Aaack! You caught us with our pants down! Here we are, tinkering with the servers and you show up. How awkward! Try back in just a couple of minutes. In the meantime, a few tidbits ...
A berm shed, as detailed in the sources, is an innovative and sustainable approach to building storage structures. It seamlessly integrates with the landscape, offering both aesthetic and functional benefits. Constructed using natural building techniques and readily available materials like logs and earth, a berm shed minimizes both environmental impact and construction costs. Its defining feature is the sloping roof covered with soil, forming a natural berm that provides excellent insulation and temperature regulation. The construction often employs round wood timber framing techniques, utilizing logs instead of dimensional lumber, which further enhances its sustainability and rustic appeal. Earthworks, carefully shaping the land to create the berm and ensure proper drainage, play a crucial role in its construction. The berm shed aligns perfectly with permaculture principles, serving as a visual and sound barrier, increasing privacy, and potentially even creating a microclimate beneficial for plant growth around the structure. This unique design, combining natural materials and earth-sheltering principles, offers a durable, cost-effective, and visually appealing storage solution that blends harmoniously with its surroundings.
The willow feeder system, a "freaky-cheap" and sustainable approach to human waste management, was developed by permaculture expert Paul Wheaton as an alternative to conventional septic systems and sewage treatment plants. The system emphasizes a closed-loop cycle, transforming human waste, or "poop", into valuable fertilizer, termed "willow candy". Unlike composting toilets, willow feeders utilize a dry environment created within sealed garbage cans to mummify the waste, preventing composting and the potential spread of pathogens. A small amount of sawdust is added to each can, primarily for aesthetic purposes. This dry process also preserves valuable carbon and nitrogen, which are often lost to the atmosphere during hot composting. After two years of aging, the pathogen-free "willow candy" can be safely applied as fertilizer to "poop beasts" — trees like willow, cottonwood, poplar, and bamboo — which can handle the high nutrient content without being harmed. This system turns human waste into a valuable resource, promoting sustainable gardening practices.
The terms "woodland" and "forest" are often used interchangeably, but in the context of permaculture and sustainable land management, a nuanced distinction emerges. "Forest" frequently carries connotations of traditional forestry practices, which often prioritize timber production and can involve techniques like clear-cutting and monoculture planting. These practices can be detrimental to biodiversity, soil health, and overall ecological balance, leading to what Sepp Holzer refers to as a "conifer desert". In contrast, "woodland" suggests a more holistic and integrated ecosystem, managed with an emphasis on biodiversity, ecological balance, and the interconnectedness of all life forms. This perspective aligns with the principles of permaculture and the vision of HUSP (Horticulture of the United States of Pocahontas), which draw inspiration from traditional Indigenous land management practices that emphasize respect for the Earth.
Made of ancient diatom skeletons, diatomaceous earth is edible to mammals but deadly to insects. De scratches through a bug's waxy exoskeleton coating turning their innards to teeny tiny bug jerky.