tony uljee

When i did some reading up on beam and pole building for my own project , some of it was about the japanese methods and timber used ---but way beyond my skill --so i used rough sawn timbers and logs for framework but the tree species for timber is very restricted around my part of the world--and quality stuff is very expensive--so most of what i used was sitka spruce --very coarse and with the odd red pine and larch log---all rough and ready stuff . The japanese sites mentioned working with their local types of red pine ,black pine ,cedar and cypress ---all fine grained and high quality.

think its called vermicomposting, i am trying to engineer a system for use it in my next toilet system

i would like to live in a community where if you roll a log down a road most people would just nod and greet , round my way if i tried that there would be text alerts put all over and i would be posted up on a social media page---then followed home by a police car   ,still might be worth it though , i have my eye on a large piece of scotts pine trunk --just waiting for the property owner to be at home when i pass it again. Seen this idea for the chainsaw method ,as even thinking of plunge cutting by hand held freestyle  just makes my backbone turn to jelly and custard.

its warm and bees are active , missed seeing a swarm passing through my neighbours tractor shed, but this has spurred me on to start hive number two for next season just in case

thanks , its been an odd past couple of months and planting out my saplings grown from seeds and nuts has kept me grounded and busy,till later ,cheers,tony

with all that , i forgot to to mention reading about a Japanese method of a hemp,lime and seaweed glue as a binder mostly as a plastering mix i think but might be another step forwards,cheers for now

hello, i like and admire the experimentation, i am involved with a miscanthus grass and lime binder build projects , its only a hobby and something i do when time and money are spare , i have read that this type of grass is used in Japan for thatching --might be another source of a straw type product for your build , my own reading up on bio -cretes  found several studies done around the world by credited sources .A swedish university compared hemp , miscanthus, coir, rice hull husk ,and several grain stem straws, all were found suitable for this type of crete making .I think what you are making at the moment is more of a cob mix , and perhaps not as suited to produce a brick or block very easy unless you ram it /compress it ---could you just mix it up cob style and pour or tip it into a shuttering --and layer build up internal walls. I have trialed a few small batch mixes myself of hydrated lime ,clay and wood ash--it does set up and could be usable ---but the clay had to be dry and a very fine powder---not easy to source around my way and not cheap to buy and truck in , digging fresh clay and running it into the mixer with water to make a slurry then adding in the others dry worked okay as well . But i dont have enough of it on my own land in a reasonably pure quality  ,the labour and lengthy process to wash out the pebbles and soil for the quantity i need also  , meant going another way . The other limitation was trying to save up enough wood ash in the volume i need ,even though i burn turf and timber for heating and water everyday i would have to wait a week at a time for just one 200 liter mix, my nearest neighbours ---although we are rural and they all farm---are modernised with central heating oil fired .I mix up 800 to 1000 liters of mix in 200 liter batches a time in a couple of hours ,poured tipped out into shuttering ---using those plastic tubs . Which are a big disappointment for me -- sure they are great as long as the handles dont tear off ---my rate of attrition is one tub every 2 to 3000 liters of mix ---i try to get my helpers to only half full a tub and carry 2 of them---but they always land up going for a full tub .once a small tear develops next two or three loads and its a lost easy to carry tub . Looking at the formula --they are LDPE and not HDPE---i am going to experiment on a solution for these as well, cheers for now

i have been trying to get this tree species established on my place for a nearly 3 years now ,from my first batch of thirty seeds  only 2 are still going---easy enough to get them germinating but the slugs love them as they come up and then the voles love cutting them down as the get going---they would seem to be very suited to our irish climate and there are supposedly some well established trees around the country from horticultural society collections---but i have never been able to track any down.Still trying to find a way to get them prosper better ,my 2nd batch of seeds all failed ---they came up very well but too late in the year and rotted away through the winter---my current batch of 20 seeds is germinating outdoors now after being outside in pots over the winter ---and i will be looking up some more info on soil inoculation and treatments ---i still wonder how those horticulture societies managed so well---great to see yours doing well .

my french brother in law used to cook up sausages  made from tripe ---in their duplex house ---neighbors used to phone and report a  suspicious smell to the police---first time i joined him at the table for a feed ---i had a bad cold and never noticed ---he mistook my completing the meal as a sign of a fellow offal enthusiast ---few months later when the smell from the previous batch had faded and my sister allowed him to cook up another batch---i got the invite ---and smelt it from down the road as i walked up---powerfull stuff ---no amount of cleaning will totally eradicate the smell and those that go out of their way eat offal say its all the better for it .

if the land around your water source has been farmed  ,  then theres a good chance your underlying water table will be contaminated with run off and seep down from surface water contact ---most of the area around me has been farmed for generations and all our old style water wells ---those hand dug and stone lined ---have been tested positive --either with gylco or fecal ---even our boreholes that dont go down beyond the rock bed at around 120 feet ---are also positive. We had to go 360 feet down through rock to get good water and decent flow recovery rates , but i still have to keep a check on contamination from surface /ground above,   finding  a natural good  drinkable source of water is gold---i dont use the word pure here as water is alive and must be kept so ---with the absolute minimum of treatments if possible to appreciate its full health and enjoyment benefits---make it a priority if you are still land searching