Briana Great

Wow.  I'm so glad this came up on my Daily email. . . soooo:
I switched to Crochet (which is a yarn hog) because my time is more valuable than *most* yarns, and I save knitting for 1) Sweaters, 2) fancy wool, for those times when the yarn is more expensive than my time =)

SO: it never occurred to me that knitting could be made more efficient than crochet.  I have seen so many looms (including a 400 year old design for knitting stockings by hand crank) that I thought that knitting was mechanistic in large-scale.  I never knew human hands could do 200+ stictch-per-minute.  

I was wildly disappointed that there were no blogs, links, or techniques posted to show HOW to get up to 200 stitches per minute.  I would love to learn HOW to do this!!! Do you have any such links, instead of just products, to show us how to use aforementioned products?  I would willing get a courtier/loved one to make me a metal-tipped knitting stick, if I knew how one was used. . .

To be more clear: I guess, yes, stating that there are solutions for smaller scale and lighter-weight options.  People like me - something around 3-4 on Paul's Permaculture scale - who have aspirations to move on and just enough knowledge to feel limited won't go any further thinking our home cannot encorporate Rocketry.  We seriously bought the book 18 months ago intending to make a homeschool project based on it, only to learn that we couldn't.  I have yet to find something we CAN use - especially frustrating with the $100 LNG bill (double our previous highest) with a full cord of split Alder >.<

Can someone create a "which one is right for me?" FAQ - Time is a valuable resource and most people search only about half a minute for an answer.  I did not see one that even looked like it would work where I live (flood plains).

The thing bugging me is that the "free heat" says the only requirement is knowledge - but that's false.  It requires a foundation stronger than what my - and many - houses have.  No where on the front page is this mentioned.   We bought Wisner's book and that is when we learned we CANNOT build a RMH without compromising our foundation, or hiring experts for thousands of dollars to rebuild.

This is frustrating bait-and-switch that I would hope Paul/Permies would be more upfront about. Until such corrections are made to the "requirements" on the main website, I cannot in good conscience share it with my local peeps knowing they will have the same sinking-foundation issues.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:My experience is that the best foragers, and most resistant to predation, are chicks that are raised by a broody hen.

I agree.  But we have found that chickens who are raised by hens are NOT good at coming when called, and less friendly around my kids.  We have done both.  We don't have a rooster now, so need to buy chicks again and have decided to hand-raise these ones in a brooder.  

Ideally I'd find a local breeder, but I am not finding the quality that I did 8 years ago.  

I want to start a new flock of about a dozen chickens, raising them from chicks.  Someone is offering to pay me to start them in the next month, but I have had mixed luck with store/hatchery chicks.  I spent an hour on Permies/Critters/Chickens and lots of advice on how to but nothing on WHERE to Start!

SO: Where did you get your best layers that are good foragers from?  =)

"that there seems to be a surplus of cats"
I don't believe that's accurate.  It depends on how many you think is reasonable. They provide an extremely effective rodent deterent that survives better with local predators.

We own 2 cats; when we went to Wheaton Labs, we saw several cats (a couple of kittens who were very playful, a couple who kept a far distance).  No cat food - my son managed to catch a grasshopper and feed if to a kitten.  One cat slept in his tent one day.  Cats love him.  

If your allergies prevent you from visiting people who have cats, the Boot's Lodge won't work for you but there are other ways to stay - tent, build your own place, or SEPPER.  

Kudos to you and your staff who have kept this page on-topic and bot-free.  I imagine it is getting harder.  Being relatively single-topic and with a Benevolent Dictator/Duke at the helm certainly helps!  (I feel qualified to say this as I've BEEN to Wheaton Labs - I mean it as a compliment!) This page is like a Fuedal Lord in a world of Robber Barrons.  (My husband is a history-geek, with a degree in linguistics he has studies histories in multiple languages.  So we have some intense conversations nightly.  I trust him far more than any media (social or network) and he does a great job of explaining things and answering my "what if" and "how did" questions.)

BASICALLY: We are in a period similar to the break-up of the Roman Empire.  The political powers have a lot of power and are no longer worried about being discovered using it - and we are seeing propaganda at an immense rate.  Everything is propaganda - trying to push a narrative.  The problem is technology is allowing 'spies' in to cause dissension in weird places.  The influencer game is bizarre.  I'm glad we don't play it - but raising kids to recognize it is an immense challenge!

Hi!  I hope I'm not "crashing" the party, as I am only barely beginning to read about Rocket Mass Heaters.  The problem I have, is I'd love to use Rocket Stove type efficiency as a retrofit for an existing house - one with a foundation that cannot support RMH.  My husband bought me the book without understanding that we cannot utilize any of the designs in our current home.  

Is there a "small" rocket stove design that can be used to efficiently dump a lot of heat, rapidly, into a "typical" living area, for those of us trying to move from 3 to 4 on the Permies Scale?  =)

Congratulations on getting your Deep Roots, Dez!  
(~From The mom whose toddler loved helping you with rocks for one week)

I went to visit Guy's property.  FWIW: I am a 40 y/o female, brought my pistol packing husband with me "just in case" and it was totally unnecessary.  Guy and his wife are genuine, polite, kind, good people.  The property is EVERYTHING he said it is!!!  There is an amazing field just south of the home that would permit livestock or a second home being built. The property is amazing.  The house is probably 85% done - meaning if you are 40-something and not ready to start-over, this place is PERFECT because it has everything you need in place to function.

If we had an extra year, I wouldn't be posting this because I would be buying it =)  But our family dynamics are such that Guy wants this property sold before we are ready to move 11 hours away from our aging parents.