Matt McSpadden

With all the rain we've been having, I was thinking about some great umbrella jokes... but they usually go over people's heads.

I think a lot of people would suggest living in an area where you can minimize or completely get rid of a car. Unfortunately in my climate where it gets very cold... and living in a very rural area... cars are needed for now.

A lot of people would suggest EV cars... though again, in my case, they are not a good fit yet.

In the USA, Honda, Toyota, and Subaru have the best track record for longevity.

I will say that this is coming from some who has lived in Maine most of their lives. Maine is mostly a rural state and as a percentage of personal income... Maine has the highest property tax burden in the USA. If other states can offer more services for less taxes... then I think it would behoove Maine to evaluate how they are spending money (actually we are being investigated... but I digress).

Christopher Weeks wrote:I don't think any of the suggestions for not paying taxes after a while really work as things stand...  I have to preface this by admitting that I'm not really interested in such a compromise. I am proud to pay my property taxes and enjoy gaining the benefits they pay for...

I think anyone who posts in the politics forum will probably find people who have other ideas... it does not bother me at all :) And I actually do agree that we could not simply make a drastic change and make it work. I've always been more of a fan of taxing purchases, rather than assets. The more I spend, the more taxes I pay. The more I drive, the more I pay for roads... that sort of thing.

Christopher Weeks wrote:So that I'm not just poo-pooing Matt's idea, I'd like to propose a structural change where the tax payer gets to allocate half of the money they pay into the buckets they value. If I want a library expansion and Matt wants to improve the airport, we each get to help fund those efforts, while still seeing to baseline maintenance of everything.

Actually this is kind of a cool idea. It is an expansion on the idea I have heard in the past where you would choose which school your tax money goes to support. That way if you children have options, you can support the school they go to, rather than the school your town says you are going to support. I like the idea of having more direct say in what types of services your taxes support. It might spark some striving for excellence in some areas where people have a tendency to skate by.

A big discussion that comes up often in the USA is around property taxes. After you take 30 years to pay off your mortgage, you are still paying property taxes for the rest of your life.

While I like the idea of simply not having property taxes at all... I was trying to think of a compromise.

What if you did not have any more taxes after you had lived on a property for say 15 years? This would encourage people to stay in a community for longer periods of time, so they could get this benefit. It would also encourage people to live on the property they own. I think both of those things would be beneficial to communities.

Or maybe, you get to stop paying property tax once your mortgage is paid off? This would encourage people to pay off their mortgage as soon as possible to get the benefit. I think this option would also be good for communities as debt causes many hardships.

What do you think? Where would your compromise land between taxes for life and no taxes?

Nick Mick wrote:If you start at the bottom, you can use leaves, straw, paper bags, newspaper, reeds, wood chips, ect. And build up the sides as you fill in the beds. I used hardware cloth lined with cardboard in mine along with reeds near the top.

Your idea of reeds got me thinking. Why not use corn stalks, sunflower stalks, cat tails... and things like that. If you lined the sides with them, it would keep the soil in. They would break down... but I suspect the structure of the soil at that point would not come out of the beds too much.

I suspect any organic material will break down before you want it to.

I know there is uncoated aluminum flashing, and there may be a similar uncoated roofing material. Perhaps recycling some tin roofing from an old building being torn down?

I also like Timothy's suggestions of tile or slate.

Hi Luisa,
Welcome to Permies!

I think starting small and focusing on things that you can do, is a good place to start. Paul has an interesting book called Build a Better World in Your Backyard - Instead of being angry at bad guys which has some pretty good insight.

On a personal note, I believe that this world was designed to handle fluctuations and be able to adjust over time. So I do what I can, and I trust the rest will be taken care of.

Hi Esther,
Welcome to Permies!

While I don't have a need for a farm helper (don't have a farm), I would probably check in with MOFGA. They used to have an apprenticeship program and a journeyman program. Looks like they are restructuring things some... but they do also have a job board. Nothing listed at this time of the year though. https://www.mofga.org/jobs

Still, it might not hurt to reach out and ask if they have any leads on farms looking for help.

They don't make them like they used to.

Hi Paul,
I think it is possible to feed your chickens off your land. I think it is possible to grow things specifically for the chickens and get more production than simply free ranging the chickens. I also think there is something to be said for scale. If you are growing your own things specifically for chickens, I think you need a certain scale either small or large to make it worth it. In the middle seems like a lot of work.

The option I think is most sustainable is using the leftovers to feed the chickens. Human leftovers from meals. Garden waste. Compost. Skim milk from cows. Etc. I think this option makes feeding your chickens much more efficient than having crops dedicated to the chickens alone.

As to the specifics of what to grow... I can;t say that I have a lot of experience, but a laying flock is going to be a bit lighter on protein and heavier on calcium and vitamins. Whereas meat birds will need a higher level pf protein in their feed.