Mike Haasl

I hear fossil fuels are getting harder to come by so I figured I'd bump this thread :)

I haven't made any progress but my thoughts have evolved a bit...

If I were to do it today, I'm thinking I'd go with a Lister, put it out in the greenhouse in a sound enclosure.  It's heat will help heat the greenhouse.  Maybe I could do something with the exhaust heat too. Per at least one video I watched, the Lister could run 24/7/365 and idle when not needed.  This would keep the WVO warm and it's so efficient it wouldn't waste much oil.  This would also mean I could skip the battery bank :)  I would probably want some batteries to give a buffer and handle surge loads but they could be in the warmth near the Lister as well.  All of this would go on my personal grid at the 95amp sub panel in the greenhouse.  So the cost would just be the Lister, a tiny battery bank and the controller and inverter.

Brilliant? Dumb?

I also have an electrician friend who bought a Lister to use as a back up generator so I may have a local experiment to lean upon.  And an electrician to help...

Yep, wrist sized wood is what a professional evaporator company told me...  I'd probably stick with cinder blocks but make a metal chimney.  You can always make the evaporator longer. Once you convert an oil tank you're space limited...

Nice set-up Catie! That's how I got started.  A couple ideas to help that cook faster if you're interested:

- Raise the warming pan up so it isn't blocking off the chimney airflow as much
- Add a couple more cinder blocks to the chimney.  More height really helps the fire roar
- If ash/coal build up is limiting the amount of firewood you can fit, add another course of cinder blocks and put a grate under the fire. Getting air under the wood really helps

Ok Permies!  Let's put together a list of permaculture plants that we know work (or don't work) under a juglone producing walnut tree.  Please only list plants that you've had personal experience with, don't repeat a list you saw online somewhere.  I'm hoping this will get at some of the important questions like "Will aronia work under a walnut?"

If your addition to the list is well known, feel free to add it directly to the wiki (if you have access).  If it's a rarer plant, you don't have access to edit the wiki or you think people may have other experiences, please reply to the thread to list you plant(s).  I'll add it to the wiki and then we'll know who to ask if we have questions.

Plants tolerant of juglone:
Trees:

Shagbark hickory

Paw paw

Persimmon

Black locust

sour cherry trees (Montmorency)

white cedar

mulberry

Shrubs:

Blackcaps

Red currant

Jostaberry

Autumn olive

Elderberry

raspberry

privet

bamboo

Herbs/etc:

Sorrel

Stinging nettle

Cow parsnip

Cupplant

Comfrey

chives and garlic

peony

strawberry

Plants intolerant of juglone:
Trees:

Apples

Pears

Shrubs:

Aronia

Grapes

Some willows - Salix triandra, Salix purpurea, Salix viminalis

Herbs/etc:

Russian knapweed

Buckwheat

Brassicas - cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower - Kale may be somewhat more tolerant?

rhubarb

tomato

Mine comes out very dark. You can't see the sun thru a quart jar.  I think some of it, in my case, is syrup scorching at the "water line" where the sides of the pan are extra hot. Most professionals use a reverse osmosis filter to remove a lot of the water before boiling so their syrup doesn't cook as long.  I suspect that's why it's so lightly colored. On some rigs if you get wood smoke or ash in the syrup that probably darkens it.  Plus the trees and your sap handling likely affects the color as well.

Hi Esteban, spotted something to comment on.  Sorry I only pipe up when things look a touch off, I love all the photos and stories you post :)

For the notch you show in the picture, that's fine for a junkpole.  But if you're cutting an actual tree the general recommendation I go with is for the notch to only go 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through the tree.  Also, you don't want to leave that chunk of wood in the back of pac man's mouth cuz it keeps the notch from closing smoothly.  Stay safe out there and keep up the good work!!

Ash Jackson wrote:And my question for Commerce-sand Cottoge industry (https://permies.com/wiki/148877/pep-commerce/Start-Cottage-Industry-home-PEP): I'm renting out most of my house. Would that count for this BB?

Good question, and kinda on the edge.  I think the "tip of the hat to permaculture values" would need to be shown.  Maybe if you're sharing space in a community sort of way it would be a permaculture value (kitchen, garage, etc?).

Yep, until they start to bud out, they'll probably still run when it freezes/thaws.

The saw looks like it's running well! One thing that I see and worry about is that as you're pulling it backwards, you have to step over the platform log and the cross brace. If you trip on either, there's a chance you'd hold tight to the saw and pull it over on top of you. Or as you fall, kick a leg up into the saw.  I'd be tempted to use a rope to pull on so that you're a few feet further away from the saw as you draw it back.  You might even be able to pull it sideways or while facing the direction you're traveling if you have a few feet of space.  I borrow a very similar sawmill from time to time and it has a 3' long arm that you can swing out and use for that purpose (both pushing and pulling). I can't remember if this sawmill has that...

Jay Angler wrote:

If it's frozen solid, I just boil the whole thing cuz the sugar is in there somewhere.

I wonder if you put it in a sieve over a second bucket what would thaw first? I've bet that the sugar with some water would come out first, but it would take someone who has plenty of raw material to test this.

I bet it would. I probably won't try it cuz when I'm in that situation, I often have 20-40 blocks of ice in the 1/2 to 2 gallon size range so it would be quite a process.