bdswagger McCoy

tel jetson wrote:
I don't think a flat rate lease makes sense in this context.  something as simple as a fraction of gross sales could work.  maybe a floor and a ceiling would be needed as well.  an option to buy would be nice.

I've mentioned it in another thread, but the New England Small Farm Institute put together a pretty good primer on alternative land tenure models.  I don't have a link right now, but it's easy to find.  covers a lot of things that seem inconsequential at first blush, but in reality could end up making the difference between success and failure.

It's called Share Cropping. Which has a whole bunch of evils all its own.
Leigh

Actually, its the bottom of glass bottles that act as a magnifying glass-so possibly it would  be the bottom that could cause fire due to refracted light?

And while beer/wine/whiskey bottles are thicker and harder-tempered glass-they will still break if hit by descent sized hail. I think the glass panels in greenhouse roofs anymore, are safety glass-which is a glass containing plastic, I think? Alot harder to break.

Leigh

Pam wrote:
Might be a problem in areas which get frequent hail..sometimes the hail here will do a lot of damage.  How easy would this be to fix? OTOH  glass bottles are likely a lot tougher  than normal window glass.

Another question  might be about  if the rounded bits of glass might act as a sort of solar prisms and get really really hot. If not, and you were just looking for a roof, and weren't really concerned with trying to capture the light, you could perhaps bed them in something like papercrete which would help a lot with the insulation questions.  I think I would want to try this somewhere away from anything flammable before I did a whole roof with it though.

You could maybe do a roof the same way they do walls, with the whole bottles embedded in something (?)with the necks down to stop them falling out. If only the bottoms were in the sun then the question of maybe setting fire to your building shouldn't come up. Repair might still be a hassle though.

A photo of the interior of the roof-showing how the stones are stacked-and a neat website with more detail on how they are built. Along with lots of pics.
http://ashfieldhansendesign.blogspot.com/2010/03/yours-trulli-third-in-series-on.html

Well, I didn't have those files anymore-I think that must have been either one or two blown up computers back-BUT, I did find them again fairly easily. This is a vernacular building style in the Apulia (?) region(?) of Italy. The Town is Alberobello. I may have the town and region names switched. If so, please pardeon me. Its a centuries old style called trullo-the houses are called trulli. They are built entirely of stone, including the roof. They just keep piling them up-kinda like earthbags actually. I'll see if I can find some interior shots, but if I remember, its kinda like a cave inside. Anyway, here is a website for turists, a little more info.
http://www.initaly.com/regions/apulia/alberobello.htm

And a couple of pics.
Leigh

Here are some more on earthbag building, showing an interior shot.
Leigh

I also dont know where or what type this one is, but I'm guessing concrete?  Or possibly earth building of some sort.

Sorry, I didn't make a note of where this was or what type of structure at the time I downloaded it.
I'm wondering... there is a area in Italy-very dry, very poor-where the vernacular building type is with stone, sort of beehive type buildings. I can't remember the name of the building type. I'll look through my files and see if I still have the info and photos. Anyway, these remind me of them.
Leigh

A boat house from India

bdswagger wrote:
Thats not necessarily the case. While lead isn't normally a problem in naturally occuring clays in the US, there are plenty of places where it is. One way to make sure... contact your local extension office and ask them about getting a soil sample test done, for heavy metals such as lead and arsenic. They will tell you what they need from you to do the test. Usually its free, sometimes a small fee-or at lest it USED to be free here-I dont know about California.

Also, not all commercially prepared clay bodies are necesarilly food safe. Some of them aren't. You should always check to make sure.
Leigh

Leah Sattler wrote:
I don't know if you would even consider such a thing but I think it fits with the overall idea. as I am sure they have elsewhere there are shops in the area here where you can go in, pick out your ceramic project, paint it and have them fire it adn pick it up at a later date. its fun for kids and grown ups! this would take considerably more input but I think it has potential for considerably more and consistent income in comparison to simply making and selling your own artwork also. 

An enviroment that fosters a bit more artsy and or eco feel.... maybe making/incorporateing more useful end products could be a good niche. the shop I have experience in has primarily small figurines and trinkets to choose from. I would have enjoyed being able to purchase and finish things like crocks and storage containers etc......stuff that I could really use.

All of these shops I've seen, use an electric kiln. So the most you could do would be middle range temp firings-which still includes stonewares and porcelain. But for the most part, they are aimed at kids and adults who want kitch stuff to set on a shelf.
Leigh