Michael Love

Scott Holbrook wrote: 2. You can sit on window shelf and let dry out (or put in dehydrator). Crush up into powder and put in capsules and use for food, medicine. 3. Avocados are one of the very best fats your body needs. Your brain is almost entirely made up of fat, so it is a brain food.
All I use them for now.

This is an interesting direction. I also wonder how it does as a fat, say in baked goods?

Mike Love

Welcome Kate and greetings to all in the great Permie community -  

I am looking forward to buying and reading Kate's book on composting. I am fascinated by the process of decomposition and how material gained from this process helps the no till process build and sustain good healthy soil. I have to say that I am not a compost purist and in spite of my errant ways I still end up with nice broken down organic material that I can amend my soil and it seems to help things grow. I just don't have the time or physical energy it takes to devote to turning the material in my bins as frequently as I should. But the fact that I fill my bins and stock-pile organic material and it all breaks down and gives me what appears to be a great product I am rewarded even though not working at it as hard as I should. I have to imagine that the bio-community in my soil doesn't turn their nose up to the decomposed material I offer or check to see if it went through the right process. I have even started to skip putting the kitchen plant based waste right into the compost beds and instead add them right to my planting beds. While this tends to not look good (except to the bio-community that say come on in the water's fine) but it changes quickly and most of it you don't recognize soon after it goes on the beds. I know I will learn even more about composting from Kate's book and look forward to it.

Cheers

Mike Love
Central Maryland, USA

Ants in the house in response to this request.

L. Barry wrote:If there are any trade secrets that we haven't yet tried, please tell.

I have tried many ways to manage ants but my biggest success has come with using diatomaceous earth (DE). Here is what it is.

"The word "diatomaceous" comes from the root word "diatom", which is a single-celled organism found in freshwater lakes and riverbeds. Diatomaceous earth is a chalk-like powder that is made up entirely of these diatoms that have fossilized over thousands of years. Depending on the grade of diatomaceous earth, these diatoms can be used to promote health, preserve food, and even control many common household pests & insects."

There are deposits of these millions and billions of long dead and collected animals and you buy this affordable material in a small bag available through many sources including Amazon. The material is in an extremely powdery form, so powdery you can apply it in a duster. I fill the duster and apply it in areas where I have an infestation. Usually this is their trails they use to scout into the house I am sure for food and looking for a place to lodge and nest. If you get them early it eliminates the problem and they go elsewhere. I don't have to tell you they are persistent insects.

Its particles have sharp edges that look like broken glass when examined under a microscope. These edges are able to cut through an insect's exoskeleton, and the powder sticks to its feet and skin. Once the powder is absorbed by the insect's body moisture, the insect dehydrates and dies. What I have found and I think this is critical to its success is that the ants recognize the hazard and avoid it, meaning that they do venture into the area anymore. So appears to work based on their recognition of the risk. I used a sweetened Borax type ant preventer and only found that it seemed to attract even more ants and I just kept adding the material. I have used the diatomaceous earth for several years and it works every time.

So I apply the diatomaceous earth mostly along baseboards where I see evidence of ants. The duster often applies more than needed and only a thin coating is necessary to do the job. I just use a broom to spread the DE along the base of the walls, that's where the ants like to establish their trails. I also concentrate on areas where they enter, often a crack or space around a window. I also will dust about six inches of ground next to the foundation outside and the point where the foundation meets to sill off the outside walls.

Anne Miller wrote: Here is an article about the health benefits from the oil from the seeds

A couple years ago a member here in Permies was posting photos of examples of his unique wood raised bed work in gardens and the the wood had an amazing green/yellow look to it. I asked him what he used to stain the wood and he said Avocado Oil. He was in California where there was an extraordinary supply of low cost avocado oil due to being at the center of the industry. He applied the oil like you would tung of linseed oil to preserve  the wood. It appears that there is increasing use for avocado oil in a similar fashion to olive oil, as a healthy alternative oil in diet and cooking. I never would have thought of it as a preservative but why not?

Mike Love
Central Maryland USA

Good morning All:

I did a search in Permies.com to see if there has been any interest in the surplus products of consuming avocados. The skin and large seed generally are not used either in home food use or on the larger industrial scale. In fact one article reported that in areas where avocados are grown and managed for commercial use the seeds pose a significant environmental waste and pollution problem. One article from the U.S. National Institutes of Health talks of the many beneficial biological characteristics of avocado seeds. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9789361/  I have been putting the seeds and skins directly in the garden as I do now pretty much with all plant based waste from food preparation and garden cleaning. While the skins dry out readily in the sun and are easily crumbled by hand after a couple of weeks the seeds are pretty durable and take a while to break down.

My family ends up with a surplus of avocado seeds (and skins) because we purchase and use around eight avocados a week. Avocados have been identified as a good source of nutrients and effects for better health. In food preparation we use the soft, light green inner material which leaves the skin and large hard seed as surplus organic material. The article identified in the first paragraph lists significant good characteristics of avocado seeds and it sounds like there are an abundance of them as surplus and that they can be problematic as they have been treated as a waste product.

I plan on continuing to use the surplus seeds and skins in the garden to break down and help amend the soil. I do plan to find ways to help them break down like chopping or grinding them up but I would ask for some suggestions on a couple of areas related to surplus avocado seeds and skins related to reuse and or composting.

1. What other ways have you used avocado seeds and skins at home, in the garden or in other useful ways?

2. What are some ideas to reduce or break down the seeds to a more useable material. Better ways to chop, grind or crush?

Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Mike Love
Central Maryland, USA

Jane Mulberry wrote:So far all I have purchased is a few cheap junky tools from the local hardware, but I'd prefer to buy better tools that will last.

This is an excellent topic for anytime. One thing to consider in regard to your statement about "a few cheap junky tools." is once you have a list started begin to buy vintage tools that were manufactured when quality mattered. There are plenty of them out there and you can get them for decent prices, probably less than buying new junky tools. While you are not at your project property hit some of the tool centric flea markets, estate sales and keep your eye on your local Freecycle. In fact in addition to free searches ask in community forums with the intent to purchase vintage tools and offer a short list. Once you acquire tools often all you need to do is maintenance and some refinishing or minor repairs.

Continued good luck with this great project.

Dan Boone wrote: I grew up in a log cabin in the woods and in the early days it was pretty cramped: 6 people, no shop for Dad, octagonal cabin built with 12-foot logs. Mom took a DIM view of messy projects (say, small engine rebuilds) on her kitchen table.

Dan - here's hoping you have been able to create weather resistant and halfway comfortable place to create and accomplish work by now. Keep at it, pushing constantly for the things you need and an essential like work space will happen.

Best wishes

Joel Bercardin wrote:This is something worth telling people about, if they use propane, acetylene, or other air-fuel or oxy-fuel torches...

This little device (costs under $20) just works very easily every time, and the manufacturer promises tens of thousands of ignitions.  I’ve found it to be safe to use with my torches, too.  Amazon sells it and I think many other places do too.

Thanks for this post Joel - good stuff

Thanks for sharing this sparker. Very handy to have something to light gas devices and to have a backup other than matches.  Interesting that this little sparker is now up to $31 on Amazon. Still worth it having a good alternative.

Amazon

One thing you can adapt and that can be salvaged as a repurpose project is the gas grill sparkers where after you turn the burner valve on you push the button for ignition. Here is one that has been adapted for this young fellows potato canons. Being as smart and resourceful as you all are you would be able to find how to adapt it for multiple uses.



My gadget favoring son in law gave us an electronic igniter intended for lighting candles. It arcs across a space of about 1/4" with enough heat to ignite a wick. It is long enough to get into candle chimneys up to six inches and has a narrow rod so it confit easily into tight places like pilot holes, grill grates, stove grates, etc. I have tested in on the gas grill burner as well and it works. I know it would work for a lantern, oil lamp or kerosene heater where you contact a wick. Could even be a nice fire starter using light ignitable fire starter material like dry leaves, paper, dryer lint so you can get some kindling burning. The cable starter draw back is it is rechargeable and with a USB connection but of course we all know ways to find multiple ways to make that happen.

Speaking of kerosene heaters, they are another source of a battery operated contact igniter for repurposing salvaged parts from old heaters.

This is a great thread on workshops and it going to take me awhile to catchup on the posts and finally post my own.

Cheers

Mike Love

Matu Collins wrote:IDK.

I don't like reading posts where people use acronyms without defining them.

One of the best courses I have ever taken is Technical Writing. It helped me communicate with all my writing audiences for maximum understanding. I am supportive of any efforts that prioritizes the use of plain language anywhere written communication is the focus. Forums and other shared networks of communications are effective ways to reach specific audiences of interest and while you writers don't need to be so formal as following a style guide they should still follow guidelines for good clear writing. website PlainLanguage.Gov says it well in their introduction to the essentials of clear writing to communicate,

"Choose your words carefully.  Words matter. They are the most basic building blocks of written and spoken communication. Don’t complicate things by using jargon, technical terms, [acronyms] or abbreviations that people won’t understand. Choose your words carefully and be consistent in your writing style."

Please spell it out and be clear.

Best Regards
Mike Love

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:For the past two decades, I have been building a wide assortment of Slow-The-Flow structures in the desert. This thread is for documenting what I've learned.

Thank you for documenting your experience with slowing the flow of water. I am in a far different environment where we have pretty regular precipitation but I think the principles behind your observations help produce the same outcomes, slowing down the water so it can absorb or used in place. I am in a suburban area where little consideration was given when originally designed for retaining water in place so it can soak in. Over the last couple if years I have been applying things I have learned here in Permies that help slow the water down and allow it to soak in and in some cases as in huglekultur to retain water right where it was needed. I will be reading your comments and posts in this thread and applying them on smaller scale in my 1/3 acre. Thanks

Mike Love
Central Maryland