George Yacus

I am constructing a multifunctional cabin-office to serve as my permaculture lair, and am at the point where I am considering electric.

I have adequate power supply for my expected loads in the form of:

✓ Portable battery+inverter power banks & solar panels. 120V & 12V & USB capable.
✓ Gas generator. 120V & 240V capable.
✓ Stand alone small solar for DC lighting systems and phone charging. Biolite Solarhome 620, USB capable.

Where I am wembling is whether to (A) jazz things up, or (B) keep things stupidly simple.  Elaboration to follow.

Option (A) Jazz it up.

Hard-wire outlets in the cabin office (120V and perhaps 12V later, too).  Nice outlet covers would be flush against home sawn wood paneling, and cables run behind finished walls or run within EMT if exposed.  Systematically in my head it looks like...

120V Power bank (or generator with shore power through a bulkhead) -> Transfer Kit -> Main breaker panel -> UF cabling -> Outlets -> Loads.  

If I did go jazzy, I expect only four to six circuits, 15A loads or less.  I.e:
1) Tool nook w/ battery chargers.
2) Grow nook w/ seed mats, task or overhead lighting, grow lamps.
3) Cooking nook.
4) Window AC || table saw || air compressor.  
5-6) Maybe in the future I run some UF outside to an organic pool bubble pump or fountain, or install some neat lighting, or a water heating circulation system, irrigation, etc.

vs.

Option (B)  KISS.

Just move the bank(s) or run an extension cord as needed.  Maybe later jazz it up.  Focus on getting the cabin dry and insulated and clean first.

120V Power bank -> Loads.  

Option (A) is nice and prevents rework, but takes time and $.  Studwork is  currently exposed.

Option (B) is speedy and inexpensive.  Time is precious.  Worst cast I just pull paneling off to run wiring later.

I could use a nudge either way.  Also, I am curious if there is an Option (C) that is somewhere between the two. It seems silly having a Transfer kit and a main breaker without a service entry connection.

Picture attached as a sneak peak!

With winter's frosty approach, I decided yesterday to dig up maybe five or six Dahlia plants which I grew from seed this year — or perhaps two years ago, as this is only our third year growing Dahlias and several overwintered fine in USDA zone 7 last year.  

I decided to dig up only the yellow-flowered ones for now.

Now the younger plants only had a small handful of tubers each, but I was pleasantly surprised with the volume of tubers on one of our presumably older plants, shown below.  One of the tubers was a full cubic in length!  I'm digging them up to propagate and move to more advantageous locations come spring.

In the process, I removed a few of the non-viable tubers, and decided to take them upstairs to the kitchen.  Dahlia tubers have a rich history of edibility, and since I know my soil is free from ick, I peeled a golf ball sized tuber, sliced it and took my very first bite this morning.

Wow y'all!  

I would describe the flavor as a lovely floral mix between ginger and carrot.  

The texture was also very pleasant.  Not as dense or starchy as I was expecting, but rather lighter with good moisture.  I tried frying some briefly in olive oil, but decided it tasted way better fresh and cool.  I'm excited to grow and try some more!

Whoopsie Daisy Dahlia

As the sun sank lower today,
I sought to harvest the last remnant of summer's colors
to bring inside and brighten the mood a bit.
But what I did not seek to do,
was bumble a bee's final platter of pollen — a yellow Dahlia.
"Whoopsy daisy!  Didn't see you there."
I decided first to join my guest for an afternoon snack,
and promptly picked a fallen petal for a nibble.
"Hmm...tastes better than lettuce."
Then I scooped my little guest up
in a tiny plastic cup.
"Back to the garden, little friend."

I made orange chicken once.  That's gotta count for somethin'.

A nearby library has such a makerspace, mostly devoted to sewing and fiber crafts, but it also has a few 3D printers.  I don't make many trips there, but it doesn't seem especially well utilized any time I drop in.  

(A big part of that, I suspect, is that the surrounding suburban culture has more of a go-go-go working mentality.  And the space, while colorful, lacks that cozy "come and stay a while" welcome feeling.)

So I think the idea is fun, but the secret sauce would be really understanding the surrounding community needs and target audiences, and then crafting (pun intended) the space to their needs.

For example, designing a cozy and inviting space and events for...

1) Urban stay-at-home mom with kids in tow nearing nap time:
  - Need close social interaction with other parents
  - Need safe place for kids to play semi-supervised
  - Need quick projects, easy to pick up and start or finish

vs.

2) Suburban after-school teenager clique:
  - Need a comfortable place to hang out in small, private groups, or solo undisturbed
  - Need Wifi
  - Need right level of challenge / risk / reward in projects

vs.

3) Rural singles working on challenging long term projects late into the evening.
  - May need deeper instructional expertise from teachers (compared with newbie crafters)
  - May need more space or more advanced equipment
  - May need consistent offline marketing and communication to maintain buy-in to projects
  - Challenge to create connections among individuals of different skills and respecting introvert vs extrovert needs

If I were in the tropics as opposed to sub tropics, I would definitely test the fast growing Moringa tree to see if it reseeds easily.

An organization I recently had some training from (Equipping Farmers International) has heard of very good results with Moringa in the Global South.  It's a complete protein — especially good for nursing mothers.  I hear it can be grown as an annual, or brought inside.  I think I will try it out next spring.  Also a spectacular chicken feed I hear.

For a wider range, how about a native nitrogen fixer, Apios americana?  aka Groundnut.  I have not yet grown or purchased any, but I know some permies on here sell it.  

I bet Eric Toensmeier could rattle off a bunch more in his book...

https://permies.com/wiki/20163/Perennial-Vegetables-Eric-Toensmeier

I'm happy this thread serendipitously crossed my eyes today, as I just harvested my first Jerusalem Artichokes two days ago, and planted a single Egyptian walking onion then as well.

Two years ago during my fall PDC they gave us a few to take home, and I planted them immediately in a couple different agroforestry nooks.  I basically walked away and forgot about them... until Monday while walking with my friend I saw a flash of green and was like "Is that what I think it is?".    Whoopee!

~2 years after PDC planting~
Harvest notes to follow:

We harvested half of a nice plant cluster that was growing between some juvenile black locusts, plus another few tubers from a tall scrawny cluster growing in the shade of my outhouse.  From those, we immediately replanted:
- 3 tubers+roots between black locusts
- 3 tubers+roots by a young fig tree (under wood chips)
- 3 tubers each adjacent to a baby redbud tree (under wood chips)
- 1 random tuber (under wood chips)
Wood chips were dropped in summer.

We also each took between 200 - 250 grams worth of tubers home to the burbs.  I couldn't bear to eat them because I wanted to plant more!  So today I planted all mine around the house.  

Edit to add:  If someone reminds me a couple years from now I can check back at the recent and original planting locations for a yield report.  PDC was Fall 2023 for original planting nooks.

Welcome to permies, Zach!

First, here's a good reminder regarding percent grade (slope).  Recall that a 100% grade is a 45° angle.  A 15% grade would be rising (or dropping) 15 feet over the course of 100 feet of run.  A 15% grade is less than 9°.


(Source)

If you need to know your slope:

Google Earth can get you a good number over a large area.  

There are likely phone apps you could use

You can estimate it by hand, knowing your height of eye along with a tape measurer, and perhaps a spirit level or a transit and some string.

You mention needing more water retention.  Hmmm...are there signs of erosion or runoff happening?  

If you'd like to nerd out a little bit, you can do a search for runoff coefficients to estimate how much runoff you have leaving the land.  A lower runoff coefficient means that more water is soaking in, yay!  You may find that your soil is soaking in a bunch already, and a swale may not spread the water much.  In any case...

I personally would let the trees stay where they are, undisturbed.  

They've been seeking out water since you planted them, and drier conditions will make them search deeper.  Recall that mulch and organic matter can greatly increase water retention, so time-wise, collecting organic matter might pay off more than digging by hand due to added benefits.   If soil is compacted, a broadfork could help, too.  To save time, you could also do some micro-earthworks like "fish scale swales" or "boomerang berms".

Best wishes!

I had an idea come to me a couple weeks ago in order to make a "precision hügel" with terraced-like siding

Precision Hügel Steps:
1) Determine the desired size and shape of hügel.
2) Plant black locust trees around the hügel's outer edge.
3) Plant inner array(s) of black locust trees which will define the "risers" for hügel steps.
4) After 3-7 years, when the locusts are becoming sturdy, chop them at elevations corresponding to the desired height of the hügel.
5) Drop logs of appropriate sizes into the black locust vertical scaffolds, using pallet forks or heavy equipment.  The trees will help keep the logs from rolling out of place.
6) Add mulchy bits and soil and smaller sticks and logs along the way as appropriate.
7) If the black locust tree survives being buried, continue to use it as a chop and drop nitrogen fixer for the hügel.  If it dies, its longevity may still help keep a nice angle of repose.

Spaced repetition is key!  There is a Slavic proverb that "repetition is the mother of learning."

If my memory serves me correctly ;) there is something called the "forgetting curve" where we forget more than half of what we learn in the first 24 hours.  Hence the '2' in your video standing for reviewing info 2 hours after learning, as opposed to two days later.

Reviewing (2 hours, not two days) drastically helps memory shift bits and bobs into longer term storage.  Of course, this necessitates having something to review in the first place...good notes, audio/video recording, textbooks, etc.  

Other quick tips for memory improvement:

Multiple senses - Seeing, hearing, touching, *doing*, smelling or tasting even.  The more you experience, the deeper the memory.  Hence why students with handwritten notes recall better than typed notes.

Encoding - Taking knowledge tidbits and converting them into a different medium.  Like drawing a picture, or making up a dance.  Symbolism and forced connections, even weird or wacky metaphors, can help.  

Chunking - breaking big stuff (e.g. lists) into smaller manageable bits.  Like how US phone numbers are +1 (###)-###-####.

Memory palace - Our sense of location is pretty deep.  You can probably envision lots of details about your home if you close your eyes or if the lights went out.  Or if you commute, you don't have to think much about various turns, it's near automatic due to knowing specific key points.  A memory palace encodes items or concepts to be recalled into locational "pegs", and then you can "walk" through the locations in order to retrieve the memory set.  (I used this method many years ago to encode Holmgren's 12 permaculture principles into my old college campus.)

Relevance - If something to be learned can be made super relevant -  like it is super useful, or vital to survival or emotionally significant, there is greater motivation to retain it.  

Acronyms & Acrostics - Self explanatory.  The initial letters lead into the things to be remembered. Like ROYGBIV "Roy Gee Biv" standing for the colors of the rainbow in order.  

Teaching & explaining.  If you teach something, it really helps solidify it while also helping someone else :D