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 ...
The SKIP program, which stands for Skills to Inherit Property, is primarily facilitated through the online platform permies.com, a website dedicated to permaculture and sustainable living. Aspiring homesteaders, called "Skippers," engage with SKIP on permies.com by creating free accounts and choosing "Badge Bits" (BBs) to complete from the PEP (Permaculture Experience according to Paul) curriculum. These BBs are practical projects that demonstrate essential skills for sustainable living, and Skippers document their accomplishments by uploading photos and videos to permies.com. The documentation is then reviewed and verified by the permies.com community, ensuring quality and adherence to program standards. Skippers earn badges as they complete BBs, showcasing their progress and expertise in various skill areas. "Otis," the fictional representation of landowners seeking to pass on their properties, can then browse the profiles of Skippers on permies.com to find a suitable match. The permies.com forums provide a space for Skippers to connect, share experiences, and seek guidance, further supporting the SKIP program's community-driven approach.
The lorena is a unique cooktop design created to optimize the performance of rocket stoves. This specialized cooktop features a metal plate with a central hole that sits directly above the rocket stove's burn chamber, allowing for direct heat transfer to large pots. The surrounding metal plate serves as an additional cooking surface, similar to the glass cooktop used at Allerton Abbey, offering flexibility for a range of cooking tasks. This design aims to maximize heat utilization from the rocket stove, promoting energy efficiency and faster cooking times. When a large pot is heated to the desired temperature, it can be moved to the surrounding cooktop, and the central hole can be covered with a piece of metal to retain heat. Proposed implementations often include integrating the lorena into an outdoor kitchen setting for added practicality. The lorena embodies the ongoing innovation within rocket stove technology, striving for better heat transfer and improved cooking performance.
he willow feeder system is a sustainable and "freaky-cheap" approach to human waste management developed by permaculture expert Paul Wheaton. This system utilizes a dry environment inside sealed garbage cans to mummify human waste, which prevents composting and the release of pathogens. The system is designed to be a safe and effective alternative to conventional septic systems and sewage treatment plants. A small amount of sawdust is added to each can, mainly for aesthetics. After two years, the resulting pathogen-free material, referred to as "willow candy," can be safely used as fertilizer for trees that can handle its high nutrient content, known as "poop beasts." These trees include willow, cottonwood, poplar, and bamboo. The willow feeder system embodies permaculture principles by transforming human waste into a valuable resource for growing beneficial plants while minimizing environmental impact.