Tropicguy McCoy

lhtown wrote:
Here in the Dominican Repermies, my problem with tomatoes isn't daytime temperatures, but nighttime temperatures. It is very humid and regularly gets into the upper 80's and into the mid 90's. However, it just doesn't cool off at night, especially here in the city. Apparently nighttime temperatures have to fall below about 80F for pollination to be successful.

I have gotten reasonably good results from the Amish Paste variety. It would yield when others would have beautiful plants but no fruit and the taste is very sweet.

I am trying out a variety called Anahu, from Hawaii,  because of similar climate ( same Latitude as D.R. ) and similar tropical humid climate I think they should grow well.  they are open pollinated but determinate.

I also live in the city ( Santo Domingo ) and I am trying out a homemade earthbucket self-watering container. on the roof of our company building.

all this rain lately hasn't been helping, but they are doing ok. Ill have to see what happens when plants get bigger, and the wind starts to get to them.

Will also attempt to grow papaya in container, and watermelon.  ( Red Maradol / Moon and Stars ).  I hope that Maradols low growth habit will allow it to grow ok in a 5 gallon container. I do not expect 45 Papayas from it, if i can get 10 ill be happy. 

These are experiments to see what plants can be grown in containers, that normally wouldn't be grown that way, if successful i intend to make a video on roof top container gardening and televise it on Cable tv channel ( I work at a CATV co. )

I came across a spanish language video on youtube.  commercial papaya farmers have had good results inter planting with corn,  seems the corn keeps the bugs distracted from the Papaya.

I was reading how the Canary Island Pine, is able to condense moisture from the air, and supplies almost half of "Las Palmas" Island's ground water.

And I was thinking, how does this work?  I assume that the trees are slightly cooler than the ambient temperature, and the long "needles" collect then drip the water down.

So maybe it would be possible to have a simple passive device, or solar powered, that is slightly cooled ( maybe by passing sealed water through underground heat exchangers ) that keeps above ground "condensers" cool,  I know there is a big project in Dubai, to de-salinate  salt water in a similar fashion.  but I was thinking in terms of something a bit more passive and not permanent, once you have a forest established, the devices could be moved elsewhere.

another system I have seen, that could be adapted, is the solar Ice maker.  this system uses solar reflectors, to heat a tube with Ammonia gas ( I think thats what they used ), and this expands it into a tank, which is later released back into the original tube.  ( the gas is always sealed, not released into the atmosphere ) is completely passive, and has no moving parts except for the valves.  imagine instead of making ice, the "cold" was used to cool collectors, that could condense moisture from the air?  I have no idea how much water could be produced in such a system.  just throwing ideas out. 

tel wrote:
does all this talk about harvesting water in the desert recall anyone else of Arrakis and bribing the Spacing Guild with Spice?  just me?

Worm castings to the like that god has never seen. 

Antibubba wrote:
You'll use even less gas once you're stuck to a semi's front grille.

I am all for extreme MPG vehicles , but I just wanted to beat Jay Leno on this one.

Just think of the money you will save on funeral costs, if you die in this thing, you can use it as a coffin and be buried in it.

The semi joke brings up the problem, its not that these small cars are supper dangerous on their own, its the mix, of ultra small cars and large vehicles on the same roads.

I know its a long shot, but some cities could have policies that only allow these type vehicles in downtown streets,  the only chance of this happening would probably be after peak oil. when that happens, people will start really buying these type cars for commuting. and cities will start doing things to make roads safer for those owners.

Kirk Hutchison wrote:
Which was actually part of the idea behind this whole discussion in the first place - if you can make a big enough statement, people will be more supportive. People who are on the brink of starvation tend to be more receptive to new ideas than fast food eating westerners, so a success in a place like Haiti could open the way for projects in wealthier countries.

Ohh ok, lol,  I was definitely taking that  the wrong way.

@ Joel

Yes I have heard this many times, that the "donations of food" and money in the way of donations or loans, are used to subsidize food, which keeps local farmers not able to compete, so they just don't grow stuff commercially.

about a year or so ago, the government in Haiti received money from the "outside" that was intended to be used for projects, but food riots broke out, and well, that money had to be used to buy food.

Saw on the news yesterday that the US is considering sending 4 Billion in aid to Haiti, but it will be the US and other foreign aid  groups that will handle that money.

If all they do is build roads, homes, and "Free zone factories " ( sweat shops ), this will just keep Haitians in the same spot they are in, reliant on other countries.

But I am not that pessimistic, I think that the problem has been recognized, and hopefully they will help them be self reliant.

Kerrick wrote:
This would be a useful thing to read before undertaking an invasion of Haiti, permacultural or otherwise.

That article, is a good insight, into how things are in Haiti. but the author obviously has little faith in permaculture, and offers no solutions, only that outside help has done more harm then good.  ( in some things I agree with that ).

But he mentions, that

"Why this happened depends on whom you ask- American leftists point to deforestation and its effect on the topsoil,"

Hmm? Is he actually stating that Liberals, are the only ones that believe that deforestation has effect on the topsoil?  I assume the "American Leftists" he is referring to are Liberals"

He cant actually believe that the deforestation in Haiti is natural, it shares the same Island and climate with the Dominican Repermies, and deforestation is under control here.  ( for the most part ).

He makes Permies out to be some kind of wacky hippies. ( not that I think there is anything wrong with wacky hippies )

No "Big" permaculture project would be without obstacles, whether you do it in the USA, Haiti, Africa, Russia, or where ever.  the hardest part isn't the digging of the holes, or planting of the seeds, its the politics, and social support.

I have a lot of links, only ordered from a few.

http://www.banana-tree.com


Don't let the name fool you. they have 100s of great agroforestry seeds.

and the best prices i have been able to find so far.  here is an example of a popular
tree:

Leucaena leucocephala  1 pkt = $1.15,  100 seeds = $3.75,  500 = $14.00
and  1000 seeds = $26.00 bucks.

Check them out !.

http://www.tradewindsfruitstore.com


Mostly tropical seeds here. pretty good variety, decent prices. low minimum order requirments.

"Le Jardin Natural"

http://www.seedsplants.com/ResultChoix2.php?Lang=en&YY=Vente&VV=Designation%20ASC&XX=Graines&Titre=Seeds


I have not yet purchased from them. I put them here because  they offer some hard to find varieties. exotics etc.

and

http://nativeseeds.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=1


For those living in the southwest, and high deserts, Native seeds, has a large variety of very rare, "ancient" varieties of seeds, that the natives used., I spent an hour or so just going through all their beans varieties.

Just a tip.

Some files get an error when unrar-ing using winrar.

when you press extract, check the option, "keep  broken file" and even if you still get the error, it will still extract. and play ok.

@ Rose, I'll take a look at those videos tomorrow, ( on a slow connection at the moment ). looks interesting.

@Kirk, yes Moringa grow great here, its very drought tolerant, the only use I have seen people use it here for is for fence posts, and "Brujeria" , the local names are "Libertad" and "Amor Fino".

The tree that is most planted in arid areas, and has been super successful is the Neem tree.  It a very good shade tree, grows extremely fast  even in nasty soils.

In some villages in the dry hot southwest here, its sometimes the only tree you see.

But the Moringa has more uses, I mean, you can boost your nutrition, and even purify water.  what I like about this tree, is you can grow it like an herb, plant it, let it grow 3-4 months, then harvest it for the greens, and roots. Mature trees are full of seeds, so seeds is not a problem if you have a few mature trees around.

Haiti's main problem is deforestation, luckily they do get rain, but without forests, you have erosion, and all that.