Some of our Concept Illustrations

The layout.....

 I thought maybe I'd dig into my archive of illustrations I created while working out some concepts to try out when we get to that point.

Smaller gravel drains water down to the ground. The vapor barrier keeps out moisture. Insulation keeps the heat from the sun-baked sand and brick from losing heat to the earth. Sand, brick and grout act as thermal masses, absorbing sunlight in winter, and when shaded in summer help to wick heat out of the room.

As roof water enters the top pipe, it fills the bucket and traps heavier particles in the bottom,
eventually spilling over into the lower pipe. Additionally, a filter-cage can fit over the lower pipe to
prevent floating debris from entering the water tank.

Another way to keep particulated , both floating and heavier, is to let the water flow through  a J pipe before entering the storage tanks. By floating the pipe so water only enters from the middle of the tank, 
any floating debris or sinking debris that might get through the J tube will more likely be stopped in the first tank

Once the rainwater is gathered, a sustainable way to filter it is to build a tank and fill it with sand, gravel and charcoal.The top of this tank is kept wet by positioning the output pipe at a point level with the filtered-water storage tank's water level. This keeps the filtered tank full of water, so a film of microorganisms can live on that thin layer at the surface of the sand filter, where the microbiome can help clean up the water. The input pipe feeds the filter tank through tiny holes so the water just trickles in, not harming the microorganisms. Diverting rainwater to this filter is only necessary for drinking and cooking water. Again, positioning the intake pipe in the middle of the tank prevents heavy and floating debris from entering the filter tank, extending the life of the filter

Below is how we laid out our raised bed garden this year. I'd raked up a couple hundred pounds of leaves from the yard at the house we're renting and cleaned out the goat stalls and used them for the base to build up the garden beds, then added topsoil and then mulched with straw.



How it looks now...

These are plans I intend to submit to the county health department.

Basic house design

Heat transfer to improve stable air temperatures

Plan D

The bus is on the lot!

It cost us $850 to get it here, and they broke an axle doing it, but it's here! The first thing we noticed when we got inside the bus a week or so after we towed it here was that it wasn't nearly as hot as we thought it would be, even sitting in full sun. The cross breeze coming in from the windows kept it pretty tolerable inside. Being painted white helped, I'm sure.

We did a bunch of planting while waiting for the rain to come, and when it did we took brushes and rags and soap and started scrubbing on the top of the bus. It was covered in tree sap and algae from being under the trees in the woods for so long, but it was coming off pretty easily. We didn't finish cleaning it that day because it's planting season and we had a lot to do. We'll work on it during the rainy days. Then we'll paint it - cuz it really needs it!

But on the sunny days we plan to start working on the bump out. It won't be attached to the bus as originally thought because there's a 2ft space between the bus and the grassy area, so we'll cantilever the roof out to cover at least the south half of the bus, so that the rain hitting the north half of the bus will roll off the north side, and the cantilevered roof will catch the water on the south side and add to the collection tanks.

We've reconsidered adding the water from the drain to the greywater trench. It's too risky letting the driveway water hit the greywater because vehicles are so toxic - especially old ones. So we'll fill that drainage ditch with mulch inoculated with King Stropharia mushrooms to clean up any runoff from the driveway. Fortunately it still ends several feet before the grey water treatment area.

So as soon as we got the bus parked, the zoning inspector came by to take a look. I'm guessing we've got a Mrs Kravitz in the neighborhood who couldn't wait to let him know something was up.

He asked if we'd planned to stay in it, and we said yes. He said if we did, we were only allowed to stay in it for 3 months then we had to not stay in it for a month before we could stay in it again. He said he had to check to be sure, but we may even have to move it after that 3 months.

I could see that being the case in a public park but not on private land. Turned out later he checked with the county prosecutor and no such law existed.

Some time later the zoning inspector got a complaint, probably from that same neighbor, that we had a disabled vehicle on the property and a bunch of junk in the yard. We were told that we couldn't have a disabled vehicle in a residential area for more than 2 weeks unless it was kept in a building, like a pole building or garage. The problem with that was that the front of the bus was less than 40ft from the road. No permanent structures are permitted less than 40ft from the road. So the solution of building a pole barn around it would require asking for a variance.

That's when I asked for a 3rd time for a copy of the zoning ordinances. He printed one out for me on his home printer and stapled them all together for me for $10. 

Upon discussing the matter the next visit I explained that the 'junk' the neighbor was talking about was a bed frame we were using as a trellis for out cucamelons and that people use them in trendy areas of the city all the time. I've even seen a bed frame used as a gate in Olde Towne East in Columbus. He was willing to let that go. But he asked if I'd like to come to a town meeting of the zoning committee and I agreed.

I was the first to be able to bring up my concern at the meeting. I explained how we were building a food forest and were planning to fix up and live in the bus while building our house. I told them if they wanted to go ahead and send me the formal charge in the mail I'd be happy to appeal it, which involved them posting something in the local paper (for which I'd be charged $10) and having a meeting with whomever in the township had anything to say about it, and they'd make their decision after that.

Some weeks later I received a phone call from the zoning inspector stating concern that I might not have enough room to put in a septic system and still build a house and a garden in the only level ground on the lot. We were beginning to think we weren't wanted here. I'll cover my plans to deal with that subject in a later post.

I'm posting all this here because these are the hurdles that occur when trying an alternate lifestyle. The laws are on the books for a reason. The trick is to understand first the spirit of the law, keep your cool, and just ask how to go about obeying the rules and still being able to do what we want to do. To us, the bus isn't a vehicle. It is being repurposed for a 'tiny home'. People do the same thing with shipping containers and train cabooses. I have a bedframe in my garden - doesn't mean I sleep there. So I'm ready to take it to court if need be.

That was all in June of 2019. Fast forward to June of 2020 and we have yet to be formally charged with any violation. So we don't plan to move the bus off the property or further into the lot. There's too little room to maneuver and we want to keep the east-west orientation to maximize solar gain for the attached greenhouse. 

So plans to work on the bus have resumed. The plan now is to set 2ft long PVC pipes in cement in the ground beyond the 40ft mark, then bolt PVC pipes to it for a frame and stretch plastic across that frame - opaque on top and clear on the south wall - and attach the other end of the frame to the bus to secure it on the north side. So now the greenhouse won't be a permanent structure and neither will the bus.

We've been going down to the property on weekends and painting. We've been raising Andrea's grandson since November so with the coronavirus pandemic daycare had been closed for a couple months. They just reopened last month so we've had more time. I finished adding the blue earlier this week, after painting the roof white last weekend while Andrea painted inside.

It's looking much better, we think.

Building Plan C

So originally we'd planned on building a small house before we move to Soulstice Homestead, then thought, since we had the 4 grandkids to bring with us, perhaps we should start big.

Starting big has always been advised against by every homesteader ever to write a book or blog or host a podcast. Dealing with various family crises this year has pushed us into the direction of the current plan - plan C - which now seems much more practical and do-able.

Andrea had an old 1975 International Schoolbus that had been parked in storage for years from a previous life in the New Mexico Mountains. It had been converted to an RV, with wiring and a sink and lots of storage area and beds. We don't know if it runs but we had it towed to our current rental and it's been here for a few years. When her son and daughter, their significant others and children all moved in with us at the same time (12 bodies in one house) we decided it was time to clean up the bus, tow it to Soulstice Homestead, and set up our first living space.

We figure if mom is now home with the grandkids, we can set up a quick place to stay so we can spend several days on the land at a time, as well as get away from the pure chaos that has taken over our current home.

We have an electrician lined up to look at the wiring and make sure it's sound. We've been cleaning it up on the inside and outside getting it ready to paint - since we have water here, but no rain catching system set up there yet. Much easier to paint when you have water  access. The bus is wiped down and swept out (picture left is the 'before' version).
We have a roll of Geotex to lay out on the strip of property where the bus will rest. We're digging out the area a foot or so deep so we can level it off, roll out the Geotex, dump gravel on it, then tow the bus down.

The plan is to park it so the front faces east, leaving the door open to the south, where we'll build a free-standing greenhouse as an extension of the living space and an outdoor kitchen/food prep area. The extension will be right above where we started the grey water trench , so the sinks will drain off to that easily. If we strawbale off the bottom of the bus it should help seal it off from the cold in winter.
To heat the bus this fall and winter, a rocket mass heater can go in the extension greenhouse and the exhaust can be piped off under the length of the bus and out the back so the heat rises from the heated cob through the metal floor of the bus, turning that temperature-conducting floor problem into an asset.

Our solar panels can go on top the bus, shading the roof from the hot sun, which will give some relief from the heat of summer, but we'll need more tricks than that to stay cool. A cob wall of plastic bottles with the bottoms cut off to create the venturi effect all along the upwind side of the extension could cool things off a bit. Some retractable blinds could help too, along with climbing vines with big leaves, like grape vines, all along the roof of the extension.

The 275 gallon water tanks will line the back of the bus, also covered in strawbales to keep out cold and sun. We believe we can fit 5 along the length of the bus, which should be more than enough. The other 6 can be used behind the pallet house and the animal sheds when we build them - all to the north to stay out of the sun.A solar pump will do for moving the water into the bus as needed.

 Reaching this solution has many benefits.

• We're keeping a lot of material (which is the bus) out of the landfills by turning it into a home.
• Being licensed as an RV means we can likely get away with using a composting toilet.
• It's already built and nearly ready to move in.
• It is weather resistant (aside from tornados).
• We're still paying off the land (til 2020), so if we somehow lose the land, the bus can move with us.
• The bus can be moved to more convenient parts of the land if needed - it's not necessarily a permanent structure.

I plan to move into the bus as soon as it gets towed to Soulstice Homestead, driving to our current rental to take care of the animals until I can build shelters for them at the Homestead. Andrea works in town and will likely spend some nights in the bus and some in town until more conveniences can be added to the bus to make the commute more feasible.
We've had a lot of things blocking our way to living on our Homestead, but persistence and adapting to change are our allies on this journey.

update 3/21/2019

We've been digging a level bus pad to park the bus, though we've taken a break after my recent toe surgery. The gravel is laid out, though, and we're hoping by spring to have the bus towed down. 

Since the bus hasn't been started in 20+ years we went online, found a Youtube channel and figured out how to unlock the airbreaks, so instead of paying $1500+ to tow it on a flatbed we can tow it with a wrecker for $580. 

showing the original gravel pile and Geotex

The digging was by hand - maddock and shovel -- and sometimes my bare hands. 12ft x 50ft and in some places 2ft deep. One man job. I learned a lot about digging during that job. One thing is that if you're patient and don't try to rush, it's a lot easier than it looks. I'm 60 years old (at the time of this writing) and weigh 128lbs. I didn't keep track of how many hours I put in, but I managed to finish it in a few weeks on and off, a few days a week.

Here are a few more images of the dig.

Tracking runoff after a rain to make sure
no puddles will form under the gravel

Drain pipe leading to the greywater swale

As it progresses we'll continue to add to this post.

Don't Kill the Weeds in your Garden --- USE THEM!

Warning.... 

This is not another blog about the medicinal properties of dandelions and plantains. If you're reading this you likely know all that stuff already. 

This is completely new and different. 

Introduction:

Weeds! 

Gardeners hate them. 

They pull them, 

dig them, 

poison them, 

chop them, 

they want them OUT of their garden. 

But more than once I've observed something that makes me wonder if these corporations that sell weed killing chemicals and gadgets are telling us how terrible weeds are in order to sell you their  weed killing chemicals and gadgets. 

Maybe, just maybe, weeds are actually our friends? 

Read on..... 

The Discovery:

So we're out in our field, checking out the plants that we'd planted the season before, only to find  - or NOT find - a lot of our plants.

No, they didn't get eaten. They didn't die. They didn't grow legs and run away. They were buried in weeds. Tall weeds! Weeds taller than us!

We live (rent) an hour from Soulstice Homestead, so we don't currently get to work out there more than the occasional Sunday we have free. So when we're there, we focus first on planting long-term perennials like fruit trees, nut trees and berry bushes and pollinator attractors. But it's tough to keep on top of the progress of our plantings when there can sometimes be a few weeks between visits.

So, like I said, we're out in our field, checking out the plants we'd planted the season before, and Andrea's like "Hey. I think we're missing some blueberry plants". We looked through the weeds where we thought they were planted, but yeah, it looked like we were short a couple. We assumed maybe they'd gotten eaten by deer or something.

So a couple weeks later we went back to that blueberry patch to add some coffee grounds we'd snagged from a local Starbucks and while clearing out more weeds, we saw another blueberry plant. Only this one was greener, brighter, bigger and healthier than the ones we'd uncovered the previous visit. Then as we uncovered another, we saw that it was healthier looking too!

Another weekend we dug through some 7ft high Johnson grass and thistle where we had planted some roses and, thinking they were probably overrun, found that they, too, were really surprisingly healthy!

This sparked a theory... 

• Maybe, the weeds actually created an environment that both protected and fed the blueberry and rose plants.
• Maybe, uncovering the other blueberry plants exposed them to pests and the elements - like too much sun and too much wind, telling the deer "Hey, look at us! We look all different from everything else why don't you come over here and eat us!"
• Maybe, being covered in weeds might still let in enough sunlight to allow for photosynthesis.
• Maybe, the canopy of weeds created a little ecosystem that kept the plants from overheating, despite the 90°+, and held in moisture.
• Maybe the roots of the weeds perpetuated the microbial activity that were already established there, and maybe that microbial activity welcomed the new blueberries and roses into their ecosystem.
• Ever notice when you stick your face in the weeds how nice it smells? All rich and "green" and planty like? Maybe the air given off by the other plants feeds the plants around it. 

The weeds weren't special -- Johnson grass, goldenrod, wild blackberry, wild grape, honeysuckle, thistle. These have been there since we bought the place and I'm sure they were there for years before that. The soil is horrible... hard, dry clay, hardly any critters living in it and barely half an inch of humus. But these weeds seem to thrive just fine in it. 

Weeds and grasses are like bandaids for damaged land. They get their roots in as best they can and start to create some rudimentary bio system as a base on which to build more lush plant life. And the more plants cover a land, the richer it becomes, each year dropping more leaves and biological material that break down, feed bugs and worms, and feed the next year's growth.

When we observe how something works in our environment, we want to try to understand why it works, then apply those principles to our overall design. 

This is how permaculture works.

The Test:

We live (rent) an hour away from our land, on a lot which is completely shaded by the neighbor's giant pine trees. So we found another way to garden this year. We were loaned a small space at a good friend's house close to where we rent. They plowed and tossed in a little composted horse manure for us, and that's what we had to work with. The soil itself wasn't very rich or dark, but the manure gave it potential.

I'd recently seen Geoff Lawton's Instant Garden Video this spring (thank you for that, Geoff!) and we borrowed his concept to do the following...

1. Planted some tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, melons and some brussel sprouts
2. Laid down some old, wet, kinda rotten cardboard around the plants
3. Tossed on a thick layer of straw from the goats' stall - so it had goat pellets and pee in it but had had time to compost a bit.
4. Watered the heck out of them.
5. A couple weeks later we planted basil between the tomatoes and peppers.

A little backwards from the way Geoff did it, but we were in a hurry and the plants actually went in a few days before the cardboard.

Adding the straw

Despite the cardboard and straw barrier, a lot of weeds still worked their way out, but not before the garden had time to grow first. So the weeds took a while before they began to outgrow the plants. 

By the time the weeds started to catch up to the plants, I could go through and pick out the strangly viney stuff (bindweed) that was trying to cling to the tomatoes, and clip down some fast growing grasses to create more soil coverage and worm food. 

As the weeds started to appear to take over the garden, I Peered between them to locate my plantings, and selectively I would observe how each plant was being affected by its surrounding weeds. 

And it was really interesting! 

I observed that some really tall weeds with sturdy stalks were holding up the tomato plants and the sugar baby watermelons. 

I saw that there were Japanese beetles that were eating... not our tomatoes and peppers and basil... but the adjacent weeds, ignoring our plants like they were nasty tasting or something.  

Japanese beetle in the center.
Pepper plant on the bottom

I noticed deep down that, despite the heat and lack of rain the past few days, the ground, and the air inside the weeds was still moist and rich and fragrant. 

And our plants were doing just fine! 

Once the weeds got taller than the plants, I trimmed down the weeds that blocked the sun from individual plants, just those  on the south side of each plant, and only maybe halfway down, so the sun shown through onto our plants. The lower half of the weeds still supported the mini atmosphere they were creating near the ground.

I'd trim away the bindweed that tried to wrap itself around our plants, but I'd leave them alone if they were entwined around the weeds because they formed a reinforcing weave that made the surrounding weeds more sturdy, so they would better support our plants. 

And support they needed! Our tomatoes produced so much they were toppling their cages and I couldn't keep them upright. I had to slip rocks and pavers under the tomatoes whose branches were interwoven at ground level so they wouldn't rot. I propped other tomato plants up against the more rigid weeds and wound them around them for extra support. 

Our plants produced a LOT of food... As much if not more than the laborious traditional method of gardening.

Hunting for the food among the weeds was like a treasure hunt

Conclusion:

This experiment worked better than I had hoped, and I learned a lot from it. My goal was to mimic the lush environment of a thick field of weeds and work with the native ecosystem rather than try to dominate and suppress it. 

One of the founding fathers of permaculture, Bill Mollison, felt that gardens should mimic the natural environment, and I'd always felt that way too, which I guess is what drew me to this philosophy. 

This successful trial showed me up close how plants can support each other. When you walk up to the garden from outside the fence, it looks like an old abandoned weed patch. That alone protects the plants from passing deer. 

Our garden... looking like a weed patch

The distraction of all the other weeds act as food for rabbits and chipmunks and other animals that would normally be devouring garden plants that were laid out in +in a traditional bare rowed garden. In return, they poop in the soil, contributing nutrients as a sort of payment for the meal. 

Actually the only vegetables that got eaten by critters other than us were on the perimeter of the garden...except the brussel sprouts...which suggests that this method may not work the same for all plants. However, I know of some more traditional gardeners whose brussel sprouts were also attacked. (see fix below)

The rich and fragrant air when you put your face down into the weeds suggests to me that the soil is like a small rainforest during hot summer days. Compare that to a bare rowed traditional garden on the same day who's parched dirt would be begging to be watered. 

And mind you I had never watered this garden at all this summer, aside from the very first planting and covering it all with cardboard and straw when the weeds were covered and things were initially pretty exposed to the elements. (see fix below) 

In fact, aside from cutting back weeds maybe 3 times all summer, this was a remarkably maintenance free garden. 

Mistakes:

So yeah I made a few.. . 

I didn't use strong enough tomato cages. 

I didn't anticipate so much food production so some of it ended up rotting in the straw. 

I didn't create supports ahead of time for the vining plants, although some used the surrounding fence for support. 

I wasn't there to watch my brussel sprouts that got eaten early by something. But I did take photos and researched what it was and their lifecycle so maybe next year I can prepare better for them. 

What I'll do next year :

• To start, I'll lay the cardboard, etc. more like Geoff does it in his videos. I failed to add table scraps under the cardboard this time. I think they would have better fed the worms and created a richer soil. I'd also plant after the cardboard is laid... cutting holes in it to plant. 
• I'd water the soil before I laid the cardboard. I think the cardboard and mulch sucked up a lot of the water from the soil and the plants never got the advantage of getting soaked first. 
• I'd wet the cardboard first so it's wet on both sides all the way through before I lay it down. I think in some areas it wasn't fully saturated and puckered up in the beginning when it didn't rain for a few days. 
• I'd mulch with leaves as well as straw. I recently learned that straw can dry out soil, or at least not hold in moisture as well. Leaves break down better than straw, and I believe would nourish the soil faster. 
• So my real goal is to make this garden as corporate free, maintenance free and as commercial free, as I can. Note all the sticks sticking out between the plants. Those have the plant names on them. Tomato cages are nice, if Better Homes and Gardens plans on stopping by and using your tomatoes to sell their magazine. But I think I'll pass on the cages altogether next year. 
• Instead, after I lay down the cardboard, leaves and straw, I'd toss a thick (at least 6") layer of medium size branches all over the garden. By medium size I mean maybe anywhere from 1/8" to 1/2" thick, 1 to 3 ft long, and I would lay a blanket of them. This would create a support for the tomatoes and melons that wouldn't get "knocked down" by the wind, and would keep the fruiting bodies off the soil, high and dry, but still protected by the lush environment of the weeds' nurturing ecosystem. So it would be OK if the tomatoes grew on the ground, because there'd still be air under them and they'd be less likely to rot. One thing that was a little frustrating was that there'd be many big juicy tomatoes lying on the ground but I couldn't lift the branches up without breaking them. This would make supporting them unnecessary. 
• An added benefit to the branches would be the mycological environment it would create. It's only recently that we've discovered the intimate relationships between mushrooms and plants, and I think the sticks settling into the moist environment of the weeds would promote fungal growth rapidly. 
• I'd cut the weeds down more after the veggies started to ripen to release some of the moisture. Too much moisture might promote rot. 

Your Phone as a Permaculture Tool

Your phone can be just as invaluable a tool in your food forest as your shovel and your scythe. Keeping track of where you've planted everything, the weather, what critters and plants are growing in your forest, all can be managed right at your fingertips, giving you advantages far beyond those of our forebears. Ray Kurtzweil and Peter Diamandis (of Singularity University fame) call our cell phones an extension of our brains.

There are thousands of apps available online. Many are specifically related to gardening, and a simple search will find those for you. Feel free to look around for them when you're done here. You'll be amazed. But your phone and its apps can be used for much more. There are building tools, levels and such, flashlights, ID apps, GPS tools - all kinds of stuff.

I downloaded a GPS App to plot where I planted things or found wild edibles on our land. Granted - not very precise - maybe within a few meters - but combined with matching up topology with Google Earth on my PC I can get a pretty good idea where things are located, and can plot them all on a map (see my blog on using Google Earth as a Permaculture Tool)  --- BTW you can get Google Earth on your phone too.

You can also use your Google Maps app the same way now. Just stand where you planted or found your edible plants or maybe your bee tree or mushrooms and hold your finger down on your zoomed in map and save the location and label it.

I found one app that enables you to look through your phone's camera lens and  it lays out a level line across the scene for you. How can you use that, you ask? Have someone uphill from you poke a stick in the ground and you can find a spot farther to the left that's level to it, and have them poke another stick there. Bam - you have a swalefinder!

I have goats and chooks. Sometimes my work as a digital illustrator keeps me glued to a computer screen and away from the sun, and I don't notice it's getting dark outside. If I don't put our critters away they can get eaten by coyotes and coons. So to let me know it's sunset I use an IFTTT app, which I can configure to link Weather Underground to my GoogleCalendar. My IFTTT has my calendar send me a reminder before sunset, so I know to go put away the goats and chooks and feed the cats before the coons (who will eat not only the catfood but our chooks) come out. 

I also have IFTTT set up to warn me if there's a freeze warning that night, so I can make sure I cover my more delicate plants. I have another to let me know if it's going to rain the next day. Having that heads-up the day before gives me a chance to prioritize outdoor tasks that I'd rather not do in the rain, so I get them done today instead of putting them off till tomorrow, and save the indoor stuff for the rainy day. 

Sure, I could make it a habit to check the weather every day, and mostly I do, but permaculture is partly about letting things take care of themselves, and if I can automate tasks using something like my phone, that frees my time and mental energy for more productive use.

Weather Apps - You also have instant access to weather radar so you can see just how much time you have before that rain is going to hit with weather apps like Dark Sky (my favorite - but starting Aug 1st 2020 it's only available on iphone).

Google Calendar - Google Calendar also makes a great to-do list. I can schedule tasks at certain times of the day, or, if I mark the task as 'all day', it'll stack the task on top, so looking at the same desktop calendar will also keep my to do list right at hand. 

Another good use for your phone calendar is, say you're planting some broccoli way off in zone 4, idk, maybe because it's a great spot to grow broccoli, but you don't go out there often. You look at your seed packet and it says that in x number of days your broccoli will be ready to pick. You can pull your calendar while you're planting, jump x number of days ahead and leave yourself a note on your calendar, along with, wait for it...... The GPS coordinates and a photo of the area where you planted it, all of which can be linked to that calendar entry.

You can even set a date the next year for when a particular pest invaded that broccoli this year. Set a reminder a week before to remind you to make a trip out there with a photo opened (do a quick search through google photos or google keep from the year before) on your phone ready to identify that critter and prevent it from damaging your plants. Nipping a pest in the bud is the best way to beat them.

Watching for and destroying pest-insect eggs on the leaves can prevent the larvae from devouring everything before they ever hatch. Much more effective than waiting for signs on the leaves after the damage is done. And much more efficient than having to check on them every day, especially if you want to plant your entire land with more and more food.

It's tough to keep track of it all, what with the varying growing rates of every plant, companion planing, possible pests and diseases. So entering projected landmark dates into your calendar for each thing you plant, and entering instructions for those dates at the time of planting, frees your brain up for more creative problem solving activities, and you can rest assured that your phone will let you know when it's time to keep your eye out for any threat to your edibles.

Set a reminder right now for Dec 22nd, June 21st, and Sept 22nd to photograph various parts of your property to see where shadows are falling, so when spring comes you'll know where to plant plants and where to plant mushrooms. 

Speaking of photos, that camera on your phone is great for all kinds of things - from showing your progress as you build ...  so you can show the local authorities how it was constructed if they question its structural integrity,  to taking a snapshot of that plant or mushroom or bug you don't recognize so you can Google it when you're not so busy to see if it's potentially useful. The photos I take for this blog are taken with my phone and automatically uploaded to Google Photos for easy access from my PC for when I post the blog. 

...and speaking of Google Photos - whenever you take a pic of anything, it can be backed up to Google Photos. With its latest updates, there are even more tools. Along the top of the screen you'll get a feed of the photos from each of the last 5 years. Taking frequent photos of pests and blossoms and events in weather can give you a history that you can reference quickly. Also - when you tap on a photo - on the bottom of your screen is a little square with a dot in it (3rd icon from the left). Say you have a photo of a weed you have never seen before. Take a photo of it, pull it up on Google Photos and tap that icon and it'll do a search for it. It's not 100% accurate, but it's gotten pretty close for me many times.

If you need a good app to jot down ideas quickly, OneNote is an awesome FREE note-taking program from Microsoft that also syncs to your PC. While it's not very editable from your phone, taking initial notes and writing on it really helps when you want to record an idea or an observation on your land that you want to look into later when you sit down at your computer. I used it to write the first half of this blog while I was sitting in bed winding down for the evening. I also use it from my PC to save research into every aspect of permaculture. It has powerful organizational features, which makes retrieving that information even easier and faster.

What I really love about OneNote is you can add the images to text and rearrange things easily on a page, even sketch, circle and write on it. And once you've compiled everything, you can export it all to a PDF. I plan to create a PDF of all the permaculture information I've gathered over the years and make it available for download on this blog. 

If you'd rather stick with Google - Google Keep is also a great app for taking down all kinds of notes - from a simple phone number to a long essay. You can add labels for quick accessing later on, you can save by color - like Green is for finances or orange is for permaculture tips - and you can use tags to store the same note in different categories. You can use it to set reminders - either by date OR by location! Set it so next time you go to Tractor Supply your supply list pops up automatically so you don't have to look it up. You can also add images and draw on them if you need to. Creating a reminder by date lets you bypass the Google Calendar function I listed above by actually including the photo and description of the pest that ate your broccoli last year.

Need to find free stuff? Craigslist lets you save your searches and have them sent to your email. 

Looking for pallets for your goat shed? Do a search for pallets in the For Sale > Free category, save the search, go to your account (you have to make an account if you don't have one. It's free) turn on the alert and bam - every time someone posts an ad for free pallets, you get notified, so you pretty much have dibs on it. 

Need lumber? Do a search and do the same thing. I have one out now for wood, pallets, sheds, gates, roof (looking for roofing material), batteries (looking for deep cycle), plants, bricks, pavers, wood chips (for walkways and mushrooms). Good to have a pickup truck when you're out and about. You can respond right away and bring it on home - FREE!

Mindmaps come in handy in permaculture. You can make mindmaps for things like comparing building materials, companion plants, flow charts of steps to take on a project, organizing your food storage, all kinds of things. It's a great app to have on your phone to help you organize your thoughts when you have to sit and wait for something. My favorite is MiMind Pro (an inexpensive, one time purchase) that lets you store your mind maps on Google Drive.

Of course, having full on access to the web isn't a horrible thing either. We look up plants and bugs and critter habits all the time while we're out in the land planting. Sometimes when you're not busy, when you see a cocoon on a plant and want to know if it's a pest or a beneficial insect, you can just look it up right there. 

And if you can't find it, there's always social media like facebook, where people have plant identification and mushroom identification groups that are waiting to ID your new find, cuz they love mushrooms!  It's like having a team of experts at your beck and call.

Social media is also handy when you want to let your friends know you're building a chookhouse. A simple "Does anyone want to help?" and some folks might see that as an opportunity for some free PDC sessions and be ready to jump right in.

Using Google Maps is a great way to locate nearby services and materials you might need also, like gravel quarries, local earth moving equipment and tree services for wood chips.

Flip through Google Play some time. Use your own imagination to find uses for your phone. You may be surprised.

Twitter!! @SoulsticeHome

So as an extension to this blog, we decided to open up a Twitter account to share what we're doing in real time.

The blog itself was created to share detailed procedures and design ideas, not so much so you can copy or use those ideas, but so you can see the process of how we get those ideas and why we choose to implement them. Some fail, some work.

We'll be using Twitter to update you in real time, commenting as we go along, sharing photos of our progress, sharing ideas as we get them.
Comments welcome. 

#SoulsticeHomestead 
@SoulsticeHome

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New food from old food

With 6 bodies in our household, we go through a lot of food. Being vegan and eating healthy organic foods, we go through a lot of vegetables, because most of what we eat is made from scratch.

Which means we have a lot of food scraps.

So we have a few ways of disposing of those foods scraps without throwing them into the landfill.

We have a compost tumbler, 3 chooks, 2 goats and a worm bin. The animals help process the food scraps more quickly by converting it to poop which then gets composted. But the bulk of our food scraps go to the worm bin.

There, we have all sorts of critters coming to feast...  worms, bugs, raccoons, black soldier fly larva. It's probably the most practical and efficient food scrap processor we have.

So this spring, we used some of the compost from this worm bin on our garden at Soulstice homestead. There must have been a few seeds included in that compost, as things soon began to pop up all over.

Currently there's mostly squash of one kind of another. We picked pumpkins and turks turban last week...

Hostas made an appearance in the early part of summer. The worm bin is covered in cucumber plant, though not producing an abundant amount of cukes. 

Here and there we've seen tomato plants in unexpected places. I can imagine what will appear over the years as we use more and more heirloom seeds!