Matthew Fallon

Matt Armstrong wrote:What about thin 3/8 to 1/2 in bamboos? Is it worth the time to split 'em? Also, how would be the best way to split such thin bamboo stalk?

burn a few and test it out, they might be small enough to just pop minimally and not really explode dangerously. if so i'd just hit the joints with a hammer.
i have bamboo splitters that split it 3 and 4 ways, but for burning it only needs to be cracked to not build pressure , technically.

again.not as natural as I'd like.but what about plastic corugated drain tubing. easier than my idea to reform pvc for sure.it's flexible enoungh for that radius and stiff enough to hold its form to maybe affix with brackets.strapping and or gutter nails ?. cut in half or just a kerf big enough for water to enter and not leaves...half is probably less problematic.
make a bent lamination inner and outter ridge of wood.like a railing.to fit over the cutline and attatch to the eave.that would class it up a lot.
or rather than just a rail.make it 6" wide to completely shroudthe front view.think thatd look pretty slick!

C. Letellier wrote:I went looking for pictures of a gutter/gutter guard system that would work and didn't find it. But I did trip over this while I was hunting. If there is one commercial site on the web for this then there are probably hundreds.

curved gutters.

copper gutters can run you $20 per foot ! i'm just gonna guess that ain't an option on this project!

hm that does sound tricky.

not sure how good a solution this is.only off top of my head. not particularly eco-friendly either but probably easier to fabricate.

a friend makes didjeridoos out of PVC pipe and molds them to look like wood by filling with sand,heating spots with heat-gun and squeezing with an oven mit...

you could maybe get a 6-8"dia.pvc pipe, fill with sand, heat sections at a time and bend this along a fixture (plywood form or sheet with screws along a radius)
then cut it in half lengthways ? maybe on the bandsaw with a metal cutting blade in. and a splitter behind blade so it doesnt melt back together.

just a thought! wish i could think of a more natural material to do this in.





interesting method using steam from a kettle!

Nick Kitchener wrote:6 of those?? So what happens to them? It looks like you have about 1/4 acre and these leaves are stored in a big heap. Do the worms just deal to them rapidly?

I'm worried because it won't go above freezing here until late march. Typical daytime temps will be between -10 and -18 C for the next 3 months straight. Everyone local is telling me that the ground will freeze solid regardless of the 3 ft of leaves and plastic cover.

I'm hoping that the insulation will be enough to keep the soil biology active. We got a couple of -20 C days the other week after some rain, and the ground froze hard as a rock. But even in the edge of the garden where there is only a thin covering of leaves, the ground was soft with no sign of frost so I have hope

Oh, I forgot to ask about your Amaranth Pilsner? How'd that go? Can you elaborate? Did you malt the seed?

I acquired some old barley varieties from the gene bank last spring with a view to eventually brewing with it. One of them is Morovian Hana.

well i try to mow them down a bit more but dont go crazy with it. for the beds i only go maybe a foot thick or so and i think the black plastic weed cloth helps to heat it and keep the soil life eating it longer.eventually it will freeze a bit but not much, i'm terrible with Celsius/Metrics sorry. i'm 7b,5F/-15C,rarely gets down to that but sometimes .the beds should thaw sooner too being raised and covered. for me it doesnt all turn to soil by early spring, whatever isnt broken down i rake to the side/paths to let the bed heat up faster(mulch will insulate the cold in) i need to if i'm using my jang row-seeder. then put it back once i've transplanted or the seedlings are big enough.

the amaranth pilsner is delicious! i'm more of a stout/porter drinker but i had all this amaranth seed i harvested and wanted to try it out. we used a pound of grain and the rest was barley. wasnt roast-malted but got it up to temp in the water to convert the starches to sugar and all that. we made it on a dry-stacked slapped together rocket stove just to try it

last week
i get 6 or more of these each year, leaves in fall ,grass at other times.

i asked my guy and he says they only spray a litle hrbicide in sidewalk cracks, nothing broadcast.a little fertilizer in early spring. with leaves i worry even less.maybe im being naive but i feel the massive amount i take in anyything someone may have sprayed like a weed here or there will be very diluted and hopefully biodegrade or wash out.

ive been collecting leaves for years at first i just grabbed peoples leaf bags.but quicky upgraded to deliveries fron my neighbors landcapers. i just had about 9 cubic yards of mostly chopped leaves dumped lat week. i posted a video of the dumptruck filling the entire driveway. it is on my garden facebook page below. i cant link with my kindle.

over the past three years I've received at least 50 yards of leaves and grass from them. i also take tons of woodchips from a local tree guy too. full lofs for milling also. i iust wish i had more space and direct access for them to dump where i ned to store it..i have to wheelbarrow it 200' through gates and around beds into back compost corner and wherever im spreading it. the leaves also blanket all my beds and I'll water in and cover with black tarp. im going to buy cheap recycled billboard vinyl black on backside and custom cut to my beds to break it down faster. ive used black landscape fabric too but it gets tattered from sun and wind. the billboard stuff has UV inhibitors and is very thick.

so i just got an apple,
came to see what it's about. ok cute.

i still have questions though,
Do i get to sit at the cool-kids table at lunch during permie convergences?
Do i get a key to the executive humanure outhouse?

Most importantly, if i kill all the other apple-havers by decapitation, do i get their apples in a quickening ?

so agree, this is much more useful info than whether you have a 'real sounding name' or what your post count is.
or whatever these little apples represent (which is what brought me to this category now to find out ,gold stars?!)

when i read a thread that may have bioregionally specific answers, i often look at the repliers location before reading,if theyre not in my zone or bioregion's conditions i might just pass over it.