Devin Lavign

pollinator

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since May 01, 2015

Biography

uggg...I hate trying to describe myself. * last updated spring 2019 *
I moved to 40 acres of raw land with an existing pond in the WA Okanogan Highlands 3 yrs ago. I have been busy observing and making trails.
I am planning to start building a house this year. Though I am probably going to hold off on planting anything until I finish building a house and just work on infrastructure.
I am looking forward to finally put into practice the ideas I have without having to compromise due to it being someone else's land.
Some history and background about me.
I have traveled and lived most of the continental US. So have a decent grasp of the different areas of the US. As a kid I preferred going into the woods to play over going to a park or friend's house. Still I will almost always pick nature if given the choice.
I worked trail maintenance in the Cascades and that was likely my most favorite job ever. I lived, worked, and played in the forests of the Pac NWet. I learned a massive respect for pack goats during this. As they hauled the majority of our gear up the trail every day. Amazing smart animals and I can't wait to get my own goats to enjoy.
I lived and worked at Arcosanti for 4 yrs in AZ. Including managing their 15 1/2 acres of edible and medicinal landscaping. A fun place to meet lots of wonderful people and pick up skills. I have spotted at least one other Arco alum here who I know. Who lived there previous to my time, but who I did meet and hang out with several times both at Arco and to go see him in Prescott.

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Pac Northwest, east of the Cascades

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Recent posts by Devin Lavign

Questions About Starting a Permaculture Project

Lauren Pfaff wrote:* Once you start building permanent structures, what first? Is there a logical order to go in? Does it matter? Does it vary based on personal goals?

As others said observe

As for buildings, if your going with raw land then water is first. All life needs water and everything revolves around that. So getting your water system squared away is important. This means pump houses (for a well), water lines, hydrants, etc.

2nd I would recommend some sort of workshop. You're going to need to build and work on things. Having a good place to do that is important since you're not planning to live there right away.

3rd I would recommend a greenhouse so you can start seeds earlier in the year.

4th i would say fencing. If you plan on animals or want to keep your neighbor's animals out, then fences are super important.

* edit to add context

2 weeks ago

projects

Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:

David Wieland wrote:My favourite tool for sharpening bladed tools, at least those used outdoors is the Speedy Sharp (speedysharp.com/). Although the company touts it for kitchen knives as well, I think it's a little too aggressive for those and prefer a diamond stick or water stone. But a Speedy Sharp can't be beat for pruners, loppers, axes and the like.

Thank you! I just ordered one. I'm very interested to see if I get along with it!

Update:
For assorted reasons I ended up getting two of a different brand of the same type of thing.
I haven't used it for my outdoor tools yet, but what I have tried it on, and absolutely LOVE it for, is my scissors! INCLUDING my sewing scissors, and those have to be perfect or they snag the fabric. I was not sure it was wise to try that tool on them, but ooooh, it worked nice!
I'm debating more of them so I have them in various places in the house for use.
Thank you! I am VERY pleased with them!

I'm involved in the bushcraft and sword community and for sharpening stuff I use a Worksharp MK2 knife and tool sharper that sort of resembles a belt sander. They have since replaced it with the Ken Onion Edition Elite Sharpener which is more than twice the price because he's sort of a celebrity in the knife community. The original works great and I never needed to upgrade to the Ken Onion. It works on swords, knives, axes, shovels, scissors, pruners, and so much more.

Worksharp MK2 knife and tool sharper

Ken Onion Edition Elite Sharpener version

2 weeks ago

gear

Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life

Devin Lavign wrote:

Edward Lye wrote:
I am talking about an extra pair of arms.

So useful when climbing trees/ladders/mountains.

Hands down, these would improve my life.

If I get to heaven, I expect to grow a pair.

I know they are working on extra arms I recently saw a video about developing extra arm exosketlton

I just found the video, it is 4 extra arms! They also have an extra thumb in development.

2 weeks ago

gear

Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life

Edward Lye wrote:
I am talking about an extra pair of arms.

So useful when climbing trees/ladders/mountains.

Hands down, these would improve my life.

If I get to heaven, I expect to grow a pair.

They just came out with an exoskeleton for legs commercially

I know they are working on extra arms I recently saw a video about developing extra arm exosketlton

2 weeks ago

gear

Where do different natural fibers shine?

Sad part in clothing it is hard to find 100% natural fibers in clothes. Often cuffs, tags, and stitching are synthetic without them saying. If a cuff is stretchy it is likely synthetic rather than natural no mater what the tag says. This happens in "wool" socks a lot of times.

Wool, in all it's forms, is one of the best and highly looked for in the bushcraft community. Alpaca wool is not only hypoallergenic, but lighter and warmer than sheep wool. Possum wool (Invasive in Austrian and not the same as Opossum) is super warm. Buffalo wool is I think the warmest wool out there.

Other uses.

Hemp can be made into a concrete, even in blocks like legos.

Wool makes a good insulation. As can straw if sealed well against critters.

Straw bales are used for walls and work well.

And of course cob can be made with straw or any natural fiber that isn't too smooth.

1 month ago

clothing

Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life

William Bronson wrote:Oh, yeah!
Id always heard about these from other electricians that swore by them, so when they showed up at the reuse Hub.
Now they live in my purse, along with the 6 in one screwdriver!

I think those are the Cobra's, the ones I pointed out act more like a crescent wrench replacement. They have a different jaw that has no teeth so it won't mar things, but they way they work is supper strong.

1 month ago

gear

Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life

David Wieland wrote:Here's a lesser-known tool that comes in handy for tightening (or loosening) nuts and bolts when away from the shop, barn, garage, or wherever you keep wrenches. It's the descriptively titled Pocket Wrench (https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/wrenches-and-ratchets/72640-pocket-wrench). I keep mine in the greenhouse, beside the garden, when it's not in my pocket.

I just learned about these Knipex parellel action pliers

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/h0X8yMQLkl0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wyHmK9rHQs&ab_channel=Engineer%E2%80%99sPerspective

They allow you to hold things really well. It's like a combination of Vise-Grips and channel locks

* edit to add picture of pliers since youtube links weren't working

1 month ago

gear

Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life

So I got a chance to sharpen some of my oscillating tool blades.

I tried to upload this a few days ago but my phone WiFi hotspot was not enough to do it. Setting up the Tiger’s Teeth sharpener was actually longer than sharpening. Changing the main sharping spindle the belt was a little fiddly, but they do provide good access port to get to the belt.

Over all sharpening wasn’t too bad, a lot of the blades I sharpened were in pretty bad shape and some damaged and missing teeth. Some of the blades were toothed with opposing teeth. When I sharpened them I just did one side.

So the post sharpening was a little ruff due to some of the things I mentioned plus my inexperience.

All the wood blades did well in testing even the hardwood ones. I didn’t test the metal blades since I don’t have metal to cut and any cutting of metal WILL damage the blade.

I like the Tiger's Teeth sharpener, I think it is way better than the POG sharpener. With the price of blades it is well worth the price.

1 month ago

gear

Not quite zero waste but getting there.

So Growtrees Organics has some ways of dealing with waste.

3 months ago

zero waste

Cool Tools, lesser known tools that can improve your life

Just got the Tigers Teeth sharpener, will let you know how it works.

4 months ago

gear