Ben Marko

I’d love to know about pull overs. Size 11 US.

I'm getting muscovies next year, and want to be ready well in advance for the winter. Temps here in Northern California can get down to 10 F at night, and we get a lot of snow (but not until December, usually). I was going to stack hay bales around their hut and give them about 1 foot of hay to stomp around on (over bare earth), supplementing the hay as the winter progresses. Does this sound ok? Advice would be helpful!

And will they eat cracked corn?

I have 5 KC ducks and am going to build them a pond to swim in. I have two 15' x 30' pond liner tarps and am pretty sure this will do for a 12' x 15' pond with three levels (12", 18", & 24"). My question is how to best keep sediment from building up too much? I'll have a three 20 gal. barrel filtration set up and use barley extract to keep algae growth to a minimum, with a few plants here and there to keep the ducks happy.

Would a pond vacuum be best? If so, what is a good one to use? If not, is there an alternative? I expect some sediment to build up regardless of the filtration, but I am not  sure what is  the best way to tackle it.

Is there a type of lid that will help preserve dried herbs in mason jars? I am looking to preserve dried lemon balm, spearmint, sage, etc. in a wooden cold locker that is exposed to ambient air moisture. I thought something that would allow air movement but block moisture would be good, but I don't know. The locker sits in my "basement" which is dirt (no finished concrete).

I live in Susanville, California and we have dry warm summers with cold average(?) winters. Most of our yearly rain comes from late December to April.

Is it possible to “wrap” or build on top of a cement form (like a dome) with cob in order to raise it’s insulative properties?

I need to install some sort of ducting throughout the house as there isn't any means of moving air and the upstairs rooms get stuffy. I thought a simple fan system would work fine. 4-inch can fans worked for me when I lived in Joshua Tree and barely use any electricity. There's only two small 10x12' bedrooms upstairs, along with an 8x7' bathroom.

I was looking at an external wood heater as they don't blow much smoke and are pretty efficient. But they do burn more wood than a RMH.

For a water heater I plan on a tankless gas model. There's only three of us in the house, and demand will be on the low end, even with municipal gas. I'll be junking the existing water heater, as it is old and isn't very efficient.

I even thought of geothermal heat (there are, um...seven volcanoes to the northeast), but that doesn't seem practicable given the small yard - though there is room to put down two 30' pipes.

I just bought a 2-story wood frame house built in the 1950s in Susanville, CA. It has up-to-date insulation, but no heating system installed. I was looking at soapstone stoves, but they lack an effective means of circulating the heat throughout a home. I then started looking at rocket mass heaters, but ran into the same problem.

Right now there is a hookup for municipal gas, but I'd rather not use it (but will if it comes down to it).

Would installing an exterior wood burning heater work? I wold still have to install ducting (I'm in for this regardless, just  to get air moving throughout the house). It is a bit pricey, but I'd be willing to fork over the $$ if it meant staying off of municipal gas. I'm open to suggestions on alternative means of heating as well. Temps in the winter here can hover near 20 degrees Fahrenheit from mid-December through early March.

Hello! I've never posted here, but I need some advice (I am a heavy reader of Permies).

I just bought a 1,000 sqft house in northern California that was built in the 1950's. It does have mostly single-pane windows. We have a cool Mediterranean climate, so - excluding the "heat bubble" we're in right now - we have very warm, dry summers with most of the rainfall occurring in the fall & winter.

As winter temps can get down into the 40's, I would like to get some sort of stove going to heat the house. Right now we have a wall heater hooked up to municipal gas. I want to wean myself of the use of municipal gas and focus on alternative or low (electrical) power for the house. For example, I bought a mobile kitchen island and set an induction cooktop into the wood top. That will allow me to get rid of the gas oven/range.

Any suggestions as to how best to heat my house? The rooms are small. It's two bedroom, with three other small rooms and a kitchen. I've installed stoves before, but am not sure this is the best option.

You could try an Appalachian dehydrator. They work pretty well, but I've never used one for tomatoes.

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