Jay Angler

Phil Stevens wrote:Since I don't really have a lot of confidence in this particular Youtube channel as a primary source, I went looking and found this...

Well done Phil!

I had seen photos of the buildings on travel sites, so I knew that the buildings seemed to exist for real, but that doesn't make the video accurate regarding the claims they make.

The building do not appear to have chimneys, so I wonder how people traditionally cooked, unless they did cooking outside.

I also wonder about the video's claim that the people were miserably cold in the winter. Unless wood was unavailable for heating, I would expect that the stone walls acting as thermal mass would have a very positive effect at keeping the building warm in the winter. Humans have known how to stay warm for thousands of years.  

Matt McSpadden wrote: One thing that I believe is best for trees and bushes long term is to NOT add fertilizer or compost directly to the hole. I believe this makes the plant lazy since it's doesn't have to stretch out its roots to get stuff. I would dig the hole and put it in the dirt it is going to grow in and then mulch around it on top. Let those roots spread out and work a little bit... it will be a stronger plant for it.

Yes! However, as a slight twist, I have dug 3-4 small compost holes about 5 ft or so from the tree trunk. I add wet compost to them through our summer drought and I've read that this will give those roots something to aim for!

That said, I'm generally planting in Glacier compressed "dirt" (it hardly qualifies as soil in many places), so my tree roots may really struggle to get through it. I don't like to stake my trees if I can avoid it, because they also need to learn to support themselves during our winter winds, but if I give the roots a yummy target in multiple directions, I'm hoping they will form a wide base of support sooner rather than too late.

Sir Terry Pratchett has such a wonderfully quirky sense of wording, I thought I'd like a spot to record some quotes that reflect things that are important to permaculture. They may be done from memory, so may not be precise - just close.

The Ramtops (mountains) have a lot of flat land. It's just it's vertical.  

That's a wonderfully simple mechanism in the video - good find!

In my ecosystem, even with some sort of screen *and* a first flush diverter, I would say that it's really important to be doing regular maintenance on what ever system you choose. Between pine needle season, yellow pollen season, maple key season... etc there are plenty of things that will clog up the system!

I particularly liked that the bucket was at an easy to reach level. I would be needing to clean it out regularly. Our storms tend to be long whole day pitter-patter affairs rather than the "thunderstorm and done" approach of some ecosystems. For me, the self-drain aspect of the bucket might result in me loosing a lot of rainwater as it would re-set itself during the rain.

What do you call a dubious rock?

A shamrock.

I don't know enough about building with rocks, but I do know a bit about how Japan built homes out of wood that were designed to "wiggle" rather than collapse during an earthquake.

Is it possible to design with rock in such a way that it will "shift towards stability" rather than away?  When Hubby built a base to park a trailer on, he used a vibrator machine (OK, there's bound to be a technical name for it, but I don't know it) and the theory was that it would compact the gravel to make it more solid. He was doing it nice and neatly going north-south repeatedly. I sent my son up and asked him to do it east-west and then on the diagonals. I had to explain to Hubby my rational... but he seemed to agree with it.

The size of the earthquake is everything. There is plenty of evidence of severe earthquakes collapsing ancient and modern buildings alike. Did these roofs just get lucky, or is there clear evidence of significant earthquakes not damaging them?

The millet bread looks a bit crumbly. Would you suggest it's like a "side dish" as opposed to a "sandwich bread"?

Is millet gluten free? Do you know what its protein level is?

Nancy Reading wrote: I have a mattock which is a far better tool for that job.

So if Kevin Stanton is trying to get rhubarb roots out of his food forest to use elsewhere, I would picture using this style of mattock to try to dig a narrow trench around the rhubarb plant his trying to move. Once he has most, or all of the circumference trenched, then he'd use a fork or shovel to actually lift the roots of the rhubarb out?

Kevin, what are you doing with the hole that's left?

Meat chickens produce much more poop than layers do and we have had them "burn" sections of soil in areas they slept when they weren't moved daily. The problem will be how to get that effect with even coverage.

I would also want to have a high carbon source handy to cover the areas when they move on.

I don't think meat chicks are as useful as adult layer chickens at actually digging. Most meat birds are just babies - most are harvested by 8 weeks of age.

I think someone mentioned flat "rest" areas and that is critical.
Make them big enough that if someone gets a bit out of control, the flat area will help them stop?

Whatever slope has been recommended, try to find a ramp and a wheelchair you can borrow, and see how it feels. Shallower is definitely better. A 10% slope seems like not much until you're elderly and in a wheechair!