valerian, Borage and Sage.
Another row of flowers for attracting pollinators includes Columbine, Foxglove and Lupine (also a nitrogen fixer)
In between the fruit trees running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers are Goji Berry bushes. these are both extremely nutritious but also provide nitrogen to the soil. Along the edge, also running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers is a row of ceonothus acting as both a pollinator attractant and a nitrogen fixer.
As the trees will take time to mature this year I will be adding bean and pea trellises to produce vegtables as well as fix nitrogen in the soil. The trellises are being contructed out of Alder that we acquired this year and will be inocculated with mushroom plugs. Like I said, I'm getting excited about what is in effect Year 4 for our Orchard and Garden turned Permaculture. Check out some of the videos on YouTube and Subscribe, we need all the help we can get! Also check out some of the links for products I use around the yard!
Like the new Nikon D5600 I picked up to help up the quality of the YouTube channel and spme of the photographs I put up on the blog!
http://amzn.to/2HeG2ws
Each terrace has a row of fragrant herds for scent masking, pollinator attractant and cooking/ medicinal uses. these include Rosemary, Lavendar, Valerian, Borage and Sage.
Another row of flowers for attracting pollinators includes Columbine, Foxglove and Lupine (also a nitrogen fixer)
In between the fruit trees running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers are Goji Berry bushes. these are both extremely nutritious but also provide nitrogen to the soil. Along the edge, also running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers is a row of ceonothus acting as both a pollinator attractant and a nitrogen fixer.
As the trees will take time to mature this year I will be adding bean and pea trellises to produce vegtables as well as fix nitrogen in the soil. The trellises are being contructed out of Alder that we acquired this year and will be inocculated with mushroom plugs. Like I said, I'm getting excited about what is in effect Year 4 for our Orchard and Garden turned Permaculture. Check out some of the videos on YouTube and Subscribe, we need all the help we can get! Also check out some of the links for products I use around the yard!
Like the new Nikon D5600 I picked up to help up the quality of the YouTube channel and spme of the photographs I put up on the blog!
http://amzn.to/2HeG2ws
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Hazelnut Catkins!!
The first signs of life in the garden are showing up! Surprise to me but the hazelnuts (filberts) have catkins on them! I'm really excited about these in particular because I started coppincing them and added lime to them. I really hope to add a small hazelnut crop in the next few years. The coppiceing has also provided wonderful cooking wood, walking sticks, and mushroom mulch.
Cant wait to see what else starts blossoming!
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
ArbequinaOlive and Camellia Sinensis
Unboxing my order for Arbequina Olive and Camellia Sinesis.
The Arbequina Olive should fair well in our orchard and hopefully provide us with some good nutritious olives. Camellia Sinensis should also fair well on the border of our orchard providing winter and early spring color as well as amazing leaves for all the tea we can imagine.
Friday, May 5, 2017
Landscape Master Plan
| Landscape Master Plan | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1. To govern the overall maximum benefit to the health of all inhabitants (Humans, Bear, Deer, Rabbits, Mt. Beaver, Birds, bats, bees, etc…) |
||||||||||||||||||
| 2. To protect and enhance the watershed | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3. To act as a potential Wetland Mitigation Plan in anticipation of any additions, alterations or renovations |
||||||||||||||||||
| 4. To provide food, shelter, harvestable materials and beauty. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5. To follow the basic principles of permaculture with an emphasis on native species where appropriate. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6. To include management of soil erosion caused by storm water runoff and bioremediation through phytoremediation and myco remediation. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7. To remove and eradicate invasive species including ivy, knotweed, something and something and something else???? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Plant Purpose Abbreviations | ||||||||||||||||||
| PNW | Native Species | |||||||||||||||||
| M | Medicinal | |||||||||||||||||
| FB | Fruit Bearing | |||||||||||||||||
| PA | Pollinator Attractor | |||||||||||||||||
| N | Nitrogen fixer | |||||||||||||||||
| EG | Evergreen | |||||||||||||||||
| BA | Bioaccumlator | |||||||||||||||||
| T | Edible tube | |||||||||||||||||
| BR | Bioremediation | |||||||||||||||||
| Plant List | ||||||||||||||||||
| Plants on this list are to be introduced in addition to the existing landscape of canopy trees, understory fruit and nut trees, shrubs, flowers and herbs, groundcover, and mushroom patches. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Native Species are labled PNW (Those listed shall be used in any mitigation plans) | Code | |||||||||||||||||
| Red Flowering Currant Ribes Sanguineum | FB | PNW | ||||||||||||||||
| SnowBrush Ceanothus Veluntinus | PA | PNW | N | EG | ||||||||||||||
| Cascade Pentsemon Pentsemon Serrulatus | PA | PNW | ||||||||||||||||
| Service Berry Amelanchier Alnifolia | FB | PNW | ||||||||||||||||
| Wild Ginger Asarum caudatum | M | PNW | ||||||||||||||||
| Kinnikinick Arctostaphylos uva ursi | M | PNW | FB | EG | ||||||||||||||
| Arrowhead Sagittaria Latifolia | T | PNW | BR | |||||||||||||||
| Great Camas Camassia Leichtlinii | T | PNW | PA | |||||||||||||||
| Yarrow Achillea Millefolium | M | PNW | BA | |||||||||||||||
| Elderberry Sambucus Caerulea & Nigra | M | PNW | FB | |||||||||||||||
| Agricultural Plants | ||||||||||||||||||
| Camellia Sinensis | Tea | PA | EG | |||||||||||||||
| Goumi Elangus multiflora | FB | N | ||||||||||||||||
| Seaberry | FB | N | ||||||||||||||||
| Comfrey | BA | |||||||||||||||||
| Hibiscus | Tea/wine | PA | ||||||||||||||||
| Jujube | FB | |||||||||||||||||
| Olive (Arborquina) | FB | |||||||||||||||||
| Passion Flower | FB | PA | ||||||||||||||||
| Kiwi | FB | |||||||||||||||||
| Moringa tree Moringa oleifera | M | |||||||||||||||||
| Saffron Crocus Crocus sativas | Spice | PA | ||||||||||||||||
| Pineapple Broom Cytisus Battendieri | N | |||||||||||||||||
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Happy Easter- Joyeux Paques!!!!!
Ah J'aime les Printemps!!!!! Happy Easter, and for the Poles out there, Happy Dingus Day Eve. I love this time of year as for many almanacs it is officially planting season. For the orchards and perennials we get to see what survived and what was lost. An obvious existential insight into our lives here on this great planet.
For us we managed to not lose any fruit trees to the beaver and the deer have given us some reprieve. I think it is mere luck and little defensive adjustments but really, luck. We sacrificed dozens of Wax Myrtle for the new beaver lodge, wherever that may be, and I've been trying to add similar fast growing un-killable and deer loving plants to keep them off of the stuff I want to eat! While I certainly am not trying to attract them, I would like to distract them while they creep through in the middle of the night or while were away.
I have a good jump on the garden this year, the plastic hoop house worked wonders and we have plenty of salad greens, Our newest raised bed is just about ready for squash and zucchini. I'm also adding a layer of squash, zucchini and pumpkin in the orchard as a ground cover!
Really hope I get to add a swarm of bees this spring, with the orchard in it's third year, and the blueberries laddered in 1,2, and 3 years I really hope to get some fruit. The blue orchard mason bees are coming back and will hopefully stay in their new home. With the hop trellis up and running we should have a good harvest and very enjoyable growing summer.
So far in the Orchard level story we have Plum, Italian Plum, Persimmon, Apricot, Fig, Cherry, Apple and Pear. underneath the we have black currant, red currant, gooseberry, goji berry, evergreen huckleberry and I'll soon be adding seaberry. Surrounding those bushes are herbs and pollinator attractors, almost ALL in a blue or purple, Rosemary (4 varieties) Lavender (3 varieties), and Valerian. On the other side of the terrace from the herbs are all flowers for the bees, Lupine, Foxglove, Delphinium, Columbine, and Hollyhock.
Check back in to the blog and youtube channel! I'll be adding a copy of our Master Plan and some drawings explaining the grid planting I established intermixing nitrogen fixers, fruits, bio-accumulators, pollinator attractors and beneficial plants.
For us we managed to not lose any fruit trees to the beaver and the deer have given us some reprieve. I think it is mere luck and little defensive adjustments but really, luck. We sacrificed dozens of Wax Myrtle for the new beaver lodge, wherever that may be, and I've been trying to add similar fast growing un-killable and deer loving plants to keep them off of the stuff I want to eat! While I certainly am not trying to attract them, I would like to distract them while they creep through in the middle of the night or while were away.
I have a good jump on the garden this year, the plastic hoop house worked wonders and we have plenty of salad greens, Our newest raised bed is just about ready for squash and zucchini. I'm also adding a layer of squash, zucchini and pumpkin in the orchard as a ground cover!
Really hope I get to add a swarm of bees this spring, with the orchard in it's third year, and the blueberries laddered in 1,2, and 3 years I really hope to get some fruit. The blue orchard mason bees are coming back and will hopefully stay in their new home. With the hop trellis up and running we should have a good harvest and very enjoyable growing summer.
So far in the Orchard level story we have Plum, Italian Plum, Persimmon, Apricot, Fig, Cherry, Apple and Pear. underneath the we have black currant, red currant, gooseberry, goji berry, evergreen huckleberry and I'll soon be adding seaberry. Surrounding those bushes are herbs and pollinator attractors, almost ALL in a blue or purple, Rosemary (4 varieties) Lavender (3 varieties), and Valerian. On the other side of the terrace from the herbs are all flowers for the bees, Lupine, Foxglove, Delphinium, Columbine, and Hollyhock.
Check back in to the blog and youtube channel! I'll be adding a copy of our Master Plan and some drawings explaining the grid planting I established intermixing nitrogen fixers, fruits, bio-accumulators, pollinator attractors and beneficial plants.
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