I am familiar with ERE, having first engaged with it... around a decade ago. I made some poor decisions (getting a master's degree in a field that I am now well and truly burnt out of, don't see myself returning to, and didn't even make me that much money being chief among them). Now at 35 I want to really buckle down, get my head out of my ass, and figure this stuff out.
My goals are not quite ERE, but I think this group of people understands my perspective more than most. I don't want to fully retire and never work again; what I want to do is develop a life that is fulfilling and meaningful now, while also creating streams of income that are pleasant and low-demand enough that I can work (very)part time until my eventual death in my 90s, like 2 of my grandparents did. I'm thinking stuff like teaching skill classes (foraging, gardening, sourdough, etc etc) or running an actual bed and breakfast.
I also have a strong interest in permaculture, adapting to climate change, and attempting to make the world a better place in some way. Passions include gardening, foraging, native plants, non-native-but-well-adapted-to-my-local-climate plants, food, ecosystems in general, and permaculture. Located Maritime PNW and love this region.
Hi Folks
Re: Hi Folks
Welcome, plantnerd!
Sounds like you will fit in very well here! You have a strong overlap with many goals and philosophies here. How did you find the forum?
Sounds like you will fit in very well here! You have a strong overlap with many goals and philosophies here. How did you find the forum?
Re: Hi Folks
Welcome! I'm an unfocused gardener in the PNW myself so curious what you'd suggest growing, both native and otherwise.
Re: Hi Folks
I will add I'm an aspiring gardener (usually) in Guatemala. Today might be the day to plant some arugula and herbs.
Re: Hi Folks
Thanks! I found the forum from the blog, which I found back in the day because I realized I really didn't want the standard 'work super hard until you're unable to and then retire with a butt-load of physical problems from 40+ years of labor & stress'.
For supporting native species/creating habitat, things depend rather strongly on which part of the PNW you live in. For natives, I generally start people off by recommending plants that support native pollinators, and there's some great resources, these are some of my favorites (selected for west of the Cascades, but each site has other ecosystems too if that doesn't match your senario).
https://xerces.org/publications/plant-l ... -northwest
https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/P ... 65B55FF684
And for smaller areas:
https://homegrownnationalpark.org/wp-co ... .1.pdf.pdf
But maybe you're east of the Cascades, in which case your climate and ecology is dramatically different from my own. I will say that I love oemleria (osoberry) because I think it's gorgeous, and because our native leaf cutter bee seems fond of it. I also think wood sorrel and western lily of the valley are under-appreciated for shady areas, even if they're not the most crucial plants for pollinators. If you are on the west side of the Cascades, and can give a few more details (sun exposure, soil type, moisture levels etc), I could give a better range of options.
As for food, it really depends on what you like to eat. I really enjoy hardy (and fuzzy) kiwis because everyone expects them to be a tropical species, and they're not. I grow a lot of greens (kale, chard, amaranth, arugula, lettuce, etc), summer squash, alliums (walking onions, garlic, chives, garlic chives, etc), berries, tomatoes, tomatillos, etc. There's so much we can grow it's really helpful to narrow it down by what you actually want to eat.
I am holding myself back from starting tomatoes indoors too early
We're a couple weeks away from it being warm enough to start spinach outdoors.Re: Hi Folks
I'm also in maritime NW and those PDFs are so freakin cool, immediately shared with my wife whose response was a "yay yay" text. Awesome resources, thanks.