Fredd Marshall

Hi there,

I just got a fat tax refund and I want to invest in some tools. I'd like to hear some recommendations on what would be good to focus on getting.

What I would like to achieve is getting together the core tools needed to start:

Building with pallets (furniture/garden)
Making things from glass/bottles
Making terrariums
Carving stuff/etching stuff
Making small stoves
Light hard landscaping

As such I am thinking of getting a dremel tool, a circular saw, a bottle cutter, a hammer drill, Chisels, And perhaps a jigsaw.

Is there anything I'm missing, or would be a more suitable/versatile option?

Any help would be appreciated greatly.

Hey everyone.

I'm interested in creating decent 3d visuals of my designs for wow factor in presentations. I was wondering if anyone had used anything like CADplants before, or speedtree?

Hi there,

I am wondering if anybody is using tobacco as a green mulch crop? I understand it is a really heavy feeder and depletes soil when grown as a production crop, but I figure it must be quite good if you were to use them as mulch instead. After all they're mining the soil, surely it would make that available to plants.

Any feedback would be great.

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone has had any experience using Lumion for permaculture design. I saw the latest Geoff Lawton video on using gabions to help reverse desertification and there were some great visualisations of a dryland food forest rendered in Lumion.

I was wondering what kind, if any, digital drafting/vis tools people use for food forest/earthworks design and visualisation.

I can imagine Lumion, being a digital terrain modelling/sculpting tool, could be quite good for practicing design principles.

Hi there,

I am in the middle of designing a seed packet for a seed bank. I was wondering what kind of information it is important to have on the packet of seeds.

I've bought many seeds which have very limited information on the packet, and I was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions for what information needs to be on there to get the most out of planting/categorising a seedbank.

The idea is to provide a system of info on the packet that can work for a range of different plant types, and to present it with a combination of words and infographics and symbols.

Right now the types of information I've got are:

- Common name(s) - eg. Oxheart
- Family - eg. Tomato
- Latin name
- Date
- Sow-by-date
- Use(s) - eg. Food, fibre, flower, shelter, animal feed, soil building, fuel, timber
- Parts used - eg. Root, fruit, leaves, seeds, wood
- Companion Planting Information
- Full sun/part sun/part shade/shade
- Layering info (root layer, climber, canopy etc.)
- Sowing information
- Season (when to plant)
- Moon Phase? (I don't know much about this with regard to seeds, but would be useful)
- Seed Saving Information.
- History of the particular seed (whakapapa of the seed) - eg. was first grown by the cherokee, or was a traditional hungarian variety, brought to this country by x
- Pest and disease information
- Perennial/annual/biannual
- Climate information (heat, humidity)
- Maybe other climate data like accululated rainfall days, sunlight hours reqs. etc.


Any suggestions would be awesome, even if it's to weed out some of the unnecessary things.

Thank you.

Can Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) be grown outside of South Africa? I have read it is a nitrogen fixing shrub, so was considering it for a food forest, as it is also an awesome tea. I've also read that due to its specific conditions, ie. symbiosis with certain microorganisms that it doesn't grow outside of a certain area in South Africa. Is this true? I thought it might just be that South Africa has a sort of monopoly on it.

Has anyone heard of it growing outside of SA? If so, could you provide some information on it?

Cheers

Fredd

I've been in contact with the Ministry of Primary Industries here in New Zealand and have had all my questions answered.

Here is the email they sent to me, to help clear this up for fellow kiwi fungophiles: (have added some extra details)

(From Ministry of Primary Industries)

To import mushroom spawn (from the list below), you must first apply for a permit to import (application attached) which will be valid for 1 year for any number of consignments. The permit requirements are that each consignment must be accompanied by a manufacturer’s certificate from the supplying organization, with particular statements required for the purity of the spawn and in some cases, the method of identity for checking the species. When spawn receives a biosecurity clearance on arrival in New Zealand, there are no further biosecurity conditions or controls for how you use it in New Zealand.

Only some species may be imported into New Zealand. The following is a list of these:

Agaricus bisporus (syn. Agaricus brunnescens), Cultivated mushroom
Agaricus bitorquis, Pavement Mushroom
Auricularia cornea (Syn. Auricularia polytricha), Ear fungus
Boletus edulis, Porcini, Cepe, King Bolete
Flammulina velutipes, Winter mushroom / Enokitake (grows on mulberry and persimmon stumps, also Chinese Hackberry natively)
Lactarius deliciosus, Saffron milk cap
Lentinula edodes, Shiitake
Marasmius oreades, Marasmius/Scotch Bonnet/Fairy Ring
Morchella esculenta, Morel
Stropharia rugosoannulata, King Stropharia/Burgundy
Trametes versicolor (syn. Coriolus versicolor), Turkey Tails/Rainbow Bracket (already present in NZ)
Tricholoma matsutake, Matsutake
Pleurotus pulmonarius (with identification test on arrival), Oyster mushroom
Coprinus comatus, Sasakure, Hitoyotake”

Hi there,

I am looking to grow a lot of mushrooms as part of a forest agriculture project. The goal is to produce a large variety and number of different edible and medicinal species.

I am pretty well versed on the standard shiitake, oyster, poplar, burgundy and button mushrooms and their cultivation, as well as truffles.

I'm looking for some information on the following species, and whether they are viable or whether due to biosecurity issues not available for New Zealand conditions:

Morel (morchella angusticeps et al)
Porcini (Boletus edulis)
Maitake/Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa)
Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)
Parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera)
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor)

I'm aware that morel and porcini are in New Zealand, however they're rare, and I'm unaware of any being in cultivation. The rest I have got no idea about whether they've been introduced, or would be allowed to be introduced.

Any info you can share on these, particularly with regard to New Zealand, would be wonderfully helpful.