Patrik Schumann

Fukuoka had an approach to over-/ inter-seeding which closely preceded the harvest or other structural/ soil disturbance.  We did some of what you describe after windthrow/ salvage/ reforestation, though much of the expensive & valuable understorey & opening seed did not seem to take into some exposed soil/ some grass & forbs/ some fern.  Over the years a few restrained specimens started gradually pocking out of obscurity.  Try seeding right before leaf-drop, then big snowfall, then spring awakening.  It is an on-going process with statistical quantities of seed just like nature!  Once you have patches going you can spread your own seed.  Your observations & interpretations across your place are very astute, & I think you'll do well.

Radon poisoning is a cumulative exposure moderated by productive surface area to enclosed volume ratio to nr of air changes.  I got two free test kits from the state of New Mexico: left one enclosed in crawlspace & other in winter livingspace for the week or two specified.  You could likely find or bore suitable placements.  They would give you an early ballpark proportional indication before risking going any further.  Also, talk to old miners & check any mineshafts in same strata.  

You're going to be doing some kind of ventilation, so might as well have as much natural passive free as possible & supplement with artificial as necessary & desirable.  Nobody's got your answer just like that.  There's no escaping some actual homework, scratch estimation, trial & error, in getting there.  And you can always test & adjust after the fact.

I do not advise this for anyone else: We don't sterilise anything.  I don't rinse outside fruit & veg.  We ferment naturally & compost everything.  I do carefully segregate among shoes/ floor, toilet/ hands, sponges & wipes top to bottom/ kitchen to bathroom.  This developed gradually as we became ever more aware of chemical contamination, microbiome integrity, our son's shifting allergies, farmkids' natural immunities, etc.  

Hydrology & horticulture design, rainwater catchment systems, drylands/ temperate Edible Plantscapes, rare variety fruit/ nut/ berry collecting/ nursery/ orchards, hardwoods & fire regeneration forest management, site assessment/ precision LIDAR/ individual tree management GIS, most childcare/ kitchen/ domestic duties, all homestead cultivation/ repair/ maintenance/ upgrade works, etc.   Having four decades ago taken vows of poverty + to design interaction with nature, most of my potential + need for earning have been obviated, especially in working & living around subsistence threshold.  I do my best quite well to keep my little family modest in needs, wants, desires, appetites, ambitions, expenses.  

In liberating an old thermal mass house with crawl space from evaporative cooler & floor furnace, I ended up closely managing ventilation all seasons whether between rooms or inside-outside.  No longer needing all that fresh cold air underfoot for ill-placed thermostat heater, just a little combustion replacement for the modest central woodstove, in winter to greater comfort I closed off all but one vent below.  Eventually local authorities & media promoted a free radon testing kit program, & I discovered it did just reach threshold levels only below if not actively vented.  I figured my winter-long daily wood-burning kept enough dilution going.  There are ancient traditions of underground buildings in China, Turkey, Tunisia, & I did a my first study  in architecture grad school of their typology on passive & low- energy criteria.  With different spaces, surface-to-volume ratios, passageways, outdoor connections, seasonal & daily orientations & exposures, you can design for & set up natural ventilation flows that favour desirable air temperature, humidity, quality/ health levels.

In fire country, one aspect often overlooked is rather than just working at preventing/ mitigating actually adapting/ preparing for fire to come through routinely + beneficially.  

Obviously personal safety & possession protection come first, but we do spend a lot of our precious lives stressing & a lot of Earth's precious resources when it'll be coming & having its way no matter what.  

Looking to: what was there in the natural landscape before human impacts, nearby eco-types that are on the move/ climate conditions that have been shifting, even the aftermaths of burns days-months-decades later, the intricate & unique but insightful dynamics, working a fire line, mitigating & regenerating afterwards, playing safely with fire at small scale, joining prescribed burn projects, etc.

Thanks.  First went there early 90s for research with John Norton/ Development Workshop/ earthen construction, & stayed in rolling oak hills on old farm with cheese & wine caves.  Next late 00s to visit friends who among other things made their own pate, & to recon the mountains scrambling foothills & high tracks.  Very keen to bike, hike, talk, eat.

Good day all,

We're traveling to Toulouse region for a summer exchange of our sons with a French family.  

We'll have about ten days to bike the hills to the north & hike the mountains to the south.  

If you know of any people to meet & places to vist, we're looking to compare notes on growing eco-communities, forests, food.  

Thanks kindly!

Great info & interest!  Maybe we each/ all continue research & recon, then share.  My focus will be mapping best stands, conditions, seasons, practices.  Eventually good to plant for future generations once we have the wherewithal.  (To my knowledge, most quantities are actually lifted from packrat middens!)  

Recently came across obscure local references on SoCal native palm use & improvement of fruit, which was totally eclipsed by settler introduction of exotic dates.  Also, years ago about largest/ tastiest (awarded!) chestnuts in Alpujarras: long-selected natives now declining due to climate/ acequias/ fire.  

In my forestry back east (think black walnut, hickories, etc) there's a noticeable decline in good seed years as well as good regeneration successions (particular seasonal conditions recurring a few times).  

I'm ramping up a northern NM project now at upper limit of elevation range, where drainage & infiltration earthworks could significantly improve prospects over the long term.