I've uploaded my R-Future video to YouTube. If you felt inspired by it, maybe you know somebody else who will be as well :) https://youtu.be/XrdXV-fxXiE?si=2TKhJyf7sn3k0PnY

If you're interested in Live discussions, when are you most likely to be available? Terms like Midday and Evening are for the United States.

See you there!

Checking in to see how many of you are using rabbit manure on your land? Super nitrogen rich for composts, cold manure to mix directly in the ground or soil mixes, densely micro-nutrient rich, and what it does for spinach flavor and texture??? Oh My!! lol

There's very few things more frustrating than going through the effort of getting plants in the ground, watching them start to take off, and... the troubles arrive. Our squash starts getting some powdery mildew and maybe a few squash bugs before the first fruit even arrives. Where did all these aphids come from and why do they love my brassicas?! The mealy bugs won't leave my wife's succulents alone! We try all the little deterrents. Soapy water on the aphids, but they still come back if I forget for a day or two. Picking off squash bugs every evening, and heaven forbid I forget or the plant will be half wilted in the morning. Maybe I use some neem to extend the protection for a couple days. If we're really diligent, our plants survive... just to have a lackluster performance when it comes to fruiting. They look fairly big and healthy, I added nutrition before or even after planting, I might even be getting squash and tomato blossoms - but nothing (or very little) is converting to the FOOD that I so greatly desire from this experience. But what can I actually DO to fix this? To answer this question, we need to get down to the root (ha) of the problem. That problem is poor plant nutrition, and a resulting poor performance of plant immune systems. One of the main functions of a healthy plant is to repel pests and disease - just like your own body. Those quick (or slow) fixes of BT, neem, soapy water, and the like, are all band-aids. They don't bring the missing nutritional pieces, the plant continues to signal for pests to eat it. (Yes, really. The plants GLOW for insects when they have compounds the plants can eat. That's why they keep "magically showing up".) Some of this may sound familiar. It might sound too good to be true. I thought the same thing for a long time. I thought "maybe full plant health and pest resistance can happen in easier climates, but not the southwest." But I'm here to tell you it IS TRUE and it CAN BE DONE - even in the Southwest!