Cristobal Cristo

Lynn,

I have Sundanzer DDR165 directly connected to a 275 W panel with no battery. I would not like to live here without it. During 6 month long summer I need to drink at least 5 liters of cold home made beverages per day. My well water is a little bit too warm to cool my body from the inside.
I purchased it in 2014. For last 5 years I kept it outside in the elements. Works wonderfully.

Negatives:
1. Top loaded fridge is always dirty, it gets filthy in one week, because everything drops to it, liquids leaks out, butter falls, etc. For someone who would like to make some civilized cakes, tiramisu, cheesecakes, that need refrigeration would not be happy.
2. The seal has broke off and Sundanzer does not offer replacement parts any more for this model; they told me I would have to replace entire lid - what a waste! I tore off the glued seal and bought some adhesive universal white and wide seal. Just replaced it a week ago. They use the body of Electrolux fridges, but it was impossible for me to find the model number and SKU of the parts.
Also the side plastic compressor compartment cover got broken (when we played soccer) and there is no replacement either. I will have to fabricate it.

Of course in winter when it's overcast here, the fridge does not work too much with no battery backup and mold quickly develops inside.
I consider it to be my favorite tool.
I also have the same size freezer that I still need to connect to a panel and battery.

Walter,

Tomatoes do not like arid climates with extreme sun. They can not get pollinated when it's too hot, and they will not get ripe either (I was shocked when I learned it).
This year for the first time I managed to have some edible tomatoes as those that I planted from seeds the other years were just nasty and I tried 10 various cultivars. It's because I started with relative large plants from a nursery. Then a month ago they got scorched and rotted instead of getting ripe. They are on irrigation in fertilized soil.
With a borderline climates for a given species, one year may work and another will be a complete failure even if you do everything right.

Millo,

I use lime plaster a lot, but do not try to make thicker structures out of it.
I use lime putty (that I prepare from high calcium lime) and mix it with sand and chopped rice straw.
Two things - I have read that using wool fibers will make them clump into a ball during mixing. Traditionally the wool fibers were introduced to small amount of lime plaster that was just supposed to go on the wall.
Second thing is - lime needs carbon dioxide to cure, so thick layer may have problem to absorb it.
For thick lime layer I would probably add some pozzolan material - brick powder, calcined clay, pumice, or I would work in layers, let's say no more than 2 cm at a time.

Were they properly trimmed? Some rootstocks have suckering tendency and may overwhelm the scion if not trimmed in time. It happened to me with pistachios. I was growing Chinese pistachio rootstock (that took over the scions on 5 trees) for 10 years, before I realized that I will never get any pistachio, cut them, dug out with excavator and planted again.

Mike,

In what climate are you located?
Will the building be insulated, and how much, walls and roof ?
Will you have an open space or separate rooms?

Mike,

Piped mass "went out of fashion" . It's better to build a low bell bench - easier to clean and gases will do the job in a less restricted and natural free movement way. If you share your planned layout on the home plan, we will help.

From my experience I would say that it's quite unlikely that someone would accept half of asking price, but the other scenario that may result in similar savings is possible.
Imagine two similar lots: one being sold by aggressive real estate agent with a large audience and extensive connections. The other is sold by the owner who only advertises on craigslist/facebook and with a paper poster attached to his fence. The agent's price may be easily twice of what the self selling owner asks. I saw several such cases in the past.

What is the definition  of "post-consumer honey"?

When I was purchasing land I offered 20% lower than original price, then was counter-offered with original minus 10% and I accepted it. I could do it, because I was paying cash for full amount. Most raw land sales are owner financed. It's more attractive for the seller to have full cash amount instantly - albeit little bit lower, than get original price money trickling for years with monthly installments from the buyer.

Andre,

For the bell you can improvise and use local materials.
For the firebox, I would recommend the best NEW firebricks you can buy. Old ones may be worn thermally and close to their end, or come from industrial furnaces and be saturated with heavy metals, or come with old fire mortar attached that may have asbestos and you will have to remove it first.

I you are concerned with their embodied energy:
-assuming 1 firebrick weighs 3.7 kg it has embodied energy of around 11 MJ
-firebox and riser for BBR 150 mm can be built with 60 bricks (or less or more, depending on the brick laying design)
-so 60 bricks have embodied energy of 660 MJ
-such a firebox will have 26 l capacity and in theory can take 8 kg of firewood which is around 100 MJ
So after only 7 burns you already match the embodied energy of your new firebricks. If they are quality and new they will last long and the longer they last, the more negligible will be their embodied energy.