Permsteading.com

Yes Lolly the little ones really enjoyed playing up there with me. I have mulched the floor with grass clippings to keep them out of the mud. They loved playing with the mulch, pileing it up, putting it on the sun flower leaves, throwing it into Pap Paps hair, it was great fun.

I was wondering if my Grandsons at age 5 and 7 are old enough to help me plant trees this year. I think they are old enough to remember things that happen now, and I would love them to have memories of working in the ground with Pap Pap. My only concern is that their attention span is still very short, lol. I am not sure if they could make it through even one tree planting. Having a tree that you helped to plant with your own two hands, and watching it grow over the years is a wonderful experience. But having Pap Pap yelling at you to get over here and help, and pay attention, and learn something, that experience may not be the kind of memory I want to leave them with, I want to encourage them, but I do not want to force them to garden. My Dad was forced to Garden during the Great Depression and he hated gardening for most of his life after that. He never had a garden when I was growing up and it was not until much later in his life after he retired that he started to grow things again. I think I will plant seeds in their minds and see if they grow or not.

I have been thinking of using Jerusalem Artichokes to make the Sun Flower Fort this year. The flowers are not as large, but they produce food and they come back year after year. Keeping with the No Work Theory of gardening I liked that idea. I do not know how many I will need to make a good wall for the Sunflower Fort, and I do not know how close I need to plant them to fill in well. In this case I am more interested in the appearance of the Walls of the Fort than I am about the food production. Food production will come with time, right now I am worried about Grandchildren.

Now see here young man, if you build that there fort with Jerusalem Artichokes, you're gonna need a building permit. While you were using Sunflowers it was classed under our codes as a temporary structure, but as Jerusalem artichokes are perennials then we have to list it as a permanent structure and as such comes under the zoning laws of this here fair city. You're going to have to include running water, sanitation, as well as a place for nap time.

Well, this isn't the 1st time I have had zoning issues here on the Hill. The last time it was suggested that maybe I could bribe the zoning officer, I wonder it that would work in this case? I have not corrected the 1st zoning problem I had, I just covered it up with a tarp for the winter and hoped that the problem would go away. Of course I know better, those kind of issues don't simply get well, they just sort of sit and fester. I will have to check the zoning ordinances and see it there is a loop hole.