Nissa Gadbois

I'm working on converting an old gutted camper for this purpose.  Basically, it will be taken down to the studs/frame and rebuilt.  I also read "The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer" and was immediately interested in their plenum setup.  It's very similar to the oasthouses in England, but on a smaller scale.  My old camper is 3 times the size of the Ohio Valley Hops rig.  So what I'm contemplating is making it into a 3 zone oast to dry a variety of herbs and flowers (I'm growing on 3.5 acres).  It would be modular in a way that offers me the opportunity to dry in bins, on screens, or in hanging bunches depending upon the needs of the moment on the farm.

I'm trying to work out the best way to incorporate the use of a solar air heater, similar to the dehydrator that is here (somewhere) on Permies, but with a back-up system in case sun and temp don't co-operate.  I also want to capture and utilise the water that is being driven off, if at all possible.

 

Cheryl Loomans wrote:<snipped for brevity>

Here's another one from a fella called the "Kilted Silversmith"

I'm looking for a DIY glass annealer so that I can experiment with painting enamels onto glass.  There are some second hand kilns for the purpose on FBMP and CL, but still out of my price range for the moment.  

In case anyone else is looking for something similar, I did manage to find something on YT.  I can't make heads nor tails of what he's saying.  He's got bluetooth and phone chargers and all sorts of things going on.  I'm going to have to watch again over the weekend and see if I can tease out the info I'm after.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm1RW1i4XseBN5cwCLBuoU17idm6EbpPm

He's also got a toolbox version here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9dEAWAnwRk

I bet that there could be some interesting improvements on this design from within the Permies community.

I would need something somewhat larger for panels up to 6" in one or both dimensions.  I have two old metal food safes and some old fridges that could potentially be gutted and used...  I also have two defunct pottery kilns and I'm wondering if one of those could be repurposed to anneal glass.  

To anneal glass, you've got to bring the material to 900-1050°F and cool slowly to around 800°F and then on down to room temp.  From what I can gather, Victorians used a wood-fired kiln for this purpose called a lehr?  I'm still looking to see if I can find some diagrams.

I'd love to hear some of your thoughts.

Thanks heaps,

Came here to see if I could find a recipe.  I only need a mall amount for a couple of shower niches (the rest will the tiled).

John Elliott wrote:Just a suggestion here, folks.
I wouldn't advise getting obsessed about replicating a particular recipe.  Remember that these techniques have been passed down through the ages and they were developed by people who worked with what was available around them.  Around the Mediterranean, olive oil is plentiful, so adding olive oil soap to the plaster mix was tried, maybe purely by accident, and they noticed that there was a nice effect.

I'm thinking that Murphy's Oil Soap, which is readily available in the USA, could sub for black or olive oil soaps.  I mean, it's used in ceramics to prevent absorption of water in porous moulds, so.  Should work, yes?

Hello there.  I'm after some dry Bryoria fremontii to be used in a special loaf I'd like to make for Samhain (31 Oct.).  If anyone has a supply, would you Purple Moosage me to make arrangements?

If you're curious, HERE'S A LINK to the recipe.

Thanks heaps!

Brian Cady wrote:
Nissa Gadbois, I'm curious: is there a source that supports that new biologics aren't broken down in our bodies? I don't actually know a whole lot about these.

Brian
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I've taken biologics for an autoimmune disease for a couple of decades.  They used to be injectible only because they were broken down in the body.  They created ways for them not to be destroyed in the immune system so that now they can be taken orally. :)

Okay, go easy on me.  I like pretty.  

I'm looking for a source for a commode that looks like the Bambooloo (NZ), but is available in the US.  

OR... plans to make one like that of my own.  I am after something more rounded than cube-shaped.  And, if it's round, I can maybe think about mosaic tile or tadelakt on the body.

The bathroom I'm building is designed to resemble a hammam (Turkish bath).  I want that the toilet should look like it belongs.

Thanks heaps,

I had the same questions about pharmaceuticals in the resulting compost, so I took out "The Humanure Handbook" by Jenkins. pp. 114-122 cover this.  However, the information feels a little bit all over the place.  And only a very few medications were covered.  And I'm curious about all of the new biologics that are delivered by tablet.  Those aren't broken down inside the body and so will be excreted in waste.

Because I'm interested in teaching permaculture and because I'm interested in village scale projects, I'd love a comprehensive list of medications and how long it takes for them to be broken down, how much remains after the composting process, or if it can't be broken down at all.

I really liked the terra preta video.  I love the ideas regarding mycoremediation.  Maybe it's overkill to consider doing all of those things together, but then perhaps it's worth it not to have as great a risk of toxins building up.  Both my own projects are quite near running water sources, so maybe my caution is heightened.

Timothy Norton wrote:Do you have any snippets of your work by chance to view?

I thought to ask this later last night: what kind of visual information do you feel would be most helpful to see?  I've planned to do a video of myself explaining the project, and why this kind of education is important.  I'm anticipating that the folks I'm going to reach have only very scant information on what Permaculture actually is.  Not so much folks like us who are here on Permies... but who knows?

I'm working on that piece now, actually.  And yes, libraries often license online educational content for their communities.  

Timothy Norton wrote:Do you have any snippets of your work by chance to view?

I'm a visual kind of guy and would like an idea of what your looking to create. Do libraries generally license video content?