Author: bob
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Planting and more
Anyone following these posts understands there are more jobs here than any one person could hope to do. This can lead to a condition of inaction, uncertain of what to do next. But there is a way out of this frustration, and it amounts to simply chosing something and doing it until it’s not fun…
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Spring in full Swing
Here we are approaching the last frost (assuming there might still be one or two left) and I am just barely ready to start planting. A few nominal efforts to weed the strawberries, and I am more convinced than ever to start replanting them using a sheet mulch and fresh weed free soil on top,…
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Curve Balls.
It can be difficult sometimes to really see a clear choice when real life decisions about critical issues are somewhat nebulous. How do we make decisions when there is often no black and white answer? This is not just a question about life management, but also one that relates to Permaculture Design. In Permaculture, we…
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The New Year
Without going into too much of a rant about off grid living, consumption reduction or any other possible changes that might alleviate some stress on the planet, I’ll just mention that the batch burner is doing very well. I am installing a refractory cement cast front to hold the pyroceram “door”. The clay /fiberglass reinforced…
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Rain or the lack thereof
It’s getting close to Christmas, by this time last year, riding the backhoe, there were as many wet days as dry ones. If I started building a dam for three days, there was water mucking things up by day four. Then two or three days of sticky mud, and maybe with a little luck a…
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Yes, Ok, it’s Officially Winter
And it has been for a couple weeks now. When the first killing frost is in the low 20s(F) you know it’s time to start bringing in firewood and get the wood stove ready. I rarely run my batch-rocket hybrid, and fact is it is still under development. The first “door” was a glass pot…
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Winter Finally Here?
I’ll believe it when I see it. A month ago I would’ve expected at least one or two nights of killing frosts, but here we are, and one or two nights of a touch of frost on the car, but tomatoes still growing in the garden. Whether this has anything to do with climate change…
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Rocket Stove Pics
testing outside, sand covering exhaust–that paint just won’t burn, maybe it’s high temp:-) Maintenance with a 100 feet of copper makes lifting a 55 gallon drum that much more difficult–notice the paint is gone, sealing the bricks of the firebox, better riser, higher heat, but that means citra solve paint remover and delays replacing mud…
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Water Design
Main frame water design tactics need to be high on the priority list when starting any new project. The first thing we think about when considering whether to buy a property, develop a property, or rehabilitate a property has to be water design. Conventional water design assumed large amounts of fossil fuel for operation and…
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Summer is Back Also
With temps rising to the 80s again this week and another spell of dry weather it’s starting to feel like summer again. Maybe it’s not in the 90’s and cools off more at night, but that just makes it even nicer than summer. The growing season gets a nice little boost and last minute projects…