Asthi Guido

Found a typo

I work in offensive security (I attack people that hire us). I do work for a large company and am tied to debt culture. It is not ideal but it has brought in more cash flow that I thought I'd ever have. Pretty much anything in offensive security can be learned online anyway.

I have been able to work in many locations including moving in a car, and many state parks/private lands. We did a little bit of RVing with our children. It is nice that if I need to work, it doesn't have to ruin travel plans. Recently went to Appalachia with family and sat in a hot tub looking at the mountains. That was really nice.

I'd rather be putting down roots, growing things, and developing right relationship with land full time, but life deals you a hand and you have to make every next best decision. I think we are moving that direction. We are using our cash flow to engage with good friends with land and we are developing an Intentional Community. The burgeoning community will and is benefiting from our cash flow. I like to take money out of "the economy" and pay our friend to do things.

All-in-all I'm very lucky to have the opportunity I have to work remotely full time, I have an empathetic manager, and our dreams are slowly unfolding. We have everything we need.

O yeah and a felt insert can help to wick moisture away. Worked like a charm for diapers w/o a wicking layer

We have used cloth diapers for 4 years and 2 kids. A third one abt to arrive. There's a lot to consider for sure and life is hard so don't beat yourself up regardless of the situation and your choices.

There's tradeoffs:

# Single use:
## Some Cons:
- lots of trash
- more expensive in the long run (in all the ways, money, environment, industrial processing)
- potentially putting microplastics in the environment depending on the diaper
- VOCs?
- different moisture permeability (i have a suspicion this facilitated. A molluscum infection)

## Some pros:
- money cheaper now
- uses less of your water (could be a better environmental choice depending on your situation)
- less work for you now
- you can throw it "away"

# Reusable
## Some cons:
- you have to clean them. We have a handheld bdai sprayer for the chunks and a washer machine for the rest.
- they eventually wear out and start leaking
- you'll prob use 1-6 gallons of water per diaper/use realistically... If you wash like 30 diapers × 2 washes per cycle it adds up
- drying costs/time. We are in a wet place so we have to forcefully dry them prob 3/4 of the time. We have a gas dryer so dependant on grid. Clothesline is not enough here.
- wear and tear on machines
- used diapers typically get put in a zipper bag and that stinks ngl

## some pros:
- we save ~$1000/year.
- we live on the Gulf coast, so our relationship with water is much different than most. Using more water does not impact the environment significantly, so the practice is cheaper
- buy once per kid probably $200-400
- you have a choice between most of your materials
- it's not really a lot of work. Maybe an extra load of laundry
- get the kind you don't have to fold and you don't have to fold anything, or if you like origami then yes get em
- cute big butt baby diaper butts are cute
- an excuse to have a grey water garden. We got a free hose from birthing LO#2 and now we use it to pipe the grey water with biokleen detergent thru a bunch of trees and plants and compost piles

Hey permaculture is kind of a sliding scale, and if it is "real permaculture" then we won't find out in our lifetimes. Don't let anyone s*** on you for your choice and also come at the problem with goodwill intentions to do the right thing for your family and the world.

Diaper rashes: 4 years of experience. We have used both kinds on and off. Your kid will get a rash no matter what. The best way to prevent a diaper rash is to check regularly. The only cause of diaper rash is eliminated waste sitting on skin.

Sure some kinds have sensitivities to things but that ain't diaper rash, that's just a rash. Also, how many kids have a cotton sensitivity? #reusuablediapers

I literally have muscle memory, when I pick up a kid, a finger goes in the diaper. Yeah you'll strike brown gold sometimes, but that also means you figure out which side of the diaper insert to check early on ;)

Frankincense infused wax is my favorite remedy for rash bc of how fast it works.

Consider organic cotton if you can. Non-OG cotton farming esp in Pakistan has been devastating to communities with disease, debt, and suicide. Obv the more local the better but globalized society is what it is.

Anyway we have used and still use both. Like when we are on our RV it's disposable. When at home with washing machine it is reusable.

Either way, no shame for not being able to afford one or the other. Kids are expensive.

How does a mill like this one compare to a high power blender such as a Vitamix?

We have considered getting one alongside our blender so we can make uncommon flours.

WOW that is incredible!!! Thank you for sharing this excellent news.

Did anyone feed their goats moringas, or have yall found out if there are moringas that can do well in freezing climates?

I am in Louisiana and we had a few freezes into the mid-20Fs. I had an 8-10 ft moringa tree (which also may have had wet feet) which died to the ground. It's root may be intact but it has not sprouted yet despite about two weeks of consistent 90F days. Another Moringa of mine grew to about 5 feet and something broke it's stalk, then it grew to 4 ft again. After the freeze it died to the ground and when I dug its root up, the root was alive. A piece which was loose already, I made tea, and then I buried the rest. It has not sprouted yet. I believe I am growing Moringa Oleifera. In my 1 season experience a healthy moringa can grow a foot/month or more.

Kate Downham wrote:The amount of land they need depends on whether you're bringing in any food for them. Are there nearby trees you can get branches from? Or a source of good hay? With 1/3 of an acre you might be able to support two goats completely from your own land if you've designed rotational goat food forest areas with multiple layers of plants such as tagasaste, mulberry, willow, comfrey, grasses and herbs.

If you're happy to bring some food in for them, then you could keep more goats, or reduce the amount if land you're keeping them on.

If you're bringing all of their food to them, then they don't need much space at all for a strawyard. I kept two goats for many years in a 6x6m (20x20feet) fence, I had a cable spool for them to play on, and set their hut away from the fence to give them another thing to run around, and they were always happy, healthy, and able to express their goat-ness.

Thanks for your helpful response.

Our goals are to never buy feed (though we will if they are hungry) and to practice permaculture so we are definitely on board to create a food forest. I imagine the goats would be interested in some of the foods we are growing for ourselves, so having a goat section and a human section sounds like a good idea. And I'd also be wanting to use their dung for manure/compost.

I live in Louisiana, so we have lots of clay (but we are working on that through composting and mulching), it's usually hot, 70-90F, and humid from April to October, then dry and cold down to around 30-40F for a few months and occasionally mid-20Fs.

The property has live oak and magnolia. We'll definitely have to plant more. I have access to moringa seeds too, but in my experience they don't get very big here due to wet clay and cool winters.

It sounds like you named some fast growing plants, too. We have lots of willow growing in wet places.

I think we'd probably want to get a female especially to have milk at some point. Can kids can be given as much milk as they need until weaned, and then we would have several months of milk if continuously milked? That is what I have read anyway.

Thank you so much for being available for this!

If you know any good books (aside from your own!) or pages about different plants, domesticated and wild, they love to eat, please feel free to post it somewhere and tag me :)

I look forward to goats living out their goat-ness :) :) <3

How much room do goats really need to be comfortable and happy? Im about to move onto a 1/3 acre plot in a residential area, and regulations aside Im wondering if I plant enough and build up basically a "bush" there if I could support 1 goat.