I don't see descriptions for the Art Ludwig podcasts, what should we expect? What will be the deciding factors for which podcasts are free and which are for pay? I want $2.50 from you after listening to the Dell Artemis podcasts. Or, I'd be willing to pay you $2.50 to never talk to them again. Oh vay!
I wouldn't use any of the above to describe permaculture to those unfamiliar with the practice. Most sound nerdy and pretentious, like you're trying way too hard to impress. Simply use words like organic, sustainable, healthy. If you want to go further you could push the ideas of restoration, working with nature rather than against her. Edible garden also piques varying areas of interest.
Don't tell me its spelled chipmunk. My chipmonks display monk-ish qualities (they wear robes and shave the top of their heads).
Anyway, I have many holes in my bed. The mice like em. They're kind of cute, especially the ones that hop around (kangaroo mice?). Naturally, the snakes have come (garters). I've seen one slither into one of the holes. My second bed (no soil yet) has a chipmonk coming out from underneath it. Whenever I'm messing around in there he pops out and hangs with me. I often find him/her munching on the chop n droppables. Very amusing.
I'm thinking of not covering the chipmonk hiding spot and even making a mini gable roof so I have the hole and planting area nearby.
My goal is to grow too much food, so there's plenty to go around. I figure I destroyed some habitat, might as well create some.
I was listening to a Paul-cast with Geoff Lawton, I forget which number it was, but Geoff mentioned that it took more microbes to digest the wood. More microbes, the better is my understanding.
I do not put cedar in the middle, outside or top of my beds. Strictly in the trench I dug for sod, top soil. The cedar gets as much contact with the ground as possible, to be buried under birch trunks. The cedar is out of touch with any plants, roots (I build big beds). In the long run, i believe I'm adding more microbial diversity to my beds without adding harmful qualities. Plus I'm filling the trenches with water soaked wood, so I don't need to bury as much birch (higher beds, more surface area to grow).
Wouldn't the entire bed need to be made of biochar? If it lasts that long, and wood deteriorates that quickly, you'd be left with nothing but char anyway. I imagine that would leave you with a small raised bed, which defeats the purpose of raising beds.
I've spent some time looking into the planned collapse. None of it really matters when you're homesteading. It's better to focus on a good life rather than why life in a city sucks. I think Paul has done the same.
Country life. You've been doing it for hundreds of thousands of years. Why stop? McDonalds isn't that good.
Are there veggies, flowers or herbs that I can plant to add selenium to my soils?
Or do I need to acquire volcanic ash?
Selenium helps block the formation of free radicals. Can be found in egg yolk, seafood, poultry, kidney, liver, muscle meats, whole grains and seeds but the soil needs to have selenium for these to uptake... So I read....
The feds 100-year charter is up in 2013. Of course that does not matter as we have two Goldman Sachs puppets running for office. The "collapse" already happened. In 2008. We've been borrowing money left n right just to stay afloat. Eventually our debt will be no good and martial law will officially be declared. We're in a soft form of ML now. If you don't homestead now, you better find someone who does. Or you'll walk into a fema camp and get destroyed. Empty stomachs are hard to fight.
I'm going to use aspects of biodynamics but I'm not crazy about some of the stuff involved. I'm not chasing down a red stag for its bladder and whatnot. Nor am I starting a compost. Why can't I just grow the herbs n flowers and chop n drop? Why can't I mess with goats rather than behemoth cows? Four stomachs make a difference? Maybe I won't see the gnomes, I'm over that part.
I believe homesteading is the solution to getting out of debt, out of the prison city grid, away from forced medication that some ppl call fluoridation, gmos, fungicides, herbicides, pesticides, humanicides, Rockefeller controlled education, your propaganda box that turns your living room into a reeducation camp, agenda 21, air pollution, water pollution, chemtrailing and the materialistic nature of American society, among many other things.
I don't want a huckleberry pie. I'm just one of Pauls true peeps that has recently bought 80 acres of raw land, set up a composting toilet outhouse, well, Hugelkulture beds and soon to be a wofati. My lettuce is still going on my beds, it snowed today. I'm doing big things, in paradise because of permies. I grow nutrient and mineral dense foods in an area designated zone 3-4.
Paul's wofati article says the house in Wales, which I adore, can easily be modified into a wofati. How so? I'm assuming he meant the roof (shape and layers) and the back patio wall. Would that do the trick? Or, are we talking about the walls too?
Also, what's perspex? I'm curious about the back wall on that house. Instead of hay/straw and plaster I'm assuming you'd have to do hay and polyvinyl against the dirt. Would the hay/straw breathe well with one side plastered? I don't like to.assume....
The answer is money. I'm sure the timber industry would not like people cutting their own wood and building their own home for pennies on the dollar. Plus the tax man loves to fine people. The govt is a bloated, self-serving entity; it cares not for your well being.
Chris Kott wrote:Love it! How old are they? I'm happy to hear from someone closer to my neck of the woods, if in a harsher place, doing this stuff and having success.
-CK
I'm guessing 7-8 weeks. After five weeks I took down those surrounding birch; that tree in the upper left corner actually fell on the bed. It was a little scary but totally awesome at the same time. Crushed a few plants. I threw a layer or two of sod on it and it was fine. She's tough! I threw some seed there and a few bare areas.
I'm gonna turn this place into Hugelkulture Heaven. It's great for thin soil and cold weather.
I'm in the Superior National Forest. We have trees, water n rocks. Nothing else. Thin soils led to a thin layer of soil on the bed. The second wasn't covered in time. I did use the sod technique so there is soil on there, I just wish I had put more on. The vegetation atop the beds is thin and won't grow tall. The sides are delish. The combo of "too vertical" and thin soil led to a hole forming. Not sure if insects (bees) are using it as I have no motivation to watch a hole. I'm guessing you can turn a bed into a bee haven by using reeds atop the wood, under the dirt. Ill attempt this with the beds next year as I plan on running them another 50 or so feet. I tried to go 4ft wide, 4 ft high with the wood (birch n alder or poplar).
50-60 seeds, veggies, fruit, herbs. Willy nilly style. Between the beds are corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, basil.
The pics are posted on my Twitter feed : Twitter.com/ndrewonwhyterd
I'm in the Superior National Forest, the orange hawkweed is pretty, grows with white n yellow flowers and colors up the roadsides. If my soil is acidic n compacted ill let the plant do the work. It's considered invasive but my land hasn't been messed with by man. Oooh baby I like it raw.
Using my phone, don't see a way to load pics... Might have to attempt this next time I do laundry.
I found my property online (realtor) n lowballed them on the asking price, paying up front helped. Visited the place via snowmobile. Had a feel for the area from previous camping trips. Very happy with everything.
I have three 20-watt solar panels (Sunforce). The box claims to produce 2,940 watts (196 amps) per week (60 watts x 7 hours x 7 days). So this assumes one gets seven hours of optimal light. I would like to use this to power a chest freezer. I am just curious if A) this will power a chest freezer and B) how big can I go?
options 20%
Chest Freezer
<16 cu ft
No Icemaker
All Brands
Will these three panels power up a chest freezer that needs nearly 200 KWH/Year?
I assume that I am producing 164.64 KWH/Year (2940 x 56), which means no or find a chest freezer the size of your chest. Someone tell me my math is incorrect, please. I did purchase two sets of these panels as the hope was one for the freezer, the other for the wofati. I guess I'll have to combine the two sets into one somehow.
I was watching Raised Beds and Terraces and they mention Sepp's seed mix uses 40-50 varieties of plants, veggies and wild flowers (including rare flowers). They help exchange nutrients while providing shade and moisture. He mentions he likes to group them in plant families. I am curious if anyone knows of any of the seeds he uses. I think the only one they name is buckwheat. Anyone?
The cabin will be small. And I've always wanted to get away from that weird feeling of knowing your bathroom (toilet) is in the vicinity of your kitchen. I also like the nostalgic feel of the outhouse. Ill be in the iron range of MN (about an hour from Canada) so it'd be nice to have a warm pipe running through the green house during the winter. I'm also knitting mittens for my plants, each leaf gets a mini-snuggie.
I have purchased a RMH book (Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson) and have watched plenty of youtube vids. When the time is right I should be ready to build, fail, rebuild, and succeed(!).
Thanks for the reply. People can keep suggesting ideas if they please. I've purchased 80 acres in the middle of a state forest. I plan on setting up an organic hobby farm that uses aspects of biodynamics. The secondary plan is to tame a moose so I can ride him around my property for nothing but sheer joy. The moose is up on me so far... fifteen years ago I moo'd, he entered the water and started swimming toward me, I paddled as fast as I could the other direction... 0-1.
So I have a few questions about Rocket Mass Heaters...
I'm building a cabin up north and was thinking of using a RMH for the outhouse, with the vent pipe running through a green house so I can have fresh greens during the winter.
composting toilet + RMH + green house, yay or nay?
also, can you cook on a RMH? I seen pics with tea kettles atop the barrel... how about a pot of spaghetti?
