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Phyllis Rosenberg wrote:How do you make that low tech potters wheel. I already have a treadle sewing machine base. It's a great idea. Any guidance will be apprec
iated. Thanks.

Hi Phyllis ! Maybe you haven't seen, the video (link in the original post) has quite some details on how the treadle was transformed into a potter's wheel (starting at 2'00). Let me know if you need more information, happy to !

Thank you
Yannick

Hi everybody,

I finally finished the pond ! 4 years later... it was in standby for a long time. Below is a picture and a short video of launching day.
It's been doing good so far, first fill was fall 2023, the gutters of the house lead to it so it fills up quick with a few rainfalls.
I let it go naturally, a few species of water bugs colonized very early, water striders and backswimmers in particular. Got a mosquito larvae boom right at the beginning, but then disappeared I guess with the others bugs eating them.

I don't have pictures of the construction except the early ones in the original post, but here is a quick description:
- I kept doing the wall as in previous post, with 4-5 lines of barbed wire on the external side.
- I did a first layer of concrete inside, very rough and thin.
- I layered chicken mesh in the inside and outside.
- I also reinforced with some barbed wire and other metal rods I had.
- I covered all with about 5 cm of concrete, not much but so far it's doing ok.
- I finished with 2 thin layers of waterproof cement (the actual name: 1-component flexible cement-based waterproofing slurry).
- I piled up dirt around the external wall, for extra support.

Hi everybody,

A few years ago I plastered the walls of one room in the house. Had lots of fun and it was transformative, such a nice place now to hang out, read or do anything really.
I just plastered over the brick wall, first with a layer of red clay to smooth the spiky concrete finish that was there, then a final layer of brighter clay.

I made a DIY video (on the final layer only), part of my contribution to spread the use of more cob/clay/sustainable building.
I include also below a picture of the room before plastering.

Hope the technique I describe is mostly ok, any comments very welcome before I start with another room :)

Thank you !
Yannick

Hello Jacob,

I love the walkway in itself, really nice to have a path around the house. In terms of structure, it's doing good in most parts, except one spot where moles digged right after I laid the stabilized sand, making it crack. Seeds have germinated and the cracks expanded, as you can see in the pictures. Still ok for now but will have to redo that section.

The rest is good, quite narrow than a few years back as i let the grass creeping over. I made it quite minimalist though, around 2-3cm thick of stabilized sand on top earth. So not sure how many more years before it starts cracking in other places, but should be easy to redo, maybe on top. In any case, quickly done and many years of being great.  

Thanks for asking !
Cheers
Yannick

Khara Phetteplace wrote:YAY!!! Well done!!! So much easier to use than a kick wheel & much more light weight to move! I love it, great job!!! Fired with a rocket kiln, even better. Keep up the good work❤️❤️❤️

Thank you so much... and everybody for your comments and suggestions !
The rocket kiln one is great, completely overlooked that solution !!
And lots of other applications to invent I agree, I use it to spin-dry my lettuce... but there's certainly much better ideas

Thanks a lot again !
Yannick

Hi everybody,

The title says it all, wanted to share that homemade pottery wheel project, and welcome any improvement ideas... I went for simple design and construction.

Short video with a quick overview and "sort-of demonstration" (i'm not a ceramist):  

Thanks !
Yannick

Hello,

Walkway has been done over a year ago, for now it's still in good shape, pictures below.
Thanks for the advice !
Yannick

Thanks for your reply William !
In 7 years i've seen maybe 5 nights with frost, and never below -0.5ºC, the soil never got frozen, just the tip of the grass.
That's good news, i'm getting excited !
I'll post pictures after some progress, meanwhile any additional comment/suggestion is very welcome.

Thanks !
Yannick

Hi everybody,

I want to build a few walkways on my land: I live on the coast of Portugal with a humid micro-climate, it gets pretty muddy in the winter.
I've considered several alternatives, from loose gravel to wood chips to stones, but none really enchanted me (e.g. weeds growing in gravel).

In my research i came across "stabilized sand", although there's not that much information, and I couldn't located any threads on permies.

It's basically a mix of 10-12 parts sand for 1 part concrete, generally no water as the humidity in the red sand is enough, it's quite a dry mix. Then it's laid down and compressed (good compression seems key). I've done some testing and love the rendering (using red sand and white cement), I attach a few pictures. It's also very easy to mix and apply.

Of course I want to use as little material as necessary for a durable result, do you have any experience/advice, especially on the following aspects ?

1- The first tests I did is only 1 inch thick after compression. As seen on the rest of the walkway i haven't done yet, I remove the grass, roots, and compress the soil before laying the stabilized sand. After 3 weeks the test area looks ok and i've been walking on it, but is that a recipe for disaster, like it's going to crack everywhere after a few months ?

2- I was initially thinking to go ahead with this rather thin design. If it works, great, and if it cracks I'd use that as a stable (?) base layer and could just lay down another inch or 2 of stabilized sand on top. Or is that a recipe for double-disaster ?

3- Would it be stronger with a layer of packed gravel below ? Or a layer of actual concrete with gravel ? Or just increase the thickness of stabilized sand ?

4- About 2 inches deep there is a lot of gravel already (see on the last picture, i think it was once a gravel filled area and soil built-up on it since then). So could that gravelly soil be my stable base layer on top of which I would add a 2 inches of stabilized sand ?

5- Is stabilized sand just not a good idea for walkways ?

Thank you very much, I'll post updates and (sunny) pictures if I go ahead with it !

Morning everybody !

I've been playing around with mushroom cultivation (and picking) for a while, and finally made a short video with my favorites recordings.
It's mostly a video for fun, but some stuff might be interesting for sustainable cultivation, especially the oysters growing in a cork tube, instead of plastic bags or buckets, though i'm sure there's already good alternatives to those.

Anyways, here it is: https://youtu.be/4B0qXMzw0c0

Cheers, enjoy the end of 2021 !
Yannick