Frank Pettingill

I hope we can get an update on the flavor of those beans? Do they taste decent? We're you unimpressed with the volume of your harvest?

Though I don’t think this project would be for me it does sound like an amazing opportunity for somebody! I am curious as to what you mean by polyculture pond though… I am familiar with the concept of a polyculture in the sense of Gardening but I’m not sure how one would implement a structured polyculture in a pond setting.

Hello Everybody!

I'm excited to share the initial layout for Faehaven Farmstead's Stage 1 with you all. I'm looking for some feedback on this layout, as it's the foundation of the whole project. The design of the tiny house and its required foundation played a significant role in shaping the arrangement of the other buildings.

I want to highlight that the driveway's elevation will be increased by a minimum of 4 inches on the higher side, and adjustments will be made on the lower side to ensure it's level. This is crucial because the tiny house's foundation needs to be perfectly level, making the setup process safe and straightforward.

The trees flanking the driveway will be planted in HugelKultur mounds, which involve digging down into the native soil by about 1 to 2 feet before mounding them up to 1 to 2 feet above ground level. Additionally, I plan to incorporate "gutters" on either side of the driveway, approximately 6 inches deep. These will help collect and absorb rainwater into the mounds during storms.

In the layout, you'll notice a layer of mulch, which will be at least 8 inches deep. This thickness ensures that the pathways throughout the yard remain clear. To maintain a balanced carbon/nitrogen ratio in the yard, I'll be using whole tree mulch, ensuring I don't introduce raw wood without the necessary balance.

The raised beds will follow my own design, measuring 4 feet by 8 feet and standing at a height of 3 feet. These HugelKultur raised beds serve a practical purpose for me, given my back pain issues from work. They'll help me tend to the garden more comfortably without prolonged kneeling.

I am looking forward to sharing more details about the raised beds and their construction in a separate post as I progress with the project. Thanks for your input and support!

Tiny House Shed


Stage 1 Homestead Layout

I work in the construction field and regularly deal with things that require a great deal of load-bearing capacity. I would be happy to answer these questions for you to the best of my ability; however, I would recommend double-checking my answers against multiple sources to confirm their accuracy (as you should with any advice you receive from anyone )

Lotus Raber wrote:So I am a newbie looking to build a very basic and small root cellar from a cinder block.

Few questions
1-I have read the roof should be arched for condensation issues. It's extremely dry here in the desert. Does this still apply?

Applying an arched roof in a root cellar not only sheds water more efficiently but also provides additional strength in the construction. Arches are far stronger than your standard flat roof or even a pitch, and because route cellars are typically buried, this is going to be of paramount importance so you do not have any collapses that occur.

Lotus Raber wrote:
2-Are there any concerns I should be aware of in keeping the dirt floor?

Any moisture in the soil can bleed up through a dirt floor. Dirt floors are not bad; however, it would be wise to monitor humidity levels within the root cellar. It may also be wise to consider the possibility of radon infiltration and provide some ventilation to protect yourself and your produce. Lastly, leaving a dirt floor in a space that stores food does allow for the introduction of pest species capable of tunneling. If you are going to leave a dirt floor, it may be wise to rent a compactor and try to mimic the compacted dirt floors used in some European green buildings, as this will provide a solid layer that could prevent the presence of pests species. It will mean you’ll need to purchase a fair amount of linseed oil, though lol.

Lotus Raber wrote:
3-Most people are building on a homestead and leaving the top of the cellar’s exposed works out there. Still, mine would be in my small backyard, and I wanted to bury it enough so that the space above it could still be used for either a patio or even just being able to walk over it. So the goal is not to hide it but still have use of the space on top. What do I build the roof out of?
Most of the builds and advice I see are for natural roofs or a big cement pad, and I was trying to figure out what other options I could do where I wouldn’t have it cave in, but I’m also not driving a car over it.

If you do a good job building it out of concrete block with an arch you can simply cover the concrete block wall that you’ve constructed with black pond liner before burying the structure under several feet of soil. If you engineered the arch correctly this would be sufficient to allow for the ground above to be used for a patio, raised beds, etc. there are a lot of great art calculators and engineering schematic generators online for Quansett hut style arches which would be more than sufficient for your job.

Lotus Raber wrote:
4-Is there a target depth that the roof should be under the ground surface to maintain the integrity of the roof and surface on top?

I appreciate everyone’s experience in kicking me if I’m way off track

I believe that if you are going to be utilizing the space above the arch ceiling on your root cellar it would be wise to have a minimum of 3 feet of soil above the root cellar. This will serve you in a couple of ways: first, the dirt will help evenly distribute the loads placed on it by your patios raised beds etc. the weight will compress the soil which will evenly distribute that weight through the concrete arch and to the side walls of the Quonset hut style root cellar. Second, having 3 feet of soil over the top of your roof seller will provide a  solid thermal barrier and thermal battery keeping the structure at a more even temperature. and lastly having the roof buried under 3 feet of soil will provide an excellent moisture control seeing as the water flowing onto the soil above the dome will have a chance to percolate around the dome more easily as opposed to coming into almost immediate direct contact. I think it should go without saying that whatever you are going to do with the location above the root cellar this should not ever include a tree because no matter how good your construction job is a tree will scarf at it and quickly and mercilessly destroy your root cellar.

From what I have found Peoni flowers, roots, and seeds have versatile uses in the kitchen and as medicine. Here is a link to a study analyzing the chemical makeup of each different part of the plant: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0926669019310386

Hope this helps!

You’ve got to love the extra helpers on the homestead! I hope that this beneficial spider can mate and reproduce on your land do you can have a healthy community get established!

Timothy Norton wrote:Wow! What a plot!

Do you know what exactly is contaminating the ground water in the area? Just for my own curiosity.

How much rain does the area get on average?

I do intend on finding out what might be the contaminant in the ground water, but as of yet I have a few suspects including a fire suppressant, a road Deicer, oil from a nearby raceway, or something from the bombing test range that the us military uses nearby. The rainfall in the area is 17” of rain annually.

I am not sure, as text conveys emotions poorly, but I sense I may have caused friction somehow…I am sorry if that is the case. As I said in my introduction; I am new to the community and new to actively using and discussing permaculture. I will try to answer all of your questions to the best of my ability though. 😅

John C Daley wrote:I work to improve the soil, not provide fodder for political movements IE, 'stay free,' you are free now. You just can't run roughshod over others in the way some groups argue. Water laws are in place to try and spread it around, not like the way early landholders had to deal with larger ranchers. Capturing runoff water to soak in, having a tank for reasonable consumption, will generally pass the 'reasonable person' test.

My overall goal is to try and improve the ecology of the property I am on first and foremost. Second, I need to take care of myself and provide water security for myself while living small and efficiently. I plan on using water in the most efficient ways I can whilst ensuring the soil on my property is storing as much moisture as in can use. If I am storing 4” of rain in the soil but my plants are using 5” of rain then I need to do something to adjust my plant’s consumption or my soil’s storage capacity.

Water will always eventually move off the land, it's inevitable. But I feel like since it fell on my property first, it's my water first. If I am a responsible steward whatever water falls on my property will also leave my property at the same time because I have replenished the ecosystem on my land effectively. I am sure that as I slowly grown my property I will encounter intermittent periods where I am taking in more water than I am releasing until an equilibrium is reached.

Although I disagree with the water laws for my own deeply held personal beliefs, I know they exist to keep people from just collection absurd amounts of water in poly tanks. If I were to store a year’s worth of water for my own use, it would equate to around 3-5 thousand gallons. Even if I did that from purely rainwater collection, it would be a temporary pause in the water leaving the property. Once the system was full, it would move back to an equal amount of water in and out of the system.

This type of consumption is really not my style. I cannot forsee a period where the rain would ever stop locally long enough to warrant storing an entire year’s worth of water.

John C Daley wrote:Joseph, great experiences there. Frank, when you are removing mulch from another area, is that ‘stealing from nature?’

Technically yes? I think that so long as the resources are not being trucked a thousand miles away, you are still within the ecological impact zone of the original resource. The local chippers' dump sites are gathering and collecting material from all over the county into these dumps and giving it away for free. Free material which will simply sit and rot in one spot instead of being distributed back amongst the community on everyone’s properties. Since this site is devoid of trees or sources of mulch I would need to collect it from outside my property.. But I don't want to accidentally import an invasive insect/mold/fungus/etc. By buying large commercial grade mulch.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:I worked for decades trying to green a section of desert in northern Nevada with about half that rain. Based on my experiences, I suggest the following...

Hugelkulture seems like a technique for damp areas that encounter short-term intermittent water deficiencies. They seem less useful in locations with chronic water shortages.

Grow species where they will grow rather than trying to make a hedge along the property line. If you have ample irrigation, then no worries, plant whatever you want wherever you want. Though a hedge of cholla sounds fascinating.

Most native food forest crops barely pass an edibility test. I wouldn't want to try to feed a family only on crops native to a particular county in Colorado. Apricot and Goji survived in the Nevada desert without supplemental water or special care.  Roam your local area, and observe what edible plants grow in the badlands. Some might thrive for you, regardless of where they happened to live 500 years ago.

Observe, observe, observe. See where the water actually flows and start there, especially at the highest point where water consistently transits. I love spots where water runs off the hard-packed roads. Water concentrates there. If possible, go outside during the fiercest rain events to see what really happens. Where I thought water flowed in my youth doesn't match where I observed it flowing in my old age.

Single-layer rock dams and single-layer deep logs laid perpendicular to the flow of water worked best for me. Then, after a run-off event, I added another single-layer deep check dam. That way, I didn't impede the water in any visible way; the structures acted as sediment traps. Sand dams hold 40% water after a run-off event. That water becomes invisible to passers-by, but still seeps into the ground and may come out downhill or nurture plants.

At my place, the air contained so little moisture that collecting it from the air broke the bank.

This is excellent advice, and if you don't mind, I will be reading up on all of your posts to see what other information I can glean from your conversations. 😉 I never considered a sand dam before! Being from the East Coast, sand was something to try to eliminate lol.

I plan on going out daily to write an observation log and a personal self-reflection log. This will help me to not only learn about my property and its quirks but also help me get my mental health under control. I will start in stage one, which is very small, only beginning enough to help me get my feet wet before expanding.