Christian Wolff

Thanks for the info Nadine. I'm the Rocky Mtn's of the Western USA (Colorado mostly) and we have a terrible time with water here. From the google searches I did previously I only saw the Groasis for 300 $US. The $25.00 price sounds pretty good.

It does look like this product works well. I understand it's rather expensive at about $300.00 per box. They do say that can use one box over and over again though some of their shots (like the pine tree above) seem to show the tree reaching too large a size for box removal. Makes me wonder if they don't already have a bio-degradable box.

Any ideas on how to make one of these at home. I suppose that you could grab some 5 gallon buckets, duct tape, and a wicking material to make your own.

Looks like this is getting better for people who want to collect rainwater. Hopefully it will catch on nationwide.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/us/29rain.html?_r=0

Thanks to the OP for posting this. I've often wondered the same thing and have hopes that when I finally own my little slice of homestead heaven I'll cultivate many weeds. I've spent a green season eating nothing but milkweed, stinging nettle, plantain, dandelion and basswood (not a weed but a delicious leaf). It was stunning and you never run out. I'm totally sold on the idea of putting my weeds in the pot and being thankful for it.

Christopher Kyprianos wrote:

Helen Cairns wrote:I'm in Australia, so just a little physical distance between us there

You say the local response has been slow - do you think that's with regard to the pc or the polyamorous aspect of your venture?

I have always been interested in intentional community, & have an extra interest in the polyamorous aspect as a result of my life experiences. The permaculture bit goes without saying - that's just common sense

I think that it is a little bit of both, though I believe that the fact that because it has a polyamorous overtone. Just like I have seen here, polyamory still does not seem to be embraced by the bulk of the community. It's still just a little too controversial and unconventional.

There definitely seems to be some disconnect with regard to this community. Someone above wrote some rather long posts about how polyamory isn't swinging in response to questions. It sounds like the idea is that people can connect with each other in any type of relationship they choose.

This begs the question: Why describe it as a polyamorous community at all? Just drop that word altogether and let people do whatever they want. If P/A is in the community description then it's only natural for people to ask what it's all about the same way "Infancy stage of a primitive intentional permaculture community" would beg questions about the primitive aspects i.e. - hunter/gatherer, electricity, etc...

Those pics are gorgeous.

I spent a year living with 9 other people in a Wilderness setting i.e. no showers, no electricity, no grocery store food etc... All bathing was done in the lake or snow. Body odor was very minimal although it still existed. My impression is that either we just didn't notice since we were outdoors for 1 year or maybe the feral diet had a positive effect. In any case the B.O. was much more healthy smelling than what one might experience in more civilized setting. Everyone's hair though was gorgeous. Models spend hours with stylists to get the natural, healthy, thick hair that we had.

Sometimes I notice that we try to replace our modern "needs" with an environmentally friendly solution when maybe we should first wonder if it's necessary at all.

Hi Jay,

Thanks for the response! It's the first one I've had here at Permies (though I don't post much) so I owe you a beer.

I've been watching and that property may have been bought up already. It was only 8k and in a good location. It did get me thinking though that there's a lot of acreage in CO which has burnt and this may be a great way for a permaculturist to get started. Not only is the land cheaper than a property with a beautiful mature forest, but a permaculturist may be in a great position to take advantage of a fairly clean slate.

One thing that stood out to me is that there could be a real danger putting in swales, terraces, ponds or other features on those hills. When putting in features on a slope is there a period of time that the land become most unstable than it was before the feature was cut?

Does anyone here have experience with using a conservation easement as part of their financial plan for their property. If so, I'd love to hear what you've learned. From what I can see, it's theoretically possible to sell your land or part of it to a designated land trust while still retaining rights, in perpetuity, to the property. I think my big question is this: Are these land trusts something that you create then "sell" it to yourself or are there other organizations that will pay you to keep portions of your land in a natural state?

That's an interesting question. I've heard people talk about dog manure for compost and issues with that but never considered dog food for the soil building.

You know, when I lived in S. America there was no dog food. The dogs just ate what we ate. All the dinner scraps went into a pot that we boiled and sometimes (if there weren't many leftovers) we'd thicken it with rice and that's what went into the dog bowls. They loved it and did very well on this diet. I know that doesn't help with the OP's question but it may be food for thought for some human/canine communities out there.