Christopher de Vidal

Can't believe I'm the first to share this jaw-dropping video
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http://permaculturenews.org/2013/06/28/geoff-lawtons-zaytuna-farm-video-tour-part-ii/

Last year I took some time out to make a Zaytuna Farm Video Tour for you all. The positive comments, both on our site and on YouTube, along with additional questions (see comments below this post), encouraged us to make another!

This new video, above, shot 11-12 months after the original video, is twice as long and covers several aspects of the farm — some we hadn’t covered before, and some we had, but now with additional aspects and details. You’ll see Geoff talking about natural buildings, cattle laneways, and how to keep goats parasite free. Geoff will take you through the entire plant nursery process at Zaytuna Farm, from seeds and potting through to actually planting a tree. You’ll see food forests at various stages of development, a new purpose-built fish pond that will soon be in production, and much more.

Geoff Lawton's PRI says these are "must watch" YouTubes. Looks good:
http://www.permaculturenews.org/permaculture-tv.htm

jack spirko wrote:See here is the thing all you need to do is talk to the teacher, ask the questions I gave you and judge for yourself. I am not trying to be consumer reports of PDC here. I just want people to know what to ask.

True, but you've won my respect and I trust your opinion. But here I'm asking others. Grin

I had asked Jack and now I ask you: Seems like the (using Jack's term) "real" PDCs are Geoff's online PDC, Midwest and Barking Frogs. In other's opinion, who else is trustworthy to be faithful to teach the concepts as Jack described it?

The bat solution at the end is just as productive and more permaculture-y. Better for the environment, too. Guano is probably good fertilizer and who knows what other layers can be stacked up? We live in NE Florida next to a stagnant pond but we almost never see mosquitoes (year-round!), probably because I see bats circling the pond at night.

To borrow a phrase from Mollison, you don't have a mosquito problem. You have a lack of bat problem

Confirmation that you can in fact save money. The topic is cooling but the principle is the same.
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/myths.html

Paul, good news! You no longer have to heat your bathroom (although you may want to). Here are some heated toilet seats. I only chose items with 4+ star ratings and sorted by cost.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st?bbn=228013&keywords=heated+toilet+seat&qid=1350320623&rh=n%3A228013%2Ck%3Aheated+toilet+seat%2Cp_72%3A1248909011&sort=price

I already have a goose-stuffed jacket and it's about halfway adequate in the winter Layered under that, my handy vest and maybe a muffler. I still haven't had a chance to think about your other questions, sorry.

Stumbled across another interesting Kindle ebook for free (Today only):
Food Self-Sufficiency: Reality Check (Formerly titled: Crunching the Numbers)

It's about how much space is needed for poverty survival. As a reminder, there are free Kindle reading apps for computers and smartphones, no need to own a Kindle.

M Troyka wrote:2) Do you really want to wear wool in florida?

Yes, for three reasons:
1) As stated in the original post, "We live in North Florida, which does have bitter but short winters" Don't think of Miami, which is over 300 miles away. Think of Southern Georgia. Even northern visitors are chilled by our relatively cool winters. I once visited the Keys during January; after passing Cocoa Beach we flipped the heater to air conditioner and didn't turn it off the whole trip That's how different it is down there; we hardly speak Spanish up here, there are fewer retirees, and almost no one has an orange tree because of annual hard freezes (low 20s typical, several days per year). The blessing though is the very coldest days are just November-March, and then only sporadically.
2) On top of that, I have a low thyroid, so I run the heater 365 days a year
3) I can't think of anything else that I can raise myself, which is warm in winter, still warm when wet (lots of dampness here), and easy to work into clothing. Cotton is great in the summer, which is why I mentioned it. Goose down, but still need something to trap the feathers; best to have wool for that.

M Troyka wrote:Would sheep even want to wear wool in florida?

Apparently so.

Those are appropriate and understandable questions though! Hope to look at your other questions later.