as always its inspiring to read about your plot and how you manage to keep on growing , i see the pen of muscovy ducks ---those could be the solution to your rats eating your seedlings , if you can place a table or rack system near the center inside the pen --make the enclosure slightly bigger maybe ---then frame a screen of mesh around the seedling trays to keep off the ducks --maybe some shadecloth or sacks over the top for protection from sun. Muscovy ducks are big enough and enjoy hunting down little mice and rats as a snack , bigger ones they might not eat but they will chase and kill them---so any rodent brave enough to cross into a pen of them and eat some seedlings has to do two risky runs .
I had also tried the various lure products for the first year , but nothing happened , i think what worked for me was the use of some old hive bee wax given to me by a fellow keeper , because she uses no chems at all , does her inspections for nasties and culls if needed , i had no problems in trusting it for my use . So gently warmed it up so i could just mould it into a crayon shape . Which i used to draw and coat around the entrance then skewered the rest with a wood spike and wedged into the hive roof , took a few weeks during the swarming season before the first lot showed up , but they were late arriving and the following year they were struggling , numbers were very low . That hive was donated to another keeper , and he merged them with one of his nuke packages, so it kind of survived , so i had to wait another season ---but reading up some more on this hobby ---a never ending learning curve , it seems to happen in nature or natural bee keeping practice . That sometimes a first hive finds a spot ---fails ---and the wax and scent left behind --lures in and provides a kick start for the next hive , which happened for me , and the luck was to be there on the day the first part of the swarm showed up. Been going strong ever since going into 4th year now , totally left them alone , they are my source of pollinators , provide some entertainment to view and observe ---have to time myself doing that as it is an addictive habit --- and it doesn t take me long to get nothing done at all. They are also my weather prediction system , no bees around the entrance ---its going to be a cold day all day , no bees flying --its going to be heavy rain all day ---well roughly ---and any excuse to retreat inside next to the wood stove. They will find you and make that log a hive .
hello, i have not used rice hulls but i did try this idea out using chopped miscanthus grass ,and then vermiculite granules but unless you can totally seal off the entire product from moisture against the sheeting , it will draw condensation in where ever you miss sealing it and leak water down the sheeting behind the hulls. You can see in the use or the practice of the method used by several companies ,that spray a polyurethane foam onto sheets in a retro fit of stopping condensation drips off the sheets of iron ,or the sheets that are sold with a 50mm thick layer of foam bonded onto them at manufacturing , not that i would advise the poly foam . I have used a diy method by making up a hempcrete style mix and by making a spaced out shuttering system ,to then loosely pack this up against the sheeting and the shuttering . Hope this makes sense ,cheers ,tony
hello , some info i read whilest looking up ideas for my own stove ,lots of stuff on the M.H.A of North America site , for some real hands on and use of basic materials to build a working stove, Cinva Ram Earth Block Heater with Tom Trout , and Energy Efficient Cooking and Heating Stove by Richard Jussel , hope it inspires
i am one of the ---"i will give it try ,because i am to blissfully ignorant to know any otherwise " gang , so lets add some more mud into the puddle , how about hydraulics, going to need someone to correct me here , i built a 15 hp hydraulic motor powered mixer, this is low speed of course 400 rpm but its very small -- 4.5 inch dia by 9 inch long, perhaps a bigger one with a gearbox to power the saw ?. Could a suitable sized electric motor be powered from the panels and inverter to power the pump for a hydraulic 15/20hp ----- the long travel of the saw ---reminds of my telehandler which has long attached hydraulic hoses on the boom.
after seeing that clip ,now i want one of those , to add further complication to my already lengthy projects to do list, so anyone know the biggest horsepower electric motor that could be run on single phase , or in this case off the inverter ? Plus i am now starting to think of woodgas powered generator, too much ,too many distractions on this damn site, but i do hope some solution comes around
i built a rotary converter, to run a 3phase pillar drill, i did not design it --that wizardry was done for me by an old electrical engineer friend, but he insisted on using a 5 hp as the rotary to power the 1.2 hp drill, as it was the only tool in the workshop on the converter. The rough rule of thumb being 3 to 1 needed as the surge of draw on start up is the problem and overheating , the more equipment running off the converter starts to balance the 3 phases out better as well ---as far as i could understand. So to start and run the single existing 15 hp would need a large 45 /50(plus) hp as the rotary ---roughly speaking , i have an old 20hp 3phase motor and it needs a machine to lift it ---bloody heavy.Plus you would have to start that off your supply, lots of or big start capacitors (and run capacitors) ,of course thats all homebuilt , you can buy these as well and they would be better designed and to run.
the west coast and the northern parts are very wet ,try and check out the soil types in an area you might be interested in ,all of ireland has been surveyed and bore/ core samples done, take this as a warning as well,any area that has an underlying layer of shale has been logged and charted for possible future exploitation---most of our west coast. Besides the poor drainage of bog and peatland soils, upper mountain areas and boglands are attractive to the multi national renewable energy companies and unlike the rest of europe we dont have the legal setback of 1.5km, ours is .5km---500 meters.The best way to check an area for its future development plan is each local councils planning department ,most are online with a copy of the 4 year plan reflecting their wishes and further digging around in the applications being made or granted. its also possible to do a property price check of housing and possibly farms around the area you might be interested in that have been sold in the past. The southern part and east coast lower have our milder climate from the gulf stream ,look at places like fota island , bantry and other parts of cork ,that have planted collections of exotic plants that are growing very well, east coast is our grain growing crop region --always has the mildest temps and most sunshine for ireland .There are approximately 174000 eu directives, and we follow nearly all of them to the letter and inforce them, it can be made difficult to follow an alternative way of living or farming.
its an old machine and low to medium range quality, so repairs would be more expensive than its worth , thats if its faulty, if the transformer is gone ,definitely too costly to repair, i cant say for sure looking at the pics ,but it does nt look like it has been "cooked" ,its just old, as said-- just give it a gentle clean up ---un plugged of course and then a low setting with a small 2.5mm rod to try out. Theres a thermal cut out on these to prevent overload ,so if that has failed thats when or how they overheat from over extended use at high settings. Some have a fan for cooling the trans down that is too small or jammed up /damaged . The pic of the front of the machine shows an approximate guideline of settings and the arc welding rod size diameter 2.5 to 4 mm to match them , the metal printed on plate is showing its rated output and use time at settings, its 45 amps draw at its max of 200 amps .These old tech welders are at the limits of most older electric boards and the 13 amp fused plugs , they also lose efficiency as they age , so okay for small jobs and repairs, but bloody annoying for when you want to make something like a trailer as it will slow you down and keep tripping the rcb or worse ----the main fuse. When new it had a 30% use at 200 amps ---flat out --max setting , so 3 mins of use and then 10 mins of cool down ---if the thermo cut out was working.
those are iron plates all stacked together as the core for the transformer , they are first varnished to insulate each plate from the next ,then stacked and pressed and either bolted or tack welded to stay compressed, and then dunked into varnish again , giving an old brownish colour to it all ---then a few years of dust thrown in , those could just be old solidified drips and runs of it . But if theres any blackening to the varnish and the drips are black crumbly charred , could be that the machine was running far to hot and the core has overheated causing the varnish to melt and leak out between the laminations of iron plates.
forgot this, the nhl5 lime is a hydraulic setting lime ,so it is lime but with added pozzlans and has been manufactured /processed to accelerate its setting time, which the added in portland cement would have a similar effect on ordinary lime as well , the ordinary lime is hydrated lime ,which is made from purified lime and water putty mixed and then has been dried and milled to a powder. Sorry for sounding like an expert knowitall, just have a friend who has worked all his life as a stonemason on historic conservation sites mostly--i get corrected or guidance from him on my projects
my own interest in lightweight mixes was for the making of panels ,for a raised bed and the best info i have seen so far is from a site ---man about tools--- , he has done various experiments and all recent stuff ,but i have since had a re think about light weight panels though might be too fragile for the project i am planning ,hope it helps , the weather heat problem sounds trying---could it get worse in the future ?, maybe a start for going underground totally or even partially with a root cellar type build and earth roof.
sorry no experience of using this method, helped out a friend do the aerated concrete stuff --needs a compressor though of decent volume out put ---but from this and my own preferred h/crete use for my project. The dry mixing first of the various ingredients then adding in water helped us on the small batches of stuff we were mixing , but that means 2 mixers ,as one has to be kept dry and tipped into the wet mixer for each batch.
Read that article, and they want to develop a fertile seed based miscanthus, why ? , ,just another problem to deal with when it escapes , wont be popular around sorghum growers or sugar cane , as that will create hybrids, good to see it being used as an alternative to straw bales though ,its possible to use it as feed stock for bio refinery and butanol production but thats all out our backyard /in the shed capabilities. It was chipped and dried in ireland to supply furnaces /steam/electricity ,thats were the farmers came into it , it all ended in tears/swearing, as the furnaces stopped taking it in very suddenly and abandoned the whole scheme. For home/farm use maybe square bale it and build a furnace heater for it like the giant hay bale burning ones that featured sometime ago on some large european estates and farms.
this has been the most interesting and informative talk on soil plant interaction i have ever heard, it just ties in to obvious and in front of our face problems we see in farm soils yet are blind to it , i can see the look of disbelief in some friends faces already as i try to introduce them to this, brilliant ,thank you
My grand lavish plans to have my season my way this year ,have failed , i was going to start off a small selection of seeds in my new tunnel ordered in feb but took ages to arrive ---fuel hikes ,no drivers ,further costs and delaysf, then a local shortage of some basic materials and now the weather and wind have delayed further progress . Only the base and end panels plus framework are up so no further potting up was going to happen , but then my order of french vinyard peach pits arrived and a bonus of some free walnut s with it . The idea was to just pot them up and place outside for the rest of the season to stratify or germinate if luck was onside, i soaked the walnuts in water for 2 days --all failed the float/sink test--and then ignored them for a few days ,they all germinated on the kitchen window sill--now in pots outside to carry on growing. The peach pits i decided to experiment with the method of cracking open in a vice ---a controlled squeeze --extract the pip and soaked in water for a day ,then gently peeled away the brown outer skin layer, placed them i a little dimsum parcel of tissue paper---paced into a plastic lunchbox---no lid ---into a cubboard in the kitchen. These sprouted after 3 days and have come along now to about half inch of root, when leaves show they will be potted up for a life destined in the tunnel ---eventually
just re reading the post , cob applied to the inside walls wont help much as its very dense and not insulation but more of a thermal mass heat storage ,it also needs to be able dry out on both sides ,then limewashed or clay plastered to water proof it ,your stone walls are going to be damp inside for awhile so the cob mix might fail as it can not breathe out moisture all the while ,maybe once the house is warmed up by putting a fire down over several months the building will start to dry -- old cottages had chimney / open fireplace -to help draw out moisture as well as cook and warm up people---not always very efficiently though. Hotmix lime is not lime mortar ,its the start of lime putty which has to be matured under a water layer for quite sometime then used as a basis of making up a lime mortar with clean sharp sand and applied as a pointing , usually hydrated lime powder is used and an add into the mix of some hydraulic lime or very fine crushed fired clay ---from old brick and clay tile is used as an accelerant to set up the mortar . A limehemp mix on the inside of about 4 inches thick would provide insulation value and will breathe/vent off moisture , it can also be lime plastered and limewashed over to a smoother but still rustic finished surface.
There is the Traditional Lime Company in Carlow ---they have all the stuff you would need and have demonstration days, and in the north Prof. Tom Woolley who runs courses in lime and lime based insulation , dont do dryline boards on the inside ---its the incorrect advise, causes a major headache years later when it will have to be torn down and replaced ---or if you stick to the advise ---replace it and repeat the cycle. Just like my old cottage was done ---yes it lasted 15 years --but eventually the mold grew from the back out to the front of the boards.
The worry about cedar being toxic might have come about from the cedarwood storage chests of long ago used to store linen and clothes in and recently eco friendly cedar wood moth balls which state on the packaging as being toxic to moth ,spider and biting stinging insects like wasps ---relatives of bees ,but the type of cedar wood tree used seems to be the spainish cedar and from the heartwood .Had to read a bit more on it as my large montery cypress , which has a strong similar scent to it ---might have to be felled and would provide some good diameter logs ,as the large section of scotts pine i had wanted ---landed up being chainsawed into firewood.
theres a Penn State online course EGEE 439 ,Alternative Fuels From Biomass Sources , has a section on butanol , seems like the ideal replacement or alternative and has been done before in the past on a large scale, needs some down scaling and more step by step info ---well for me to understand it ---for a possible home diy , biorefinery.
Was sorghum or millet ever grown traditionally in your area ?, i have only ever had a go at ordinary bird seed type millet so no experience , african millet has been a major food crop in south africa and i have had the occasion to drink the millet beer ---its an aquired taste --sour --and quite filling ---very low alcohol --more refreshing drink than something to be going overboard on ---(but i have seen people do exactly that)---makes good chicken feed as seed ---what does seem to be an advantage is its lower requirement on water than maize. Sorghum i tried to grow a small patch but never got to harvest ---we are to wet cold and not enough sun--and then wasps tore into stems so much they caused it to topple over---they were after the sweet sap --my plan was to see if i could grow my own sweetner---we do have sugar beet here but its a bit more to it to get the end product out .Used to seeing sugar cane more than any other crop being grown and harvested, another time long ago , was where i saw cane/grass cutter being caught and braai ed ---never got a chance to try it ---local people had high regard for it--nigerian agricultural department has a big drive on it to farm and improve breeding --they raise them on agricultural left overs---pure vegetarian animals. Do admire your tenacity to keep going ,making best of what ever comes your way , with what you have to hand , you are a true farmer.
i was just reading about some diy water proofing and there was a recipe rediscovered by Jack Bay in the 70 s dating from the 1930 s , called Rub R Slate , it might work as it was applied to papercrete on the stuff i was reading about , have had a chance to try it out , but it looks a lot like the stuff we use to paint onto tarfelt roofs and another product which has aluminum powder bitumen mix also for painted onto tarfelt roofing
Forgot to mention, i also use a blend of chipped m/grass and pine needles in my composting toilets and i have started on building a bubafonja type stove that could morf into a sawdust burn type stove hybrid which can burn something like chipped m/grass , having to buy in chipped grass would not be a cheaper option for me , it maybe cheaper than wood /biomass pellets , which i have no intention of using ,i dont want to tie into that market product.
The miscanthus hybrid they planted around my part of the world loses its leaves every season and dies back , so i dont think its a good firebreak or privacy screen ,more of a camo screen as it could break up a the shape of a building more than hide it or totally screen something. Its harvested once the leaves die off and chipped ,warm air dried and compact baled into 200 liter ---by volume ---or 25 kilograms by weight plastic bags ---has to be carefully sifted and dust removed if sold as horse bedding---as a diy enterprize needs some large equipment and shed space or a good drying season if left out in fields, does not have that much feed value for animals so good in that regard --nothing really wants to eat it ---but i would not trust goats with it. I use it in my dog kennels as bedding and works very well , use as plant mulch does great for that ,use it as hemp substitute for crete --insulation but i dont grow it ---its kind of cursed around our way---farmers all swear at it ---also dont have enough acres to grow enough of my own. Large scale planting needs the corms of it and modified potato planting machines--its sterile so although sets a seed they are not viable---yet---nature can be clever
Beech is used a lot for furniture making ,tabletops and frame, kitchen counter tops ,and worktop islands, its usually varnished or oiled but definitely lasts indoors ---spalted beech is the highly sought out option of beech timber--that has already had some kind of fungal attack whilest being a living tree that creates the inner pattern once sawn/milled into planks. University Fairbanks Alaska has a roundpole load pdf on its site ,gives some good info on calculations and species but of course nothing on beech --its all spruce ,hemlocks and cottonwoods mostly.
This was something i had wanted to do as well , we have a frost season and it is usually over a night ,so i was hoping to mitigate the effects on some of the fruit trees without a long term use or enviroment damage, the smudge smoke does seem to have been purposely been part of it, the belief being it created a smog blanket , not read anything to prove or disprove this yet .Seen these being used ,very popular in germany as patio/garden heaters so i thought if it was upscaled a bit or a bigger pellet hopper it might burn long enough , i could easy make up the steel part of it ---plenty of free plans up on the net and open source , but the schott glass tube ---about 130.00 euro with postage. Or an experiment with the log style rocket stove ---in a suitable firepit
hello, tried something similar on a friends farm fields --at several of the gateway entrances.--- the movement of cattle and farm machinery always poaches the ground away--- then these become a puddle of mud ---first he used packed down hardcore stone with geotextile cloth and it did last for awhile , but started to wear away and unravel around the edges ---another heap of work and mess to remove .We then used what is called MECHANICAL CONCRETE ---if you gogle it shows up the process , we cut out both sidewalls off each tire and used gutter bolts to hold them together --4 holes drilled per tire on site---- back filled with graded rock and stone , and it works--- stops the bulk of the infull from drifting away and might just need topping up after a few years. I had planned doing my driveway like this about 50 meters long---the amount of tires needed at a rough count was 900---which would use up all my stock and cancell out my other planned use for making tire mats ---to use as removable walkways around the various projects on my property. So get busy collecting and buy lots of cutting blades , if you plan to cut the sidewalls out yourselves ---it might pay you to knock up a little homemade drill powered machine for this ---again you tube --is full of ideas, lots of hardwork to do but longlasting .
done welding for awhile and the most versatile machine by far has been my inverter welder, a good one costs in region of 600 to 800 euro were i live ,go shopping for one at the biggest welding/engineering supply warehouse depots you can find near you.They will have specials and deals on them which usually includes all the attachments and box of rods ,helmet and gloves , a good machine is capable of high frequency tig welding starts---google this for a long explanation on tig welding start s , and these can also do the stick or rod welding process as well . Yes sounds expensive but cheaper units dont generally last for years and the attachments for them are lower quality and can be harder to replace or source, the tig process does require more outlay to get going like the gas bottle but these are available in small size s with out a rental contract . These units are the size of a shoebox and smaller, with a shoulder strap --very handy --and run off your average wall plug outlet for most jobs ---easily coping with most diy . Between the two processes available from the one machine i have been able to repair pots ,kettles ,car exhaust ,leaking bulk tanks , build a steel frame shed ,weld half inch steel plate , join up two dissimilar grades of steel ,copper pipe repair , indoors and outdoors ---my advise save up for a good quality one---and once you start its addictive.
theres a website that shows maori traditional use of plants and how the cabbage palm plus the ti plant were being selectively bred for sugar production until the europeans arrived with the easy access to cane sugar , plant also has large amount of carbohydrate production potential---even if you dont want to make hooch to drink it could be a fuel , i have planted up some as an evergreen hedge addition , but a long way to go yet. It survives and thrives here on west coast of ireland and i have seen several large trees of it , and in flowering stage , many survived the big freeze we had for a month ---down to minus 17 centigrade peak for a week nearly .
I wouldn t think of the rebak style chipper chunker to be more dangerous by design , they just dont tolerate bad behaviour or how they are used , the bigger the numpty the bigger the chances of going wrong , they are meant to be enclosed and with feed chutes plus big red and yellow kill button switch placed in handy to reach spot . Again a decent looking and robust homebuilt version will depend on the level of skill and experience a person has and how much of a machineshop you have or access to a small engineering company , the version you refer to-- built in poland , is now on sale across europe through a network of agriculture machinery showroom /dealers, from a full size completed unit doing 6 inch diameter down to being able to just purchase the chipping /chunking unit as a basis kit for your own project. My own preference would be to not Pto shaft unless there was a clutch system and this was enclosed as well ---i am very wary of pto ---i like the idea of a belt drive pulley system with tension pully and an old thumper listeroid style engine---on a good solid base floor. Something i am working on right now , i dont have all the mechanical parts yet , but have done the concrete floor and frame work for it , engine wise at the moment , and being stuck to using what i have , ---is a large 30 horse power electric 3 phase homebrewed supply to a 7 bhp motor ,or to run a small 1.2 petrol engine 4 cylinder powering my 15 bhp hydraulic motor---i like hydraulic power as it kind of instant stop and reverse option. thats all from me , good luck with your plan and project .
if you like a strong spicy pungent umami flavourant, try smoke drying them and process into Ga Shito ,if not -- jar it up and head off into your next big town or city look for all the central african shops/cafes/food stores---and they will find all the customers you can handle ,for it
thanks i will try that with these , now i must state that normally my pace of projects is snail speed , but lately i have been able to put more time down into my projects ---kids are older and kitchen duty trained--even the dogs are listening to me lately ---so here is a closer to finished pic
yep , just back your ar se up to the wall ,pull the lever to activate negative pressure and you are good to go ,---only joking---- i have taken the pics long way round and have yet to figure out the way to post them up the correct way round
ok --here it is , rough as the back end of a badger at the moment , had i grander notions i suppose the mold around the zinc bucket could have been made to a better shape ,added some chicken mesh wire for strength , vibrate the mold and then sand and paint with an epoxy paint ---white or other colour---and a bolt on toilet seat ----but this is destined for rustic cabin finish and will be enclosed with wood surround , back filled with hemppcrete insulation. It empties to an outside barrel with sealed lid and connection piece and has a vent pipe that exits above roof line.
well i have it made , a working prototype ,and from this i have found some improvements , that could be done when building a second one , problem now is if i put up pics of it am i treading on someones rights , i have no intention of making these for anyone else or to make plans on how to do it , and from the various replies on here it seems likely it would never get any authority s approval . Its working for me in principal ,now for a long term real life testing of it , this will be for later ,about 2 or 3 months away from that , i will be processing toilet paper through it ----just as other composting toilets seem to do ---but not the ultra cheap brands ----these have proven a huge blockage problem with my conventional tank and leach field set up ---and currently trying to get some cowboy toilet paper growing for the total eco end result
thanks . i have all of that info gathered awhile back ,its what got me started out on this , i have just been looking for anyone else who has something like it made ,up or anyone who has used one of these on an everyday basis , there is another auger styled toilet setup as well ,and a soar heated chimney toilet which uses a hand cranked moving belt system
thanks ,i have looked into all of those and none of them are what i am trying to find out about , not interested in adding to my electric bill with a plug in incinerator , i am fortunate enough to have enough space around me to store the end product until its either safe to use around some trees ---or dry it out till its gone to powder ,so i do not anticipate having any issues dealing with end products .I have looked at the set up used and improved by Wendy ,the worm composting bin, brilliant , simple and diy possible and proven to work .--Its on my list to possibly add it onto an auger style set up , if i can find out some first hand experience of the auger style in use, so far i have only been able to read a report about it being used and evaluated by some families ,with some improvements made from their observations.
sorry but the natures head is still a bucket that has to be emptied,its designed for temporary use , the earth auger is along the lines of what i am interested in , a fixed in place toilet with a flushing mechanism , that composts and moves the waste away into an external collection point that could be made bigger and perhaps added onto with another composing set up , i have not been able so far to find out how well they work--- or not if thats the case . I like the idea behind it , just needs a few cosmetic touches to it for others personal acceptance of it , if i make one suitable for the females of my house , then the 2 nd one could be made to suit myself , something more elaborate perhaps
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