Lindsey Silva

Hey all,

I found this idea (see below) to quickly (and, potentially, affordably) construct a sort of "earth bag"-type home, and was curious if anyone had any thoughts on it. Pros and cons?

Seems like an interesting idea, but I haven't found anyone who's actually attempted it, and I haven't built any sort of "alternative home" before, so I have zero construction experience myself.

http://busy-livin.blogspot.com/2011/12/hesco-bag-home-construction.html

Hey Roxanne, thanks for sharing! Sounds interesting, and I'm always curious to learn about different passive streams of income. I see it's been a little over a month since you posted--how's this going for you?

Also, you mentioned that it's recommended to get up to 500 designs. By that point, how much income is it estimated that you'll be earning in passive income each month? (A range is fine .)

Good evening!

I'm writing a blog post for a nonprofit I volunteer with called The Urban Interface, and our mission is to help reconnect people with nature, particularly in urban areas.

Our social media theme this month is Gardening, and I offered to write a blog post introducing our audience to permaculture. I would love to include some photos of permaculture in action--food forests, swales, berms, hugelkulturs, thriving plants, etc.--to give readers a better idea of what this method looks like!

Would any of you be willing to share your photos? (I would credit you, of course!)

The post goes live this Monday, March 12, so the sooner I could get the photos, the better :).

Once the post is up, I'll be sure to share it with y'all here.

Thanks for any help!

Great, thanks for the tips! I'll be sure to get thoroughly dried out ones--that sounds miserable!

Marty Mitchell wrote:It is low/no impact... so it is easy on the joints. In fact, I am out of shape, and after my first half-day on the water I covered around 5-7mi and my legs felt like they were made of rubber afterwards. However, I never got sore! ( I am old enough to stay sore for weeks after working out) It was like taking a walk for 5hrs (with lots of fishing breaks). In the days following I began to have more energy and for some reason my lower back pain has started to go away. It may be what I needed!

All pedal and some paddle driven kayaks have large comfortable seats with lumbar support for those long days on the water.

Hey Marty! I'm really interested in this part of your story. I'm a Postural Alignment Specialist (PAS) certified through the Egoscue Institute, and I think I can actually explain why this contraption has helped your low back pain .

My first question, though: Can you share a picture of the seat you're using? Also, if you're comfortable with it, could you share a sideview photo of yourself, from your head to your feet, and shirt tucked in?

Sounds crazy, but my theory is that, if your seat is gently pushing your low back so that your hips roll forward over your thighs, (what is called "hip flexion") and you're lifting your legs to pedal your boat, you're actually positively activating your iliopsoas, which is contributing to the reduction in back pain.

How, you ask?

"Iliopsoas" is the combo name for the psoas and the iliacus, which both converge together at the gluteal tuberosity of your femur (basically, the inner part of your femur, up real high). Above that, your iliacus connects to the inside part of your hips, and your psoas connects to ALL your lumbar vertebrae, and down to that gluteal tuberosity, too.

Your psoas acts as a hip flexor, meaning it helps you pick your legs up. When your hips are rolled forward (in "hip flexion"), like what's likely happening with your seat, that psoas muscle gets REALLY activated!

Here's the cool part: Without seeing you, I'd guess that your low back pain was originated from having misaligned hips, and that your femurs turn out (ever notice if your kneecaps appear to turn outward, by any chance?). BUT, we can actually change our structure (like misaligned hips and femurs) through activating muscles in our body.

What it sounds like you've done is you've activated your iliacus and psoas, by rolling your hips forward and lifting your legs. That psoas muscle is gently working on both your lumbar vertebrae and femurs (remember: It's attached to both!), and your iliacus is working on your hips and your femurs, every time you lift your legs to power your boat!

The ultimate result is that your lower back pain is improved, because your body has been starved for some "nutritious movement" in those areas, and your low back has been the sufferer for it. Now that you've reintroduced movement into those muscles, they're getting a chance to do their rightful jobs again, and are loving it.

Anyway, that's not an official diagnosis, and maybe that doesn't make much sense when written out, but I thought you might like to know why this is likely working for you! I love stuff like this, so I just had to share . Glad to hear you're feeling better and are enjoying your time on your new kayak!

Howdy!

Looking into sourcing my hugelkultur logs/branches/twigs, and there happens to be an abundance of crepe myrtles in my city (people plant them as pretty, junk trees, essentially, then don't take care of them). There are currently tons of dead crepe myrtle branches/offshoots that have fallen around the bases of crepe myrtles near me, and I'm wondering: Would there be any harm in using these as part of my hugelkultur?

The big logs would be oak, and whatever branches and twigs I can get that can be oak, too, I'll grab them, but for the smaller branches part....any thoughts on using crepe myrtle?

Thanks!

Howdy all!

I've been a lurker for quite some time, but since I currently live in an apartment, my permaculture dreams have thus far been confined to only what I can grow on my balcony, or compost inside.

However, I just discovered earlier this week that my city has a decent-sized community garden that appears to have been vacated for at least a year, possibly two, and forgotten.

I called the city authority that manages it, and they said the plots are available for any residents, for free, with a signature. I show up, sign my name on a form, and get a plot. Maybe even a few plots!

The thing is, I'm tight on finances and time to invest in this. Hubby is working on his PhD, and I work an entry-level job, and he'll be finishing up his PhD and graduating by May of next year, which means we'll be moving.

So, I'm wondering: Are there any permaculture things I can do with this spit of land that won't cost too much, and won't require multiple years to see any sort of "ROI"?

I'm thinking to build a hugelkultur bed to grow some things, and experiment with that and companion planting. Also, I'm going to see if the city will allow me to designate one of the plots for just compost, so I can finally make better use of my vermicompost and finished bokashi.

Is there anything else I should consider trying? To me, this is an experimental season: Trying some techniques and things on land that isn't mine, so I'll be better equipped by the time we do actually do  have our own land that I can work more intensively :).

What are some skills and knowledge I can be building now, given my limitations?

Attached is a photo of the community garden, but note that this isn't the full extent of the garden: It goes back a few more feet behind me, from where I took the photo.

Context:
USDA hardiness zone 8b
City water available by hose
Soil type is basically clay, through and through
Anything else I'm leaving out that would be helpful, just ask!

Hello to all,

I joined to ask this question, but after looking around a bit, I'm interested to see what all I can learn from this whole forum! Lots of great stuff on here.

I have a question that I can't find a straight answer to. I'm gathering info about how to build a writer's studio/retreat on wheels, that will also function as a sort of "experiment" in green building, since I have zero experience.

My plan is to build a tiny writer's studio on wheels, made from wooden pallets (inspiration here: http://cabbagedan.com/2012/06/10/pallet-summerhouse-37-days-later/). I would love to try insulating it with cob, because my thought is, "I could just stuff the cob between the pallet slats!" But from what I've read so far, it sounds like cob walls have to be at least 3 feet thick in order to really work well as insulation, and the spaces between the slats are definitely not 3 feet wide. Plus, I'm already tight on space, given that it's going to be a very small trailer, so I can't sacrifice 3 feet of space just for the walls.

Has anyone had any experience building a writer's studio, or maybe a playhouse for kids, or something, with a "tiny house on wheels" idea and incorporating green (and cheap!) insulation? If so, what did you do?

Some important things to note:

1) I need something that will be fairly easy to keep cool and warm, as my location here in East Texas can get below freezing during the winter months and close to 100* F in the summertime, all with TONS of humidity. I would like to use this writer's retreat year-round, so I'd like it to have insulation .
2) It will not have plumbing--possibly not even electricity--so that's not a concern.
3) I'm thinking the interior would be cob, and the exterior would be another material, like maybe recycled corrugated tin. So no cob would be exposed to the elements.

Any help anyone can share would be great! Also, let me know if I need to move this to the "cob" forum. I couldn't decide which place might be best.