Carrie Land

I gotta vote for glass in this scenario. Glass may be breakable, and a little heavier to carry, but it's better for our planet, and in my book that's the bottom line.
Saving our planet is about making choices that may be inconvenient, but that benefits everyone in the long run.
I'm no saint here, and I use plenty of plastic in my daily life, but if we can vote to make something better, than we should.
Go for the glass!

Can't wait to get these babies in the ground!

I just thought of a rather unusual point to add to this discussion.
While I agree that you can't mess around with CO gasses in your home, I don't see what the concern is over the RMH system. Clearly. if you have watched it in action, you can see that any gasses that are being created are being sucked up through the stack. People raise such an alarm over CO poisoning with good reason, but I bet that sitting in your car to let it warm up could give you a higher dose of CO gas than the RMH. When properly installed, I don't really see any concern with the RMH versus other heating sources. We breathe CO every time we step outside near traffic, warm up our cars, or enter a subway.
I personally have a natural gas heater in my home, and the thing malfunctioned one year and filled my home with CO gas. These systems are considered the "standard" and supposed to be safe. My point here is that Mud was right, you should always have a CO monitor if you are concerned about that issue. Any heater can cause this kind of poisoning, so why is no one raising a concerns over their "standard" heaters?
Keep on burning with the RMH!!! And leave the rest to God!

I learned a neat trick from a book about food budgeting years ago and it really helps. Start a log of everything you buy, where you bought it, the date, and the price. I kept one for a whole year, but I think 3 months should do. Once you compile the log, you can look at it to see where the items that you buy the most are the cheapest. You might be surprised. Also, you can predict sales by using this method. I noticed that I paid $2.36 a can for my dog food at the beginning of the months, but they would go on sale at the end for $1.15.
Using this method, you can pass on certain items when prices are high, and stock up when they go on sale. Paying more attention to detail really helped me save a bunch at the store.

These are my summer bugs

Whatever you decide to go with, I think you should always build it on your own.
It took me 2 months to build this, but it was way cheaper than the $600 I would have spent on a store bought one.

I have never built a single thing in my life before this coop, and for a girl who had only a couple drills and a saw, it's not too shabby

I am a chicken lover with a few of my own. I gotta say that this video is a little out there, and my eyebrows are stuck!

Welcome Lindsey. I have been obsessing about putting together a greenhouse this year. I can't wait to read your new book to find out how to make it "off-grid" and year round!

R Jay wrote:
Then there is computer numerical control....

This is an awesome device. I would never use it in a million years though. Why?
By the time you finished setting it up, programming parameters, troubleshooting, etc, you would have missed the entire growing season.
How cost feasible are these devices on a larger scale? Who fixes them when they break? How sturdy and weatherproof are they? Can they withstand mother nature?
I think it's great techie innovation at work here, just not a practical solution, when all it really takes is putting your own hands in the dirt and adding some water.
Now, saying that, these ideas are probably great for "big ag". It would make sense for them, but let's remember why we have so many issues with "big ag".
Isn't this how our food system began it's downward spiral? I firmly believe that while many agriculture advances have benefitted the entire world, we managed to screw it up for money.
Agriculture started as a perfect system using nature's cycles. Now, it's a machine with formulas and bottom lines. What happened to the 💓?
I do support permaculture in any way, so if this is part of it, then I guess I should be more supportive. This device would be great work a handicapped person. Or someone who has lost their mobility.
There can always be a benefit from this technology, the problem seems to be when humans get greedy because of the technology.

Any one can start a garden. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to plant a couple of herbs, tomatoes, and lettuce. Plenty of people have learned to grow food without the help of you tube, books, or websites.

The first thing you need to do is get the idea of what a garden should be out of your mind. Just banish the idea out of your head. It doesn't need to be pretty, just able to grow some food. There are plenty of gimmicks out there trying to get your money, but they aren't necessary. Just create some kind of box, and fill it with dirt and seeds.

The second piece of advice would be to start small. You don't need to grow all of your own food all at once. There is a learning curve, so it's better to start simple, go slow. Start with easy things like herbs in a pot outside.  Then, add a few more items as you learn.

The last piece of advice I woul have is to do a little planning before you start. Learn what works in your area. Determine where the sun hits your landscape for more than 6-8 hours. Figure out if there are any drainage issues.

Just remember that the most important thing that you can do is to try it. Just get out there and do it! There will be epic failures, but also epic rewards.

For tips on how to get your garden supplies for free, check out my e-book:  "Learn how to garden for free" on Amazon.

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