Steve Nicolini

I am going to sheet mulch this week.  We finally pruned those poor apple trees.  I am going to innoculate the cardboard with King Strofaria, Pearl Oyster, and Shaggy maine mushrooms, which should help it break down a bit quicker and provide some tasty shrooms. 

Now, I just got one metric shit ton of 2 year old horse manure/soil.  My question is, with the cardboard down (2 layers, shroom spawn in between them), will say 6 inches of manure/dirt and three inches of moldy wet hay be sufficient for planting day? 

My concern is that it will get too hot. 

Will stove pipes bend the way those rocket stove pipes do?  I think it would cope better, but would it bend like the metal pipes do? 

My concern is not with moisture, though now I wonder: do people cook on the barrel of their rocket stoves?   

The wild rabbit that comes to your garden has not had to run around on its own shit and try to dig through cages.  You also don't have to clean its cage, feed it, or water it.  You may choose to harvest the rabbit in your garden.  You have now just gotten all the benefits of a domestic rabbit (minus the companionship) with no drawbacks (except that the wild rabbit probably ate way more of its own crap than a domestic would have).  There is one aspect left out: you don't know if there will be more rabbits coming to your garden.  With domestic animals, there is more security that you will have food. 

This sense of security is what separates us modern folks from early man.  We need that security.  Native peoples know that nothing is secure enough to stop mother nature.  That is why they laugh when their thatched roof home gets blown over in a windstorm.  That is why thanksgiving was celebrated numerous times throughout the year.  It is one of the toughest things to be comfortable with... insecurity.  I know I am not. 

Permies always talk about self-sufficiency.  THere is nothing on this planet that is self sufficient.  Everything relies on some other aspect of the universe, even non-living matter.  No such thing as self- sufficiency... Unless my definition is different than that of John Seymour.

I think it deserves a try, Sue.  We were planning on building a trench around the whole bog to divert surface water.  It is a dry outhouse.  I wonder if the corn would want water so bad it would drink the water in our poop...

There is also the sunlight thing.  I have an idea... a successional poop eating guild.  Transplant your young willows as you plant your corn.  Let the corn work until the willows are big and hungry.  Big enough to eat all the sunlight before it reaches the corn.  Just an idea. 

Has anyone on this sight built a rocket stove in their own home?  I have a question about the metal pipe.  How often do you have to replace it, if at all?

I've been drinking doug fir needle tea about once a week to get an extra shot of vitamin c.  Not much out there during winter, but goat is right about nettles, young ones poppin up soon.  Dandelion root and plantain seed tea are good right now too.  THere might still be some good rose hips too.

Has anyone here done any research on poop eating guilds?  This goes along with the dry outhouse tree bog thing. 

Yeah, the last thing you would want is your roof caving in on you while you sleep!  Strength first, then deterioration.

Would the poly not protect the cob enough? 

Quittrack, what will support the extended poly?  I like the umbrella idea, but I wonder if it will prevent a lot of sunlight.