Blue Turtle Permaculture LLC

09/22/2026

Been working hard for a good cause: Trees Lexington! Special Thanks to Roger Johnston for assistance with the initial burn and supplying the wood chips.💪😊👍

09/22/2026

09/21/2026

I am very happy to say that I have had the opportunity to work with Trees Lexington! to provide them with a special order of bio-char. Starting with char that was created earlier this spring, I inoculated it with some worm castings from my red wiggler vermi-composter, creating a water slurry, let that set for a few days, then mixed with wood chips generously donated and delivered by Roger Johnston. This first batch started as 2-5 gallon buckets of char that weighed about 20 lbs. each (40 lbs. total), mixed with 4 lbs. of the worm castings. Roger delivered 20-5 gallon buckets of wood chips to give us a 1:10 ratio of char to woodchips. As it turned out, a 5 gallon bucket of wood chips also weighed about 10 lbs., so it was 1:10 by volume, and 2:10 by weight. Either way, it should be a good mix for the trees soon to be planted. I reused my pine pellet cat litter bags to package everything up mixing one bucket of chips at a time with two pounds of inoculated char. Final total was 21 bags which were picked up today! Still have 60 more pounds to make and process to complete the order, but I have between now and the first of November to finish. This opportunity has definitely got my wheels turning for how to make the process more efficient and the product more effective. There is no "instant gratification" here. It will be more a matter of seeing how these trees will fare many years from now!

12/06/2024

Great ideas!

08/21/2024

This aligns with the Permaculture principle of "The problem is the solution."

06/21/2024

My first burn in the Bio-char kiln coinciding with Summer Solstice was a success! Although I didn't have a huge pile of sticks and limbs to process, everything worked as expected. 😁👍

06/16/2024

Getting ready for the "Burn In" of the new bio-char kiln. Summer Solstice here we come! 🤩

01/15/2024

In keeping with the principle "Observe and Interact" I have been and will be spending the next year or so simply observing my property through the seasons. These are some of the things I will be looking at: 1) How is the property impacted by sun, wind, and precipitation? 2) How is the property impacted by externals like adjacent properties, roadways, and (in my case) gas lines and rights of way? 3) What are the soil and slope conditions in the various parts of the property? 4) What types of trees, plants, and fungi, are already present? 5) What types of wild animals are utilizing the property? and 6) How are the patterns of all of these elements interacting with one another? The attached image is of the front third of the property in January. Of note, there are large stumps and slash piles from when the property was previously logged. There are also large stands of blackberries. Not to worry though, one concept in permaculture is "The Problem is the Solution"! I have already begun to think of creative ways to utilize these "problems".

01/15/2024

So what is Permaculture Design? It is a type of design that takes into consideration 12 Principles or steps in the design process. These are the steps I will be following for my property: 1) Observe and Interact, 2) Capture and Store Energy, 3) Obtain a Yield, 4) Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback, 5) Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services, 6) Produce Little to No Waste, 7) Design from Patterns to Details, Eight) Integrate Rather than Separate, 9) Use Small and Slow Solutions, 10) Use and Value Diversity, 11) Optimize Edge and Value the Margins, 12) Creatively Use and Respond to Change.

01/15/2024

Hi, Everyone! Welcome to Blue Turtle Permaculture here on Facebook! I have created this page for the following reasons: 1) To document my own journey as I apply permaculture principles and design considerations to my new property in Knifley, KY, 2) To serve as a landing page for potential clients as I move beyond developing just my own property to helping others develop theirs as well, and 3) To serve as an educational hub for anyone who is interested in learning about permaculture. Please feel free to check it out, follow, and ask questions. I look forward to being of service to my land, the local community, and beyond!