Cristobal Cristo

josh ober wrote:The area that the build will sit on (the level part of the pad) is the cut section , but the sloped gravel extends quite a ways beyond that.

I did make sure to leave 10’ between the two sides that were cut out of the slope. The other two sides are downhill.

I’m using 3/4 minus gravel, which is about half fines. It compacts exceptionally well. I’ve been using a plate compactor, and the end result almost looks like asphalt.

This plus a light and flexible structure will be fine. Please remember to post some pictures of the construction process!

Josh,

Why was the graded pad not level at least within 10cm (4") envelope? I do not think it's good that you had to add 16" in a spot.
When grading I would ONLY build on cut section and also leave at least 3 m (10') graded perimeter around the house, so you would have space for paving, protection from water (or adding some trenching).
How are you compacting it? Gravel does not really compact much, because it does not have finer fractions.
What structure do you want build?

I would say that it's the same like with humans. In pleasant climates a small house is sufficient and active persons will spend most of the time outside. My current coop is 1x1x0.7m (interior) box made of dry stacked large bricks with plywood roof that I remove to let the hens in for the night and out for the day. They have one roosting stick and they lay eggs in the same spot on the woodchip covered floor. I would never leave my hens outside for the night, because in the morning some would be missing. They roam free in the orchard, but are not allowed in the gardens. During hot days they hide in the shade of the trees. They always have water. I feed them scraps, but majority of their diet is free range plants and insects.
With this setup I managed to keep the same 8 hens for 3 years. Before - with a side entrance and flimsy door I was losing them to dogs, bobcats and who knows what else.

As plastic, I mean plastic sheeting - the same that I use for covering materials and machines. I buy the black version - more resistant to sun than translucents.
That plastic layer between two pallets prevents the moisture penetration from below, but because of the second pallet, it still provides the bottom ventilation.

The moisture from the soil will affect the wood from the bottom, especially when it rains. Digging rodents will disperse the soil and throw it on your lumber.
I store everything outside.
Masonry and steel I just store on pallets.
Cements, insulating firebricks, adobe, lumber I store on double pallets or double pallets separated with plastic.

You do not have to buy Italians. There is Carniolan - better adapted to cold and able to quickly increase population to cater to shorter vegetative period. There is also Russian and then hybrids of all these breeds and more.

Lisa Chin wrote:I remember the woman who told me about it mentioned that wearing gloves and mask and eye protection was recommended when working with the chilli powder.

Did she have first hand experience or was quoting what someone told her?
Even if she did it herself, does not mean that it works.

I remember storing chili flakes in a glass jar and it somehow got infested with small black beetles. They were happy living there and eating the contents. It means that they do not have receptors for capsaicin and they treat the chili like normal, tasty organic matter. It's known to be irritating mainly to mammals. Besides that it's an organic substance that will oxidize and decompose sooner than later.
If I wanted to repel insects in the mineral material I would use lime (traditional high calcium version, not less reactive dolomitic) - it reacts with fats of all living beings - animals and plants. It can be used within the brick and of course as the plaster.

Nosherwan,

Nice pictures of kilns. When you mentioned bricks - I was expecting that they are locally made, fired in outside kilns, plentiful and cheap. If I wanted to build retaining wall 1.8 m tall then i would make it 3 bricks thick, which is 3x the length of the brick. So if your bricks are 25 cm, I would make it 77 cm thick (1 cm for head joints). I would also build some buttresses, every 2 meters, so they would be additionally reinforced. Buttress could protrude 25 cm out up to 1 n height and then step back (to half a brick protrusion) between 1-1.8 m. I would make the top of retaining wall to provide some angle for capping (rooftiles), so the wall would be protected from vertical rain erosion. The protruding parts of buttresses should be also angled and capped. If you want to use concrete, it could be topped with reinforced bond beam (hidden within the bricks .

Master Ula,

I would include a separate chapter dedicated to shade.
Not all warm climates are extremely sunny (especially in eastern Asia). The south western regions will be usually too sunny and even there there exists a lot variation. In California - the lowlands have less intense sun than higher elevations like mine where sun is simply brighter than agricultural lands that are located low and west of me (they are also enshrouded in agri dust). Sun intensity at lower temperature will be more destructive than higher temperatures with clouded skies. This extremely bright radiation will overheat the plant even if the temps feel fresh and pleasant.

I just built an experimental garden (6x9 m) in my eucalyptus grove. It gets some direct afternoon sun. Everything grows just better. I'm having strawberries and will have blackberries that were getting completely scorched before in full sun - no matter how much mulched or watered. The herbs grow better and lush and out of my 40 grape cuttings only 5 died so far (last year at this time 90% were dead). For the first time thyme and also lovage have germinated.
Morning shade garden with figs and grapes is also much better for them as compared to growing in the open frying pan. My theory is that in extremely sunny locations the evaporation rate is so high than watering can not account for it at the given species level of plant physiology.

All of it may seem obvious to some who lived with higher elevation sun for a while, but in my case creating a shaded growing area did way more than soil improvement, irrigation and mulching.
If the garden proves itself throughout the year I will built more and will try raspberries and my beloved currants.

Because I experiment by planting various species and cultivars I frequently end up with dead scions and rootstock surviving. I have five plums and four such apples. If the growth is strong I keep them and do nothing (except regular irrigation). Plums are on Myrobalam or American plum rootstock so I expect to have fruits. Apples were on Antonovka, but now I'm not sure what will be the outcome. Several years ago I have planted four Antonovka rootstocks - one died, the other two did not survived grafting, but still regrew from the root and the fourth one got quite large and finally produced fruits, but they do not look like Antonovka at all, but hopefully will taste good and if not I will still use them for processing.
You can select the strongest one and later graft or not. You can also leave them as they are and they will grow into multi branched tree. If you are in apple growing region, keeping an unknown apple may not be worth. I'm in a region where apples rather suffer, so I will be happy with anything.