Tom Turner

I love watching YouTube videos of less developed areas around the world who do much with less. I watch SE Asians extract timber from the woods with tiny motorbikes or haul massive volumes of goods around urban environments on these same 200cc motorbikes. But Americans “have” to have a truck to do anything, yet 99.5% of trucks I see are hauling nothing but the driver. Since the early 90s I've owned a series of small economy cars with 1.5 liter motors with a 5 speed. I put on sturdy roof racks with tie points on all of them and trailer hitches for my small utility trailer. Do this to your existing car, then use it for one year before you decide you “need” a truck.

If you are part of a group, community or some trusting social environment then collaborate on co-ownership/sharing of a “real” truck. I suggest buying an old van cab RV Built on a heavy-duty truck frame dual wheeled heavy axles and brakes. These typically can be found for very little money because the RV section of it is trashed, often because of roof leaks. They typically have very low miles because they sit most of the time. But because of their age they leak and need seals. Strip the RV section and install a nice flat bed with stake pockets, a solid headache rack, maybe with a small crane attached, and a winch with some ramps. Most of these RVs would allow a 14-18-foot-long flat bed and can haul some serious loads and tow even more loads. Like in its former life as an RV, it should just sit most of the time and only be called upon for big jobs while small 1.5 liter economy cars with roof racks and trailers do most of the day-to-day movement of stuff. Just my opinion- small cars or Kei trucks, people carrying vans and “real” trucks best satisfy transport needs. Using a modern truck as a daily driver and with extra seats as an occasional people carrier with a tiny cargo capacity which is usually empty, Is impractical.

I have a sort of “paleo” mindset or have more trust in the more ancient things and more distrust in more modern things, especially distrust in the explosion of inventions in the last century. In the first city states archaeologists find what they believe to be fermentation pits, or pools dug out into rocks which they believe were used to turn grain into beer. The proliferation of grain was a new invention of agriculture. I speculate that they combined their new abundance of grain with a more ancient knowledge of fermentation.

The proper conditions for fermentation can be found in nature- On a rocky coastline at the full moon high tide one can find pools of salt water furthest from the ocean in which to place their gathered plants. They could then leave them there until the next full moon tide. In warmer weather they would need to cover with seaweed or transport some sea water to make up for evaporation.  This would leave no archaeological record and could be millions of years old.

I'm a big fan of fermentation. Besides the health benefits of SCFA’s (short chain fatty acids) I really like that, in the right conditions, the Lactobacillus bacteria is all-powerful. If I have the formation of a little bit of fungus around the edges, I just stir it in and it will surely die. Nothing in the kimchi will survive except the Lactobacillus guaranteeing food security.

We the cooks, are a farmer tending to our herds of lactobacillus. To thrive they need food of course, and water for their environment. They prefer their water salty and acidic. They are also anaerobic oxygen haters and must be submerged.

I’m no expert, just what I've read somewhere, that Lactobacillus thrive at a salinity of 2 – 2.5 % by weight of salt, and a minimum acidity of 4.6 PH (which we know by taste). I use this much salt and don’t find the finished Kimchee to be noticeably salty, probably because of the wonderful sourness/acidity of it. By this standard (if it is correct) your batch size would call for a ½ kilo of salt.

I love the topic of bent trees. The British used to search the New England forests and mark certain bent trees for the bow portion of a ship's keel and other curvy pieces. Hedge laying and living willow fences/sculptures are some ways that we purposely bend trees to our will. In the last year I’ve had success in shaping my trees by simply tying rope to the branch and pulling it to where I want it. When I first do it the rope is under a lot of tension but when I go back a month or so later the rope becomes slack as the fibers of the tree adjust to their new shape. It's such great fun!

Anne Miller wrote:Since you must till by hand, why not consider using a no-till method?

Maybe this Thread about to till, not to till and why will help:

https://permies.com/t/65316

Hi Anne, I started the thread you recommended. I feel honored.  I just wanted to weigh in that over the four years since that thread I've Swung hard to the no-till side.  I think Diego Footer is right that roots are the best way to get biomass deep into the soil. And the fungi are a very important member of the soil-building team. Chopping them up with a rototiller creates a step back in soil health. Tilling should only ever be a one time event  for very poor soil.  

Walt, Very good! Some in distributism talk about "naturally occurring groups" which could be family or others who unite through commitment. Commitment is the foundation which started to crumble with the shift to individual wage earning. Marriage vows are no longer sacred and there are no commitments in an employment agreement - resumes are simply personal histories of broken relationships. Hannah Arendt states it well: “The remedy for unpredictability, for the chaotic uncertainty of the future, is contained in the faculty to make and keep promises. …  binding oneself through promises, serves to set up in the ocean of uncertainty, which the future is by definition, islands of security without which not even continuity, let alone durability of any kind, would be possible in the relationships between men.”

I think you're right that Japanese culture can teach us a lot. I have read that the rise of the Japanese auto industry was very much fueled by Demming's manufacturing philosophy combined with extensive cottage industry of thousands of family owned and run machine shops, partially an inheritance of a WWII Japanese war-machine decentralizing industry to make difficult targets for American B-29s. I'm told that even today that most machine parts are made in small family run shops. And sadly Japan is on the leading edge of the pathos of individual wage earning. They call it Muen Shakai, literally “no-relationship society,”  "The paradigmatic example was “muen shi” (solitary death), in which people died unnoticed, their bodies undiscovered for days or weeks or longer, and no known family or acquaintances to claim the remains."

The only minor disagreement I have is that our rugged individual ethos/narrative hasn't always dominated American culture. It is an invention of modernity. The point when it reached critical mass was WWII. I call it the iron curtain of history-  where life before it was forgettable and regrettable - and after it everything is all shiny and new and wonderful! We can now die alone amidst the splendor of the human artifice.

One factor to consider is the temperature of the greenhouse. If we allow the temp to get very hot the greenhouse becomes a powerful evaporator. If the temps are kept low by heat-sinking to a thermal mass it becomes a poor evaporator.

I think with some carefulness I think plants can be house-trained. Incorporate these:

<> efficient heat transfer to a substantial thermal mass

<> keep all soil well mulched

<> drain all catch pans

<> avoid over-watering,  which I think people tend to do to help the plants survive the massive heat of the "hot house", which if you control becomes a non-issue.

<> good ventilation (and not just for the plants, we need ventilation also). Install a heat recovery system and exchange 4-500 CFM.

Kevin Wang wrote:House exterior walls are not waterproof. If you have super high humidity air on the outside, it will make its way into your house's walls and feed mold, rot wood, etc. cement is not waterproof. stucco is not waterproof. wood is not waterproof. tar paper may be pretty waterproof, but usually when the side of a house is layered with tar paper, kraft paper, or house wrap, it's layered, much like shingles. it's designed so that gravity will pull water droplets (i.e. from rain) away and out from the building. If you build a greenhouse, humidity is air, not water droplets, and will happily go upwards into your house.

I would not recommend an attached greenhouse, because of the humidity.

An attached/enclosed porch is different, because there is no moisture.

Kevin I think you exaggerate humidity's ability to pass through vapor barriers. If it were true then greenhouses would never accumulate humidity, they would just release it to the outside air.

But I think I'm the other way. I want to trivialize humidity.

Isn't it possible to minimize moisture loading by mulching everything. I also thought that it wouldn't be too difficult to drain all the catch pans into a container and recycle the water.  I tend to think about the ideal of living with your garden. We give them love; nutrients; water and CO2. They give us Oxygen; psychological warm-n-fuzzy feelings and food.