George Yacus

Thekla McDaniels wrote:How do we know what the manufacturing industry has decided is appropriate and food safe as opposed to what supports their economic considerations of ease in industrial processes?  How is preseasoning different from all the other industrial nonstick coatings on so many modern pans? (teflon, silverstone etc)

They list on their website what they use: carbonized veg oil.  They seem pretty transparent about the process and ingredients.

Lodge's website wrote:There are no synthetic chemicals added. The oil is highly refined, and all proteins that cause soy-related allergies are eliminated. The oil is kosher and contains no animal fat, peanut oil, or paints.

Lodge website FAQ section on seasoning

Lodge is seasoned with 100% natural soybean oil. Some folks avoid soy due to an allergy or concerns around inflammation, but Lodge cookware is perfectly safe for these groups of people. That’s because the oil we use has been refined at very high temperatures to the point that the proteins that cause food allergies or inflammation are no longer detectable.

If you’d prefer not to use soy bean oil when cooking or seasoning at home, we simply recommend using an oil that has a high smoke point and fits your needs.

Edit to add: The site also addresses your concern about pre-seasoning coming off.

Today I learned a term for a Zimbabwean gardening method involving mulched basins: pfumvudza.  I'm planning on taking a course next month hosted by the non-profit Equipping Farmers International which teaches this method.

I don't think it's worth pursuing, as the majority of roots tend to stick around in the top 30 cm or so of soil, right?    

Assuming this root zone as the target, I perceive it will take too much water to first saturate the entire wooden core, and then slowly percolate outward horizontally (hydraulic pressure) and downward with gravity all the way throughout the cone to the edges where the plants are, compared with just watering the immediate root zone to begin with and having organic matter nearest the rootzone.

In other words, the volume of the dirt cone is quite large, compared to the top foot or so of growing space, that's a lot of soil to percolate through, requiring a lot of water.

First, congrats on achieving your funding goal!

I have an idea for a Kickstarter strrreeeeeetch goal if you aren't afraid: NSF/ANSI 41: Non-Liquid Saturated Treatment Systems

Pursuing National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certification standard 41 for your willow feeder would be a tremendous accomplishment.

It would push the willow feeder beyond the working prototype phase of human excreta nutrient recycling, and into the professional realm of sanitation that makes state and county health departments say "please proceed" rather than scratching their head navigating red tape, trying to figure out which bureaucratic bin a willow feeder belongs in.

The whole "It's not a composting toilet" aspect is basically moot from a regulator's view in my state.  Legit systems have to be in place to meet or beat the status quo, and that requires third party certification and "approval".  Until then, any other waste management system remains a neat idea and an auxiliary system at best for many US states and other countries, rather than solving the whole system problem.  

And if not NSF 41, I'm very curious what's the game plan for willow feeders navigating the human/legal/professional sector aspect of permaculture?  Or will the legal sector not be addressed in the movie?

An older article regarding composting toilets and regulations:

https://www.omick.net/composting_toilets/composting_regulations.htm

Richie Ring wrote: Each region will have something that will work better in their own region, but maybe we can discover a great idea that is as effective across multiple regions and can be cataloged here.

An alternative to weed-eating around fences or buildings is...eating weeds, i.e. herbivores in the system.  Or the fun omnivore alternative of "chicken moats".  Speaking of moats...

An outside-the-box solution to prevent weed eating around fences and buildings is... not having fences or buildings.

Below is an example of the elimination of "fencing" through using actual moats/water features.  These gorgeous paddocks are holding sheep rotationally in the Netherlands.

A different method of eliminating weed-eating by elimination of the fence is letting the weeds become the fence...aka a living hedgerow.

As far as elimination of buildings... depending on the design, an earth sheltered underground building with a green roof such as an Oehler structure might not require a string trimmer, as it would have fewer sharp edges and would be integrated with the earth's gradient, so it could be mowed instead, or left shaggy without detriment.

For that matter, an alternative to weed eating is, well...not weed eating.  That's my preferred method... laziness...err...strategic patience.

What could you do with HUGE bamboo?   A big list of ideas for big bamboo.

Ideas A-Z:

Amateur radio tower

Animal pen framework and skids

Banner holders

Barriers: road closed; parking this way please -->

Bamboo Basketry (Hat tip to L. Johnson)

Blinds and curtains

Candle holders and candle lanterns

Charcoal / Biochar (Hat tip to Eric)

Compost pile aeration (PADM pg 199-200)

Crane, water lifting device, shadoof

Chinampa creation

Curved lip chicken feeder (Salatin-style design to reduce daily ration waste)

Duck housing and habitat (floating)

Entryway facades

Erosion prevention on a dam

Flagpole

Floating raft

Bamboo fly rods (Hat tip to Randal below)

Fencing, wattle weaving style (Thanks, Michael!  Great photos there below in the comments!)

Furniture

Bamboo garden edging (Hat tip to Alex)

Gates

Geodesic dome struts, hubs

Gutters

Hammock support structure

Huts

Improvisation and games

Insect hotel

Jungle gym

Junk pole fencing

Kebab skewers - family sized

Kite spars and splines

Ladders

Leverage

Marking (vertical / horizontal / area) - Mark where mulch/material is to be dropped off, where topsoil is to be deposited; parking space boundaries, etc.

Measuring cups or scoops

Mixing

Nagashi-somen (thanks L. Johnson, this looks like so much fun!)

Nibbler, amphibian, or reptile habitat

Organic pool uses: As a safety device to reach for help; to mark out shallow and deep end or diving zones; ladder ingress & egress support; plant floats

Ornamental

Pack rat collection tube

Pathway railings, stair banisters and balusters

Pedestrian bridges

Pelletized fuel

Plant pots (deep and vertical for great taproot formation, or shallow and horizontal for "rain gutter" planters)

Quick prototyping for efficient layout and placement of structures, pathways, plants, etc.

Queue demarcation for jamboree events

Raised bed border

Ring toss rings

Rollers for moving heavy things

Roof tiling

Bamboo spatula (H/t to L. Johnson)

Sign post

Stilts

Scaffolding

Towers: Watch tower, Water tower, or Windmill

Trellising

Tripod

Urinal pipework for jamboree event (temporary & compostable)

Ventilation pipe

View-scape blocking or backdrop

Water conduit

Windbreak

Wind chimes (smaller end of poles for high-pitch, larger end for bass)

Willow feeder aeration pipe (alternative to PVC)

Xylophone

Yardstick or long measuring rods (very helpful for spacing plants at predetermined distances)

Zombie apocalypse protection

Zig-zag movable fence panels

Zillions of other useful homestead ideas, so add yours below!

Permies.com threads:

Floating gardens

Barrel roof tiles

Fantastic structures and the downsides of building with bamboo.

What to do with bamboo in an urban area ? Compost ?

Bamboo planting pots from immature poles

"I need to be in the bamboo basket making business."

Bamboo cordwood: Some considerations?

Bamboo as a civilization marker

"Ways to use bamboo, dumbed down to my skill level."

Jay's Experimenting with bamboo - fence and gate to discourage deer

Other websites:

BambooCraft.net

Farm Show 2010- Volume 24, Issue 4, page 7 "U-Cut Bamboo business"

Interesting Engineering: 15 Things you can do with bamboo

Biofuel Machines: Pelletizing bamboo

New Straits Times: Beauty of bamboo planters

Pollinators: This page is wiki-able, so add your ideas and resources to the lists above!

Josh Hoffman wrote:And I do not always use screws but when I do, I use GRK brand.

They cost a fortune but I have evaluated their performance over the last 15 years and I wouldn't buy anything else.

I'm a new fan of the GRK brand.

I'm building a cabin-office with some home sawn lumber (true 2" x 6" and 4" x 6" etc. mostly hardwood made from discarded arborist trunks) and the nails I bought at the local store for simple framing can barely even penetrate the wood.  Even with a pilot hole, my nails still ended up bending.  So I went with structural GRK screws where appropriate.  

Thoughts I've thunk:
1) When the structure I am building eventually goes the way of the earth, these expensive fasteners will probably live on in another project as they are so beefy. They'll probably hold value better than the money that bought them, given inflation.

2) It is a two story structure and I intend on storing some water at elevation for gravity pressure.  So if my life or a kid's life climbing around or a customer's life is going to depend on my work and these fasteners, it's comforting knowing I can depend on quality.  

Match the fastener/design to your needs of course...

Considerations:
-Longevity - How long does it need to last in the elements?
-Durability - How much damage does it have to take from me or others?
-Safety - If and when it fails, what are the ramifications?
-Ease of install - How much time is it worth?  Speediness required?
-Ease of disassembly - If my system changes, is it modular or reconfigurable?
-Expense - How much financial capital is it worth?

Taking a step back, of course not everything needs to be built with dimensional lumber and expensive fasteners.  

Alternatives to expensive torx screws:
-other cheaper screws
-nails
-brads, pins
-wooden dowel
-wire, rope, cordage
-glue, tape, adhesive
-gravity or tension / locking design

A permaculture compost "bin" could be a pile on the ground, or a fancy criss crossing stackable board layout.

A shower could be a hose over a tree limb with vining plants.  But, yeah, dimensional lumber (especially free stuff) is certainly sturdy, convenient, and aesthetically pleasing, and sometimes the quality fasteners are totally worth it.

"Pluck and chuck"

A variant of chop and drop where both the roots and shoots of the pulled weed get tossed next to a desirable growie to serve as mulch.

Last week I learned to identify a plant, Sheep Sorrel - Rumex acetosella, in my back to Eden garden.  

It's been an easy to pull weed which I am chop and dropping (or rather pluck and chucking) around my growies.

I learned Sheep Sorrel can indicate great growing conditions for blueberries!

Sure enough, last fall a church friend gave me a big blueberry bush, and it has produced fantastically in the same area as the Sheep Sorrel.