brad rowland

Can I get worms online

I have about 1/2 acre plot in semi-arid Colorado, at about 5,300 feet that I'm restoring. Today it is literally sand and silt with a few weeds, bordered by a road on one side and a concrete ditch wall on the other. Because of the cost of water, most of the neighbors yards are dirt, barely any shrubs and just a few trees. I turned over a lot of the dirt, there is no topsoil, and very little soil biology to be found except some ants and beetles. This county used to be one of the largest ag producing counties in the country, so i know the soil and climate have great promise.

I'm starting off by putting in a very large hugelkultur bed (about 65') but I don't know where to get earthworms locally.

Can I get them online, do I need to be concerned with the "regionality" of the worms, and can someone recommend a source?

i started a project a couple of years ago with a solar panel and broken (reused) dehumidifier. i don't remember exactly, but i think i got about a half gallon per day. i would have gotten more, but the dehumidifier kept icing over. i have a 250 gallon, plastic water tank that i was filling from the gutter during the spring, then i wanted to top it off every day with this system. i have 3 raised beds with micro drip (and now with Hugelkultur) and wanted to connect the microdrip to the big tank and let gravity handle the rest.

http://highlyuncivilized.com/2011/02/27/water-out-of-thin-air/

Hi Aranya,

I got your book last week on Amazon. I am learning quite a bit, but I think I am really struggling knowing where to start with planning the layout for our land.

Any suggestions on simplifying the thought process so we can take baby steps forward? Or any specific section of the book you suggest I focus on?

Thanks

Brad

Burra Maluca wrote:For the actual design process, Permaculture Design: a step-by-step guide by Aranya is fantastic.

It's already available in the UK and is due to be released in the US on September 3rd, though according to the amazon.com link it seems to be already in stock so I'm not sure what's going on. I'm in the middle of writing a review for it, and there's a promotion planned to start on September 10th where Aranya will be visiting the forum, so get ready to pick his brains, and maybe win a copy, too! I'll get that review finished asap and come back and post a link to it.

Thanks - I just went to Amazon and was able to order it. It said I should have it in 3 to 5 days (I'm in California).

Thanks for the recommendation.

I've also been watching "Back to Eden" -- anyone have any thoughts or experience with that method?

Hi Everyone -

I'm looking for a book or video recommendation on permaculture landscape design. We have about a half-acre in climate zone 5B (very arid, long growing season) with literally nothing on it, and it's flat. There are some large shade trees on the neighbors property that provide shade for an understory zone but that's about it.

We have access to a tractor and can make swales, hugelkultur beds, etc. We're starting literally from scratch, so we want to 'design it right' from the ground up. Pun intended.

Thanks

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=404901426225774&set=a.399852263397357.79282.150840081631911&type=3&theater

my blog is HighlyUncivilized

we live in silicon valley and garden, build stuff, ferment, and are learning to live in more basic, wholesome and gratifying ways. we're also doing more covert front yard gardening, and i rummage through our neighbors trash to reuse things. most of them just smile and nod, but now there are several of us in close proximity, raising chickens, trading veggies, reusing stuff, and being friendly. this started several years ago from a 'health crisis' and a general need to live better, without paying $5 for every tomato from the local Organic Store. we're just recently split between that home, and a small house in Colorado where we hope to relocate permanently. this is a 102 year old house and a fairly run down piece of land that we intend to green.

although I drool with envy when i read about some of your homesteads, not everyone can move into that kind of lifestyle and environment. we're trying to learn how to do as much as possible where we're at, and would like to partner, barter with, and support others who are living sustainably from their land and practices.

We're looking at several different places, but as an example, one outbuilding has all interior and exterior paint coming off in large, very thick chips. The roof looks like it failed some time ago, so rainwater has been running over the interior walls and draining out somewhere.

It did take a look a Fungi Perfecti yesterday and exchanged some emails with them. Looks like there is a ton of research that validates using fungi for lead remediation but no documented/practical system available yet.

I'm looking up local inspectors now.

we are looking at a property that may have some lead contaminated soil around some outbuildings built in 1910 ish.

anyone know of any reliable, natural, lead abatement techniques? is there such a thing?