Matthew Niedbala

Ten years late but it’s crazy how few people actually address the pH problem we have here. The pH of your soil genuinely requires sulfur to be brought down to 6.5-7 unless you only want to grow alkaline tolerant species. There are some cover crops out there that can help, but you have to make a big dent in it with sulfur. Don’t worry it’s just an element and won’t harm you or your soils.

Also, don’t bother with biochar or spreading ashes or burn downs. If you do want to add biochar, make sure to leach it well.

Worms in a field would never be directly in contact with pure effluent. It’s diluted into the soil quickly and even if they did come into contact with it, they wouldn’t be submerged in it like they are in the study. Also, biodigester effluent loses its VFA content if the biodigester finishes digesting. VFAs are an intermediary group of chemicals in the system used to produce biogas by methanogens. Pathogens are present in manure which is spread around gardens everywhere. Just don’t put it on plants you’ll be consuming the greens of raw. Tomatoes, potatoes, corn, and anything peeled is fine. Biodigester effluent, while maybe not as good for soil as compost or manure, is still an excellent quick-release fertilizer option for those growing organically.

I've gotten very interested in interlocking bricks as they seem like a quick and easy way to build, however I don't see anything about fired interlocking bricks. Is there a specific reason that these bricks can't be fired, or is there just no demand for them because bricks are out of style for structural use? Does anyone know if there are any problems with firing interlocking bricks such as warpage? I don't find using bricks made with 10% Portland to be sustainable as many concrete mixes containing 15% cement are much stronger than the soil cement bricks. Fired bricks are also much stronger.

In planning the construction of a monolithic (home sawn poplar and larch maybe CLT or DLT) timber house, I need to figure out how to insulate it cheaply. I really like the wood fiber exterior insulation, but it’s very expensive and it needs to be shipped from Europe. I’ve done some experiments with binding sawdust or shavings and starch together to make a board and I can say it’s more rigid than XPS foam which is impressive, but when it gets the slightest bit wet it’s done for. Has anyone ever done this? Does anyone know what kind of insulative values I could achieve with this as well as if I should add some borate for preservation and fire? Would adding straw and shavings make it stronger? Would adding biochar or cellulose make it more insulative? I’m thinking this is similar to chip slip insulation, but without the thermal conductivity and weight of the clay. Any other ideas on making this would help too.