Pierre Ma

Thank you all for these answers. I think I'll just give it a try, do in place composting with my tomato stems.

Were I leave people mostly fear mildew. I've never had any, but I've always thrown my tomato tops away out of my garden. Hence my original question.

Anne Miller wrote:Why do people feel that a compost pile has to get hot?

When Mother Nature composts do her piles always get hot?  She composts all over my property without those piles getting hot.

It is too windy here so I let Mother Nature do all my composting.

Since you are using worm composting to me that sounds great.  Do they like to eat tomato plants?

What kind of pathogen do you have?

Thank you Eric for your answer. My problem with compost is that I have a small urban garden, with very little organic input from the garden itself (except dead veggies and lawn). I also live alone most of the time, so my "green" garbage production is very low. I also lack space to have a proper compost pile. What I do have is a worm composter (which never gets hot). I feel that I don't have the capacity to make a proper compost pile that will heat up to the point of killing pathogens. So if I use my tomato tops it'll be as "in place" composting. I'd just let winter and my microscopic friends do their job.

Do you think that's "safe" ?

Eric Hanson wrote:Pierre,

I would definitely use those tomato tops to start some compost by adding in a few browns.  Honestly, I have never had a problem with mildew originating from a compost pile.  In my garden, every scrap of organic matter that can possibly get recycled back into the garden beds does so.  I would never make the effort to deliberately take away organic matter that I grew myself.

But as a possible strategy, maybe pick a spot in your garden that was less-than-perfect last year and build your compost pile right there on the ground.  Over time (a matter of weeks to months), the soil microbes and microbes in the compost will merge together for mutual benefit.  Even if you didn’t use the compost, the very act of composting will make that spot magically fertile (but of course, use the compost as well!).

I hope this is helpful.  If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Eric

Hi,

When the season is over, I general cut my tomato plants right above the roots and throw them away at my local waste recycling center. My idea is that I'd rather not keep any tomato waste in my garden to keep mildew away.

I have absolutely no clue whether this notion that tomato waste can bring mildew is grounded or pure fantasy. It happens that I've been gardening for 3 years in this garden and never had mildew.

As I don't own a car, going to the waste center with several Kg of plant waste is a bit of a hassle. Plus, I hate to remove organic matter from my garden.

Any opinion on the safety of leaving tomato leaves an stems on the ground to decompose ?

Thanks !

Kelly Finigan wrote:Hi Pierre,

I note many replies are suggesting propane et for heating but since you want to insulate from energy prices, and the whole permie ethic of "earth care", I'm presuming you don't want to use fossil fuels to save electricity.

A real simple answer is to use TWO of the solar kits you can find in France if one is not big enough...just double it up!

If you want another step of complication (but not really complex), there is coiled copper tubing like this link...https://siamagazin.com/diy-solar-thermal-copper-coil-water-heater-easy-diy/

let us know what you ultimately  do - - it will be good for everyone to know options and how they pan out for you.

good luck!

This is a pretty sensible solution ! I might end up trying that.

Thank you all for your ideas. I don't want to use propane because I cook with natural gaz anyway (I could just heat my water in a big pot). Someone's remark about using a kettle got me thinking. It might actually be more energy efficient to use a kettle a couple of times a day, rather than leave my electric heater on all the time. I'll have to check.

I'll keep you posted. It's been raining on and off for a week now, so no hurry !

Hi,

I'm experiencing a rapid increase in the cost of electricity (I live in France). Assuming that energy prices will continue to rise (that's a pretty safe bet :) ), I'm trying to cut my consumption further down.

Considering that :
- I live alone most of the time,
- I wash 90 % of my dishes with cold water (I only need say 4 L / day of hot water for the greasy pans),
- I either take very short showers or wash with a wash cloth,
- I have no other use for hot water,

I thought that for part of the year (I'd say at least 3 months) I could do with a few liters of solar-heated water, and turn my electric water heater off completely.

I'm pretty sure that 20 L would be enough. But 10 L would be too little (that's the capacity of "solar showers" they sell in my country, which are just black plastic bags with a pipe). I don't need the system to be connected to the mains. I can do with a bucket to collect hot water and refill the heater with tap water as well.

So I need a real low-tech, lightweight, super simple design. BUT, I don't want to use just any black plastic container, because I now most plastics don't do well in direct sunlight (the plan is to reduce my elecricity consumption, not to add more microplastic to the world).

Any idea ?

Thank you for your suggestions. I also used an online map to draw the contour of my garden.

I ended up just using Affinity Designer, event though measurements may be inacurate. I mostly want to know visually what has been planted or sowed were. Since my garden is far from having any right angles, and since I have a tendency to put lots of plants in the same place, the Excel option doesn't seem appropriate.

What I will do is use a "version control" software to keep track of the changes I make during the growing season. Might be a bit overkill, but I'll keep track of all the changes over time.

Hi,
I've been trying to keep an up-to-date map of my garden for a couple of years, but I've been dissatisfied with it, mostly because I lack a good map of the property first of all. I've made some measurements, and now I'm trying to make this basic map in a graphic design software (Affinity Designer). Unfortunately it clearly wasn't designed for this. It lacks measuring tools in particular.

I've been looking up graden planning software on the internet, and there seems to be tons of options. I was wondering if anyone had anything to recommend in particular.

Thanks !

Wow, thanks a lot for this long answer !
I've already started two parallel businesses, one in graphic design (specifically data-visualization) and one selling organic olive oil. Neither has been a commercial success, I've barely managed to make a living (which could be seen as a success in itself, though). So finding clients and selling my ideas and talent is really something I struggle with. I guess it'll be wise to get some general salesman's skills before I start yet another venture.

Hi,

I've been practicing permaculture principles for about 5 years now, at home and in friends' gardens. I've done two introduction courses (about a half-day each), and I've read quite a few good books about the topic (by Holmgren, Hemenway and Mollison). I tend to "see" the world around me through the lense of permaculture principles.

I see a lot of opportunities for change and improvement in the way people live and use space and resources around me. So I've been toying with the ideas of offering advice professionally.

So my question is : what are the requirements to get started as a professional designer ? Do I have to complete a PDC first ? How do I find clients ?

I understand it's a pretty broad question, but I haven't found anything on the web that explains the jump from growing the three sisters in your back-yard to making people pay for your advice.

Thanks in advance :)