Becky Lawson

Where I lived in Brazil for a while, the only salad dressing I saw used was mixed on the salad at the time of making.  No prep or need to store.

On top of already made salad:
salt and pepper to taste
squeeze of lime juice
splash of apple cider vinegar
splash of oil

Mix with bare hands (very important part)

I'm old and want to start using urbanite everywhere.  I have to have a way to easily move the concrete chunks.  I am envisioning a handtruck with a pulley system that will help lift the chunk and allow for several to be stacked on the bottom plate.  If you have heard of a way to move concrete chunks more easily, let me know.  Otherwise, please, please, please consider this idea for your brilliant boots.

This is a super important topic. I have a smallish lot, and have long wondered if I could grow enough firewood for a rocket mass heater just on my lot. I have read info on coppicing and pollarding techniques and imagine these would be the most efficient and possibly the only way of doing it.  

I know a few newbies to this concept that would love to come.  Is there an estimate for the price of this shebang?

Brent Bowden wrote:
Here is my suggestion :

Kickstarter stretch goal for the $100 level - small group 12 person RMH consultation with one or two expert /highly knowledgeable instructors where I can show my space and discuss my design goals.
These can be done with little to no financial overhead, via Zoom or Google meet, etc. and can be scheduled monthly or every two weeks. They can be held regionally, which will help overcome language and material availability barriers, and make the education appropriate for the participants' climate.

A survey would help determine :
Number of students
Regional interest
Knowledge /skill level
Structure type
Climate zone
Yada yada
Instructors can have some sort of syllabus. Participants would need a cell phone or laptop with a camera or be able to provide photos or drawings of their project space.

Love, love, love this!!!

The best podcast to get RMHs on is “Stuff you should know”.

Has an audience of thousands of smart/curious people from all walks of life. Would really disseminate RMHs to a mass audience.  The podcast is always looking for interesting/obscure things to talk about.

I’ll have a few people I know send them the suggestion.

I also do vermiposting and nothing can compare to truly shredded cardboard. I bought a paper shredder on Amazon and it has worked wonderfully so far (18 months and lots of cardboard). Using it for cardboard voids the warranty, but at just over $100 it’s already paid for itself.

I bought the “Amazon Basics 15-sheet cross-cut, CD Credit card Office Shredder”

I see they now have 18 and 24 sheet versions that might do even better. But I’m happy with the one I got.

I’m planning on installing a whole house fan…they are awesome. My problem is that in the hottest part of summer, outside temperatures may not fall into the cool range until 2-3am. I really don’t want to have to get up in the middle of the night to turn it on and then wander through the house to open a bunch of windows.

I’m sure it’s possible to have a temperature controlled switch to automatically turn the fan on at a certain temperature. But what about windows? I’m imagining having a louver panel that I can put in windows during the summer. When the fan turns on, the negative house pressure would crack open the louvers. But when the AC runs, I think that creates a positive house pressure that would keep them closed.

Am I on the right path? What are the problems that might come up?  I appeal to the wisdom of the members here. . Thanks!!

I have a technique to help pellet rabbits transition quickly to fodder. I thought it might help others.

I often get rabbits that other people have culled from their show rabbit lines.  I don’t have time to harvest all of them at once and don’t want to feed them expensive pellets until I can process them.

I have a temporary enclosure that I put out in the yard. I put my rabbits that have already converted to forage into the enclosure and let them eat the grass/weeds all the way down.  Then I trade them out for the pellet only rabbits. There is not much fresh green to eat at that point, and the ground has been pooped on quite a bit from my rabbits that already have the correct bacteria combinations to digest fresh material. I have a theory that as the new rabbits eat tiny amounts of new growth that is “inoculated” with the bacteria from poop, they pick up the bacteria themselves.

Every morning and evening I move the enclosure just a bit so there is more fresh grass exposed, increasing the amount of new fresh space each time.  Of course they have pellets in the enclosure as well until they have fully transitioned. It takes about three days, but I’ve never lost a rabbit doing it this way.

Thermal Mass Idea
I was not sure where exactly to post this question, passive solar, gardening, hydroponics, biophilic design, or upcycling as what I want to do applies to all.  But I thought the knowledge I most need to answer my question would reside with the thermal mass folks.

Here’s my problem.  I have a long great room of kitchen, dining room and family room along the south side of my house.  There are 2- 5’x5’ windows, 1 4’x4’ window and a sliding glass door.  I love the light and warmth.  However, this is a home that was not constructed with any thermal mass other than drywall…even the floor is wood over a crawl space.  So, usually by noon, the room is too warm and the blinds are closed.  Eventually, I would like to add some decorative rock to the long wall on the north side of the room, but with the cost that is a few years out.



So, my idea is to make window gardens in the 2 largest windows and have the container bottles be as close together as possible.  My question is to the best growing medium to use – most of the mediums I have seen are regular soil, to straight water, to some other hydroponic medium.  I obviously want to have the most heat stored.  A brown soil would absorb the heat better than water, but I could obviously paint the bottles any color I want.

Please, any advice about growing medium or any other thoughts on this project would be greatly appreciated.