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 ...

Hugelkultur, is a permaculture garden bed technique where wood is buried under the soil. It can be built in a variety of shapes and sizes, and can be used for growing a variety of "garden plants". The decomposing wood acts "like a sponge to hold water", making hugelkultur ideal for areas that receive little rainfall. Over time, the wood shrinks and creates air pockets, resulting in a self-tilling garden bed. This "soil on wood" technique helps to retain moisture and nutrients in the soil, which benefits the plants. Hugelkultur is an environmentally sustainable gardening technique because it uses wood that might otherwise be discarded.

The SKIP (Skills to Inherit Property) program, hosted on permies.com, utilizes a badge system based on the completion of practical projects called "Badge Bits" (BBs). These BBs, categorized under 22 different aspects, encompass a diverse array of skills crucial for sustainable living and homesteading, aligning with the principles of permaculture. To earn a badge, Skippers must complete a predetermined set of BBs within a specific aspect, demonstrating their competency in that area. Badges are tiered, starting with the Sand badge, which signifies basic proficiency and requires approximately 5 hours of work. The next levels are Straw, Wood, and Iron badges, representing increasingly advanced skill levels and significantly greater time commitments. Examples of BBs include carving a wooden spoon (Roundwood Woodworking), building a hugelkultur garden bed (Gardening), installing a light fixture (Electricity), and mending a hole in clothing (Textiles). By completing BBs and earning badges, Skippers showcase their practical skills and dedication to sustainable living to potential "Otisies" (landowners) looking for suitable successors for their properties. Moreover, the completion of BBs contributes to the overall goal of "skipping the rat race," empowering individuals to acquire the skills and experience needed for self-sufficient living.

The berm shed, a hallmark of permaculture design, is an eco-friendly, earth-sheltered structure renowned for its unique construction techniques. Earthworks are fundamental to its creation, as the surrounding landscape is carefully shaped to form the berm that will encase a portion of the shed's sloping roof. This berm serves a dual purpose, acting as both a natural insulator and a source of thermal mass, effectively regulating the internal temperature. The structural framework of the berm shed is often built using round wood timber framing, a technique that prioritizes using logs instead of conventional dimensional lumber, further enhancing its sustainable appeal. However, the longevity of these logs, especially when in contact with soil, is a crucial consideration. The sources recommend peeling the bark from posts before burying them, a technique born from experience and aimed at minimizing the risk of rot. Another technique for ensuring the durability of the structure involves incorporating gravel into the post holes. The gravel facilitates drainage, preventing water from pooling around the base of the posts and contributing to premature decay. These carefully considered details, combined with the innovative "attic" cell design at the termination ends of the shed, as described in source, showcase a commitment to sustainable building practices that go beyond mere functionality, exemplifying the core principles of permaculture.

WOFATI structures demonstrate remarkable effectiveness due to their unique design features and emphasis on passive systems. The "two-skin" system, characterized by a double layer of membrane, protects the structure from moisture, ensuring dryness and longevity. WOFATI designs prioritize the use of natural and locally sourced materials, primarily wood and earth, significantly reducing the building's environmental impact and embodying the "freaky-cheap" philosophy pioneered by Mike Oehler. The core principle of "Annualized Thermal Inertia" harnesses the earth's thermal mass to regulate temperature fluctuations, providing passive heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Large windows strategically placed on the uphill side, along with a spacious gable roof on the downhill side, often incorporating glazing, maximize passive solar gain, further enhancing energy efficiency. By minimizing reliance on artificial heating and cooling systems, WOFATIs achieve substantial energy savings. Allerton Abbey, the first WOFATI built at Wheaton Labs, exemplifies the practicality and success of this building technique

Hugelkultur, is a permaculture technique that utilizes buried wood to create raised garden beds. This method can be implemented on a small scale in backyards or on a large scale, covering areas up to a kilometer in length. Hugelkultur beds are constructed by layering logs, branches, twigs, and even whole trees and covering them with soil. Over time, the decomposing wood acts "like a sponge to hold water," reducing the need for irrigation and attracting beneficial microorganisms. This decomposition also creates "parking spaces" for water and nutrients, improving soil fertility and aeration. Using hugelkultur reduces or eliminates the need for fertilization, as the rotting wood provides nutrients. The self-tilling nature of hugelkultur is enhanced as the wood shrinks, creating air pockets over time.