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emerald toucanet (Original Post) Gato Moteado Oct 2020 OP
Wonderful capture, dear Gato! CaliforniaPeggy Oct 2020 #1
thank you! Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #4
Ay dios que bella! You live in paradise-- must be heaven waking to the wonderful vistas RestoreAmerica2020 Oct 2020 #2
it's not bad...i just wish i had more time to spend in the forest Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #5
how big is that? ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #3
they're smaller than you'd think Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #6
we should have the next DU meetup down here Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #7
works for me! ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #8
btw. the cashews didnt make it. ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #9
well.....here's my take Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #10
well, ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #11
only the good die young.... Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #12
yeah, mostly i just want to prove it can be done on this continent ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #14
and yeah, betting on climate change doesnt seem stupid. ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #16
well, you can grow coffee in a green house and it will fruit... Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #13
well, you can always blend it w something strong. ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #15
it looks like you could grow cacao in a greenhouse Gato Moteado Oct 2020 #17
alrighty. i need coffee, but i lovvvve chocolate. ihas2stinkyfeet Oct 2020 #18

Gato Moteado

(9,850 posts)
7. we should have the next DU meetup down here
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 06:14 PM
Oct 2020

i'll show you guys all kinds of birds, including the resplendent quetzal

 

ihas2stinkyfeet

(1,400 posts)
8. works for me!
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 07:12 PM
Oct 2020

but fair warning- i am going to ireland and scotland this winter.
got some expansion plans that will keep me busy for a while, too.

but heck yeah. let's charter a plane.

 

ihas2stinkyfeet

(1,400 posts)
9. btw. the cashews didnt make it.
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 07:19 PM
Oct 2020

i have a wager w the guy who runs the urban ag program at loyola that coffee and chocolate can be grown in n. america. even that i can get a crop here. cant find the trees, tho.

between the fact that my zip is 6.5, cuz of the lake, and the warmth from the hugelpiles, i rly want to try some coffee. might need some winter protection, but...
also betting him that i can pick and process sustainably. you've heard of civet coffee? i think i can do chix beans. dont pick. put out nets and let it drop. then feed to chix and catch the poop.

but out around galena? vinyards are cheap out there. that should work.

Gato Moteado

(9,850 posts)
10. well.....here's my take
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 09:06 PM
Oct 2020

neither coffee nor cacao can survive zone 6 outside.....cacao in particular is really sensitive to cooler temps. to keep either alive, you'll need a greenhouse for sure. whether or not they will fruit that far north, even in a greenhouse, is something i don't know. they might be doing cacao in miami indoors.

i know about the civet coffee.....the seed passes through the animal's digestive system intact. i don't think that would be the case with chickens, though.

still, i like that you're thinking outside the box. instead of galena, why not just buy 10 or 20 acres down here and do cacao for real (IMHO coffee is a waste of time). cacao grows fast....i've had it fruit about 3 to 5 years after planting it from seed....same for the cashews....i think i got cashews in 3 years.

did the cashews germinate for you? if so, i know for sure they can't survive a chicago winter outside.....they were definitely meant for your green house.

 

ihas2stinkyfeet

(1,400 posts)
11. well,
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 10:31 PM
Oct 2020

i assumed the least i would need was fruit wall. but it could be topped w a dome in winter.
some pv heat wouldn't be that hard.

chicken's digestive track is short, tho gizzards are a thing. but if they didnt have grit, they might make it. if they were really dry, maybe they would be hard enough. lots of stuff goes right through them.

galena is as far as i plan to travel. the only other country that i would move to is ireland. even then, a farm w a tenant and a visit or 2 a year is it.

chix beans would have quite the cache. sustainably grown, all that. i could sell it. i am my father's daughter. he used to say he could sell ice boxes to eskimos. i tell people i could sell them their own old shoes, and i wouldnt even have to shine them.
for several years, i sold ads in an event program for a nonprofit. before it was my baby, it barely covered the cost of printing. after doing it for 5 yrs, it brought in $10k. nobody ever even looked at the thing except to see the live auction items. $10k worth of nothing.

trying to remember about the cashews. i think a couple sprouted, then croaked.
i do hope to build a mini-barn someday. cant afford it now, cuz i dumped the rich hubs. but...
i do have a model and i do have a hook up for recycled building materials. and the land. and a bobcat.
have a great idea for a fundraiser, even. it would have a south facing round glass block tower. i would charge ppl to have glass blowing parties. just need a mold and a fire. bring your own glass bottles.

but who knows. i could die tomorrow.

Gato Moteado

(9,850 posts)
12. only the good die young....
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 11:07 PM
Oct 2020

...so, i'm thinking we'll be here for a while.

i'm still not sold on the chicken sh*t coffee. i think we need to go back to the drawing board with that one. the other thing about coffee is that you need a ton of plants to make it worthwhile. be tough to keep all those plants warm from november until april. now, with another term of trump, you might be able to take advantage of the global warming and even grow coconuts in galena.

so, galena it is. i can't remember the last time i was in galena. i can't remember why i was there, either. of course, i can't remember what i had for dinner last night.

 

ihas2stinkyfeet

(1,400 posts)
14. yeah, mostly i just want to prove it can be done on this continent
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 11:20 PM
Oct 2020

and w/o child/slave labor.
i guess i could track down some green beans and figure it out. home roasting is a thing. but the point is the pods and all that. harder to find still in the pod.

i know a lot of folks out in galena. clay ppl.
i almost bought a house out there about 10 yrs ago. in fact, i got screwed out of a foreclosure. handled by one of the big real estate firms here who refused to go to bat for me.

the other thing i think i could grow successfully is tea. right now i am doing teas extracts from things like lemon balm and spearmint, aka weeds. but also raspberry, strawberry, etc leaves.
i have a big jar of sweet olive leaves brewing right now. but artisan tea blends coipd be a real money maker.
planning more olives in the spring. finally at the point where fruit trees are producing for me. had so many peaches on a 5 yo tree that, even tho i culled several times, i still had a good size branch break. and a poor little young pear that had branches almost touching the ground.

hugelkultur and fruit trees arent supposed to go together. it's been a learning curve, but i figured out the basics. next year will be great.

 

ihas2stinkyfeet

(1,400 posts)
16. and yeah, betting on climate change doesnt seem stupid.
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 11:25 PM
Oct 2020

tho between the economic slow down and the smoke from all the fires, maybe the planet gets a breather.

Gato Moteado

(9,850 posts)
13. well, you can grow coffee in a green house and it will fruit...
Mon Oct 5, 2020, 11:18 PM
Oct 2020

...but one thing i was wondering about, which was mentioned in this article, is that sufficient elevation is needed for good quality coffee. i don't think the midwest is far enough above sea level, so galena coffee likely won't be talked about in the same circles as kona, blue mountain, colombian, costa rican and kenyan:

https://hartley-botanic.co.uk/magazine/growing-coffee-in-a-greenhouse/

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