Jeremy Hillman

I'm looking at doing a kettle corn stand side hustle. While the stand would produce waste, I'm trying to be as conscientiousness as I can.

I'm not endorsing anything in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV1qeEryAb8) but I like its clear explanation of the basics.

Generally, corn oil, corn kernels, and table sugar are added to a heated kettle to turn it into popcorn. The small bits are filtered out, table salt is added, and everything is mixed.

I'd like to compost most of the waste, and I don't think the corn oil popped popcorn or sugar would be a problem (the biggest issue I have is the salt added later, or do you think the popcorn in general would already be too oily)? I was thinking of filtering out the small bits, stop, dump the unsalted filtered out bits into a bin to compost, swap to a different catch, salt the popcorn, bag it, and then reset for the next batch by (among other things) switching back to the non-salt filter catches. The salt catch bin collections would just be thrown away.

My biggest issue (I think) would be the with residual salt, unless everything was fully wiped down between batches (which wouldn't be practical).

Would composting this waste be beneficial, or would I slowly be salting my soil?

Another alternative is to have a separate compost bin and just for all the kettle corn filtered bits waste (just one catch bin collecting everything, including the salt). Other stuff could be added into the compost bin, but this salty waste could just be used for an asparagus patch.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

That's awesome, thank you so much!

I'm wondering if that would maybe even allow me to fully skip 99% of the earthworks?

Maybe I could get started by placing something like the tall cardboard tubes intended for concrete forms, secured with 2x4s for bracing, fill with soil, and plant Western hemlocks at the top. Over time I could bring the dead branches from the property to fill in the gaps between the trees and slowly add stuff for infill, all of which wouldn't need as wide of a base given the strong posts formed by the semi-established trees.

I live in Western Washington (zone 8A) and I need to block sound along the edge of my property. It seems like mass is the solution.

Some people use earth mounds to accomplish this but due to the height necessary (for my case 6ft) the base needs to flare out. Basically making a triangle through its cross-section. This requires both a lot more space and a lot more earth works.

It might be silly, but I was thinking maybe I could make a 6ft tall but only 1ft (or similar) wide wall of earth, basically just a rectangle through its cross-section. This could would be held in place on both sides with a wooden/burlap structure that would decompose in place over the years. But the long term solution for securing this earth would be planting trees or other woody plants along the top (and eventually its sides).

My hope is that the trees could grow long mangrove-like roots through the wall and ground, both adding strength and mass to the wall and securing its soil.

Is that a crazy idea? If not, are there any tree species for my area that you'd recommend for this type of project? Any tips?

I imagine the wall would easily dry out so I plan on running irrigation along the top until the trees have enough roots into the ground, while not over watering to prevent erosion.

I mostly find commercial apples grafted onto rootstock with names like ELMA 7, ELMA 111, and Budagovski 9. Are you saying these are crabapples roots?

I plan on planting some of my first fruit trees this year. I'm a little nervous since this is my first planting. There is a creek that does overflow during the especially wet seasons, and I know a lot of fruit trees won't like that.

I'm thinking of planting Oregon Crabapple trees (page 15) from seed which are native to the area and like to be planted above the low water mark and below the high water mark of the riparian zone. My goal, once established, is to then graft my desired apple cultivar onto the crabapple.

Does this seem reasonable? Or should I use a well established apple rootstock that tolerates wet feet?

I'm trying to have a foot bridge built over a creek and will need a bridge with about a 30-40' span. Unfortunatly, the whole area is in a flood zone. What precautions should I take?

I'm planning on building a rainbow bridge since it just needs two supports and nothing in the middle. I also like the idea of how much higher it gets in the middle which I'm hoping will give it clearance during flood seasons if things are floating down the creek. The idea is to build really nice foundations on both ends and use rot resistant wood. The bridge might need to be replaced each year, but it would just need a cheap drop in bridge.

Thoughts?

Is there a way to lookup medicines and see how they're motabilized and if there are any concerns with the motabalities?

My guess would be the urine being a nitrogen source and the leaves being a nitrogen source. The carbon/nitrogen ratio is way off, if composting, and would lead to some strong foul smells.

Maybe rammed earth walls might be a more environmentally sound and cheaper option compared to cement. This video describes it like a limestone.

I mentioned earlier how cement could be covered, but the more I'm reading into it, the more I like how you can color the cement darker, and how you can use wooden forms to give it rich, organic textures. Granted, the texture in the picture below would be hard to dust.