Todd McDonald

Question on the urine diverter. I was there in 2015 and if I recall correctly, the urine diverter was a funnel with a window screen over it. What was the purpose of the screen? Splash back prevention? Insect infestation prevention? Has the urine diverting system been upgraded since then? If so what problems were solved?

Asking because I am adding a urine diverter to my neighbor’s existing compost toilet system and want to get it right the first time. Thanks I’m advance for any insight.

Okay time to update. My last post on this thread was four years ago, the thread started 6 years ago. A lot has happened since then. On a personal level, back in 2017 not long after my last post, my carpentry subcontracting company found itself embroiled in a legal battle with a general contractor over a project gone bad. It involved four separate lawsuits, an arbitration, a year and a half of my life and nearly all of my money. In the end the business closed, my former partner declared bankruptcy, and I've been recovering ever since. Thats 2017 through 2019 in 3 sentences. Looking forward, in regards to a permaculture real state development, my capital and my relationship with my bank are in shambles so it doesn't look likely that I will find myself in the roll of "developer" any time soon. I'm constantly keeping an eye out for land or a potential investor. When I meet someone with land that they are thinking of selling, I propose the permaculture real estate development idea and offer to spearhead it. No takers yet.

Don't worry about me though, I'm actually doing really well now. We found 15 acres of our own with owner financing next to a friend of ours and another family we know bought the acreage on the other side of us and will be moving out here soon. Its almost as if the community is happening anyway, its just not officially organized. If you want to come out here too, I highly recommend it. I have posted several times on permies that Cooper and Moniteau counties in Missouri is a great place for permaculture and off grid living.

All that said, I would like to continue the discussion of what a permaculture development would look like. I think about it all the time and now having moved out of the city and into the country I have gained a slightly different perspective. I also have a better understanding of, and identify with, the people I mentioned in my previous post from 2017 who did not want to see any development in their back yards. I get it now . . . sort of. A big problem out here is that small towns are dying all across America and I believe this is just the kind of thing to bring them back. The heart of this neighborhood is an operational, profitable small family farm with a lot of people living on it or nearby and many of them making a living on the farm instead of working in the city and commuting every day. Part of me believes I just need an effective way to communicate all this in order to bring people around to the idea.

Back to the details of the neighborhood. I've been thinking about and researching this idea for 7 years now. The longer I think about it, the smaller the shared community area gets. I once pitched this idea to Grant Shultz of Versaland. He liked it but his gut reaction was that there should be no community area at all, just different lot sizes from 1 to 30 acres. I'm beginning to see the wisdom of that and am wondering if the followers of this thread agree or disagree. Would people prefer to own a small lot and have access to a larger shared area? Or would you rather own a larger piece outright? I'm envisioning 90% of disagreements at an HOA meeting revolving around the management of the communal portion of land. So in theory limiting this area would be limiting conflict.

Lots that I'm leaving out and I need to stop here for now, the dinner bell is ringing. It makes me very happy to see people still posting here and still interested in this. I'm still hopeful that I can be a part of a permaculture development in any capacity. If you know anyone in mid Missouri that wants to see something really awesome happen on their land please point them in my direction.

I don’t have Facebook either. My wife keeps track of the Facebook group. I’m not sure how to start a subgroup or new forum but would participate if it existed.

We just recently moved out of Columbia just west to the Cooper/Moniteau county area near Prairie Home. We have a decent little community of neighbors who are somewhere on the permaculture spectrum out here, so if you are west of Columbia you’re not alone. If you’re in Columbia, there’s a lot of people!

Either way I would like to see something a little more organized but I simply don’t have the time to organize it myself. Tried once but couldn’t stick with it.

Most people don’t think of Sherwin Williams because it’s such expensive paint but they also have oops paint. They call them mis-tints. Sherwin Williams often processes large commercial orders and if they mess one up its your lucky day. Mis-tints often go for $1 a gallon and more than once I have walked in and they have mis-tinted an entire order and there is anywhere between 2 to 5, 5 gallon buckets of matched paint sitting there. Many times I have bought $1,000 worth of high quality paint for $30 to $50.

NOT speaking from experience, just pontificating. If possible, place the chinampas on the upwind side of your prevailing summer winds. That way any scum and algae forming in those pockets will be blown out to the middle of the pond. I usually see one spot on a pond where the algae tends to collect, don't put chinampas there. If algae is a problem, grab a rake, scoop it out, and place directly on the chinampa. Instant fertilizer! Again, not from experience, but I have been thinking of this same idea, just haven't put into practice yet.

Don't know much about Osburn but I can tell you a little about my experience with our Quadra-fire voyager grand insert. We have had it for four seasons now.

The good:

It burns very clean, most of the time you don't even see smoke coming out of the chimney. We went two seasons before cleaning the chimney and only got a few handfuls of soot (maybe 2 cups) when we finally did clean it.

The Automatic Combustion Control - this feature is nothing more than an air inlet that slowly shuts down the air coming in on a timer. When you add a log you push in the control knob and the timer starts, it allows a lot of air at first to get the log going and then slowly shuts it down. I like this feature for when we leave the house for a while, I can throw a few logs in and set the timer and walk out knowing that its not going to be burning at full throttle the whole time, or just smoldering because I added too much wood and not enough air.

The bad:

Very picky about the wood you use. Must use dry wood, anything green will just smolder, soot up your glass and your chimney. Our first season was rough because we did not have much cured wood. The stove is so tight that it just wouldn't burn, I had to leave the door cracked open just to get enough air in to burn the green wood. If you don't have dry, cured wood, the two items I mentioned under "the good" are null and void. To be fair, I believe that this is an issue with all of the modern stoves that have secondary combustion features and is not limited to the quadra-fire brand.

The Automatic Combustion Control - Yes it has a down side. Its intended to be extremely user friendly and it is. The draw back is that sometimes I just want more control in order to fine tune it and I can't when that timer is going. Once its set, its set, and it has to run its course (about 20 min). I have learned to adapt, read the fire and the wood I'm putting in and make a judgement call on using it or not.

Overall we are very satisfied with it. In general you get what you pay for and I'm sure the Osburn is fine stove as well.

For topical treatment of infected cuts, wounds, and something that I believe may have been staph, I have had tremendous results with goldenseal. Mix the powdered root with aloe to make a paste, apply that to the infected area and cover with a bandage or bandaid. Change it out twice a day.

I have taken goldenseal internally by putting the powder in capsules, I believe you can also buy pre-made capsules. Be careful when using it this way as it is hard on the liver. Allow at least 12 hours between doses and don't take it continuously for more than two weeks. I AM NOT A DOCTOR, just someone who has had great results and is passing that info on for others.

Thanks for checking in Leif. Here is a brief summary of what happened in the last last year.

We are still trying to find the right piece of property to get this started. I have been amazed and humbled at how hard this part is. I've been in real estate (property management) for almost 10 years and have bought and sold many houses, but land is apparently a whole different ballgame. First off I have learned to stop telling people what I'm going to do with the land. In rural areas words like "subdivide" "develop" "neighborhood" and "build houses" are pretty much conversation enders. I have had 3 potentially great pieces of property absolutely shut down negotiations upon mentioning of more than one home being built. One of those pieces is actually STILL for sale, just not to me.

We did end up making an offer last October on an absolutely perfect 95 acres, but after a few weeks the owner decided to pull it from the market and stay put. She's still there, maybe she will change her mind and it will come up for sale again.

We've learned a ton about rural development in Missouri. In the process of making that offer last year, we started digging very heavily into the nuances of subdividing land. We are doing this in one of the counties in Missouri that has no zoning and no building code enforcement, but they do regulate wastewater at the state level. If you subdivide into lots smaller than 5 acres, the state gets involved regarding permitting and inspecting septic systems. As a result of learning this information, I decided to take the state's wastewater installer certification course and am now happy to say that I am a licensed wastewater installer in the state of Missouri. Also, with my newly minted wastewater license, I was able to schedule a sit down with the wastewater program director for the entire state and for an hour and a half we went through Art Ludwig's gray water builder's guide. He asked a lot of questions and was very interested. I let him keep my copy of Art's book. He seemed legitimately willing to give it some credit and we talked about plans for a trial run so the state could observe how the gray water system performed. So that's probably the coolest thing that has come out of this project so far.

In short, the dream is still alive and we are still pushing forward. It just takes WAY more time than I would like, or ever thought it would take.

Our friends are selling their 20 acre permaculture farm in order to move up to a larger parcel. A lot of earthworks and 3 ponds have already been completed and the on contour garden beds are set up to be gravity irrigated from one of the ponds. Also has a 2 bedroom strawbale house.

Located in Howard County, MO where there is no zoning or building codes but about 30 minutes away from college town Columbia, MO. Here is their craigslist ad.

https://columbiamo.craigslist.org/reo/6088314304.html

I'm in Columbia and have some friends that recently had a passive solar home built by Robyn Magnet. He has done many in the area and has a great reputation. They said he is trying to retire though so may or may not be available. Can't say anything about his permaculture knowledge but he builds a good house. PM me if you want contact info.