John C Daley

For such tough country there are all of people around.
Steel can be assembled with bolts and screws.
200 sq ft will make a cosy cabin, would making it from logs work?
With a skillion roof and some power tools.

From; Syntropic Farming
Keep the Soil Covered is done in syntropic farming by growing large amounts of biomass on site, which is regularly pruned or cut to be applied to the soil.
"Syntropic farming seeks to Maximize Photosynthesis by laying out trees rows from North to South.
This is the primary design layout strategy, as opposed to managing for water through exclusively using contour planting.
In addition this is achieved by an extremely high density of planting; 20-40 plants/seeds/cutting per square meter.
These plants are arranged in space based on the principle of Stratification, which refers to where a plant grows in its optimal habitat.
The four stratas typically used are emergent, high, medium, and low, and they mostly refer to the light requirements of the species, but also to species form/habit and leaf structure.
Natural Succession is how these plants are arranged over time, from placenta stage to secondary stage and finally to climax, which are the stages of succession through which a forest matures .
The entire system should be constantly filled with plants of different strata even as the system moves through a managed succession. "
And more
- "North to south rows: There is a clear preference to planting tree rows north to south in order to maximize photosynthesis.
In conjunction with this there was a strong disposition away from planting trees on contour, as it was actually recommended to plant tree rows up and down the slope.
- Direct seeding: Syntropic practitioners prefer direct seeding to transplanting when possible for trees.
This is viewed both as a cost saving measure and as a means to plant huge quantities of species.
- An intensive organization of biomass:
While I have always organized biomass in particular ways, across slope as dead barriers, in half moons under trees, etc; the amount of energy (human and fossil fuel) syntropic farming dedicates to processing biomass in specific ways was huge.
In particular this involves splitting banana trunks in half and bucking and splitting logs into firewood size pieces that are then used as the path lining material.
It does not always have to be done this way, but it appears to be a common practice in syntropic farming.
- Replace weeding with pruning: One of the distinct goals of the management of these systems is to replace all weeding with pruning and the organization of biomass.
- Plant everything at once: Ideally every plant in the system is put in the ground at the exact same time.
This of course works only with a high intensity of management through harvest and pruning.

Glenn you are correct about the variations of the foundations and the need for moisture barriers.
But concrete for all its issues is fast and easy.
You need a lot of local rocks and heavy labour to collect and install rocks.

I find these videos interesting.
While they often have many points that any society would encourage, save money, reduce debt, eat well, exercise.
They have one point that I cannot believe;
Become independent of society so you do not rely on the 'system'.
The 'system' will take over your life, with world government etc .
This video talks about having an independent job your own business, but it does not discuss the issues of running such a business, finance, cash flow, advertising, tax, and getting paid.
A job can be a lot more peaceful for many.
Cutting wood, is seasonal, low paid and subject to availability.
Self medication has its benefits, but what about major trauma, broken bones etc, its very hard to fix them at home.
Self serve dental work is also something I would prefer to rely on somebody trained at it, rather than my neighbour.

Withdrawing from society sounds like a good idea, but there is payback,
- who will fix roads
- how will law and order be maintained
- if China attacks the USA and everybody is acting as an individual, who will resist them. [ I can say as an Australian I would not go and help, if you dont try and help yourselves ]
- If massive floods and hurricanes hit will you expect others to come and help, I hope not. [ thats a benefit only people in communities should get ]
- If you keep a car, what will you do for spare parts? You cannot engage with the other part of the community thats working together, because you would be 'freeloading'

In effect to be honorable to the cause, you would need to live like the Amish.
If you did not, then people like me may insist on it.

This is the important one
In order to determine the power potential of the water flowing in a river or stream, it is necessary to determine both the flow rate of the water passing a point in a given time
and the vertical head height through which the water needs to fall.
The theoretical power within the water can be calculated as follows:

Power (P) = Flow Rate (Q) x Head (H) x Gravity (g) x Water Density (ρ)
Where Q is in m3/s, H in metres and
g is the gravitational constant, 9.81 m/s2 and ρ is the density of water, 1,000kg/m3 or 1,0kg/litre.

If you can find the speed oif the water Q is readily established.
Even if you measured the time for something to float past and can calculate the area of the channel roughly it may work.
Elsewhere on this site I gave the details of an 'in river ' turbine which may suit this position.
https://idenergie.ca/en/home/

This is a great site
small scale hydro power- calculations
And I have lifted this from it
Old style diesel truck or bus dynamos are a better choice for waterwheels as they are designed to generate the required voltage and current at slower speeds with the emphasis on efficiency rather than on maximum power. Also, most bus and truck dynamos can generate power up to 500 watts at 24 volts which is more than enough to charge batteries and power lights for a small scale low voltage hydro system.

It contains a series of equations to help and examples of how to.
You have a unique set up, something will match it well, as opreviously stated.

Are you sure its unrepairable, I remember we have talked about it before.
With steel props in place, probaly a crane if the timber is big it could be dismantled and rebuilt.

Brian, I have to tell you that building a home will cost time or money as you have said and hard work.
I use a different mindset about house building.
Nothing is cheap or expensive- its affordable or not. Because those words are too general they distort reality.
I look at the cost of components and note if they are beneficial or not. IE Earthbags save time, and the money used to buy them would buy a window for instance.
If I wince everytime I spent money the job would not start.
PLANNING I go through this process;
- total cost I hope it costs
- amount of money I have
- What do I want?
- what do I need?
- how much time is there to complete it?
- how long do I want to spend doing the work, compared with getting help or prefabricated parts?
- what size. roof material, windows etc
- where will I build it, what direction will it face?
-what materials and building technique?
Materials I have used;
- adobe
- stick framed 150mm thick walls
- strawbale
- rock and bricks
- tyres filled with earth but not as an earthship
- concrete
- recycled anything
- repurposed items which can be turned into a building material. IE Coolroom panels
- old street sign posts
- bolt together garage and relined
- secondhand building
If you live where it rains, concrete foundations are necessary to prevent movement and water creeping inside if you use earthbags.
Do you have any limitations in what you can physically do?

Faster Racing sidecar