Kendra Nelson

Hey!

Found this great video on dandelions. Hope you find it as interesting as I did.

I think the question of whether or not to include cats as part of your permaculture design, is to first ask, 'are or were small cats apart of the natural environment where I am?' In North America there are bobcats and lynx. Due to hunting and trapping many of theses small predators have been wiped out locally. A barn can can be a substitute. BUT wild cats are highly territorial solitary hunters. If you are hoping to mimic this, you want to ensure that your tiny predator is spayed or neutered to ensure population control. Because unlike their wild counterparts domestic cats will live in colonies. This can be devastating on local fauna. As with many things in permaculture there's a sweat spot that we aim for, without careful design and  implementation the balance is upset and damage results.

Amos Burkey wrote: Very cool! Do you know where the the hugel will be located? I am guessing it is not going to be on campus (Lincoln). I would love to see it growing something. I am in the process of hugelkultur-ing and its very intriguing. Congrats on the new project!

It will be on East Campus at the student organic farm behind the Law College, which is a little scary because they dont want anything "messy looking"

YAY! the University approved our proposal to put a hugelkultur in and will allow us to dig! We are able to find some cottonwoods to put in it but we also have a lot of pine too, so the idea was proposed to build a hugelkultur with pine and grow blueberries, and other acidic loving plants. Has anyone had any success with this kind of hugel, or is there other issues other than the acidity of pine in doing a hugel. It would be nice to see the pine not go to a burn pile so using it in this way would be nice, but I haven't read anything positive about the use of pine in hugelbeds.

Ok so i talked everybody into doing a hugelkultur bed for our Student Organic Farm at the University of Nebraska, yay! The only thing is I'm the authority on this topic of the group and I've never done one, which i did tell them that up front. I've read Paul's article at richsoils.com and seen all the videos, listened to the podcasts that i can find so I got the basics, rotting cottonwood tree, cover with sod and then dirt and ta-dah hugelkultur bed right? Except what shape would be best, what direction should it run, do i put hay on top with sticks holding it on Sepp style? Or any other advice on this would be great. The good news is that since its with the University it can be experimental so its ok if we don't get it perfect, but I want to blow minds, and add to world domination and there're a lot of kids in the agriculture program here that are looking forward to being future wage slaves of Monsanto and i want them to see a success! So any help advice would be great.

Thanks all,
Kendra

I found this open source for plans to a fly trap. One of the pictures shows it packed full of flies. Think of what a great source of food this could be for your chickens. I haven't tried it yet, but I thought I'd share.


Materials

Basswood (Chap. III., Par. 31).

8 pcs. 3/8"xl"xl2 1/2" S 2 S Sides. 8 pcs. 3/8"xl"x 7 1/2" S 2 S Cross pieces. 5 pcs. 1/2"x3/4"x9" S 2 S Top pes.

8 pes. 1/4"x3/4"x9" S 2 S Trim. 3 dozen 1" brads.

3 dozen 1/2" brads.

1 1/2 dozen 3/8" corrugated nails.

1 yard 24" screen wire.

9 dozen small tacks.

1 piece 5/32" Bessemer rod 8" long.

2 screw eyes No. 114.

1 pair 3/4"x3/4" brass hinges. 1 small clasp.

Introductory Statement

Recent investigation has proven that the common housefly is a very dangerous enemy to human life. The fact that it spreads disease and is in every way undesirable is sufficient reason why everybody should be as careful as possible to prevent its increase. One of the most successful ways to wage war on flies is to screen our homes so as to shut them out, and then leave no uncovered garbage pails or any other feeding places for them.

In cities where everybody has been interested in disposing of flies the results have been very encouraging. School children have helped wonderfully by engaging in fly-catching contests.

You can do a great practical good for your own home and community by making this flytrap carefully and using it throughout the fly season.

References:

The House Fly as Disease Carrier, L. O. Howard. Published by F. A.

Stokes Pub. Co., New York. U. S. Bulletin No. 459, and U. S. Bulletin No. 679, House Flies. Insects and Disease, Doane. Henry Holt & Co. Our Household Insects, Butler. Longmans, Green Co. Household Insects and Methods of Control, Bulletin No. 3, Ithaca, N. Y. U. S. Bulletin No. 155, How Insects Affect Health. Fly Traps and Literature. International Harvester Co., Chicago. Winter War on Flies, Willard Price, Technical World, February, 1915. Our Insect Friends and Enemies, John Smith. J. B. Lippincott Pub. Co.

Flytrap


Suggestions For Original Design


Glass Fruit Jar

WlTh Opening In LlD


Fly Trap Specifications

The Side Strips

You will probably have to rip your material from stock; select the best surface of your stock for a working face (Chapter II., Paragraph 2); plane one edge for a working edge (Chapter II., Paragraph 4). With the marking gauge, gauge the width of the strips on both surfaces of the stock (Chapter II., Paragraph 6). Rip just outside the line; plane to the gauge lines. Prepare all the side strips in like manner. Saw them the required length. Notice that on two sides of the fly trap, the side strips are narrower than on the other two sides. This is done so the four sides will be equal when assembled. Miter the lower end of each strip, as shown in the drawing.



Read more: http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement/woodworking/Community-Shop-Projects/Fly-Trap.html#.UkeFE8u9KSM#ixzz2gF3KHBvE

Welcome Andrew, thank you for sharing your time with us.

Welcome Mr. Katz,

I'm new to the idea of fermented foods. So far I have only tried kumbotcha and loved it, but have not made any myself. What would be a good starter food to try to make myself, and what if any special items would I need to acquire.

Thank you for the info, i'll continue to research this topic.

Sorry if this is not the right place for this, I wasn't sure where to put this question.

I have been doing research on different toilet/septic options. I know Paul is a big fan of the composting toilet, or tree bog toilet, but what are the feelings about methane digester? My understanding is, and i could be wrong, that you collect your poo, and it goes in to your digester, and is digested by bacteria, to produce methane gas that is then captured and used for cooking fuel, heating, and for your hot water heater. At some point you have poop kol-aid that comes out that as been digested and can be directly added to your compost pile. Is this a correct interpretation? This seems like a great system to me, you get fuel and compost, but i would like to hear pro and con of this system from anyone who knows, and comparisons of this to other waste management systems.