Logan McClish

My sister studied eastern/Chinese medicine and gave me this advice:

Within the first day of feeling a cold coming on, drink a big hot mug of tea made with ginger, lemon, honey, and cayenne. Then take a very warm bath. After your lovely bath, wrap yourself in blankets and take a 2-hour nap and sweat it out (this part can feel gross when you wake up, you should be quite damp and overly warm). Seemed to work for me.

Another method I've been using is the Wim Hof Method. To put it simply - it's a breathing exercise combined with a cold shower that boosts your immunity and reduces inflammation in the body. He has done a number of clinical studies that now back up his method. And frankly, it makes you feel energized and awesome. It's great for dealing with the winter blues.

My most recent cold (that I got from my brother who has been dealing with it for weeks), I combined the two methods with some fire cider and the cold was very mild (2/10?) and lasted only 5 days or so. So not total magic, but LOADS better than my past 15 colds.

All of your criteria are excellent guidelines and aspirations. Remember, they are also relative and you may not always be able to honor your convictions with every piece and part of your home build, so be kind with yourself along the journey.

I'd recommend a local woodworking and metal working class, if you can find one. Learning basic skills (tools, safety, materials, cuts, etc.) in a hands on shop setting can provide a solid foundation for learning many other building skills.

I built a Skoolie my wife and I have lived in for 2 years. We learned a lot from YouTube and the Skoolie community on forums and social media. People are eager to share what they've learned. A bus isn't very modular, but many are affordable (ours was $4k), it's mobile, and there's strong argument for it being sustainable (it's reused, already has floor, walls, and roof). We used as many used materials as possible for the build and then bought new stuff for important things (plumbing, electrical).

Doing is learning. When we'd start a new part of the build we'd:
1. go to the internet and see what other people did
2. Develop a plan that fits our design criteria
3. Talk to a builder friend or local professional about specifics (code, parts, function, etc)
4. Start building
5. As challenges reveal themselves go back to the internet, friend, local pro, and figure out the details

Build your first house for your enemy. Build your second house for friend. Build your third house for yourself.

I am a thin, but healthy 30 year old man. I hike, bike, climb, garden, and stay fairly fit. I have mild-moderate sleep apnea which is caused by a narrow nasal passage.

A fews things I've noticed on my sleep apnea journey:
- I tried using a CPAP, but I take it off in my sleep and it makes it difficult to go to sleep.
- Drinking alcohol before bed definitely makes it worse because it causes inflammation in the face and sinuses.
- Sleeping on my side makes a big difference.

The best therapy I've found so far is to use a nasal dilator. There are different styles out there so you have to find one that works for your nose type.

Breathe Right strips definitely work the best because they stick to the exterior of your nose and don't block any airflow, however, they're expensive and you throw them away after one use.

I'm glad other folks are talking about this! When I started treating my sleep apnea it made huge differences in the way I felt day to day.

Woo! Ordered my bundle o' books! I like the little free library idea, but I think I'll mostly give them out as giveaways at workshops. Thank the generous donor for me for making this possible!

Hi Kelli - I'm a water resources engineer in the Seattle region. I do the hydrologic and hydraulic analysis to evaluate the problems you're having. To understand where all of the water is coming from, I think gathering some more data (observations) would help.

Investigation/Observation
1. Have you checked NRCS Web Soil Survey to see the soil types for yours and your neighbor properties? Have you had any soil testing performed to categorize your soils? I would recommend digging a few test pits (or holes) around your property to better understand your subsoil situation and how that might affect infiltration rates.

2. Have you observed the groundwater levels during the winter and summer? Installing a simple piezometer (perforated vertical PVC pipe with an inspection cap on top) 4 feet deep would allow you to easily check your groundwater levels throughout the year.

3. How much hardscape (driveway, roof, outbuildings) is on your property relative to the undeveloped landscape? Even a small roof can contribute enough water to make other areas extra soggy.

4. Could this flooded area historically have been wetland prior to being converted to pasture/farmland/etc.?

Solutions?
Once you have a good understanding of where the water is coming from and why it wants to be there, the solution may appear.

In the name of, "the problem is the solution", perhaps you could grow plants that tolerate/love wet conditions. Ben Falk did this with his homestead in New Hampshire, when he realized growing rice made more sense than vegetables.

I like your idea of swales, because likely the issue is runoff collecting at the low point. If you can slow and infiltrate the water, you'll reduce the amount collected at the low point. That said, your soil data will tell you how helpful the swales will be at infiltrating the water they collect.

Large conifers (especially douglas firs) suck up a LOT of water. They also hold a LOT of water in their canopy during rain storms. If you remove the large conifers, you'll probably experience more water unless you implement other solutions.

Capturing runoff from your hardscape and structures will reduce the loading on the wet area.

The pond will hold water all year if the INFILTRATION + EVAPORATION < POND DEPTH. Temporary ponds also make excellent amphibian habitat, as they reduce predation by fish and are necessary for some amphibian life cycles.

Mike Kenzie, thanks for the thoughtful and well written response. Thanks to everyone else who also responded! Good thoughts all around.

Mike, I agree, I think appropriation is the more appropriate term for this discussion. I used gentrification in the post title because that's the word used by the person who brought this to my attention. It's a hot word right now and can stir up a lot of emotion, but probably not the most fitting for the context.

I'd like to hear peoples input on an idea that came to my attention recently.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and here there are many descendants of indigenous peoples. Sometimes in my work (ecological restoration), a tribal representative reviews my work and provides comment prior to permit approval. I have been doing my best to become more aware and knowledgeable of the indigenous history of our region, their modern (and historical!) plights and injustices, as well as their culture(s) which persist today.

I've taken a PDC and regularly inject it into any conversation I can because I think permaculture is great! However, it came to my attention that some indigenous farmers in the region are frustrated with the idea of permaculture because (as I understand their position) it is a whitewashing of practices people have been doing for a long long time.

On one hand, I agree! I could totally hear someone telling these farmers, "have you heard about permaculture? This guy Bill came up with designing gardens (farms) after forests! You should do that"! Without acknowledging that indigenous peoples thousands of years ago were creating food forests, this would come across as super frustrating and maybe I'd think permaculture was dumb too.

On the other hand, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) doesn't encompass many of our modern technologies, science, or challenges. TEK is often applied in permaculture, however it may be limited depending on context, therefore permaculture is a more expansive design science necessary to solves problems in our modern world.

So, what do you think? Are folks gentrifying via permaculture? Does permaculture not give credit where credit is due? Does it inherently gentrify?

Great topic!

I too carry a few useful items in the car. I recently made a meal kit that has a few jars/containers, utensils, and a cloth napkin.

I keep a bungee net attached to my scooter for hauling home unexpected larger items when I'm bopping around town (70+ mpg!).

Keeping leftovers in glass containers in the fridge encourages me to eat them down since they're more visible.

My tiny home is parked on a gravel pad that went unused for a decade - cheap rent for me, easy money for the landowner, short walk to public transit.

I installed a kitchen faucet and sink in my tiny home. It was pretty fun to hook it all up and turn water on. Presto! real life magic.

The youtube link shows the water being turned on.

I converted a school bus into and tiny home and installed a 7-gallon electric hot water heater for the sink and shower. It was pretty easy except for the tight space to work in and one sad night of water spraying everywhere from a loose fitting. But, now we have an instant supply of hot water and it's been working great for 6 months, no leaks!