katie ashton

Wow!!!

They are! The black one is my ram and not that bright..... His brains are not in his head... But he is mostly sweet.... The other is super bright and hilarious. Thinks he is a dog and should be in the house!

Thanks guys. We have larger logs underneath, then I piled in some clay soil and horse poo and straw, then upturned turf on the smaller branches... Then lasagna style with clay soil, wet straw and horse poo.... All hosed in..... Currently clay is on the surface but I intend to do another few lasagna layers.... I have made a second one but modified.....like a raised bed with straw bales for edging, then smaller wood on the bottoms then the layers..... So hopefully something will work!

Hi we are down in the southwest of France and whilst we are not 100 per cent permie we are trying a few ideas like hugelkulture and compost heating for hot water. We are also renovating out home ourselves. You can find us as a Facebook group " volunteer on the Ashton farm in the Pyrenees.

Just realised you can't see the supervising sheep!!

Ok very interested in all I have read about these systems so am having a go on a small scale.
This is the story so far x

Great, the wall is cob and bits of stone but not many. The other side of the wall will not be dug down, that will remain as it is. Current investigations suggest it was sat on just the earth...... Though I have to be honest we haven't pulled back the earth in any more spots for exactly the reason you said! So I will do what you suggest thankyou!!! Make a sloping support using lime etc and fence in the earth wall.
Will post photos when we have done it. Thanks jay, you have been incredibly helpful and informative!! And with those details my husband is happy too!! ;)

Now we're talking!!! Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!! Now the very first question is .....what do we use for the foundation support? Lime mortar ? Only one wall has no foundations .

Hi Jay, dont worry ......I am not going near a concrete floor....what I am trying to do is make a floor that will be solid and support our underfloor heating plus a flagstone or terracotta tile on top. What I dont want is concrete......for all the reasons you have mentioned. BUT I have to know my onions before I convince my husband and his adviser.....so, limecrete, is what I want to do. If I am honest I would have liked a polished earth floor....but my husband passed out at the suggestion! That will take some work I think. In the meantime, I need to have a solution that works for us and is cost effective....hence trying to use a limestone gravel.... Just waiting for the email responses from a couple of limecrete companies and then hopefully all will be well!
Thanks again and pop in if you are passing!

Ok guys, I have spent the day reading, phoning, emailing around about where I can get stuff from.....
Lime is not a problem, nhl 5 is made round here. However the clay balls, or pozzolan are expensive. Sooooo could I use the limestone 0-20mm as the base layer and use a limestone type aggregate in the mix? I will separate the layers with geotex. I think if this is acceptable it works out the most cost effective and comparable to cement floor.....price wise.