Douglas Butner

Hey friends!

A little over a year ago, I made a simple website that aggregates Permaculture videos and articles. The website auto-updates every few days, bringing endless permaculture inspiration.

The website is free, no registration, just perma info, ideas + examples.

It would make me (and probably you) happy to see more people finding their perma info here. It's become my go-to for permaculture articles and videos, simply because it's so easy to type in perma.rocks and there's enough to keep me busy.

Happy Harvesting 🥑

Visit perma.rocks  🌱🌿🌳

I'm wondering what the best thickness for adobe / mud brick walls when there is a lot of Sun and cold nights.

I would imagine if it's too thick, some heat may not make it all the way in, and if it's too thin the heat retention wouldn't be maximized.

In particular, I'm looking at the high Andes in Peru (Cusco region) where many houses are mud brick. They seem to have a standardized brick size and shape here, so perhaps this already has been figured out over the course of hundreds of years.

I've also been learning about Earthships, and was surprised that the thick tire walls seemed to not be too thick to be inefficient (though I don't know if they are or aren't efficient).  

It would be really nice if there was some sort of reference to use some solar datapoint along with temperature data to make an ideal wall width for a particular region. Or maybe I'm just overthinking this ha ha. Looking forward to hearing your input / experience.

Hey thanks for the heads up! I have been learning about eucalyptus varieties this week, and my first Blue Gum (Globulus) seeds just came in the mail. I had seen the word cider eucalyptus just a few times, and never really looked into it, and I'm super glad that I came across this article. I'm interested in growing different species of eucalyptus both in Florida and in Maryland, though it seems like Florida will be my best hope for this tree. I'll go ahead and look for some seeds to buy, and perhaps in a few years you'll see some pictures pop up on the forum.

From what I've read, most cold hardy eucalyptus are only rated up to about Zone 8. I would like to plant some Blue Gum eucalyptus trees and zone 6 in the Appalachian Mountains. Where I live it is very cold in the winter, and definitely freezes, for days at a time. One thing I read is that the trees will turn into a annual tree instead of a Evergreen tree if they are in a colder climate, what I don't know is how much of the tree itself will actually die. In the spring will the new growth Come From the Bottom, as a new tree, or will the tree pick up where it left off? Also the particular variety I like, the Blue Gum, aren't the most cold-hardy ones. By here in the Peruvian Andes (returning to Maryland next week) they grow quite well, though frosting is rare here even if it is very cold at night.

Curious if you ever put this ideal into practice? If so what issues/non issues did you face and please give a feel of the vibe of your place.

I think many share these ideals (including my girlfriend) but practical issues get in the way in my mind.