Edward Gaybba

This Sunday I fly off to London to attend the International Permaculture Conference in the UK (as a sponsored scholar). Will you be there?

Hia Everyone,

My young family and I just kicked off our own little crowdfunder.

We're starting a Permaculture Demonstration Site from scratch - in Grahamstown, South Africa - and piling all our lifesavings into it. However, our funds will only go so far. So, we're putting out this call. Please help us build the best possible site where we can educate children and train people from disadvantaged communities to become self-empowered again.

Can we count on your support? Don't forget to also share the link with your networks – http://igg.me/at/redbeards-fairy-tale/x/9977748


Warmest regards,

Daddy Redbeard and family.

Diana Marmont wrote:I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this book. We are using "loveable loos" on our new property. We currently have one small dog and a puppy, who won't be so small for long.

Given the amount of aging and the volume of 2 adult humans (sometimes with 2 almost adult humans) vs 2 very small dogs (who do most of their business where we can't find it), I've been tossing it into the humanure compost. No pet food here, they eat people quality food, so no concerns about heavy metals.

I'd originally planned to compost their waste separately but realized it would take forever to have a big enough volume for hot compost.

Like the idea of a worm bin for it, but does the bin smell initially? Moisture control is an issue right? As well as temperature (not too hot, not too cold)?

It shouldn't smell, Diana...but if it does, try adding some EM (fancy term for microorganisms, specifically Lactobacilicus) or add more carbon (brown material)...I just add a handful of Bokashi. Moisture and temperature, as with all compost, can be issues but compost worms are more resilient than what people think...simply ease them into the process (i.e. get them used to the new food by adding small amounts of softer poop...they'll soon be munching away happily).

Ci Shepard wrote:I have one small raw fed dog and have been putting her droppings into a homemade Doggy Doolie (ie. covered hole in the ground). I also have a small worm bin that I just started for my kitchen scraps, but I think I might give this idea a try, and use the worm bin for dog waste ... reading various posts on pet waste composting and looking at Rose Seemans book has me inspired!

Very cool...go for it...it works great

Bryant RedHawk wrote:Excellent post on this subject Edward. We compost everything with worms or in heaps on our homestead. I find this idea of keeping the dog poo separate interesting, we just mix stuff together in the worm bins instead of having separate bins for different items.

Thanks Bryant...no need to separate things at a homestead, it's just more acceptable for town-folk

Practical Permie Paul...simple, direct, true!

Permies around the world, especially the urban kind, have pets. Where there’s pets, there’s poop…and plenty of it too! However, people are often divided on whether to use it or dispose of it.

A friend of ours – a 25 year veteran in EWM (Earthworm Waste Management) and experimenter of note – gave us these tips to share with you at Permies.com:

> In nature nothing goes to waste. You can put your pet poop to good use by converting it into a pathogen-free soil conditioner/organic facilitator.
> In its rawest form, pet poop is sometimes added to compost. This creates a decent soil conditioner, but it still has to be broken down into a plant-friendly food state by the soil micro-organisms (assuming they’re present to begin with). However, this approach is not ideal for urban environments as it tends to attract pests (e.g. flies, mice/rats, etc).
> Composting earthworms on the other hand, the “MasterChef’s” of soil, are perfect for this task. Simply purchase an “earthworm doggy bin” (or make your own) and get started.
> As these earthworms process the poop, odours and pathogens are removed, the pH levels are balanced, and billions of beneficial micro-organisms are created.
> In Permaculture terms, wasted output now becomes useful input. Generally speaking, for every 3m³ of poop you put in (that’s one BIG dog) you should get out 1m³ of earthworm castings.
> Plus it’s free…actually you’ll be saving money. 1 Cup of earthworm castings is equivalent to applying roughly 30 cups of manure-based compost…and you only need 1 cup of castings per square meter of soil.
> And there you have it…a simple, environmentally friendly way to feed life in your soil.
> A SPECIAL NOTE – All pet foods are not created equal! Some could contain heavy metals (e.g. lead, aluminium, etc.) which are greedily taken up by green leafy vegetables. For this reason earthworm castings from pet poop should not be used for growing food crops, although they may be used in land rehabilitation, growing ornamentals, cover plants, etc.


Want to know more about this, or have other questions related to earthworm waste management? Send your questions my way and I’ll make sure to pass them on for feedback.


Yours sincerely,
Daddy Redbeard.

I recently posted this example on local permie Facebook networks…it related to Dragon Fruit, and the positive feedback was phenomenal –

“In our country (South Africa) it is rare that you’d find exotic fruit at your local grocer. As you see in the pics, it was rather pricy [R79,95 (USD$6,67) per kg; R45,89 (USD$3,83) for just that one fruit].

This fruit is considered a super fruit and is extremely healthy. Yet it costs a fortune. Those of you familiar with Fukuoka's writings will agree with me: Why is it that we have to be rich to afford healthy food?

The irony is this - Most locals have never heard of this fruit. They don't know how nice it tastes or how healthy it is. Very few seem to be aware that this plant is very appropriate for our climate. Even fewer know that maintenance of this plant is virtually zero.

The cuttings I planted a few months back (see pic) have needed no tending at all since I planted them, yet they are growing fine. This single fruit contains thousands of seeds that can be cleaned, stored, distributed, and planted (see pics).

My vision - Education is the key to true freedom. Our people need our help...it'll work if we work at it! I refuse to stand by and watch our people suffer in hunger. We need to share this knowledge...let's empower our Rainbow Nation so they may liberate themselves and bring true freedom about.”


Here’s my question to the folk at Permies.com - What other climate-appropriate, low-maintenance, water-wise perennials could you suggest for warm/dry temperate climates like ours?


Yours sincerely,
Daddy Redbeard.

Hia Ian,

I fall under the 'Tuesday' candy group.

Please advise on the following -
1) I received 2 e-mails from Scubbly on Sunday (1 x Older Rocket DVD's & 1 x World Domination DVD's), both in my junk folder. Were they meant to be sent out on Sunday given that I'm part of the Tuesday group?
2) The files seemed to download fine, but I noticed their file sizes do not correspond with what is listed on Scubbly (much smaller). To be safe I'm downloading them again, but I notice the file sizes differ every time I download yet it shows the download completed successfully (and is still much smaller than the sizes indicated). How do I fix this?
3) When opening the MP4's, it plays fine. When I try to forward (to see if it's complete), it bombs out. Tried using 3 different players and 2 different laptops with the same results. Anyone else have this problem?
4) When can we expect the e-mail on the rest of the Tuesday candy?

Cheers,

Ed.

Hia All,

I fall under the 'Tuesday' candy group.

Please advise on the following -
1) I received 2 e-mails from Scubbly on Sunday (1x Older Rocket DVD's & 1x World Domination DVD's), both in my junk folder. Were they meant to be sent out on Sunday given that I'm part of the Tuesday group?
2) The files download fine, but I noticed their file sizes do not correspond with what is listed on Scubbly (most are much smaller). To be safe I'm downloading them again, but I notice the file sizes differ every time I download yet it shows the download completed successfully. Anyone else noticed this?
3) When opening the MP4's, it plays fine. When I try to forward (to see if it's complete), it bombs out. Tried using 3 different players and 2 different laptops with the same results. Anyone else have this problem?
4) When can we expect the e-mail on the rest of the Tuesday candy?

Cheers,

Ed.