Itybt Fox

Chris Kott wrote:I don't think there's anything specifically not green about being buried in a box, as long as that box itself is sustainably made.

I would personally want the casket inoculated with relevant fungal spore, and I have been toying for a while about burial garments containing seed of different kinds.

I think that the concrete vault thing is a real downer.

One approach that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere is encouraged natural decomposition by insects. I must admit that this is the option that appeals least to me on an aesthetic level, basically a bioreactor of decompositional macrobiota into which a body is placed. I don't know why it gives me the existential willies, as it's just an accelerated version of what happens when a body is buried within the biologically active layers of soil, but I figured I would bring it up.

Hell, a really permie approach would be to do the bioreactor approach, or the shallow natural burial approach, and have chickens penned in a toroidal paddock with the decomposing body in the doughnut hole under a layer of healthy soil. Bugs eat body, chickens eat bugs, humans eat eggs and eventually chickens too. Or, for those to whom reincarnation appeals, what about the idea of having a rooster and a bunch of broody hens in the doughnut paddock, with all of the eggs laid being fertilised by the rooster and raised for eggs or meat?

If I were truly concerned about the pathogenicity of dead bodies, I would personally favour the bioreactor or shallow living soil grave over concrete entombment. I mean, it probably gets the job done, but cycling biomass through the digestive tracts of multiple unrelated species in a soil environment without room in the soil biome for pathogens to take hold sounds like a more certain path than sequestering everything away where it's of no use to anyone.

I am glad people are talking about this subject in a permacultural context. I think modern burial processes, that basically turn bodies into subterranean soap cakes, are one of the great wastes of the day. I don't think for a minute that reverence for the remains of the deceased should be lessened, but I think that I prefer the idea of living monuments in the form of trees and living plants, and the cycling of nutrient and mineral resources into the soil and the environment.

-CK

Grok?  "stranger in a strange land"  " Having consumed a small portion of Smith's remains in keeping with Martian custom, "

At 70, ive been cooking since i was 3, im told, lol.  I make up my own recipies depending on whats here, or what i feel i 'need to eat'?  Think soup or ice cream cubes.  Id love to test some of your recipes.  I dont use sugar anymore and would have substitute pyrue for that, but other than that i think im good to go.  I live in a farming and ranching community so i do source local.  I like to cook up things quickly, and move on, although some days in the fall i love to just cook all day.  Hibernation thing i think, it coincides with knitting and tatting and bobbin lace making!  

No i live in a tiny house, and dont have any windows that get sun in the winter.  Id have to build a greenhouse, or something similar as above.

Eric Hanson wrote:Wow!  You really do have some serious challenges in trying to put in a garden.  It seems like you are short of almost everything you need, but money, water and physical strength seem to be the most serious.  Do I have that about right?

But it seems to me that you do have at least some water.  Also, you have some straw.  Can you get more straw if you need to?  My personal suggestion (take or leave as you see fit) is to start small and grow a few veggies that are your favorite and have moderate water needs.  Actually tomatoes are not a bad start.  They don’t need as much water as they appear and just love the heat and sun.  Could you plant some and then mulch heavily with straw to really cut down on evaporation?  Though I don’t have anywhere near your evaporation rate, I do have hot summers and having a good layer of mulch made the difference between healthy, living soil and hard sun-baked clay.

I now make a good layer of mulch a standard part of my garden now and it makes an enormous difference.  Water is still necessary, but now a little bit of water goes a very long way.

This is just an idea and maybe it could be helpful.

Eric  

Thank you yes straw is just a mile away, from the feed store.  I do have a lot of rotten strow.  One year in desperation due to the heavy snow melt in less than 3 hours and flooding in the horses barn and about and in my front yard where i wald to the old truck, i dumped bales of straw to walk on!  it was marvelous, no more having the mud suck my shoes or boots of and then have them vanish before i could grab them again, lol. true story!!!  one night at midnight i had to park down the drive and walk the rest 350 feet in the dark, after about 50 feet, i lost one shoe and it filled in with mud, i kept going, and lost the other .. yeah, cold muddy feet, i kept going and by the time i reache the area light of my tiny house, the ground was frozen, lol and easy to walk on.  I wish i had a camera then and recorded the trek. i dont think anyone believes me when i tell them.  I was so happy it was frozen, thought to go back down and bring the car up but did not.  

sorry i digress! That straw i put down? when it warmed up over the next two day, turned into this horrible rancid molding disgusting nasty SMELLY stuff.   lol i was raised in Seattle, didnt have a clue that could happen. It was horrible!!!  =)  it finally dried out, but oh outside was not the place to be!  actually i could smell it inside too when i opened the windows even just a crack lol.  

Speaking of water? its been raining all day!  some heavy then soft, Ive often though of makeing a low roof structure to collect the rains when i could.like today.  Just 2x4 in the ground with 1x2 cross and then some metal siding, and something to catch the water in.  a gutter, and then barrels.  I think i decided it wasnt really feasible.. at the time..

Abe Coley wrote:Four shipping pallets stood up on end in a square configuration and tied in the corners will create shade, disrupt the wind, and keep the deer off. I have used these to successfully plant out small fruit trees with no irrigation in an area that receives ~12 inches rain per year with super hot dry summers. Versus seedlings that didn't have a "pallet protector", the ones planted in the pallets are now 3 feet tall whereas the others are only 1 foot. A little bit of shade and wind blocking makes a huge difference.

Thank you i have some pallets, had them for years, i could do this, i used to use them for compost fencing, and i have some for small patio, lol.  I also used them to create a floor for a make shift storage area, then put 3/4 subflooring on top, then cyclone fence panels around the perimeter then tarp on top, i replaced the tarp each year, and in the winter removed the snow, it worked for a long time.   I could dig all those pallets out too.   I think i can.  When i tried to grow my trees, and the dog dug them up, i had purchased potted trees that were about i cant remember maybe 10 feet tall? all on sale for 5 to 10 dollars, i was so happy!  I brought them home in the horse trailer and planted them all over the next couple of days.. I then planted ground covers around them out to about 3 feet i think, lambs ear, it spread well, but they needed water.   I managed it for 2 months before i found they couldnt survive the dog digging them up and the roots were too dried.  now i think i should have cut them down and kept trying, but i am not a tree person. and i was driving to work 60 miles away. i just gave up.

Michelle Heath wrote:$1000!  Yikes, that's $1 a gallon, which is what we'd pay in the store here for a gallon of drinking water.  I'm guessing the high cost is because of being in the desert.  I'm sure making several trips to fill the 50 gallon containers wouldn't be feasible either.  

Do you have electricity?  Hydroponics may be your best bet though there would be some start-up costs for the system.  Unfortunately that's something that I have absolutely no knowledge of but I'm sure someone here does.

No, the high cost was because its a water truck,and he really didnt want to do it, and not keep it umm  lol cant think drinkable. I get my water from the city and its very inexpensive for me, they only charge for what i get.  They used to have a minumum of 19.99 a month but when they saw how much i used he just charges me for that, by the gallons.  I usually pay 15 - 20 every six months, more for summer .. er i use more in the summer.  

I have to 50 gal potable barrels, i usually keep one here and use one to fill, although it smashed the thing i made for the one here and i havent replaced it. so many other things to do.  So sometimes i put them both in the truck and fill.  I had a potable hand pump, but found out it wasnt really for potable water it came with the barrel, lol.  I bought another on amazon and it was not potable either. frustarating. so i just bought some hose the kind you use in an rv for water to the water tank? and use it, but i hate using it too, its a pain to get it started and then let it run, so, i devised a hook to hook it on and keep the water in it? so i could just on hook it use, and hook it back up. again a pain but doable.  I dont have much patience now for things like that lol  although i need to set it up again, as i have a new front loading portable washer on order.   I have two sets of washer and dryers. one stacked. and only use the one dryer. lol.  I used to bring water and use the washer too in the bigger cistern but yeah not any longer.  and with the virus i dont want to use public laundry any more.  This little washer can was a queen size comforter!  It doesnt have a spin dry on it though, they are inventing one but the cost of the washer will more than double with it in it.  Cheaper to by a spinner, i will use the one of the washer lol.  i digress.

its only about 4 miles to get the water, the thing is when the truck dies ill have to get it in the car with only the 1 gallon jugs and dump theim onto the 50 when i get back here.  my land is in the half mile suck in zone for the city.  I had to get double permits for everything.  It was zoned commercial and i got that changed too.

Michelle Heath wrote:

Itybt Fox wrote:
oh, so i could build a high tunnel, with straw bales, covered in clay for maybe 4 feet tall? and then add a greenhouse top, with hoops? and then plant inside?   The only challenge the wind has it to dry the plantings out. but the sun does that too of course.   Keeping plastic covering i would have to invest in uv protected panels or plastic, i couldn afford to replace the sheeting in a couple months when it got hard and started falling apart.  

thank you.

I've been looking into UV sheeting for a 10 x 12 greenhouse and think I can reasonably cover it for $150.  Given your climate, I'm not sure if the sheeting would last as many years but hopefully someone will have some insight on that.

Again, not familiar with your climate, but would the possibility of growing in a pit greenhouse and utilizing a shade cover when it's extremely hot make it possible to grow vegetables?  Of course water and mulch will be necessities.  Do you still have the cracked 250 gallon cistern?  I know there are products for repairing plastics that are food safe, so that may be an option.  Would you be able to pay someone to bring enough water to fill the larger cistern on your property?  

still have both cisterns. I looked into having the cracked one fixed.  I continued to use it till the crack went across the whole top and almost to the bottom, i actually use clear tape and taped it together and then from side to side for support, it lasted that summer and into the next before i pulled it out of the truck. The people did not have the correct tool to meld it back together, they couldnt warrant  it and it was pricey to get it to them, too far for the old truck to go.  The 1000 gallon cistern i called water delivery, it would cost 1k to get it filled!  yeah right, in their dreams.  they really didnt want to fill it.  Im thinking of cutting a door into it and using it as a shed!  if i could only move it.  its still got some water in it, and try as i might i cant manage to tip it over, i get it up and i think it will go and no it does not, lol.  i need to get it up, and tie it to the truck to tip it. and then i can roll it  easily enough lol.  

the climate is desert.   sage brush is the most abundant thing here and tumble weeds. snakes, mice, things like that. scorpions and pretty blue centipedes(nasty ones).  Oh and those baby faced ... crickets? cant think what they are called although i havent seen any for a long long ime.fascinating creatures.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:I'm wondering if a fog net or fog harp would work on your land? It would need protected from the wind, but it would harvest moisture out of the air without the need for electricity.

oh, i had forgotten about the electic appliance that could make water from air here i think i figured out i could get at least one gallon a day from it.  There isnt any fog here except about 4 days a year, but i do believer we have dew, at least now, as any clothes left on the line at night feel a bit damp in the am.. perhaps just cool.  There isnt enough dew to keep the grasses alive. so perhaps its my imagination.  There are water from dew apparatuses. i should investigat those too. Thank you very much!

Thank you thank you and thank you!  I will do some research on everything you have given me.  It will take some time, i will try to get back to you in a few days.  

Clayton High wrote:The first thing I would look for is how to grow a wind block. You need drought tolerant, fast growing trees. Osage orange comes to mind, I'm sure there's other. That wind break will prevent the wind from drying out your soil so much.
Mulch is going to be the other big factor, also protecting the soil and preventing it from drying out.

Vegetables are going to be... tricky. Most drought tolerant plants are perennial, and most vegetables are annual
I would look into sunchokes, they're quite hardy and drought tolerant once they get going. They would also grow tall and serve as a wind block. To get them started, mulch is your friend, and maybe some additional water if you can spare it. Not everyone likes eating sunchokes though, maybe try one before you plant too many.
Alternatively, you could plant a perennial food crop. I'm guessing you don't want to wait around for trees to mature, so maybe a bush or a vine? Perhaps you could grow lots of grapes and trade them to the neighbors for some veggies. Hazelnuts would be another good option, you could buy seedlings that would likely produce nuts in a year or two (but they would likely need water to get established)

thank you.  yes growing trees for shade? id be dead before they were big enough to be helpful, that option is over for me now.  sad but true.  My neighbors dont trade, if anything they just take.. The took my metal 16x something building while i was at work, they didnt get the roof, and i came home from work to find it sailing about 4 feet off the ground and terrifying the horses!  i parked and ran and jumped on it before it hit the horse pen, but it wouldnt stay down.  I staked it down with the sledge and one of those t posts i had that was broken, i had to put two in it to stop it.  I fed the horses and went to bed.   I did it all in the dark , lol. its funny now but then ? i was so tired, that late night drive home for 60 miles always relaxed me by the time i got home you know. lol.

I dont know about that sunchoke, i doubt i have had one, and not sure where i could find one to taste, just grow one i guess and try it. have to research it.    In the summer the winds die down and i always hope for some breeze,  there is more movement up higher i thought to put a windmill in.  the neighbors would hate that too. I could take the sunchokes to the sat market and trade with folks there though. good idea. Thank you again.

I looked into bushes for protection, and at the time i couldnt maintain them to even get them started, i had planned to scrunch the up to help them grow, then thin them out little by little.  but i needed to be able to water them on a regular bases, that was 20 years ago.  Such big plans i had =)