Tom Connolly

Is a chicken coup made of rammed earth, with ceiling insulated with straw and slip going to be "chicken proof"? Will it hold up to pecking?  What should I use to coat the rammed earth that is friendly to chickens?  

I have some property  in NE Nevada.  The harshest winter weather comes from the north, so was thinking about building a 10 ft tall landscaping wall about 50 feet long to the north and then putting my house and other living quarters just south of it, and close to it. I hope to build a natural fence for the rest of the perimeter, but that is going to take some years but I want to mitigate the effects of the weather asap.  I think I can talk a semi-retired farmer to grow the straw for me at a reasonable price - not much above his cost.  My initial concern with straw is mold developing inside the bales and the composting that will happen when it grows.  Straw would require some kind of covering - cob or stucco?  What would work for a foundation for straw?  For rammed earth, the soil is pretty void of organic matter, especially below 1 foot below the surface.  Hmmm maybe earth bags?  Suggestions?  Opinions?

I have 2.25 acres of land in north central Nevada and would like to begin developing the soil.  Ideally, I would also like to make the land a little more pretty by planting wild flowers.  I have lists of plants that will grow in the area but I am trying to find ways to broadcast them and keep a significant percentage of the seeds from being eaten by insects and rodents.  Any suggestions?  I have read of people putting seeds in clay balls along with other substances that most insects and animals think is obnoxious - one example being diatomaceous earth.  What I have read is that seeds have a better chance of sprouting if they are planted in late fall, which is when the rainy season (if you can call it that) begins.  Any suggestions on this?

I live in the Pacific Northwest now and am getting near the harvest time here.  I don't have access to land now to grow much of any veggies or fruits, so I want to take advantage of some not-so-close organic farms that will be selling in bulk.  I will be canning some produce - first time ever.  I have also been looking at plans for a diy solar powered dehydrator.  There are some great ideas out there - including the one listed on this site ;)   I am looking for ideas to make trays on the cheap.  I need them to be:
a. easy to clean and keep sanitary.  My first attempt will only be fruits and vegetables.  I have a dehydrator that I purchased that I will use to do meat and fish.
b. not leaching any kinds of toxins (materials or paint)
c. reusable - I want to learn the "art" of dehydrating foods and continue to use it over the years.  
d. cheap - the cabinet will have a 1.6m height (lots of the same produce at one time) so I am looking at 20+ trays.  

Anything with liquids will be dehydrated in the dehydrator that I purchased.  

Repurposing materials would be a wonderful bonus.  

"The option of dragging a greenhouse to a spring, summer, and fall location to catch the best intensity and radiance of the sun offers many advantages."

Yes, in my case, all I would have to do is rotate the trailer slightly.

Definitely support!  

I am thinking about this design and the choices of features in the list of things to put in a 4 season greenhouse:
https://alaskamastergardener.community.uaf.edu/2021/03/26/building-a-four-season-greenhouse/

Snow is almost not an issue at all where I live, but temps do drop to freezing or below, the wind can be quite strong and it rains often.  

Also modifying a trailer to look like this would still maintain the structural integrity of the trailer.

The roll of the dice finds me in the great Pacific Northwest of the US, living in a rented home.  I would love to begin the process of gardening with an aim to being (mostly) self sufficient, but there are two problems: 1st, I have no land.  While winters are fairly mild up here, the growing season is short.  

I often see people selling travel trailers for cheap, if not completely free.  My idea would be to replace about half of the roof with transparent material, and half of the walls (but only the top 4 feet of the wall) with transparent materials.  The parts of the roof that were not transparent would be potential sites for PV panels, so the trailer would not need any external source of energy.  Parts of the walls would be covered with solar hot water heaters, so that I could keep a fairly constant temperature from October to March.

Any thoughts?  I like the idea that I would be re-using a huge amount of resources by using an old travel trailer.

How would your project be if you were to cut one of the sidewalls out - put a piece of cardboard on the bottom of the remaining sidewall - and then fill the "bucket" you have made?  If you could find an "easy" way to cut the side wall out, it would make it easier to fill the tire.