Michael Brooks

Most modern panels are actually pretty durable good ones often last 25+ years, just with gradual output loss. The biggest factors are quality panels, a properly engineered mounting system for your wind zone, good flashing/sealing, and leaving enough airflow under the panels to keep them cooler. In windy areas, the rack and attachments matter just as much as the panels themselves.

The main differences are feedstock, burn quality, and whether it’s “charged” before use. Good biochar is made from clean untreated wood/plant material, burned hot enough to carbonize well but not turn to ash, then crushed and pre-loaded with compost/urine/nutrients/microbes before going into soil. “Natural lump charcoal” is often very similar to biochar if it has no additives, but raw charcoal can temporarily tie up nutrients unless you charge it first.

Sounds like a frame-rate or browser/driver issue. Try clearing your cache, disabling hardware acceleration in your browser, or updating your graphics driver. Sometimes YouTube’s VP9/AV1 codecs can glitch at higher resolutions switching to 1080p or forcing H.264 (via extensions) can help.

Usually keep the main door closed and let the sun come through the storm door/glass.

Rule of thumb: if it’s sunny and calm, a few minutes open is fine, but at 34°F the warm air loss usually beats the solar gain.

Best bet:
Closed glass = gain heat
Open door = lose heat

From what I’ve heard, edible Air Potato tends to have a mild, slightly earthy flavor somewhere between potato and taro. The texture is usually a bit firmer than a regular potato and works well in soups or stews. Just make sure they’re from an edible cultivar, since the wild ones can be bitter or toxic.

We have a few like that too. It’s funny how some of those kid pronunciations just stick around. In our family, simple ones like “sketti” for spaghetti or “aminal” for animal still pop up now and then, mostly as a joke. It’s kind of nice how those little things become part of the family language.

I think a lot of people are drawn to the idea of that lifestyle, but the reality is definitely different. Living off-grid or restoring land takes a lot of patience and hard work. It’s great to hear you’re actually doing it though  projects like that usually teach more than any book or video ever could.

Sounds like your 50/50 mix worked really well! Slowing down the set time while making the surface more paint‑friendly is perfect for kids. I’d guess that it will be a bit less durable than traditional lime fresco, but for classroom experiments it seems ideal especially since it handles pigments nicely and gives a smoother, more vibrant finish.