Jondo Almondo

I wish to state a series of conclusions from scientific studies, not to contradict anyone, just some unknown facts about pet pollution.
They are not my positions, they are science, but I feel like if I write 'scientific studies have shown ...' then I am being too definitive/exclusionary for the publishing standards. Would that be the case?

Should I instead verbosely write 'My position is that the scientific studies with the conclusions x, y, z are correct'?

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It seems like the phrase 'climate change' raises a flag, but carbon footprint is no problem.
How can I describe the reason for change in distribution ranges for organisms (e.g. livestock disease) due to global warming, outside cider press without being flagged?
Should I refer to global warming as ...
Atmospheric heating? Greenhouse effect? The global temperature increase which shall not be named? The curiously recent change in the thermal parameters of all ecosystems?

Permaculture obliges us to consider all our projects and plans in light of weather patterns, climate projections and pollutants.
The uncosted waste externality of industrial CO2 is a great example to apply permaculture to (the principal of unutilized waste automatically becoming a pollutant and the philosophy that we are responsible for all up-stream, down-stream and supply-chain effects of our consumption).
Climate change applies to everything in our lives, from pet ownership to plant choices, I can't think of a single sub-forum it wouldn't be relevant to.

I like the intention to make this a place for gentle souls.
[Clamping down on rudeness and offensive language might be a better method than banning facts and climate discussion]

So many barriers to discussing facts and global warming, while people claim biodynamics and alternative cancer cures work (actual dangerous advice which publishing could render liability for), somewhat suffocates my inner scientist and increases the very common perception that we are airy-fairy hippies with no realistic solutions and no regard for science.

No, they become perfectly mild.
The pungent sulphuric spiciness is either massively diluted into the liquid or completely negated by perhaps the sugar [calories], vinegar (pH) or fermentation {which transforms compounds similarly to cooking}.

Curiously, the spiciness is all gone by the time I first try the pickle (24hrs), before the fermented taste develops.

The pickle tastes more like commercial 'pickled ginger' than radish.
The radish has the taste of the liquid, pure Sweet and Sour zing (a flavor profile kids would enjoy) - the vegetable merely provides a crunchy texture [and the microbes].

I've so many radishes that my pickles are currently 90% radish, eaten everyday - whereas eating a single raw radish daily would have me doubled over with pain. (IBS, but mainly Gastritis)

Lots of people similarly can't tolerate raw garlic (eg Aioli) but  cooked garlic is fine.

Radishes sure are easy to grow and bulk seed is cheap.
Growing them transformed my small daily trickle of harvested veg into much more abundance - and its satisfying harvesting root crops as an understorey to other food plants, while tomatoes and beans clamber over and around the whole productive mess.

Feathers 3.4:1 C to N
Shredded newspaper 175:1

Thus, 7 parts feathers to one part newspaper by weight.

More diverse materials will improve the compost and act as a buffer if ratios aren't ideal.

Newspaper can have a Really wide range of C to N values (by a factor of 4) and office paper has more N than the figure quoted above for newspaper.

Thanks for the replies, particularly R's techniques. The guidance eased my anxiety over stuffing up and losing the fungus.

I wanted to mention that the spawn I bought took 12 weeks from inoculation to half a dozen mushrooms and lots of spawn.
The original spawn was $50, but now I look forward to sharing it with all and sundry and inoculating the mulch around the local food forest that has recently been planted.

I built the layered mushroom beds as suggested, but went without the pasteurization, because two of my original beds both threw up fruits and the 'crate of spawn experiment' (corrugated cardboard and straw, kept moist) was also a resounding success.
The crate has all sides layered with non-corrugated cardboard to block wind and create shade and a plastic bag 'lid' to hold the moisture in - you can see one shaded by a cassava in the pic below.

A sudden influx of woodchips allowed me to scale up x10 with all the spores and spawn - in addition to making another spawn-crate.
As well as spore slurry and spawn transplants, I used spore-prints, stem-butts and segments on the split cardboard layer - and a few broken caps buried shallowly near the top for good measure.

The beds were finished just as we were forecast to get a solid week of rain. I think wine caps might enjoy our wet cool seasons.


(There's less straw and more chips than indicated by this photo, the outer edges are straw-heavy and the chips aren't just on top)
[I underestimated both the volume of materials required and the work involved in hauling wet chips and bending over laying newspaper cardboard etc - if your not fighting fit, get a helping hand]

Thoroughly enjoyed the thread, lots of eloquence and critique.

For a lot of folks under 30, there are a few truisms that are fairly common:
- If its not on Youtube, it doesn't exist
- Video evidence is better than anecdotal claims, cumulative video evidence can be good data - it can be used to make empirical observations
- If its not widely studied and peer-reviewed, its probably not real

Permaculture is making gains by these criteria, but way too slowly - of course once there's sufficient evidence and impetus, not only will people join the movement enthusiastically, but governments will get on board, put their stamp on some permaculture propaganda and start to mandate/subsidize the right things.

Yes, it would be a complete 180 for them, but as David Holmgren suggests, human suffering and the scale of the crisis will rapidly motivate governments, media and scientists to prioritize their focus on whats relevant and discard tradition.

We really do need a few hundred million more permies FAST, being role-models, doing the good work and embracing a humbler lifestyle.

I think the non-scientific image of permaculture is the greatest obstacle preventing what is perhaps the singular (definitely the cheapest) potential means of averting utter climate disaster.

I think some of the less-scruffy permies have a role to play, (sorry I'm pretty much the scruffiest) talk to your local county government and agricultural bodies and support permaculture research of any kind however you can.
Letters to the Editor of local papers and bringing up permaculture whenever climate change is being discussed are other options.
Try to refer to it as an interdisciplinary design science, as that is the correct descriptor and the basis for permaculture is firmly rooted in academia.

Social media is also effective outreach, but I'd recommend focusing efforts on bumping permaculture up the Youtube algorithm as thats where the (young) eyeballs are and its most likely to outlive the other platforms.

Data suggests that urban sewerage and unregulated drug production facilities are the main culprits.
And anti-depressants are both so common and powerful that they're affecting the central nervous system of many species of fish.
The concentrations of cocaine in the Rhine and Thames rivers have made a splash in the news in recent years.

But I doubt studying downstream leakage of medicinal compounds from compost/septic/greywater systems has been adequately investigated.

From what we know about a composts ability to denature 99% of unwanted compounds, it is likely one of the best solutions for detoxifying excretions - though it could be improved with a first-pass through a myco-remediation patch which you wouldn't eat from.

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What is known for sure is that urinary tract infections can be passed through urine (sometimes without noticeable symptoms) and the concentration of nitrogen and salt is highly variable according to hydration and diet.

Companion plants are very different in Nth/Sth hemispheres and many combinations are even more local.

Gertrud Francke - Companion Planting has some good combinations, a good alternative (cover-crop gardening) and comes highly recommended by Geoff Lawton.

I 2nd Ben's suggestion for groundcover.
Geoff Lawton recommends thick groundcover (even weedy ones) to break down chop n drop branches (which are far more recalcitrant to rot than woodchips).

I use large rings of straw mulch around my fruit trees and the ones I've trained Wandering Jew over quickly break down to beautiful soil.