Marty Pixley

Mr. William James was on the right track getting the right thousand people to see this. However he had the wrong thousand. Everytime a gardening newbie ask me about gardening/canning/freezing, or other wise doing what we all believe in. I get excited and I send them to the people that are paid to disseminate just such information the county extension agent. No I don't leave it at that however there is a lot of free stuff that can be had from most extension agents. and they have time and resources to put on canning clinics I do not.

Before you get mad and yell at me, think about the powerfull army they would be. Vertually every county in America.

Further more they know who it is that is incharge of the landfills and can easily divert the precious materials to the hands of gardeners and if we give them something they can print and hand to the fledgling gardeners they will do so acting like it was their idea all along. Personally I do not care who gets credit for fixing out outrageous food system only that it gets fixed.

There is no other group that is paid to help we just need to make sure they are giving the best advice out there. One small suggestion most of them have been taught by our universities the "right way to apply all kinds of thing that we would not think of putting anywhere near or food source. So lets get them helping America buiold better soil and along the way get better info into their hands.

Hope this is helpful.

I know this is an older thread but the subject is intriguing. Having done both production carpentry and green building, my take is somewhat different. I don't think that mechanization is using SIP panels, although they have their place. Nor is it using insulated concrete forms another fine product, (too much embedded energy in concrete). To me it is using a machine to assist means a loader or dozer for site prep rather than a shovel, or a loader and conveyor to get earth to the upper courses or an earthship or rammed earth wall.

It means an air driven tamper rather than a hand held hammer to tamp the earth into tires. It is using a “pug mixer” to mix clay and aggregate for a rammed earth wall. A chain saw and a good splitter to prepare the wood for a cord wood wall seems a great idea.

Someday we may get back to a slower pace where the average person feels they have time for hand made one of a kind homes. I hope it is soon. However until then we are asking the rest of the world to leap a large canyon of thinking to get to our side. Showing the rest of the world a better way and how to use their tools to build it is akin to building a bridge over said canyon

I hope others will weigh in on this.