M Ljin

I will second parsnips!

There are always enough parsnips that plenty of them go to seed. And especially if they are dug up, it creates spots for more parsnips to germinate and grow, as they will crowd themselves out if allowed.

Almost any plant is significant for biomass, I think. If an ecosystem can grow a bigger amount of biomass in a particular situation (sunlight, water, fertility, & opportunity) it will try to.

He said just about any engine can ​be converted to run on charcoal by drawing hot gas instead of gasoline into the carburetor.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/facing-us-oil-blockade-cuban-man-powers-car-with-charcoal-2026-03-19/

Is that an external combustion chamber? I don’t know anything about car mechanics.

Maybe Nancy Reading has a better guess? If she wishes to look at it that is…

I’ll go and look to see if there is a deeper explanation out there.

Wood sorrel!

They should be mostly harmless. They might even be beneficial as they have very acidic tissues that maybe leach into the soil and make it more hospitable for the berries, but that is speculative. They’re also edible and tasty. My favorite parts are the growing shoots and the immature seedpods.

Cuban man fuels car with charcoal!

John Suavecito wrote:Many people on this list crush their biochar to make it smaller before inoculating it.  There have been findings that the inoculation doesn't go very deep into the biochar, so if it's a big chunk, it's mostly not inoculated. It might take much longer to really behave as a microbe hotel in a homeostasis with the soil.  

So is this maybe the difference between biochar and terra preta—that the former isn’t fully inoculated and biologized, but the latter is?

I am not at all savvy with computer.  I live simply and would like to post
something on the intentional community site?  Happy Abundant Spring To All!
I am looking for a permie community in the Western Mass area to live with.
I would like to post in the appropriate forum.  Blessings

Welcome to Permies and happy spring to you as well!

Our intentional community forum is here:

https://permies.com/f/6/intentional-community

Somewhere in the upper right hand corner you should see a button that says “new topic” where you can make a new thread. I hope that this helps!

As I understand it, bar soap might not be older. Castille soap is made from olive oil and potash, and it takes a liquid form. Potash is much easier to obtain than lye, as it comes from wood ash.

I don’t use soap typically except on my hands but sometimes wash off with an herbal/medicinal infusion of some sort if I feel the need, which is liquid but homemade and not packaged. Another source of “soap” is the wild soapwort, which grows on river edges, disturbed habitats, & roadsides. They can be used like bar soap—rubbed until they start to release their soap-filled juices and then used for washing. You probably have seen them around—big white five-petalled flowers, opposite leaves with conspicuous veins.

Birch bark roofs, covered or not, I have heard that the bark sheets are layered six to twenty times first, so that is a lot of protection! Additionally, the sheer weight of the soil on top might effectively seal the sheets together. For more of a vapor barrier, caulking with pitch or other natural sealants seems like it could be beneficial. But then again, maybe we want some exchange of gas between soil and home. It’s a long topic so will leave it at that and not veer too far off topic…

As a side note, Plains tribes made their earth lodges with earth on top of big bluestem grass thatch, which is a lot less of a moisture barrier! On the other hand, most pre-modern societies always had a fire going, which would likely dissipate the moisture and smoke would preserve and make the thatch resistant to excess moisture. Someone told me  that in parts of Ecuador, smoke is intentionally used to darken and “impermeabilizar” (impermeabilize/“waterproof”) a new thatched house before it’s used, otherwise it would rot in the tropical, humid climate.

I have also heard that in Iceland, some houses do not even have birch bark in between the roof and the soil. And they’re well insulated enough that the main heating source is the human body! (Iceland being a wood scarce region.) Or at least no one said they used it in the video…