Meet one of the newest additions to our little homestead. This is Rose and she's a Jersey heifer that's about 10 months old. We bought her from another homestead about 2.5 hours away that was getting out of the raw milk business.
Once she's old enough to breed, she will be one of the raw milk producers on our farm. For now, she's just eating lots of green pasture and growing like crazy.
Northern Hemisphere spring is here! Our seeds we started indoors feb/march should be well on their way with true leaves. Many locations are getting near last frost dates in April to mid May and we can get excited for some direct sowing of seeds outdoors as well as transplanting cool spring crops and starting summer crop seeds indoors. April is a very exciting and busy month for us growers.
Our soil, if cleared of snow & soggy rains should be amended now with new compost/worm castings & perhaps kelp for add nutritional support and pots ready for seedings as those last frost dates arrive.
Here our growing start list for all of April.
Outdoors From Transplants (1-2 weeks before last frost or frost dates past) All Leafy Greens Celery Berries (Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Currents) Brussels Sprouts Broccoli Cauliflower Cabbage Kohlrabi Leeks Onions
Seeds To Start Indoors (anywhere from 4-6 weeks or less before last frost dates) Asparagus Beans Bitter Gourds Chayote Chickpeas Corn Coriander Cucumbers Eggplant Herbals Kangkong (water spinach) Malabar (Climbing) Spinach Melons (all types) Okra Onions Pak Choi Peas Peppers Pumpkins Sweet potato slips Squashes (all types) Tomatillos Tomatoes Zucchini
Direct Sows (1-2 weeks before last frost or frost dates past) Arugula Beets Carrots Chards Kales Lettuces (Mizuna, rocket) Leeks Parsnips Peas all types (frost past) Potatoes (frost past ideal) Radishes Rutabagas Spinach Spring Onions Turnips
**Remember to also sow & plant BEE & Pollinator friendly perennial flowers as well. There are many varieties to direct sow for April now.
Live sessions begin Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at 7 PM Eastern Time. All sessions will be recorded.
The path toward a functional land-based lifestyle is not a quick one. And it’s not without countless small (and large) mistakes made along the way. At WSD, we’ve made many of these ourselves in the 20+ years of our journey.
Our online workshops leverage the decades of experience that Erica and I (along with the team we have cultivated) have accrued. The learning experiences below are led by myself or a member of my team with at least a decade or two of hands on daily experience in the subject matter.—Ben Falk
Whole Systems Design has been designing, building, and consulting on regenerative and resilient land/living systems in Vermont and around the world for over 20 years. We perform site assessment, property evaluation and site design, rural relocation strategy, homestead and farm design, water and food systems design, resilient passive homes design and land-based education.
PLANT FOR CHANGE—GLOBAL SEED SUPPLIERS LIST’ of Organic, Heirloom, Landrace, Open Pollinated, Non-GMO Seed Companies.
As avid growers we put this together ourselves with our global community over the past years researching each recommendation please share! https://t.me/plantforchange
“In Chile, three Border Collies named Das, Summer, and Olivia have been trained to help reforest areas devastated by wildfires.
Equipped with special backpacks filled with native plant seeds, the dogs release them as they run through the affected landscapes, mimicking natural seed dispersal.
The idea behind this innovative project was to accelerate reforestation by spreading seeds over large areas quickly, which would otherwise take much longer with traditional methods.
The dogs were owned and trained by Francisca Torres, an environmentalist and dog trainer who runs Pewos, a group dedicated to using dogs for ecological purposes.
This project was especially crucial in Chile, where wildfires increasingly threaten biodiversity and communities.
Border Collies, known for their intelligence and endurance, were the perfect choice for the task.
This creative, cost-effective solution not only advanced reforestation efforts but also showcased how animals can play an essential role in restoration.”
Art Ludwig the author of this and many key books for water solutions offers a comprehensive guide on designing and implementing greywater reuse systems for residential home settings. He is one of the most respected voices in ecological water solutions
Every homeowner should have this in their library. These pages offer different levels of guidance on how to design and implement systems that reuse a holistic household’s greywater (from kitchen sinks, showers, bathes, and laundry) to irrigate our landscapes and let nature clean with us. It integrates water-saving strategies and designs to create lush, sustainable gardens—returning some of our water waste into the valuable resource it is and bringing it back safely into the natural system once again safely and efficiently, closing the loop with beauty and efficiency.
He outlines various greywater systems, ranging from simple, low-cost setups to more complex installations, Ludwig helps you assess your goals, site specifics, and local regulations to find the solution that fits your home and your land, to choose the most suitable system.
Let’s keep learning how to bring permaculture into everyday life. Water conservation starts right at home—and Art is a master guide.
Have you read or used Art’s systems? We’d love to hear your feedback, learnings, and experiences—share them below!
The moment we are not learning from everyone & everything around us including most importantly NATURE, we have lost and are only limiting our life, healing, health and spiritual expansion.
Sylvie Roke from Switzerland just completed groundbreaking research with new highly sensitive equipment that was able to measure the effect of one negative ion on our intercellular water.
Roke and her team found that a single ion has an influence on millions of water molecules.Just one ion can energetically twist the bonds of several million water molecules over a distance exceeding 20 nanometers causing the liquid to become structured.
Water molecules are made up of one negatively charged oxygen atom and two positively charged hydrogen atoms. When an electrically charged atom, called an ion, comes into contact with water, the network of hydrogen bonds is disturbed due to the vibratory impact of the ion's energy.
The vibration spreads over millions of surrounding molecules, causing water molecules to align preferentially in a specific direction, causing it to structure.
The water within us is a highly sensitive communication network that spans the vast array of cells, tissues and vessels within our bodies.
Remember structured water H3O2 is different than regular water H2O. Structured water forms against the walls of our cells, our vessels, our tissues and within all of our cells.
This water gets its structure when the hydrogen become tightly bound in a hexagonal lattice structure.
This structured water creates a battery with the oppositely positive charged bulk water.
This structured water battery powers life on this earth, from a giant Sequoia tree to our human bodies.
Our world and the life it sustains is powered by the beautiful dance between light, water and the frequency information throughout our environment. It is time to acknowledge and tend to our terrain within us and surrounding us.” —Dr Catherine
Short overview of the Laundry to Landscape (L2L) Greywater System—the simplest, least expensive, lowest-effort way to get greywater into the landscape effectively.
Tamar Organics, established in 1994 has a 30 year local history. From humble beginning as a small organic market garden in Cornwall, UK, has now grown into a leading supplier of organic seeds and gardening products in the UK.
‘Our mission is to encourage individuals to cultivate their own food organically, thereby protecting the environment, improving soil health, and promoting biodiversity.”
How They Grow—
They are organic certified and work closely with local soil associations building thriving soil biology. By focusing on soil regeneration they in turn strive to produce healthy, nutrient dense plants/seeds.
Love to all of our PFC community here from around the world who not only see soul-utions but is making change by having the passion, courage & tenacity to #PLANTFORCHANGE and co-create an abundant future through restoration of our selves and our sacred earth one day at a time. #yourock💚🌱🙏 Gratitude -M
@PLANTFORCHANGE
05.04.202519:07
“Our modern society calls this "woo," but it's actually what your ancestors practiced for thousands upon thousands of years.
When we see it from this perspective, it's actually the modern-day perspective that's "fringe."
And it opens a path — a deeply authentic one, based in remembrance and belonging
to cultivate deep roots in community and ritual, once again.” —Torie Feldman
PFC-Observational Indicators Of Healthy Backyard Eco-systems.
Nature is sacred, honest and giving. We can easily learn to observe and read our local land's present, past, and sometimes future just by looking at the plants, animals, fungi and insects in our environment.
These are some key observational indicators of a healthier eco-systems we can celebrate and continue to nurture.
What we want to observe—
⤍ Variety of Bees multi-species and daily sightings (good numbers)
⤍ Variety of Pollinators (butterflies & insects)
⤍ Diversity of plant species (more diversity, the better)
⤍ Balance of Animal interaction for pest control. (Animal presence but not intense pressures)
⤍ Multi-species Bird presence. Terrestrial breeding birds are a great indicator of overall health & biodiversity as Birds respond to any variation in habitat quality and will move on if not ideal.
⤍ High visible amounts of worms/earthworms in all soil
⤍ All Trophic levels of the soil food web; visible signs of producers, consumers, predators & decomposer organisms interacting.
⤍ Water holding capacity & water infiltration in soil/lands. Healthy soil stores water.
⤍ Areas of natural microclimates.
⤍ Dense colours in plants/foliage = healthy, thriving plants.
⤍ Dominant native plant species. These species can give us guidance on nutrient profiles & strength of survival.
⤍ Earthy smells in the air.
⤍ The presence of fungi & perhaps even a diversity of local fruiting mushrooms.
Do you have these indicators? What else can you add? What signs have you learnt to observe about the health of your garden yard, local eco-systems and plant life? Contribute below.
@PLANTFORCHANGE #observethenserve #sowgrowharvestsaveseedsrepeat https://t.me/plantforchange (Come Make Change With Us! 🌱💚🌎🙏)
03.04.202522:11
Citrus In The Spring— Grapefruit, Orange, Myer Lemon & Kefir Limes Taking Center Stage…
In the heart of 11x7 foot greenhouse, the citrus trees have come alive—blossoms bursting open like tiny stars, flooding the air with its intoxicating fragrance. This incredible scent clings to everything, it’s sweet and wild. It’s my favorite time of year, when the whole space feels enchanted—fragrant, fertile, and full of quiet literal magic.
*these beauties are grown in pots going on 5 years now zone 7b and can be moved in an out of greens house during different seasons and temps!
Are you growing citrus anywhere in the world..share your love below too! How divine right!
We are nature. We are part of a living, miraculous, divine, complex biological ecosystem made manifest by interactions of light (photons, plasma), sound (vibration), scalar energy, living organic matter, and living water. All are interrelated and thrive off one another within life’s seven kingdoms: Bacteria, Archaea, Protozoa, Chromista, Plants, Fungi, and Animals. We are here to participate, create, and grow together in many ways. What a miracle, right?!?!
Our thriving & survival depends on the beautiful balance within the seven kingdoms.
Being human means being in constant contact and communication with plants. We need plants! We wear plants, sit on plants, use plants to get to work, write on and ingest plants, and so much more.
Here are some ways we rely on energy exchange with our sacred plant kingdom…
-oxygen for our survival here on Earth -food/nutrients -energy production -medicines -air purification -water purification -fibres (used for clothing, needed products) -oils/wax/resins/polish -soaps (cleaning & self-care) -wood (protection, housing, tools) -tools (bowls, weaving etc) -dyes (food & clothing) -compost (soil cycle support) -soil building( mulches, nitrogen-fixing) -arts -pest protectants -living environments (protection of elements) -toxin absorbents (bioremediation) -physical well-being (we heal in their presence & touch)
Let’s expand this list. What other wonderful ways do we rely on plants and what new ways can we live and work with plants?
Meet one of the newest additions to our little homestead. This is Rose and she's a Jersey heifer that's about 10 months old. We bought her from another homestead about 2.5 hours away that was getting out of the raw milk business.
Once she's old enough to breed, she will be one of the raw milk producers on our farm. For now, she's just eating lots of green pasture and growing like crazy.
10.04.202516:20
🧠 Your Brain Wasn’t Made For This Much Noise. Grow A Garden and Nurture Some Soil!
You feel us too!?! Drop a pic of your garden below! Let’s celebrate our nature connection and nurture one another!
Short overview of the Laundry to Landscape (L2L) Greywater System—the simplest, least expensive, lowest-effort way to get greywater into the landscape effectively.
Art Ludwig the author of this and many key books for water solutions offers a comprehensive guide on designing and implementing greywater reuse systems for residential home settings. He is one of the most respected voices in ecological water solutions
Every homeowner should have this in their library. These pages offer different levels of guidance on how to design and implement systems that reuse a holistic household’s greywater (from kitchen sinks, showers, bathes, and laundry) to irrigate our landscapes and let nature clean with us. It integrates water-saving strategies and designs to create lush, sustainable gardens—returning some of our water waste into the valuable resource it is and bringing it back safely into the natural system once again safely and efficiently, closing the loop with beauty and efficiency.
He outlines various greywater systems, ranging from simple, low-cost setups to more complex installations, Ludwig helps you assess your goals, site specifics, and local regulations to find the solution that fits your home and your land, to choose the most suitable system.
Let’s keep learning how to bring permaculture into everyday life. Water conservation starts right at home—and Art is a master guide.
Have you read or used Art’s systems? We’d love to hear your feedback, learnings, and experiences—share them below!
WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD PRODUCTION, “DOES IT SCALE?” IS OFTEN THE WRONG QUESTION
Evaluating radical new solutions based on whether they scale can be directly at odds with the very nature of these solutions.
“Rather than asking whether a practice “scales” — whether it works if adopted everywhere — we ought to instead ask whether a practice works in and for specific people and places, and whether it can align with or enhance existing culturally valued practices and systems in other places. “Is this approach in harmony with the people and other living things in this region?” “Does it work with or against the goals and needs here?” And so on…
Asking the right questions matters, but what matters more is biodiverse solutions integrated with natures local bioregions—people, plants, pollinators and ecosystems.
Expanding the #PlantForChange Movement: A Global Seed Evolution is InComing! **we know you feel it too 🫘🌏🌱
Exciting news is on the horizon! We’ve been working behind the scenes to expandthe#PlantForChangemovement and make the Global Seed Directory even more accessible.
Our goal? To empower more people worldwide with access to beyond-organic seeds while deepening local community involvement.
From the very beginning, this vision has included a shareable, downloadable image—a powerful tool that could be placed on ANY website, directly linking to the First Global Seed Directory. Now, we are thrilled to announce that this will soon become a reality!
This universal badge will soon be available for use on: ✔ Farm websites ✔ Online seed stores ✔ Permaculture education platforms ✔ Landscape and garden designers’ websites ✔ Growing & gardening magazines ✔ Local community centers, churches, and all similar grassroots initiatives ✔ Anywhere committed to supporting seed sovereignty, permaculture, regenerative growing & holistic agriculture
This is more than just a lookup—it’s a grass roots movement to restore global access to truly beyond-organic, open-pollinated seeds, ensuring resilience for future generations.
Stay tuned in the coming months for the official drop—together, we are planting the future! —PFC Family
PLANT FOR CHANGE—GLOBAL SEED SUPPLIERS LIST’ of Organic, Heirloom, Landrace, Open Pollinated, Non-GMO Seed Companies.
As avid growers we put this together ourselves with our global community over the past years researching each recommendation please share! https://t.me/plantforchange
Love to all of our PFC community here from around the world who not only see soul-utions but is making change by having the passion, courage & tenacity to #PLANTFORCHANGE and co-create an abundant future through restoration of our selves and our sacred earth one day at a time. #yourock💚🌱🙏 Gratitude -M
@PLANTFORCHANGE
05.04.202519:07
“Our modern society calls this "woo," but it's actually what your ancestors practiced for thousands upon thousands of years.
When we see it from this perspective, it's actually the modern-day perspective that's "fringe."
And it opens a path — a deeply authentic one, based in remembrance and belonging
to cultivate deep roots in community and ritual, once again.” —Torie Feldman
We are nature. We are part of a living, miraculous, divine, complex biological ecosystem made manifest by interactions of light (photons, plasma), sound (vibration), scalar energy, living organic matter, and living water. All are interrelated and thrive off one another within life’s seven kingdoms: Bacteria, Archaea, Protozoa, Chromista, Plants, Fungi, and Animals. We are here to participate, create, and grow together in many ways. What a miracle, right?!?!
Our thriving & survival depends on the beautiful balance within the seven kingdoms.
Being human means being in constant contact and communication with plants. We need plants! We wear plants, sit on plants, use plants to get to work, write on and ingest plants, and so much more.
Here are some ways we rely on energy exchange with our sacred plant kingdom…
-oxygen for our survival here on Earth -food/nutrients -energy production -medicines -air purification -water purification -fibres (used for clothing, needed products) -oils/wax/resins/polish -soaps (cleaning & self-care) -wood (protection, housing, tools) -tools (bowls, weaving etc) -dyes (food & clothing) -compost (soil cycle support) -soil building( mulches, nitrogen-fixing) -arts -pest protectants -living environments (protection of elements) -toxin absorbents (bioremediation) -physical well-being (we heal in their presence & touch)
Let’s expand this list. What other wonderful ways do we rely on plants and what new ways can we live and work with plants?
Tamar Organics, established in 1994 has a 30 year local history. From humble beginning as a small organic market garden in Cornwall, UK, has now grown into a leading supplier of organic seeds and gardening products in the UK.
‘Our mission is to encourage individuals to cultivate their own food organically, thereby protecting the environment, improving soil health, and promoting biodiversity.”
How They Grow—
They are organic certified and work closely with local soil associations building thriving soil biology. By focusing on soil regeneration they in turn strive to produce healthy, nutrient dense plants/seeds.
PFC-Observational Indicators Of Healthy Backyard Eco-systems.
Nature is sacred, honest and giving. We can easily learn to observe and read our local land's present, past, and sometimes future just by looking at the plants, animals, fungi and insects in our environment.
These are some key observational indicators of a healthier eco-systems we can celebrate and continue to nurture.
What we want to observe—
⤍ Variety of Bees multi-species and daily sightings (good numbers)
⤍ Variety of Pollinators (butterflies & insects)
⤍ Diversity of plant species (more diversity, the better)
⤍ Balance of Animal interaction for pest control. (Animal presence but not intense pressures)
⤍ Multi-species Bird presence. Terrestrial breeding birds are a great indicator of overall health & biodiversity as Birds respond to any variation in habitat quality and will move on if not ideal.
⤍ High visible amounts of worms/earthworms in all soil
⤍ All Trophic levels of the soil food web; visible signs of producers, consumers, predators & decomposer organisms interacting.
⤍ Water holding capacity & water infiltration in soil/lands. Healthy soil stores water.
⤍ Areas of natural microclimates.
⤍ Dense colours in plants/foliage = healthy, thriving plants.
⤍ Dominant native plant species. These species can give us guidance on nutrient profiles & strength of survival.
⤍ Earthy smells in the air.
⤍ The presence of fungi & perhaps even a diversity of local fruiting mushrooms.
Do you have these indicators? What else can you add? What signs have you learnt to observe about the health of your garden yard, local eco-systems and plant life? Contribute below.
@PLANTFORCHANGE #observethenserve #sowgrowharvestsaveseedsrepeat https://t.me/plantforchange (Come Make Change With Us! 🌱💚🌎🙏)
03.04.202522:11
Citrus In The Spring— Grapefruit, Orange, Myer Lemon & Kefir Limes Taking Center Stage…
In the heart of 11x7 foot greenhouse, the citrus trees have come alive—blossoms bursting open like tiny stars, flooding the air with its intoxicating fragrance. This incredible scent clings to everything, it’s sweet and wild. It’s my favorite time of year, when the whole space feels enchanted—fragrant, fertile, and full of quiet literal magic.
*these beauties are grown in pots going on 5 years now zone 7b and can be moved in an out of greens house during different seasons and temps!
Are you growing citrus anywhere in the world..share your love below too! How divine right!
Sylvie Roke from Switzerland just completed groundbreaking research with new highly sensitive equipment that was able to measure the effect of one negative ion on our intercellular water.
Roke and her team found that a single ion has an influence on millions of water molecules.Just one ion can energetically twist the bonds of several million water molecules over a distance exceeding 20 nanometers causing the liquid to become structured.
Water molecules are made up of one negatively charged oxygen atom and two positively charged hydrogen atoms. When an electrically charged atom, called an ion, comes into contact with water, the network of hydrogen bonds is disturbed due to the vibratory impact of the ion's energy.
The vibration spreads over millions of surrounding molecules, causing water molecules to align preferentially in a specific direction, causing it to structure.
The water within us is a highly sensitive communication network that spans the vast array of cells, tissues and vessels within our bodies.
Remember structured water H3O2 is different than regular water H2O. Structured water forms against the walls of our cells, our vessels, our tissues and within all of our cells.
This water gets its structure when the hydrogen become tightly bound in a hexagonal lattice structure.
This structured water creates a battery with the oppositely positive charged bulk water.
This structured water battery powers life on this earth, from a giant Sequoia tree to our human bodies.
Our world and the life it sustains is powered by the beautiful dance between light, water and the frequency information throughout our environment. It is time to acknowledge and tend to our terrain within us and surrounding us.” —Dr Catherine