The thing about dogs is that they have a short digestive tract. What goes in comes out very quickly. So if they eat things that are no good for them it doesn't spend long enough inside them to make a problem.
In the same way, chickens blood temperature which is above 40°c 105°f kills the bugs that we have to run a temperature to kill.
Food is food. You'll soon see if your dog/ chicken/ elephant is processing it well.
my area of france, the haute-vienne hasn't change.
Still possible to find house, barn and a hectare for 100k plus or minus 50k depending on location and condition.
Hard to find anything over 1 Hectare though, unless you buy a farm and that's 3-400 000 plus. And you have to deal with Safer
I have a spread sheet that I'm happy to share with you detailing hen numbers, food costs, egg production, and cost of goods sold.
If you plug in your numbers they should give you an idea about what you are dealing with.
It's not my sheet, someone gave it too me a while ago, and to be honest I haven't used it, but it's there if you want it.
If you want to send your email through a purple moosage, I'll send you the file.
We're in the Limousin, so not far away, I'd be interested in seeing what numbers you come up with as it could be very relevant to us.
Would you do that in return?
Yup. That looks about right from what I'm reading.
It's about 20-30 years away, but we'll start seeing the beginning of it probably sometime in the next 3-7 years, depending on how the global climate system responds.
We're in the Haute Vienne, so around the area you're looking for. We don't have community space, in fact just got badly burned by 'friends' trying to pull something together so we're fighting a bit shy at the moment. But meeting and helping people is always interesting.
You can register as a micro-enterprise which seems to tick a lot of easy boxes to register here, but it's not without its issues. Also getting here after the end of the year, without a job offer will be very difficult, my advice is probably to jump now while you can, as long as you can go back if things don't work out.
I really dislike the 20v marketing nonsense that dewalt uses. It's 18/ 36/ 54v here in Europe for the same batteries and as someone said on a forum
The 20 volt crap is basically the tool version of "But ours goes to 11"
I have no experience with this dewalt platform, since the 18v NIMH platform. I'm into the makita 18v as a professional carpenter and I'm seriously happy with the life of the tools and especially the life of the batteries. they have an overcharge and overdraw protection that has kept them in great shape for many years. In fact I still have a couple of the original 3.0 Ah batteries from when that was all you could buy.
I bought a 36v strimmer recently and have been surprised pleasantly by it's performance. I was expecting it to be good but it's better than that. Quiet and non stinky too.
EDIT: For heavy duty use most people I know recommend the expensive Bosch stuff. It's a step above the pro consumer stuff (dewalt makita etc) still
Is there a European distributor for these? France would be preferable, but anywhere in the EU would be ok too.
I use an azada a lot in the garden for breaking up and moving soil, and was thinking about a smaller one for weeding.
This looks like something I would really like to try out.
Have land, need plants!
Anybody have any good links for online, bio nurseries that post. Specifically were looking for some low cost hedging plants to get a jump on our design.
We're ordering a bit of stuff from the awesome Balken ecology project and a bunch of seeds too, but we need some common or garden plant sources.
I can't help with Romania, but I wondered if you were aware of the Balkep ecology project in Bulgaria?
They're doing some really interesting things. I've had a bit of contact online with them and they've been friendly and helpful so maybe they would know of other organisations in the balkans. They're only 4-5 hours south of Bucharest, a bit (!) further from the Carpathians though
This is a french organisation that I've just recently come across. It joins those who want to farm, with those who have land, either to buy, rent, share or work to buy.
It's all in french, so you'll need to translate but from the little I've seen and heard it's a superior, and mature, resource that could but just what you are looking for.
This is a great video. It tells you all you need to know. Layed hedges, especially those with a ditch and bank and using a lot of thorn species is a very solid barrier indeed. When I get on some land (hopefully REALLY soon) I'm planning on planting for this kind of hedge.
Apparently I'll need to plant on 20cm (9 inch) centers and wait until they are 2.5m (8ft) high before the first laying.
It's probably a good idea to do some research into digging a trench around the house, filling it with gravel. to soak the water away. Ensure the trench floor is sloped away from the house. especially if the soil has a high clay content.
You'll need to research this to see if it works for you, but most times damp in walls can be dealt with by this method or even just lowering the soil level outside.
It's pretty cheap if you have the time. A bigbag 1x1x1 meter (or yard) of gravel is not so expensive.
I think if you posted a site map, contour lines, zone map etc etc, the bare bones so to speak in a way that's easy to download and print, you may get lucky and find someone who is interested enough to do a full design.
Or maybe you could run a competition for the best design, voted by people here and pay the winner 500 bucks or something, and up to say 5 runners up 50 bucks. cheap wy to get a bunch of focussed ideas, if there is the interest, of course.
In fact maybe this could be. new forum idea. cash for design competition
Anyway for those who don't know,, Willie Smitt is interesting to watch for tropical permaculture.
As far as wood working tools (and some lightweight garden tools go) I use 18v Makita exclusively I've found the tools to sit nicely in that cheap but quality box and I'm a carpenter by trade so the tools get used daily. What I really like is the electronics in the batteries keep the batteries alive for years. They're extremely long lasting. Any 18v tools would be your best bet if you're looking for daily use, away from the power. Buy one more battery than you think you need and look after them (and any lithium ions [laptops, cell phones etc] by not running them empty if you can help it, and taking them off the charger when they're done, ie don't leave them cooking overnight.
Choose a contractor grade platform you like and stick with that, (dewalt, bosch, Makita) don't buy ryobi or that sort of step down, they don't last under hard use. With tools price is soon forgotten, but you notice quality daily. Having said that I won't buy festool because the price is too high for me to want to take them out in the rain and mud, If I had a workshop, I'd probably bite the price bullet and buy them or Mafel, because they are excellent.
If you don't need the portability so much then (like others have said) an expensive compressor will last forever and tools are cheap.
Sorry for rambling on, I hope you can pick something useful out of this.
I think that a what i know as a math trade (from the board game community) could would be a good way to shift some stuff and get something useful in return. How it works is this
1. You post something you want to give away
2. You look through this list of things other people want to give away and choose what item or items you would accept in return for your item.
3. At a given date, all trades and wants are matched. you ship your stuff and await the arrival of the item you wanted
These are really good. Been using them for 3/4 years.
There is a weak point at the bottom of the tube which will tear if the kids try to force the ice up the sleeve. So just run it under the cold tap until the ice is free from the silicone.
I like silicone very much for spatulas and stuff like that , but end of use repurposing or recycling options are currently limited, although ( from my limited research ) it seems to be less of a problem in the environment than plastic. If anyone knows anything about this, please let me know
Richard Perkins is doing amazing things in Sweden. If you are interested in a permaculture farming business I don't know of anybody better in Europe to learn from.
Yeah it seems the guitar world is changing at least. The CITES regulations on trade in rosewood, for example, has lead to fender using pau ferro on it's necks. Practically no-one can tell the differnce.
My (beautiful matin) guitar has a richlite fretboard, lamitate neck and hpl sides and back, and sounds amazing.
I really like that it's not made from rare exotic woods.
Also is there a medicine forum here on permies? This would fit quite nicely there.
I'd imagine there would be a lot of uses for the microscope for soil testing.
Did you look at the Balkan ecology project?
www.balkep.org
Their courses always seem good value and I'm very impressed by their professionalism and ongoing commitment to recording and demonstrating their activities.
I know they're running a september course, but I don't know where they stand with interns and such. Maybe drop them a line?
Also John D Lui is trying to start his ecosystem restoration camps
I'm impressed with what he's trying to do, and if it works then there's a good place for many people to network and learn stuff.
My choice would be Richard Perkins in sweeden. http://www.ridgedalepermaculture.com/ I know he takes interns, but you're almost probably too late for this year. If I'd have had the time and could have afforded the time off i'd have done his farm planning course. It wasn't cheap, these are professional fees, but from what I learn from his youtube channel,
I know it would be money very well spent.
That's all I have for you. I hope youyou find something useful!
Make it clear on the header that this is a live stream event OR video after the fact.
Is the after the fact video downloadable or stream only.
App. tech course may be confusing, suggest change to appropriate technology
Make it super obvious which level of support people can get the downloaded video for the pdc.
Suggest to start with a advert about what people will get (attractive) rather than talking about what you are doing (not as interesting)
For example
"This is your chance to follow along with one of the worlds best pdc and appropriate technology courses from the comfort of your own home! Learn from some of the best instructors in the business and help us to share permaculture with the world by investing in the technology we need. etc etc
Learn about hugels, swales, design thinking, appropriate land use etc etc
Thanks for the replies. With this, and some other research, I'm happy that the bird is fine to eat.
I like to be as sure as I can be when my experience is seriously limited!
I have a rooster. It has scaly leg. It was given to me. I shall be much more careful in future to fully inspect the mouths of gift horses.
Anyway. The legs are much improved after 3+ weeks. Washing and vaseline (petroleum jelly) seems to be doing the trick, but the rooster is seriously noisy, it's taking a long time and we're in a built up area. It was only the plan to have him for a few weeks, get some eggs fertilised and then butcher him. Needless to say he's not in with the hens. The neighbours are out of patience and, while it's not yet at the pitchforks and burning torches level yet, it's rapidly becoming clear that it's him or me.
So as the subject says, is the bird safe to eat. I get the heebie jeebies a little, but I think that's in my mind. Does anyone have anything to say on the matter?
Oh and please, please, please label your answer as opinion or experience. I really don't want to make a mistake here.
Thanks for your time
It's called yWriter and I found it to be an excellent way of organising, dumping, cutting, pasting, outlining, shuffling etc etc all those words. It's all offline too, which I like very much.
The programme is written for a novel structure, but can easily be made to work for a non-fiction.
there i a video review here
I haven't watched it, so I can't say how fairly in my opinion she reviews it.
Anyway good luck, I hope this helps you, or someone else. Also, from the little interaction we've had here on permies, I could easily imagine that your book would be thoughtful, useful, practical and interesting.
Title suggestion:
Growing and using fibres from your garden, or small farm
Also if you can pre-sell even a small number of books here on permies, you will be able to show a publisher there is a market for your book.
I think that this would be the way forward. I'm doing Geoff's online PDC at the moment, and have a bunch of other stuff that I'm busy with, so I couldn't join the live stream as much as I want. (Also timezones)
However I'd happily pay at least 200 bucks for access after the fact. You've got some great names lined up and I expect the standard to be really high. It's the outside practical stuff I'm missing with Geoff (there's no way I can take 2 weeks out to do a PDC at this time) and your's would fill the gap a little, and if I pay more than other people, then I really don't mind.
Why don't you mail all the people who thumbed, ask what they'll pay, total it all up, and see if it hits the magic number.
Give it another push in the daily if you want.
Also I have half a memory that it was Holzer that I heard this from. Which doesn't probably help you in the slightest!
Anyway, I had i quick dig in Gaia's garden and couldn't find anything.
Well I went down a rabbit hole and discovered some new things.
It seems like the common name is mixed up.
We planted these
Which are actually called asparagus pea not winged bean. LOTUS TETRANGONOLOBUS with the Lovely red/ deep crimson flower, small shrub. Because the form (logitudinal wings) is the same as the winged bean, this is where the confusion comes from.
The Asian Winged Beans are a different plant to the Asparagus Pea. They are a climbing plant with long pointed leaves, whereas the Asparagus Pea plant is a small shrub with rounder leaves. The Winged Bean plant also produces pale blue flowers, and the pods tend to be larger.
So the winged beans that you have are PSOPHOCARPUS TETRAGONOLOBUS. The beans are way bigger than the asparagus pea, with the blue flower you are talking about and are a vine of 3-4 metres and tropical perennial rather than an annual shrub.
EDIT: I mixed up asparagus pea with winged bean. Please see my post lower down.
We've had a couple of plants each year for a two years now.
There's been no problem with them germinating.
They have to be picked at 2 cm long, no more than 3 cm (that's 3/4 to 1 and 1/4 inch in old money) otherwise they go stringy. If they do go stringy then you can deal with them like pea-pod soup (boil then strain) to get rid of the strings. (This was a great tasting soup)
They didn't yield a great amount, (I didn't know that the whole plant was edible), but that might have been because we didn't pick that many of them. I'm not that keen on them, they're fine to eat, but there's better things in the garden at that time, my wife likes them a lot.
They have lovely red flowers, it sprawls a bit, maybe I should stake them? Slugs and snails didn't seem to like them so much.
For what we're doing and where we are at the moment I feel they take up too much space in the veggie bed and will plant a bunch of seedlings around the 3 year old trees for the nitrogen, and the occasional harvest.
For those who are seriously into the 'hiding from the hungry hordes' prepper thing, this could be an interesting plant as it doesn't look like food at all, more like a small weird bush.
This looks an excellent project. Looking forward to reading the results of the study when it comes out.
If I had a different home situation I'd be there like a shot!
Alot (sp) of wonderful discussion here.
The French anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon wrote,
"Whoever puts their hand upon me to govern me is a usurper, a tyrant, and I declare them my enemy."
While I think this is generally true, I'm also minded of the function of a (mechanical) governor in an engine, it's a device to prevent the engine over revving and destroying itself. Thus, while a person governing me, or my group is generally to be treated with suspicion, the function of a governing element is a necessary component.
Anarchism is at it's root, IMO, concerned with placing as much responsibility, decisions making and autonomy as possible with the individual. Which is not what the majority of people want, in the book Thinking fast and slow, Daniel Kahneman makes the observation that thinking, (as opposed to coming to conclusions that you like emotionally) costs energy, and people (generally speaking) will always tend to choose the easy option.
Having said all that, I still hold that it's true that anarcho-syndicalism is generally the direction to head in, it still tends to founder on the rocks of unionism and class struggle and heavy left-wing politics, which is why I see movements such as the transition town having a better chance of creating meaningful change.
By the way, has anybody read Lean Logic by David Flemming?
Done. Chipped in a few bucks.
Gaia's garden was an eyeopener for me. Along with Peter Bane's book it really laid out the how and the why of small scale permaculture.
