Helen Siddall-Butchers

Admission!  I've just answered the other thread about how often we clean, and smugly stated that since we have updated our house (smooth plaster, good windows, proper insulation etc etc) we hardly need to 'clean' at all.  Then I looked at the arm of the fabric covered sofa I'm sitting on and realised it hasn't been cleaned for a very long time and has a couple of random stains and unidentified grubbiness on it!!!

I use throws to cover it (3 dogs!) but sometimes they slip.  

So!  Please help with natural ways to spruce up the fabric-covered furniture!  

I have vinegar, can get baking soda, and may be able to find a steamer to borrow... but what do I do?  Make a paste?  Scrub?  Steam to sogginess and then dry?  I don't know the best way to tackle this...but I know you all will have the answer! 😊

Thank you! 🙏

This is a great question, but, as already stated, I think clarification is necessary!

We used to have cleaners weekly for a couple of hours, because we never felt "clean" and the house always had a 'grubby' feel to it.  

We've been slowly upgrading through building works... proper insulation, good windows, big floor tiles instead of the small "more grout than tile" cracked mess that was there before.  Proper tile baseboards.  And vast amounts of decluttering.

All the parts of the house that have been upgraded now only need a quick sweep and mop a couple of times a week, and windows cleaned when they need it (depends on season).

We have no shelves or windowsills, so almost no dusting.  No more mould because of the insulation.  

The two rooms still to be done are dirty.  However hard we work, they stay grubby feeling.  We have 'knobbly' plaster in those rooms that hold every particle of dust.  The windows let in dust round the edges.  The cracked small tiles and endless grout on the floor could be constantly scrubbed and not look or feel clean.  Mould grows where there's no insulation.  And we haven't finished decluttering them so there's 'stuff' for dust to land on.  

But we have plans for both rooms to be done in the same way as the rest of the house by next year, so at that point I imagine there'll be hardly any in depth cleaning, and yet it will be clean!  Wahhoo!!

I wake at 7am in winter, 5 or 6am in summer (in Spain the high summer here regularly reaches 40°c+ so early is necessary)

I take the dogs outside for their breakfast, put the contents of the compost jar in my compost tube while they're eating, usually start a load of washing and then come in to my first pot of coffee (definitely a permie theme!)

I journal daily, take my turn on word games with friends (we always say it's a useful 'proof of life' system!), make breakfast and line up ideas for jobs to do that day.

My most recent addition has been adding in 10 minutes of vigorous stepping/dancing to some loud music (in my headphones!)... it's really helping me to be more focused when the day starts for real.

I really struggle when my morning routine is disturbed in any way... it's like my internal computer needs to boot up correctly or all day long I get error messages 🤔😁

Thank you all so much for your full and accurate advice.  It is much appreciated.

I'm still reading and re-reading, but am already seeing some ideas forming for how to move forward.

I'm happy to say that I think our house *should* be safe; we have concrete pads all round, three hoses on different sides on the house for damping down, and no appreciable vegetation next to it.

Outbuildings need attention, in particular the one I work in, as it has thick tree coverage around it, so I'll be doing some pruning!

Realistically, if my mini food forest burns, I'll probably lose a lot, but equally, I took solace from the idea that the ecosystem may benefit in many ways, and also think that my hugelkultur (damper than anywhere else, and with ponds at the top), plus a separate pond, might mitigate some areas from being too damaged.

I definitely need to make an emergency pack though.  Trying to remember where I put the dog passports is not a good idea in an emergency!

I will continue to keep referring to your wise words.  Many thanks, stay safe!  (Ps we're expecting rain today, wahhhoooooo!!!)

Helen

That's extremely helpful advice, thank you.

I live the information sheets, and particularly the reference to this being a natural and necessary phenomenon.  

I'm going to take the guidance and audit my land to see if changes need to be made.

Interesting point about the insurance... I'll check my policy.

Many thanks!

Hi all!

We live in Eastern Spain where I'm growing a food forest (veganpermaculturespain).

It's summer, and already mid-30s°c.  

Since moving here nearly a decade ago, we have had numerous wildfires in close proximity (although thankfully they've never reached us, and we've never needed to evacuate.)

A local 'gardener' has constant adverts on Facebook suggesting that all our terraces should be cleared.  This involves strumming and clearing everything from the land, leaving the soil bare.

I understand that that means there's nothing to ignite, but it also means that the soil is being killed by the sun.

My food forest is growing on one of these terraces.  It has layer upon layer of chop and drop mulch, dense planting in lots of places, increasing levels of shade as the trees grow, a vastly improved soil structure which now holds the moisture and even has worms!  (The soil was so hard and compacted when I started, I needed to water for an hour before I could plant anything)

Am I realistic in thinking that my food forest will be more resistant to fire than my neighbours monoculture of almond trees dotted across the field with no other vegetation anywhere?

I'm trying to learn about how fires start from various things, eg, lightning strike, as we get lots of dry electrical storms, or sun reflecting off objects (eg a tin can was the culprit locally recently) or, of course, discarded cigarette butts from passing cars.

And also what factors to consider as the fire develops... eg on another thread it said to clear wood debris, but I have piles if sticks for bugs to live in, and a hugelkulture, are these problematical?

And finally Geoff Lawton referred to fire resistant trees, but I couldn't find a list for my geographical area!

Sorry for the rambled musings and lots of questions!

Any help and expert knowledge would be very much appreciated.

Helen

Thanks Thomas!

Yes, definitely will aim to keep it covered... although I'm expecting this drizzle today to be the last moisture we see from the sky until October, if last year is anything to go by.

I'm going to have a look around various suppliers to see what options they might have for fire or clay bricks... if I don't need many, I might be better to buy them new.

Lots to consider!

I have friends at Quinta de Chumberia and couldn't believe the extent of the outage when I heard they were off too 😳

Great cartoon... and yes, one to add to the myriad of (many highly implausible) 'possibilities' for what happened!

Ah!  Camping gaz!  I wonder if I still have mine, and if so, what state it's in!  I'll go and root around in the store/junk room to see if I can find it!

At least with all the physical activity you kept warm!!

It's certainly given us stuff to think about.  Who knows if it will happen again, but I'd like to be fully prepared next time if it does...

Haha!  You made me spit my coffee out!!!

Thank you!  We have new blocks around the place, so hopefully they'd be stronger, and we don't get a lot of rain, so the moisture content shouldn't be too much of a factor...  so if it happens again soon I'll be okay.

But I'm now actually thinking I should do a proper job with fire brick, sooner rather than later, while I can easily obtain materials and have the capacity to build... then I can use it in the winter while I'm working outside, even if I don't 'need' it for a crisis...

Hi,

We live in Spain and had a day long, unexplained, power outage on Monday.

Most stuff was covered (thanks permies!) but I couldn't heat water or food as all our cooking is currently electric.

I'm not going to be caught out again (need my morning coffee!)

I've been looking at the basic 5 block rocket stoves, which I could make today from what's available around the garden.

But, looking at the comments, lots of people were concerned about the fireproof-ness of the (concrete) blocks.

Should I be worried, or can I just go ahead?  I value the opinions in this wonderful forum!

Many thanks

Helen
Veganpermaculturespain.com