Jay Angler

My rock collections has so much sedimental valure.

Be patient with geologists - they all have their faults.

Does anyone know if panel mounting systems have been developed for Hurricane force winds? There are a number of Islands that would benefit from solar panels, but they're also in the line of Hurricanes (Typhoon in the Pacific, but same principles apply).

Are there any "cheater" systems that can be applied quickly to reinforce the panels if really bad weather is incoming? I remember reading (I think here on permies) of a family who had a giant fishing net which they put over their roof and properly anchored when there were storm warnings.

I can't imagine how people cope. We just had 60 km/h gusts the other day and I'm still cleaning up the chaos and will be for at least a week. That's baby wind compared to a hurricane.

Bamboo is wonderful for stacking functions.

1. A friend pulled a stupid and didn't protect her banties well enough from flying predators. Bamboo culms from my patch placed ~6" apart, now hold up netting and keep her birds safe.

2. The rope over my wood pile wasn't keeping the tarp up well enough. I joined two lengths of my biggest bamboo culms (about 2 1/2" diameter ) and made a light weight ridge pole that holds the tarp much more securely, particularly when it's windy.

Bamboo might not be as long-lived as some options, but its light weight but strong nature makes it incredibly useful on the homestead. When it's done, it can be put in a heap to decompose, or so long as the nodal diaphragms are breached, it can be burned in a woodstove or an RMH.

Personally, I think a bamboo forum is a great idea because it will make it easier to search and when people see what others are doing, it may inspire them.

Mike Haasl wrote:...  When I go out to my bucket, if it's half frozen, I celebrate and remove and discard the ice after letting it drip back into the bucket for a while.  

I did a bunch of research on this at some point. The fine points matter... If you do this at the beginning, you get a good leg up -  remove a bunch of water while not removing much sugar. It is the boiling that caramelizes the sugar and gives it the maple sugar flavor. If you're looking *only* for a liquid sweetener, that might not matter, or even be preferable to you. If you're looking for the maple syrup flavor we grew up with, it requires some cooking.

If you like sweet tea, the water that ice represents might make tea a little interesting? Dumped on a garden bed, the sugar will feed microbes.

If it's frozen solid, I just boil the whole thing cuz the sugar is in there somewhere.

I wonder if you put it in a sieve over a second bucket what would thaw first? I've bet that the sugar with some water would come out first, but it would take someone who has plenty of raw material to test this.

Where I live, although I have Big Leaf Maple trees, the weather is such that tapping the trees is a very iffy proposition. I have read that ideal tapping conditions are below freezing at night, and sunny and above freezing during the day. Alas, we are very much at risk of hard frost, but rarely for more than a couple of hours at night, and I'd more or less have to flip a coin as to whether tonight was the night!

David C Paul wrote:Besides wood, what other fuel has anyone else used with success in rocket stoves or mass heaters?

It would help to give us some idea of your ecosystem.

What are the plentiful natural resources, or human resources that might be available.

We heat with traditional wood stoves, and I burn all my chicken bones, but they need a really hot fire, so wood goes in with them.

We are near a light industrial area, so still wood, but damaged packing skids are free for picking up. They would work OK in a RMH, but the nails would be a PITA (pain in the ass). A regular wood stove is easier to shovel out, and then I use a magnet and sieve arrangement to get the nails out.

r ransom wrote:I didn't know it was compatible with engines made after the 1970s.  But i can't remember what technology was that made it more difficult.

Due long term restrictions on selling to Cuba, one might be surprised how old many of their cars are. They have strong motivations to keep old cars operational, and being an Island, air pollution probably mostly blows away.

When one considers the pollution involved in manufacturing new cars (shipping, mining, ore refining etc.), the amount of pollution caused by running older cars may not be as detrimental as one would think. In LA, USA with its weather patterns and mountains, the human cost would be bad, but in areas where the pollution blows away, it's much harder to compare the pros and cons.

paul wheaton wrote: And if a decent human has a question or would like help, I think our community thoroughly enjoys the conversation that results.  Spoons for all!

I can still remember when a relatively new member posted a question about how to repair something effectively but inexpensively. A bunch of permies put their creative hats on, and made somewhere between 6 and 10 effective, viable options. (this was at least 10 years ago, so I can't remember precisely)

The lady said in response (approximately) - I couldn't figure out a single way to solve this problem and I can't believe that now I'm going to have to choose between so many different solutions. I have more than one to repair, I might just repair each one using a different idea!

Every time I think of that, I gain spoons!

To me, that is what permies is all about.

Burra Maluca wrote: You think that funny square one would look good by this?

Yes, I think it would look great!

What metal is the square one?