jesse dylan

Hey there,
I am looking for any interesting projects or Permaculture sites in San Diego to visit. Not knowing the place and only having two days there any ideas would be appreciated.
Cheers
Jesse

Con or mud brick if done right will have no problems supporting a green roof.
A simple rectangle frame of wood or metal with a metal mesh screen should help.
As long as the holes in the screen are the size of the stones you wish to include.
It's alot easier with dry material. It also means you can make your mix the same every time. That is you can add the water to the dry mixture and control the moister content.
The earth bag way requires more work if you only have two or three people I would say. A bit more stuffing around.

You mean irrigation connected to mains water?

Hey-a, sounds like you have a nice spot there.
There are a few reasons i would be cautious or even reconsider earth bags. Although I am by no means not an expert.
As a water barrier I have not seem then work well. They absolutely have to be covered from the elements.
Covering can be tricky due to many things such as :
Trapped  moisture in the soils,
Settling (changing shape has greater impact on something monolithic such as a 'dome'
proper ventilation, if a dome utilising space efficiently and so on.

I assume that you are familiar with the benefits of earth bag so I won't make an incomplete list as I did above.
I suppose it is really a matter of if it is the most suitable.
If you have currently have most of the materials and you lack time/human power maybe look for some helping bee, wooffers, or something of The like.
I do believe that sand bang construction is an important and useful technology.
In the right situation it could be the best option.
Seems soil mix is pretty important for a well made long lasting building.
Let me know how you get on with it.
Cheers

Hey-a,
There is a friend i know who teaches how to make  buildings with these earth bags. When I first saw his place ( mountain side with clay and rocks) I questioned myself as to why bring in other materials and have these limitations to design.
Once I knew him a bit better he told me that a lot of it was that he loved the technique and what it represented. Now, he continues to teach the technique but it's unlikely it will be used for more structures on that site.
I'd consider what you have and why you are leaning towards the bags.
A site I am designing with my partner has not got any 'GMO' crops as such but there is pesticides and groty fertilisers everywhere, sprayed from planes also. Big business has got its hooks in every which way.
Cheers

Hey-a.
No doubt a bunch of people would enjoy discussing and helping out.
At the minute I am still looking for examples of, or information about double exposured building sites.
I will keep looking, maybe a visual explanation might help. I am from the south (hemisphere) and live in the north (hemisphere, not usa) with a different language and culture so sometimes phasing and terms get lost in the Frey.

Sounds interesting. What sort of plants and animals do you have around there?
Seems to me that the cheapest way to build is with what you have. Design and engineering can be a hassle and take time as you mentioned but can save alot.
Earth bags are the woven plastic bags/tubes the are filled and smashed right?

Hey Rebecca, and all.
Yes, sorry I didn't not mention alotof details, as i didn't want to rattle on.
Your pretty much spot on with heating and cooling here.
It's at 20° lat.
Year round the temp is workable.
I don't doubt Permacultures capabilities, I am just looking for some of these example.
You mentioned a north facing site in your  reply which was helpful. Thank you.
My site also does not receive much shade from 'its mountain '.

The percentage of the property that is down slope, access/views and energy flows (winds, animals ,water and so on.) Are further forward in my thoughts, as you mentioned, sun is not an scarces resource.
In short.
Cheers

Hey there. Fair call about the climate. 1600m asl, dry winter, wet summer, "tropical zoned", northern hemisphere, clay and stone, bottom half of a small moithain.
The thing is the direction of the slope. I have seem a lot of permaculture sites and also designs/photos of sites but not a lot requiring a kind of double exposure like this.
Most emaples of well designed houses also happen to have perfect sun exposure, but this is not achievable for me as my slope continues the length of this site north - Northwest.
If this is a bit tricky to follow I can take advice on how to make better posts.
Cheers

Hey there. Seems you are on track with your design and / desires for a pond. I might just mention that you should be able to eliminate the need for an electrical/machanical air pump with proper water flow design.
I have had a few aquaponic systems that seem to get by fine with some extra aeration features (falling water, broken water in nft pipes, a good drop from the grow bed outlet to sump e.t.c).
In saying that a mechanical wind mill does sound nice. I am Working on a water powered ventilation fan.
Best of luck.