christopher shooski

Anyone else have input as to fiberglass vs. food safe lined tanks?
Would love to get more opinions...

Thanks so much for your response and those experiences, its good to hear the water tested clean after years of use. I'm in Central Texas, outside of Austin. Very hot in the summer there.

I definitely plan on covering the tanks if they are fiberglass... Maybe sheathing them in wood, or building a shop building/shed over them...


I'd love to hear more from others here, thanks again.

So I'm in the process of building a home that will be on 100% rainwater for my family of 5.
Going to have a standing seam metal roof on the house that will catch rainwater for 30,000 gallons of storage capacity.

The contractor who seems very experienced says he recommends using two 15,000 gallon fiberglass tanks.
I want to use the most non-toxic, potable tank possible.

My online research tells me that the steel tanks that are available use a "food grade" plastic liner in them. I really wanted to stay away from plastic, but they tell me that their clients have had the water tested and have never found any type of contaminant from the liner.

Also, it seems that fiberglass is very inert and similarly water testing has never showed any contamination from the resins (so I'm told).

OK, Permies whats the truth? Can I trust fiberglass or food grade plastic liners for the water I'm providing my wife and kids?

I know ferro cement and concrete is another way to go, having trouble finding a contractor that will install it though. For simplicity I like the products above, but I don't want them to come at a cost to our health.

Any advice is so greatly appreciated!

So I just purchased a couple pounds of seed that is: "A mixture of ryegrain, vetch, fuba bean and red clover".
It doesn't specifically state that its been inoculated... I know that different plant families need different types of inoculant.
For this mixture what inoculants should I use?

I'm in Southern CA, zone 9 or 10... Any other covers I should consider for my area that might be better green manure/ nitrogen fixer? I've got heavy disturbed clay soil and I'm trying to start building it for future growing...

Thanks!

I too live in a Mediterranean area (Southern California)...I very much enjoyed the blog... I didn't see what plant pallet you have developed, I would love to know what works for your location...

great idea

Thanks so much for the advice everyone!

Does anyone have a link to the podcast and the forum post he mentions? Sounds like exactly what I'm looking for.

Hi Permies,
I'm so excited to be here. I'm a long time gardener and outdoor enthusiast. I've moved to a new house...this time I have over 2 acres of gently rolling slope facing perfectly southwest with large terraces that I would like to create a permaculture Food Forest with.
I've been using the search feature a lot and I have a broad strokes idea of where I'm heading...but I'm hoping Permies can point me to the right information for my location.

This is what I think I'm looking for: Plant/Guild lists for my specific region (San Diego/ Southern California)

Also any local resources for help in getting started. Most of the information about food forests I'm seeing are for areas that have very different climates than I...I'm hoping its been done here and I just need to get plugged into the right information or people...

Thanks very much,

Chris