Anne Miller

Ned Harr wrote:Part of that also I think was having more and more kids, which kind of forced me to be more organized, and to think about how to get more out of less time. As a generality I've never met people who have so little availability to do the things they are interested in (video games excepted) as those who have no kids, because they simply haven't learned how to put their time to use effectively.

This!  Our daughter never had kids, never wanted them. She never has time to anything as she is always on the go.

I looked at her facebook page yesterday and she was in Houston at some burger joint.  That is at least a thousand miles from where she lives.

People can make time for the things they want to do.

We went to the vet this morning to take the cat to get her rabies shot and dear hubby commented on how many facebook pages she has.  I only know about one.

I would like to add that a bean and vegetable soup would be great made with the bone broth.

To me the most important foods would be beans and prunes for that dreaded constipation.

And fruit juice would be an added pleasure in addition to lots of water.

Here are some threads about good soups:

https://permies.com/t/135866/Favorite-Soup

https://permies.com/t/132586/unexpected-joy-perfectly-blended-soups

https://permies.com/t/5898/Thirteen-Bean-Soup-Hot-water

https://permies.com/t/208006/Simplest-Soup

This reminds me of when I first found the forum back in 2016, I read about so many new to me ideas.

I learned so many new things and I too had the difficulty of having too many interests all at the same time.

Learning to ferment the vegetables that  was harvesting.

Learning about plants I had never heard of.

I already had an interest in medicinal herbs though I learned about so many new ones and what the benefits were.

Then came the knowledge of hugelkulture and RMH aka Rocket Mass Heaters.

What a joy it was to read about Wheaton Labs and wanting to go for a visit.

Welcome to the forum!

Now that you have found the forum are you having the same difficulty as I did or is your course helping with all the new found knowledge?

In addition to the straw under the floor, I would like to suggest some star bales on the perimeter walls either inside or outside.  Maybe three or four feet high.

That is a nice set up that you have.

Timothy Norton wrote: The plan is to place those bags on a far corner of my property and just leave them there for months. Ideally, the leaves in the bags will experience all sorts of weather and just start breaking down for future use. Only some upfront work and then distribution after enough time has elapsed. I'll have to follow up with my findings.

I like your plan and that is what I mention a lot ... finding an out of the way corner to let leaves just sit and turn into leaf mold.

I hope you plan to take those leaves out of the bags ...

I have never intentionally eaten a bug and never will to the best of my knowledge.

If there is a wasp that lives its whole life in a fig, I may have eaten many of them ...

I like what the others have said.  I just want to add that if your compost pile was hot maybe the warmth helped more than the insects.  

Maybe having a compost pile near each tree might be even more effective.

Creating micro-climates and even planting more flowers will benefit those trees.

I think I remember that Ruth Stout was advocating this method of composting.  Though from what old timers have told me the American Indians used fish buried under plants to add fertility.

BTW, there is a PEP BB (Badge Bit) for that:

https://permies.com/wiki/42/98577/Ruth-Stout-style-composting-spots

There are all kinds of different material that can be used as insulation.

I suggested straw because you mentioned that it was available.

Some sustainable insulation materials can be sawdust, wool, paper or cellulose insulation.

We went with cellulose because we were able to DIY ourselves.  It was basically fine shredded paper.

Something that might work that you might want to look into are panels made from mycelium aka fungi:

https://permies.com/t/mycelium-insulation

This looks a lot like that cowpea:

Tohono O’odham (Papago) Southern Pea (Cowpea)



https://www.southernexposure.com/products/tohono-o-odham-papago-southern-pea-cowpea/