Brendan Forstner wrote:TL;DR: strapping farmer seeks...

"TL;DR"  Definition please?

Brendan Forstner wrote:If you're a tankie, though, that probably won't work too well either.

"Tankie"...?  Please, enquiring minds want to know.

Just the other day a friend had the same experience: cleaning out his garage, he discovered a mess where mice and roaches had devoured a stash of soap.  It struck us both at the time as odd and unexpected.  But as pointed out here, it actually makes perfect sense.  If the soap is "real soap," then the primary ingredient is animal fat!

Mary Cook wrote:...They are everbearing, so they bear a small crop halfway up the old canes in late June if you don't cut them to six inches in fall; then they bear at the tips of the young canes starting in August (I've picked a couple times already this year) and continuing until it frosts--even if that's not till November. They are reliable and heavy producers.

I used to have a gardening neighbor who grew everbearing raspberries, but used the alternate culture that you alluded to.  He mowed his plot to the ground every winter, sacrificing the summer flurocane (sp?) harvest and focusing on the later primocane harvest.  His raspberry canes were only ever first year new growth, and he topped them once they reached 3-4' tall in order to keep them manageable and encourage side shoots.  The result may have been a reduced harvest - though there were still plenty of berries to go around - but also a neat, tidy field of self-supporting vertical canes, with no sprawling old growth and no need for trellis wires or supports of any kind.  I thought that definitely looked like the way to go with raspberries, and all of my own efforts since have been in attempt to replicate his results using his technique.

Mike Turner wrote:I’m in upstate South Carolina with heavy red clay, hot, humid summers and mild winters.  Blackberries grew fine here , but the first couple of times that I tried raspberries, they didn’t thrive and died off.  Once I added organic matter and built up the fertility of the soil over a period of several years, now the raspberries are thriving to the point of invasiveness.

Mike, very glad to hear of your success.  I also garden in the upstate, and have had little success over the years establishing raspberries.  Please keep us updated on your progress! : )

Shari Clark wrote:We live in the middle of a forest and ants were regular visitors to our cabin for the first couple years. We tried all kinds of things but the only thing that worked consistently for us was diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle around where they go, and around any holes you see them coming from. They are usually all gone within 2-3 days.

Surprisingly, I've not actually found DE to be terribly effective at controlling ants inside a house.  I've tried it.  It might deter other insects, but given a day or two I find that the ants simply carve out little pathways through the DE and continue on their merry way.

Bryant RedHawk wrote:The things I have tried and had good success with are 1. spent coffee grounds, you need to cover the mound and all around at least 1 meter from the outer edge of the mound.  make the grounds a 3 cm thick layer
2. boiling water, this is poured into the mound and then, again, all around the mound at least 1 meter from the outer edge of the mound. Use at least 20 liters per application (may take several applications in increasingly further distances from the edge of the mound)
3. Club Soda, pour into the mound at least 3 2L  bottles of club soda, this removes O2 from the ant colony and they suffocate.

I have had good success over the years with solution #3.  Sometimes you can't fit as much fluid as indicated into a smaller nest, but just keep pouring it in, smoothly and slowly, until it overflows and won't accept any more.  You may well have to repeat the next day.  After two or three repeat applications, you should find the nest abandoned.

Be aware that you may be killing the colony, or just weakening and annoying it until it relocates elsewhere.  I have in the past successfully obliterated a mound in this way, only to notice another mound popping up 10' away two weeks later, which I strongly suspect to be the same colony on the rebound.  But so long as the new mound location is not in my way, that's fine with me.  And if it is in your way, then go after it again with more carbonated soda.  At that price - carbonated soda at Walmart is cheap! - I can chase a fire ant colony around my property all summer, keeping it weak and preventing it from seeding any new colonies at a sufficiently cost-effective rate.  I consider this a win.

Kyle Moss wrote:best thing I found was a kemp shredder, heavy duty and it makes straw so fine that it's perfect for filling and plaster.

Please explain: what is a kemp shredder?

So why do you ...er, I mean, why does Bigfoot equate pants with "leg prisons" in any case?

Jordan Holland wrote:Looks like the ruins of Castle Urquhart in the background to me.

Yes, it really does!

Terry Bacon wrote:Bigfoots are hiding the cure for baldness. They know that if humanity had this knowledge, the bald would go extinct resulting in the loss of the one group of humans that can stand against the big-shampoo-empire.

Bigfoots have never trusted shampoo or conditioner.

Now that is interesting.  I stopped using anything but water in the shower years ago, which has worked very well for me.

Never realized that this was evidence of my hidden sasquatch nature.

BTW, double thumbs up for your bigfoot rap!

Kārlis Taurenis wrote:You can also use toilet paper! I'll try it next week, it looks very easy! Check this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQlolVGRWic

That is extraordinary!  I wish he had shown more of the mixing process.  The results are undeniable - just look at how smoothly that plaster trowels on!  I omitted any fiber reinforcement on my exterior finish coat.  For my interior I will surely try this method.

I think you are on to something.  The say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  But the way to my soul is through chocolate!

Terry, you continue to entertain!  And to enlighten... "trifudgea"?  Wow, is that really a word?

It is indeed a sad situation in which you find yourself, alone and mateless among the little-feet.

Unfortunately, I am far from your neck of the woods, and unable to relocate myself.  If you think you would ever consider moving to follow your bigfoot then please, by all means send me a quick PM.  I would be delighted to tell you a bit about myself and see if I qualify in your eyes as a big- or little-foot : )

Otherwise, my most sincere best wishes for success in your hunt for your elusive hairy-footed-man!

Terry, your post cracks me up!  I had no idea Sasquatch had such progressive opinions on the inadequacies of our current financial system.

It is good to know that somewhere out there is a woman who value men like us.  And a woman with such a sense of humor, too!  I hit most of your criteria, so I think I might include myself in your bigfoot category.  Not sure.  I don't know if I poop fiercely enough for you.  Although I do just so happen to be experimenting with a composting toilet system right now for the first time, LOL!  Does that count?

Seriously, even while my lifestyle is far too crunchy and "out there" for most women to even consider, your ideal image of the rugged mountain man is a lot to live up to.  I do occasionally see a doctor (and a dentist), even though I don't necessarily follow all of their advice.

But you left one critical piece of basic info out of your post.  Where are you?  Canada is a big country!  Or are you willing to relocate anywhere?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Best wishes and lots of luck finding your bigfoot!

Christopher Weeks wrote:I wonder if the normal 5-gallon bucket lids are too air-tight and how they might be altered to let them sigh as Paul describes of the cans he uses.

To be clear, you can buy the lids for regular 5-gal buckets from LOWES or Home Depot with or without gaskets.  Still, I can see even the lids without gaskets fitting more snuggly than the lids on those big plastic trashcans Paul uses.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I wonder if the normal 5-gallon bucket lids are too air-tight and how they might be altered to let them sigh as Paul describes of the cans he uses.

I've wondered the same.  Don't know.  Anyone have any experience with this?

I've also considered hedging my bet by drilling a ring of holes around the circumference of the buckets towards the tops, just under the lids, in order to ensure air exchange.  They would have to be very small holes, so that flies cannot crawl in.

paul wheaton wrote:The lid is snug enough to keep insects out.  During the two years, the can "breathes".  As the temperatures go up and down each day, they gases inside expand and escape, and 12 hours later, fresh air enters.  So the material in the can slowly dries out.

I think that five gallon buckets will need to be moved/processed far more often.  The math says that a five gallon bucket will need to be processed 7 times more often than a 35 gallon can.  But I think that with a 35 gallon can, there will be more in-place composting, so it might be closer to 15 to 20 times.

The pipe has a jagged edge on the bottom.  So watery stuff will come to under the pipe and get a chance to dry out.

More sawdust leads to more drying and more preservation.

Thank you, Paul, for your prompt attention to my questions!  That confirms fairly well my understanding of your system.  I think I am ready to give it a go with something very similar to what you're doing already.

After reading your response, I also did a lot of reading on "drying toilets" as opposed to "composting toilets."

Regarding the use of 5-gal buckets, your point is well taken.  But I have no choice, so I will have to make the best of it and see how they work out.  I garden from a wheelchair and I live alone, so there are no outhouses or stairs or platforms of any kind in my design that might accommodate a larger collection vessel.  I can lift and move a full 5-gal bucket (barely).  I cannot lift or move a full 35-gal bucket.

Unfortunately, this means that storage space will become a prime issue.  I am guestimating that it might take me 2 weeks to fill a bucket, plus or minus, and depending on whether I use 5- or 6-gal buckets (6-gal buckets are more $$ and heavier once full, but they have a wider mouth, offering obvious advantages when making deposits!).  If I'm right, then I'll need approximately 52 buckets in a 24-month rotation.  That's a large footprint to fit into my small property!

It's all an experiment for me, so we will see how it goes.  I might start a thread to post my progress.

paul wheaton wrote:A new video about the willow feeder system

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxk50Q9GbWw

Hello, I'm hoping this post catches Paul's attention, or anyone else at Wheaton Labs familiar with the operation and design of the Willow Feeder system as it currently operates.

I am wondering, did you ever produce the video scripted at the start of this thread?  I did a Google search but couldn't find anything similar.  I think it would be a good one!

I am attempting to set up a residential humanure system based on 5- or 6-gallon buckets in rotation.  My proposed system would embrace many of the principles featured in your Willow Feeder system: a) urine separation, b) pathogen destruction via 24-month aging (as opposed to reliance on thermophilic composting), c) return of nutrients to the soil, and d) avoiding the need to transfer or shovel or wash out or in any other way handle raw humanure.  Rather, I intend to close my filled vessels and not handle the contents until fully aged.  I have read Jenkin's handbook cover to cover.  While it is delightful and informative, I prefer these aspects of the Willow Feeder approach over his open-composting approach.

However, I fear that I don't fully understand your approach.  I have read all of the threads and watched all of the videos I can find on Poop Beasts, Willow Feeders, and humanure in general.  I've also listened to all of the relevant podcasts (though I'll admit that some of those were years ago and I should probably re-listen).  The problem is that a lot of the info I'm finding is dated at this point, whereas I know this is an experiment in progress at Wheaton Labs that has already passed through several iterations.  So I was exhilarated to find this thread focused on the most recent version of the system!

I had previously understood (misunderstood?) that the filled collection bins aging in the Willow Feeder Warehouse essentially contained a moldering compost process, i.e. a slow, low-temperature composting action.  But you indicate above that the intention is NOT to compost.  The bin contents remain relatively dry, containing only sawdust and poop, no urine or added water - and thus more or less biologically inactive...? - until such time passes that the pathogen count asymptoticly approaches zero.  Then the material is fed to your willows, as per the new video above.

I think I get that.  But in that case, my questions are...

1) In the video, the 24-month aged material they are spreading around the willows looks a lot like humus!  It doesn't look very much like the sawdust-plus-mummified-turds-and-TP that I might have expected.  How does this humus occur if the contents of the bins aren't composting?  Or am I misinterpreting the texture and contents of the finished materials seen in the video?

2) By keeping the bins sealed up during the entire aging process, don't the contents go anaerobic?  I imagine that the lids have no gaskets, and thus don't produce a hermetic seal, but still it wouldn't seem like they allow much air flow in and out of the bins.  How are the contents not reduced to slimy, anaerobic yuckiness?  Or are they, and then they proceed past that stage to something better?  Or, if the contents aren't truly composting, is the entire concept of aerobic vs anaerobic inapplicable?

3) If the Willow Feeder approach isn't relying on composting, then there should be no need to achieve a "critical mass" of materials within each bin, such as is necessary for achieving thermophilic compost.  Thus, I can see no reason your approach wouldn't successfully scale down from the plastic garbage bins you use to my 5- or 6-gallon buckets.  Am I missing anything important in this assumption?

4) Can someone please elaborate on the purpose of the PVC pipe inserted into each bin?  It would seem to be for aeration, yet I note that it would only move air from the top of the bin's contents to the bottom and back; it does not exchange air from inside the bin with outside air.  If composting isn't happening, what good does aeration do?



5) Do the PVC pipes extend all the way to the bottom of the bin and touch plastic, or are they sitting atop the sawdust bed?  I can't tell for sure from these photos.  Also, it looks like the pipe is solid, not perforated along its length, except perhaps for notches at the very bottom...?

6) I notice that the most recent Willow Feeder instructions have increased the recommended application of saw dust per load from 0.5 cups to 1 or 2 cups.  Why was this change made, and how is the newer method working out?

I will greatly appreciate any feedback!

Matt Todd wrote:My current compost scheme is to not compost. Sorta.

Food waste:
Anything that can go to chickens turns into eggs.
Anything that cannot go to chickens goes in what I call the "refuse bin." Essentially a cage that sits near the woods where I put all the biological nasties, including moldy foods and cat waste (I use pine pellets rather than litter.) That keeps the chickens and wildlife out while letting bugs and soil contact do the breakdown work.

Yard waste:
Currently all yard stuff is going into piles near the garden for soil building. AKA "composting in place." When I have the right materials, I'll put them in play. For example, yesterday I had grass clippings, woodchips, and chicken poo that I spread between plants. That way I'm blocking weeds, feeding plants, and building soil all at once. The chicken poo was pretty fresh, which is a no-no, but I used sparingly and mixed with the other materials.

The stuff above is my current strategy. A similar strategy was earlier this year when I accumulated material and made two huglekulturs with the additional input of wood.

A past strategy was an active compost cage where I layered grass, leaves, and chicken poo. But that was too much work for me, turning it and keeping it moist for little reward. Plus a tree ate it, which is a lesson in itself. https://permies.com/t/139281/Tree-Ate-Compost#1091920 . The cage from this misadventure became my refuse cage.

So needless to say, there's a LOT of different ways to compost. The best way for you is whatever you feel is the least effort and easiest rewards.

I highly endorse Matt's post.  And I award an apple!  In most situations, I don't really believe in composting.  Unless you have a particular love of shoveling piles around, that is.  In that case, go for it!  Otherwise, I prefer to mulch with all of my compostable materials.  Let them become topsoil as nature intended and via natural processes - a continual addition of raw organic bulk from the top down, a continual creation of hummus via worms and fungi and whatnot from the bottom down - as opposed to my own labor.

The only downsides of this approach that I will admit are:
1) Composting via mulch takes longer.  But in most homesteading scenarios, who cares?
2) If you are tending to an ornamental garden bed where aesthetics are a key concern, then having already-finished compost you can spread beneath a layer of decorative mulch may be preferable.  But frankly, if that is you, you probably aren't reading this forum to begin with.
3) If you are tending to potted plants, then finished compost is an important convenience.

S. Bard wrote:Unfortunately recently the entire bed got destroyed when an excavator that was working on the house dumped a ton of dirt and rocks on top of my beds. That was quite the bummer! I was so proud of my beds! Lesson learned to not want to have pretty things as long as there is an active building site :-( However I was really pleased with the performance of the bed, so I’m motivated to start over next year.

While I applaud your resilience, I think you may have reached the wrong conclusion from this sad incident.  Yes, to be sure, it is difficult to have nice things while in the midst of active construction.  But not impossible.  My own homestead property has been in various stages of construction for over a decade now, and not done yet, so I know of what I speak.  The conclusion I would draw from your loss - and, fortunately for me, the one that I'd learned from someone else's experience before starting my own homesteading adventure - is to never ever let an excavator work unsupervised.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:(off-topic) The only way I know Okra is in a Curaçaoan soup called 'Jambo' (or Giambo). The sliced Okras make this soup thick and slimy, most other ingredients come from the sea (fish and other sea-creatures). It's very tasty.

In the Southern USA, specifically in the state of Louisiana, a slow-cooked soup thickened with okra is called a "gumbo."  As I understand it, the name comes from the word for okra in some West African languages.  Both the name and the ingredient were imported during the slave trade.  No doubt the same as your Caribbean "giambo."

There are many variations on Louisiana gumbo, but most include seafood as well.  They typically start with a roux (a French technique) and are further thickened with okra (an African technique).  Sometimes, filé powder is used in place of okra as a thickener (a native American technique), which is ground leaves of the Sassafras tree.

If you can find okra in your local markets, I recommend it as a most worthwhile vegetable!  In addition to gumbos, I often cook "smothered okra," which is stewed okra and tomatoes.  Okra chopped into rounds, then breaded and deep fried, is also popular here in the South.  Additionally, you will find recipes for okra dishes among cuisines in the plant's native range, a broad swath of nations across northern Africa to southern Asia.

Carla Burke wrote:Hi, Matthew! I'm curious, too! How do you eat the onion skins? Whenever I've accidentally gotten a piece - in soups, etc, that were long cooking - I always end up spitting it out, because it's not chewable, lol. Teach me!

See my post, above.  I don't eat them, but I do boil them in my bone broth.

Alina Green wrote:I do chicken and turkey bones in the slow cooker, cooked with water and a little vinegar, for 24-48 hours on low.  Strain and use that liquid for a soup or other dish.

Then put the bones back into the crockpot, add more water and vinegar, this time adding vegetables and herbs for 6-12 hours on low.  I often add more meaty parts, such as some thighs or drumsticks.  The older bones end up like soft chalk, and you can chew them and get calcium and other minerals from them, and they are a nice texture.  (The newer bones will remain hard.  I save those to make the next batch of broth.)

Wow, you have a lot of patience!  I do my bone broth in a pressure cooker, which whole routine takes only 10 hours, and that still kills me.  I have to hang around the house the whole day, ugh!

I also add a splash of vinegar and often a couple chicken feet to my mix.  Those are nice touches.  And I also do a double batch, something sorta kinda like what you described.  I put all of my bones and veggies scraps into a cotton mesh bag inside the pressure cooker, fill with water, and set it's broth cycle.  This takes about an hour to heat up and four hours to cook at high pressure.  Then I dump all the broth out into a large bowl, set aside, return the boil bag to the pressure cooker, and refill with new water.  Cook again on the same cycle just as before.  When done, I combine both batches and then measure them out into bottles through a fine mesh.  In my cooker (I forget what size), this routine produces about 4.5 quarts.

As you say, most of the chicken bones are half-way dissolved after the second round.  I can crunch them into chalk with my fingers, though I've never considered chewing them (!)  Their change in substance suggests most of their calcium is now in my broth, so I think I'll call that good enough ; )

Alina Green wrote:I think over time people have evolved to waste more because they don't grow/raise food themselves.

Absolutely true.  The more separated you are from the source of the products you consume, the less you value those products, and thus the less responsibility you take for the way you consume them.  If a loaf of bread cost $100, then sure, people would value it more.  But that is the only reason that most people value anything, because of the "dollar value" assigned.  If those people were intimately involved in the process that produces the bread, then they would much more likely value it, regardless of price, because they appreciate where it came from and how it got to them and the people involved in those processes.

Alina Green wrote:At the very least, price increases, supply chain issues, and economic hardship FORCE people to be more thrifty, meaning they find ways to waste less and thereby spend less, too.  Hard times every now and then make us more appreciative and less apt to take things for granted, I've noticed!

Well, hopefully that is true.  I fear that it takes more than a temporary bout of scarcity or inflation for people to change how they value things.  That requires a cultural shift.  Sure, some people will learn to appreciate thrift and frugality during such temporary hard times, but most consider it a resented inconvenience and are eager to return to wastefulness just as soon as they can afford to.  Sorry to be glass-half-empty about it all, but I believe this is the truth of it.  The times do change, and people with them, but slowly.

Carla Burke wrote:Onion skins, the thin, icky bottom slices of celery, green bean stems, etc go to compost.

Onion skins are too useful to go into the compost, if you ask me.  Not only can you dye clothes with them - which admittedly I don't actually do, though I've seen it done ; ) - but they are more nutritious than the actual onion.  At least so I've read, but if you think about it, it's eminently logical.  Any vegetable encounters the world at its skin and, particularly for a subterranean one, that's going to be a rough encounter with a million little guys attacking the plant.  So, that is where it concentrates all of its chemicals!

Carla Burke wrote:Or, if I'm feeling lazy, they all just get tossed into the pot with a jar of our 'leg 'o some critter' bone broth, to cook while I make some chaffles, as a bread-ish accompaniment.

...uh, okay.  What on earth is a "chaffle"?  Inquiring minds want to know.

I routinely save all of my bones in the freezer, together with veggie scraps, and when enough are assembled I make a big batch of bone/veggie scrap broth in the pressure cooker.  I segregate beef/lamb bones for one batch of broth, chicken/pork bones for another, and fish bones/shrimp shells for seafood broth.

As for the veggie scraps, these are mostly onion skins and garlic skins (where all the best nutrition is!), the stems of herbs, stems of mushrooms, the leafy end of celery stalks, egg shells (rinse them out before stuffing them in the freezer bag), and the skins of root vegetables (though in truth I rarely peel my root veggies).  A few other odd veggie bits make their way in, too, like the stem ends chopped off of carrots or cucumbers or zucchini.  I usually omit skins off of red beets (unless I want purple bone broth!), the seeds and ribs of peppers (bitter!), cores from cabbages (taste too strongly of cabbage soup), the stem ends of okra (don't want mucilaginous broth), or anything else too strong tasting.  Needless to say, if the reason I'm chopping a bit off of my veggie is because it looks gross, then I don't add it to the scrap bag.

Makes very good broth!  I always have some around and, in addition to being soup base, it gets used to rehydrate beans or grains or pasta.

Broccoli stems I collect in a separate freezer bag.  When that bag is full, I boil them with more bone broth, an onion, and a potato, and then blend it all to make cream of broccoli soup.

I am very curious: what inspired the design of this dehydrator model?  In what circumstances or environments is it intended to be used?  At first glance, it seems counter-intuitive to me.  I understand the basic design of the solar dehydrator, but what is the benefit of adding a rocket... stove? heater?  Seems like there would be great potential to end up cooking what you are trying to dehydrate.

Would love it if someone could provide a quick breakdown of the concept.  Thnx!

Jane Mulberry wrote:

Matthew Nistico wrote:Definitely plan on transplanting your goumi.

Good to know! I will need to beg or buy good named variety cuttings if I can find someone in Europe with some. Which variety do you recommend?

A good question.  It is currently the season to harvest goumi berries where I live, so I will pay attention and get back to you with an opinion.

@Steve Boyd - Hahaha!  While I was in the midst of composing my most recent post, you snuck in a post with half of the same advice.  Well played, good sir ; )

Okay, getting to the OP's original question, there are many, many tools that you will eventually want in order to run a small homestead.  I have accumulated so many that I will some day have to build an entire workshop in which to use them.  Currently, my unfinished home serves that purpose, but that situation obviously (hopefully!) has an expiration date.

I won't offer suggestions for outfitting your entire workshop, however, as that could fill pages.  Besides, you will figure out as you go along many of the things you need.  But here are a few essentials to start with.  Based on my own experience, these are the tools I turn to most often.  I am younger than you are, but I am also disabled, and so my choices of tools have been strongly influenced by my own limited physical abilities.

In general, I emphatically recommend electric power tools over gasoline models.  In addition to being quieter and without nasty odor, electric tools have one irresistible quality that gasoline tools lack: when you go to use them, you know they will work!  I have spent so much time, energy, expense, and (worst of all!) frustration trying to get small gasoline engines to actually function when I need them to.  Particularly two-stroke engines, which in my experience are completely reliable in their unreliability.  I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy.  Over time I've replaced every one of my gasoline tools with electric ones (including my car!).  Even for heavy duty tools like wood chippers, there are invariably serviceable electric alternatives.

Plus, these days there are many cordless electric power tools that are totally affordable!  Obviously, these are more convenient and versatile than corded options.  You should focus on one brand that offers a whole ecosystem of tools sharing a common battery.  I am particularly fond of the Ryobi 18V One+ ecosystem, though this may be influenced by the presence of a nearby distribution center from which I have frequently bought refurbished tools at deep discounts.  I also have a few Milwaukee 18V cordless tools, similarly sharing interchangeable batteries.  While these are inarguably premium quality, I will soon try to sell them.  I've managed to replace each one with a Ryobi equivalent, for which I've accumulated many more interchangeable batteries.  No idea what brands are available in Europe, but these are what I've used.

However, be aware that, for heavy duty cordless tools such as string trimmers, pole saws, chain saws, and leaf blowers, you really need to invest in a second, more powerful line of batteries/tools.  There are 18V tools to do all of that, but they don't really cut it.  I have 40V models (also Ryobi) of these four, and they are truly powerful enough to be considered gasoline-equivalent.

For outside work...

I think my single indispensable tool is the one-handed cordless reciprocating saw.  I turn to this more often than almost anything else.  Infinitely more versatile and wieldy than larger two-handed designs.  Here is an example: Ryobie One+ one-handed recip saw

Tying the top spot for most-used outdoor tool would have to be a good set of rachet-action hand pruners.  It is amazing the size of branches these will cut given a little persistence, for which you would otherwise need a set of loppers.  But loppers necessitate a two-handed, whole-body-weight approach, and they can't be maneuvered into tight spaces.  These are similar in concept to mine: rachet pruning shears

For gardening, I find myself turning to small, one-handed mattocks far more often than to hand spades.  Of course, the ultimate digging tool is simply a full-sized shovel, but I can't use those.  Something like this will prove more useful in more situations than you might suspect: hand mattock/cultivator

Very similar in action and utility is the Korean hand hoe.  I find this extremely useful because you can use it in a chopping motion in order to dig deep with the point, like a light-weight hand mattock, but then also turned to the side in a sweeping/gouging motion in order to remove loose dirt, like a hand spade.  With the simple rotation of your wrist, you get two tools for one.  Try one out: Korean hand hoe

For general construction and maintenance...

Obviously a full set of hand tools - hammers, pliers, screwdrivers, socket wrenches, etc. - will be useful on any small homestead.  I won't bother listing them all, as such a list should be self-evident.  But here is one tool I find indispensable that you might not think of right away.  A metal mallet handles situations that a regular hammer just doesn't handle, and can be used by more people and in more situations than can a full-sized sledge hammer: 3-lb mallet

I am big on fixing things before replacing them, and also on fabricating little odd bits when a pre-made solution isn't readily available.  It is surprising how often you can make your own widget by modifying existing odd bits into even odder bits!  For these purposes, epoxy putty is often the critical enabler.  An extremely useful material that can assume any shape, can create a water-tight seal, can bond nearly anything to anything, and can be further shaped, drilled, sawed, or sanded once cured.  Its like a little tube of smooth, quick-set concrete you can mold with your fingers, only stronger!  Look for it with plumbing supplies if you can't find it elsewhere.  Here is a random example, but there are many brands on the market: epoxy putty

I have only recently been shown the wisdom of the compact cordless impact driver.  A wonderful tool!  Some can, based on the clutch setting, double for a power drill.  Otherwise, an impact driver is meant to accept a socket wrench to insert/remove nuts and bolts.  While not nearly as powerful as a pneumatic model, as found in automotive shops, a cordless model will handle most stubborn machines around the homestead.  But it is perhaps even more valuable using regular screwdriver bits for installing or removing stubborn flat-head, Phillips head, or hex head screws.  With every jerk of the tool's impact action, the driver bit jumps slightly loose of and then resettles itself into the screw's head, which effect grants the tool an amazing ability to smoothly work difficult screws in or out WITHOUT STRIPPING the heads!  You really need to try it out, then you will become a believer as I did: Ryobi compact cordless impact driver

In the kitchen...

If setting up a new kitchen - assuming it already has the basics: a sink, a stove, a range top, etc. - these would be my first three appliance acquisitions.  First, an Instant Pot pressure cooker.  Best thing in the world for making bone broth and for quickly cooking dried beans, pulses, and grains of all kinds, even without a pre-soak.  Be sure to get one with a yogurt incubation function, also super convenient, like mine: Instant Pot Duo Plus

Second, an air fryer.  Even though mine is fairly new to me, I find more uses for it almost daily - and not just things that you might otherwise deep fat fry, but all sorts of things that you might otherwise bake or roast can be done faster and easier in an air fryer.  Regardless of how you might value the health benefits of air frying, it is just too convenient to pass up!  Get one of the style with a front door and slide-out baskets/trays.  I find this arrangement very user-friendly, easy to clean, and for most recipes you don't have to jostle or turn your food at mid-point of the cook cycle, either - all this as compared to the more common style with a big pull-out plastic basket at the bottom.  Here is the one I own: Gourmia air fryer

Finally, the essential homestead kitchen appliance: a vacuum sealer.  FoodSaver is the main brand here in the States.  This is valuable, obviously, for vacuum sealing foods for longer-term storage, particularly meats for freezer storage.  Honestly, while I do this all the time, I've had mixed success.  I find that a sizeable portion - a quarter? more? - of the vacuum bags I seal loose their seal over time.  There are precautions I've learned to improve my success rate, such as wrapping the items I store in wax paper or parchment paper to contain juices and dull any pointy bits or sharp edges.  When I retrieve a vacuum-sealed bag from my freezer to discover that it is no longer under vacuum, that isn't a bad thing - the food is no worse off than if I'd just used a Ziplok bag to begin with - but it's not a good thing, either, since Ziploks are cheap and FoodSaver appliances are not.

However, there is also a secondary use for vacuum sealers that by itself makes them worth the purchase: if you get one with an accessory attachment, you can add a jar sealer kit (you might need to purchase separately).  With this combination you can quickly vacuum seal all manner of dry goods - beans, grains, nuts, herbs, spices, dry pasta, cereals, dried fruits, or really anything dehydrated (dried chilis, jerky, etc.), and probably more things I've not even thought of yet - in standard Mason jars to greatly extend their shelf lives.  I've vacuum sealed rimfire ammunition for long-term storage.  Use regular or wide-mouth jars.  And the beauty is that, unlike when you use the jars for water-bath canning, the lids are infinitely reusable.  After you've opened the jar, you can reseal it using the original lid in seconds.  In contrast to using the vacuum bags, I've so far observed a high rate of success in jars.  Over 90% for sure.  I've only ever opened a few that were not still sealed.  If that happens, check for a flaw in the rim of the jar, or else assume that the rubber gasket in the lid is flawed and replace the lid.  Here is what you'll need: FoodSaver with accessory attachment together with jar sealing kit

Dave Bross wrote:Might want to try for goumis from cuttings or buying plants if possible. They don't come true from seed, are difficult to get to sprout,  are hard to find seed for, and you have to go through quite a song and dance to get them to sprout...if they even do.

...there's a growing number of nurseries in the US growing the named cultivars, which are much tastier than unknown origin ones.

Quite correct!  I have many goumi and, collectively, they've dropped tens of thousands of seeds onto my property over the years, both directly and via bird poop.  From all of this, I've observed so few seedling goumi pop up that I could probably count them on one hand.  Definitely plan on transplanting your goumi.

I will also admit to having purchased and planted some nameless seedling goumi transplants over the years, together with several named cultivars.  Now that they've all matured, I can attest that there is a noticeable difference in the quality of the fruit.  In time, I might start chopping the unnamed goumi and propagating the cultivars to replace them.

Lina Joana wrote:I remember a friend saying once “buy the cheap version. If it breaks, get the high quality. If you lose it before it can break, buy another cheap one.” Not good for everything - sometimes the cheap version works poorly enough that it makes the job harder - but I definitely follow that advice for small tools and gloves!

An interesting strategy.  I will have to give that more thought.

With tools, as with many things, there are often three layers of product available: cheap, mainstream, and premium.  While I admit that I often gravitate towards the cheap option for many things, with tools I ALWAYS buy mainstream, and even occasionally premium.

My philosophy is "Never buy cheap tools.  Your tools are what you count on to rescue you when all of the other cheap crap in your life breaks!"

Xisca Nicolas wrote:Lactose.... but no casein! Still has the other proteins.... so it is worth while.
Lactose removal: make kefir! This I call wheyade! Fizzy and acidic taste.

Ooh, that sounds fun!  I wonder if anyone has done this or anything similar with the "acid whey" leftover from making yogurt?

I am having a hard time with finding good uses for that.  So far, most recipes and techniques I find online deal with the "sweet whey" produced by cheesemaking, which is a somewhat different animal.

Josh Garbo wrote:As discussed elsewhere, Black Locust likes to pop up root suckers everywhere when you cut it back too much.  I’m trimming a smaller one back more conservatively (like a hedge), and will see if that stops it from suckering.

Very true.  I have many black locusts on my property that I have committed to a half-assed coppice cycle.  Which is to say that I occasionally look them over, decide this one or that one is too big or casting too much shade, and chop it to the ground next winter.  None of this is nearly as regular or systematic as it should be if I were managing them well.

In any case, they often send up many root suckers after being cut, particularly if I cut them late and they're already in their growth cycle.  I don't think you will have much success trying to suppress this tendency.  That's just how black locusts roll.  Mine root sucker pretty prodigiously even when not being cut back.

But I don't find that particularly problematic.  So long as you attack the suckers while still small enough for hand pruners, they don't get much in the way.  Several times, in fact, I have found that my black locusts fail to coppice in the conventional way: the cut stool does not regrow any shoots.  Then I simply pick the nearest adjacent root sucker to spare, let it grow to become the new tree, and call that "coppicing."

Dave Bross wrote:I'm using Daikon radish a lot as a cover crop, and there are things it will and won't do here.

it does break up a good bit of the soil on top, maybe 3 - 4" , but once it hits that point it starts pushing up out of the ground instead of burrowing down.

That's not in what you think of as everyday sand, but a weird sand that packs together surprisingly well, making for a bit of a root penetration problem. Nothing like plow pan, although you probably could cause that, or tight clay, but a bit of an issue still. It's actually in demand locally for using as a base for cement slabs because of this packing together characteristic.

Fascinating description of your "hard pack" sand.  Never encountered anything quite like that.

I have also seen the same effect you describe with daikon in my clay soils: by season's end, about half of the radish is sticking above ground like a little white tower.  I've got no problem with that.  I just cut it off clean at the soil line, eat the top half, including the greens, and let the bottom half rot in the ground for soil improvement.  It's a win-win!

Dave Bross wrote:If anyone locally sells earthworms, or you know where to find some (ask fresh water fisherman)  you could add some to jump start things.

That might not hurt in order to accelerate things, but on the long scale it isn't necessary.  And I would worry how cost effective such a move would prove.  Depends on what's going on in your soil.  If there isn't enough organic matter, I'd guess most of your imported worms would either die off or migrate to greener pastures.

In my experience, when your soil is ready, the earthworms will come.  I don't know from where they come, but they do.  I had similar worries at the beginning on my own property, which after my own earth-moving efforts was denuded of top soil.  After a few years of despair with nary a worm to be found, one day I realized that they had arrived.  Now I can hardly transplant a tomato seedling without disturbing half a dozen earthworms.

I suppose it is all a factor of how hurried you are to see results and how much money you are willing to commit.

Dave Bross wrote:Some others you could plant, which actually add to the fertility, one big, one small....

Goumi berry, autumn olive (possibly illegal or invasive wherever you are), silverberry (elaeagnus ebbingi) or any others in the elaeagnus family that have edible berries. These pull nitrogen from the air and make it available in the soil. The ebbingi don't drop their leaves so they're a possibility for a hedge. All these are large shrubs, some going to 12 - 15' high. The autumn olive are the most bulletproof and fastest growing. They've been seen thriving in places nothing else will grow and they propagate really easily from hardwood cuttings taken early spring. I would suggest named cultivars so you get tasty berries too.

Comfrey - this may be able to drill your soil. It goes deep seeking the other nutrients besides nitrogen and brings them topside as leaves fall off and return the goodies to the soil. Even without the leaf drop other plants seem to do better in their company. Low growing plant big leaves. In my local conditions it will dig through our compacted sand.

Yes!  Both excellent species of which I've planted many.  I am an evangelist for goumi, and have written many posts singing it's praises on various permies threads.  Comfrey also has done well for me and is an old standby for land regeneration.

But the OP should consider both carefully relative to her goals for her parking lot rehabilitation job.  I have no idea what those goals might be.  But as much as I love goumi bushes, that is a big investment of space (they grow quite large!) and time (they grow fast, but your still talking about years for a woody perennial to establish) and money (assuming you're starting with transplants - if you have a source of free cuttings, then not so much).  If you can work these big bushes into the final site plan, then great!  Get started with them now, and your soil will thank you.  But if they're only a temporary expedient for soil improvement, later to be chopped, then probably more practical and cost effective to stick with seeding annual/biennial cover crops (radish, mustard, rye, oats, etc.).

Comfrey is an herbaceous perennial, so it establishes much faster.  And it would be easier to work around once the restoration phase has passed and the plantings for the final site plan begin.  But beware: you'd better love comfrey, because you'll never be rid of it.

I too started what is now my food forest as a meadow over dense clay soil.  Some species that I dispersed by seed for purposes of soil improvement that germinated well included wild chicory, white Dutch clover, mustard (still comes back yearly in great self-seeding swaths!  Very tasty in the fall), and daikon.

@April - Welcome to permies!  I hope you stay around and see what conversations you can join here, beyond your personals post.

Thank you for posting some nice photos of yourself.  An important part of the process that many people disregard.  Where were they taken?  I was also hoping that you might reveal some basic info about yourself... how old are you, do you have a family already, where do you live, or perhaps where do you want to live, etc.?

Betsy Carraway wrote:Answer to the question, "Why would anyone shampoo every day?"  When I worked as a chef I had a very short hair cut; made it easier to wash every night when I got home.  That is one smelly job: you will smell like a mixture of foods, very strongly, by the end of the day; the overall effect is "garbagey"...I would guess that folks who work in construction, plumbing, and sanitation industries would shampoo and shower at least once a day.  I think some of these industries even have showers and locker rooms on premises so you don't have to get in your car with toxic goo or stenches on you.

Very true.  I once had restaurant jobs, but one in particular was working the deep frier.  I came home smelling so nasty from that job my GF wouldn't let me near until I'd showered!

Kit Collins wrote:3. People used to oil their hair in lieu of washing it so much. Olive oil or coconut oil is fine. This might prevent dandruff too. Hair oil fell out of fashion after the "greasers" of the 1950s. It's been all about "body" (puffiness) of the hair since then, it seems. Time to change to a simpler fashion?

Hmmm...  If that works for you, then go for it.  But I think I will pass.  Especially when I can achieve 100% clean hair with ample body to meet current fashions using nothing but water.

Ryan Kremer wrote:I have used a mason jar for a carpenter bee trap. I know it's not the most "permie" thing to do but there's the occasional structure that needs a bit of protection. Bees were eating up the 2x10" board that frames out the top of my garage door but a mason jar trap was able to attract the carpenter bees.

It has a central hole in the wood block and holes coming in from the sides going diagonally upwards until the meet up with the central hole and then the carpenter bees fall into the mason jar.

@Ryan - please, I don't know why you feel the need to apologize for building a mason bee trap!  I totally believe that "the permie thing to do" is to build sustainable dwelling structures using natural, renewable materials.  That includes wood siding and soffits, as opposed to vinyl.  The one good thing about vinyl: it is pest proof.  Wood is not.  Thus, some proactive measure of pest control is required, or else the carpenter bees will turn your home into Swiss cheese!

Having established that, the easy thing to do would be to poison the hell out of your home and its surrounding environment.  Whereas "the permie thing to do" is to build a simple, inexpensive, non-toxic trap that effectively targets the problem species with very minimal collateral damage to other members of your local ecosystem.

I think making mason bee traps is one of the most permie-appropriate things you could be doing!

And believe me, I know of what I speak.  I understand your plight.  I built myself a natural materials home.  Designed it myself, built it myself (well, actually still a work in progress, but that's neither here nor there).  Part of the exterior finish, not to mention some of the exposed structural members, are wood.  And beautiful wood, too!  I found old tongue-and-groove interior paneling that I refinished and stained myself for the soffits and the roofs of my covered patio and covered car port.  Plus old Dutch siding for parts of the exterior wall finish, again resurfaced and stained by hand.  Lovely stuff.  The carpenter bees had a field day with it!

For years I asked all of the contractors I knew, plus all of the old timers in my area, what could be done?  The only answer they had was "put up vinyl." : (

Then one day I saw someone on the side of the road selling homemade carpentry products.  It was there I discovered the beautiful simplicity of the carpenter bee trap, just as you described it.  I've had mixed results - some years I catch tons of bees, whereas other years they seem to avoid the traps - but at least now I have hope.

Nota bene: pick a mason jar or other vessel for your trap that is more tall than wide.  You don't want the bees to be able to crawl up to anywhere near the hole through which they fell, or they might find their way out.  And if the trap vessel is narrow enough, they won't be able to take off with their wings.

Another interesting note regarding mason bees: I have heard of one other old technique to minimize their damage.  There is an antebellum historical site near me that gives tours.  As would be expected from such an old house here in the south, it has very tall ceilings, like 12 or 15 feet tall.  This was your best bet to fight the heat in the days before electric ceiling fans.  Let it all rise above you.  All of those tall, wood plank ceilings were painted sky blue.  I was told it was to confuse the mason bees!  I have no idea how effective this is, nor do I intend to repaint my beautifully-stained exterior wood blue.  But, for what it's worth, there you have it.

r ranson wrote:As a side note, I like to slice the lemons before pickling that way I can remove the seeds.

I just used this technique for the first time with this winter's batch of fermented lemons!  I previously cut them into quarters, which left a messy job of picking the seeds out of every piece as I later fished it out of the brine.  I think slicing them is a much better option, and it fits more lemon into a jar.  And the slices sure look pretty in the jar as well!

Every winter I visit my parents in Florida and can usually score a bag of fresh Meyer lemons.  They have a tree, as do a couple of neighbors.  These are the best lemons in my opinion, and they make the best preserved lemon as well.

In the past, I have mostly used my preserved lemons in salads and salad dressing.  But a few other recipes have popped up, mostly North African-inspired.  I used some once in a marinade for roast lamb that was sensational.  Here is the recipe, as stolen from somewhere on the internet, with cooking notes:

INGREDIENTS:
For the Lamb and Marinade
• 9-11 lbs bone-in leg of lamb, trimmed of any membrane
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ⅓ C fruity-tasting olive oil
• 1 medium-to-large fermented lemon, diced [if needed, can sub ⅓ C lemon juice + 1 TBS lemon zest + pinch extra salt]
• 2 TBS minced garlic
• 1 TBS harissa paste
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin

For the Mint Dressing
• 1½ C Greek yogurt
• 2 large sprigs mint, finely minced
• 1 TBS mint sauce [if needed, can sub pinches of more mint, sugar, vinegar]
• 1½ TBS lemon juice
• 2 TBS walnut oil [can sub olive oil, but the milder taste of walnut oil is preferred]
• ½ tsp white pepper
• ½ tsp salt

PREPARATION:
1. Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small mixing bowel.  Refrigerate.
2. Score meaty side of lamb in a diamond pattern of ¼-inch-deep cuts about 1½ inches apart.  Place scored-side up in a large roasting pan.

[NOTE: Don’t you normally score the fatty side of a meat roast? That’s what we did and it worked well].  

3. In a blender, puree all marinade ingredients - olive oil, lemon, garlic, harissa, coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper - until smooth.
4. Massage marinade into crevices of lamb on both sides.  Cover pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate several hours or preferably overnight.
5. Remove from refrigerator 2 hours before cooking to return lamb to room temperature.  During last 15 minutes, heat oven to 450 degrees.
6. Remove foil and place pan on middle oven rack.  Turn heat down to 350 degrees.
7. For medium-rare, roast the lamb, basting with pan juices every ½ hour, until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part reads 125-130 degrees, about 1¾ hours total.
8. Remove from oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 15 minutes before carving.  Serve with mint dressing.

[NOTE: 9-11 lbs is a very big leg of lamb, even bone-in.  That is likely closer to mutton.  If shopping for lamb at a supermarket, expect to find no more than a 4-5lb leg.  We used a full recipe of marinade on a 5lb leg and it worked well: plenty spicy and flavorful, but not overpowering.  Cooking time MUST be adjusted, however: our leg was beautifully crispy brown yet medium-rare after 1h 20m.]

Hello and welcome to permies!  Are you currently living and socializing in Holland?

Several posters above have given some very good advice.  I will cherry pick and elaborate on what I think are the best pieces of advice...

Keep your system as simple as possible.  Opportunity for simplicity #1: don't mess with antifreeze.  Not when a drain-back system using pure water is so simple to design.  In the event of a cold collector, or if your storage water gets too hot, or if the system looses power, the pump turns off and everything drains back inside your storage tank inside the house.

And if you're going to have a drain-back system, that big interior storage tank is a convenient place for a water-to-water heat exchanger.  So, opportunity for simplicity #2: don't mix your potable water with your collector water.  Just divert the plumbing for your potable water through a bunch of copper coils - they sell these for heating/cooling the wort in homebrew set-ups - through your storage tank and out the other side.

Opportunity for simplicity (and safety) #3: operate your collector system at regular atmospheric pressure.  Your water mains run at 80psi or more, but there is no need for your solar collector to do so, since we've determined that your collector fluid need only be a warm bath through which your sealed drinking-water pipes can run.  Keep the lid of your water tank loosely fit, rather than screwed down.  In an overheat scenario, it can vent steam rather than allow pressure to build inside your collector piping.  To be totally safe, include an actual steam release valve somewhere else in the system as well.

Opportunity for simplicity (and practicality) #4: don't plan to rely on your solar H20 for 100% of your hot water needs.  It is much more realistic to use your solar H2O simply to pre-heat the water heading to your conventional water heater.  This could still noticeably reduce your energy consumption, but it also takes a lot of pressure off of you while designing your system, and it won't leave you taking cold showers on cloudy days.

Opportunity for simplicity #5: DIY'ing an insulated box to be your storage tank, all the piping, and even the electric pump controls are easy enough tasks using largely off-the-shelf components.  But DIY'ing the solar collector itself strikes me as a much greater challenge.  Do yourself a favor and look to purchase a (used?) commercially-built collector to integrate into your otherwise-homemade system.  If you can afford it, or if the opportunity arises for a good deal on a used one, you might then consider a vacuum tube-style solar collector.  These are really nifty, but impossible to DIY!  Then your system could supply you with a substantial portion of your hot water even during the winter months.