Permaculture Forums from the Permaculture Research Institute - Designing, building, making and powering your life http://forums.permaculturenews.org/ en Fri, 24 May 2013 01:52:50 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.permaculturenews.org/images/misc/rss.png Permaculture Forums from the Permaculture Research Institute - Designing, building, making and powering your life http://forums.permaculturenews.org/ Transportable Building http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16618-Transportable-Building&goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 10:48:46 GMT We have recently put a demountable building/site office on skids on our 13 acre rural property to live in as temporary accommodation until such time... We have recently put a demountable building/site office on skids on our 13 acre rural property to live in as temporary accommodation until such time as we can afford to build. There is no bathroom or laundry, just a kitchen with cold water only. My question is do we need a permit (Gold Coast Council) and what are our rights? ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life overit http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16618-Transportable-Building Wicking Bed Designs http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16603-Wicking-Bed-Designs&goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 01:26:31 GMT Hi there, I am putting in a raised garden bed at a community centre and plan on making it a wicking bed to make maintenance easier. I have been... Hi there, I am putting in a raised garden bed at a community centre and plan on making it a wicking bed to make maintenance easier. I have been thinking about two different designs to create the reservoir which are bit different to the usual in that they dont use a pond liner. Part of the reason that I dont want to use a pond liner is that I am a little concerned about the food safety of using soft plastics. So my two other options are as follows. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts about these ideas.

1. The raised garden bed is large enough to place 2 plastic sand pits inside which could act as the reservoir. The idea would be to install the pits over a drainage layer so that the pits would just spill internally (ie there would not be an outlet in the wall of the bed). This would be a pretty easy option to install.

2. Using a garden bed with a base and ensuring that it is a watertight with a paint on product that a friend has which he says meets Australian drinking water standards (I think it is an acrcylic product and he used it to make a tank for his aquaponics system). This system would require an outlet in the wall of the garden bed.

Any thoughts about durability of these two options? Also any thoughts about the best medium for filling the reservoir. I am thinking of using mostly washed sand but with some aggregate around the distribution pipe to make sure that the pipe drains freely.

Thanks in advance! ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life lindski http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16603-Wicking-Bed-Designs Elements of Permaculture House Design http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16594-Elements-of-Permaculture-House-Design&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 12:42:42 GMT Hi All, We are slowly getting ready to design a house. Or rather to give input to some kind of house designer such that they will design one for... Hi All,

We are slowly getting ready to design a house. Or rather to give input to some kind of house designer such that they will design one for us. Most of my experience is with conventional suburban houses. If forum members have elements of their house that they are especially happy/unhappy with as they relate to a permaculture world, details, things to keep in mind or even just points to mull over would be much appreciated.

Things on my mind are:

Mud room: a utility room, airlock between the outside and the inside of the house. A place we can drop things we bring from outside, deposit outside equipment like tools and muddy clothes, wash food and selves. Perhaps I'll put washing machine in here. It can be on the south side of the house.

Pantry: easy access to kitchen and maybe mud room. Away from hot things (stove, hot water system, north and west side of house). When I toured David Holmgren's house he had a long pipe burried under the ground that fed directly into the bottom of a small food storage area. The air was kept constantly flowing through temperature differential. It was quite remarkable how much cool air was flowing through the space.

Greenhouse: Could be joined to the north side of the house as a part of the building, perhaps even with a vent system to feed warm air into the house in winter. Or it could be separate and built later. As part of the house, means more expensive?, Blocks view from living space to the north of the house. An architect told me that the air if vented into the house can be quite humid so it was better not to do it. Mollison suggests adjoining chook house and greenhouse to house.

Shed: storage, workshop, vehicles go here. Water collection for house from the roof. Can be near the house or up the hill (negating the need for pump to pressurize water). Seems like a very frequent walk from the house so maybe nearby and pump to pressurize water is better. Freezer goes here on in mud room.

Dining Area come utility workspace. Heavy strong dining table that can double as workspace for preserving/bottling/packing. Easy access to pantry.

Cellar/basement - no idea. I'm thinking to get the Root Celar book so I can understand more of its benefits and also how much could be gained by building one in conjunction with the house rather than later at my leisire.

Finally, do you think a wood burning oven, for use in winter makes sense? It can cook our food, heat our water, heat our house. In summer we could use a hotplate, BBQ and brick oven to cook. I lived for years in Asia where few have ovens, so I know its quite doable. But I can't seem to find too many people who thinks its a good idea (my wife does not number amongst them). We've got plenty of wood. In fact my site plan is going to call for trimming a few degrees of trees from our north east aspect.

Cheers,
tas ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life Tasman http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16594-Elements-of-Permaculture-House-Design Software for design work http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16589-Software-for-design-work&goto=newpost Mon, 13 May 2013 23:10:33 GMT This question is directed at anyone who is doing design work. I would like to find out which software program folks are using for design. I know... This question is directed at anyone who is doing design work. I would like to find out which software program folks are using for design. I know many probably use sketch up but it seems like it would be inadequate for many things. I draw many things by hand but it would be nice to have a cad drawing for overlays and ease of changing as it seems my own place the design is a living document much like a business plan. Curious what might be the best to use. Thanks! ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life timoneill http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16589-Software-for-design-work DIY Open Bottom Brooder Pen / Broody Hen Box http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16579-DIY-Open-Bottom-Brooder-Pen-Broody-Hen-Box&goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 11:27:09 GMT I recently published a blog post with detailed instructions on how we built our outdoor brooder tractor / broody hen box. Click the lick to see... I recently published a blog post with detailed instructions on how we built our outdoor brooder tractor / broody hen box.

Click the lick to see the post (Pic heavy)
http://wholeviewfarm.blogspot.com/20...roody-hen.html


Please let me know what you think of the concept and the design.

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]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life Wholeview http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16579-DIY-Open-Bottom-Brooder-Pen-Broody-Hen-Box Pit Greenhouses http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16550-Pit-Greenhouses&goto=newpost Wed, 01 May 2013 10:47:30 GMT Thanks to Kirsten 'milkwood' Bradley on facebook for this find! She is always digging up gold like these!


http://www.inspirationgreen.com/pit-greenhouses.html ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life matto http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16550-Pit-Greenhouses Recovering land from pine trees http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16532-Recovering-land-from-pine-trees&goto=newpost Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:32:54 GMT I have found 10 acres of forest covered with a monoculture of Pine trees between 5-20 years old that I am considering buying. The idea would be to... I have found 10 acres of forest covered with a monoculture of Pine trees between 5-20 years old that I am considering buying. The idea would be to recover the land from the allelopathic effects as quickly as possible.

How hard is it to recover land from pines (say compared to compacted pasture land)?
Do the needles need to be collected too? How?

I was thinking of something like this:
  1. clear the land of pines (and needles if necessary)
  2. get cows into manure the region and eat the remaining veggies
  3. Keyline subsoil rip it (10-15 cm) on contour (allowing the manure to enter the soil)
  4. plant various cover crops and green mulch it 3-4 times over the next year
  5. build dam and swale system and food forest
  6. Repeat sub-soil ripping to greater depths in following years
How does that sound? Any thoughts or tips?


Cheers


Jason ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life Jaenicoll http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16532-Recovering-land-from-pine-trees I have leaky ground! http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16529-I-have-leaky-ground!&goto=newpost Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:10:29 GMT Hi everyone,

I have a small (2.5 acre) property in Queensland with most of the land sloping away. I'm keen to place swales to collect/direct/store water, but my soil is a mixture of clay and rock. This causes any water collected to quickly soak away into the ground. This poses a problem for me in terms of storing the water and I'm after some advice regarding ameliorating this problem.
Quite close to my property a neighbour has a large amount of good quality clay and I was wondering if I should use this resource to build the swales and cap the water path rather than dig up the existing ground.Any advice would be most welcome,

Scot. ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life aldreds http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16529-I-have-leaky-ground! Rainwater collection http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16517-Rainwater-collection&goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:32:18 GMT Hi All, The landlords at our place here in Adelaide finally removed the rusted-out water tank from the 6mx6m shed. I can now install something... Hi All,

The landlords at our place here in Adelaide finally removed the rusted-out water tank from the 6mx6m shed. I can now install something that actually works so I can collect the rainwater for the garden. Having no experience in this, I'm looking for some advice from all the experts out there :)

We're starting with guttering intact connected to a single outlet at about 2m from the ground (currently open to drop the water to the ground).

My initial thought is to use 2-3 IBCs in a stack with the water flowing from the shed into the bottom tank(s) with a solar-powered transfer pump to fill the top tank to provide enough pressure head to water the garden.

Before I buy the bits, any suggestions or advice to make something work? ]]> Designing, building, making and powering your life Pragmatist http://forums.permaculturenews.org/showthread.php?16517-Rainwater-collection