tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8427431878712446824.post5106635765567485466..comments2023-10-21T03:41:42.466-07:00Comments on Building an Earthship in Darfield, BC: Composting and an EarthshipChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081291842118351730noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8427431878712446824.post-66729141270994723342008-12-01T08:59:00.000-08:002008-12-01T08:59:00.000-08:00Other ideas prompted by the rest of your article:F...Other ideas prompted by the rest of your article:<BR/><BR/>Find local spinners and weavers! Raw wool can be great barter material. It's also great insulation.<BR/><BR/>Lots of good material about composting and small-input gardening / micro-farming through Bountiful Gardens in Willits CA. They've been refining the "Grow Biointensive" method for three decades now. http://www.growbiointensive.org/ +1-707-459-0150 Their "How to Grow More Vegetables" is a great basic book for a food-producer learning this method. Composting and soil fertility is emphasized.<BR/><BR/>A friend of mine in Alaska has worked some with tilapia and their water-tanks for food production and heat storage. He's figuring out a closed ecosystem suitable for long-term human use, such as would be required in a Mars base. If you have specific questions, I can relay them and get you two in touch.<BR/><BR/>One issue I had with earthships (given what presentations I saw, quite some time ago) was the emphasis on producing food within the structure, whether or not that made sense in the larger system of house plus land. Between cold-frames and green-houses, one can get more productive area going on around the structure than is in a structure. (BTW, Mollison and Mia Slay, "Introduction to Permaculture" 2nd edition, ISBN 0-908228-08-2 notes that cold-climate areas which choose to use greenhouses need to close off from the rest of the house -- thermal considerations, apparently, and there's suggestions to use water-tanks for thermal mass within the greenhouse itself.) I suspect the earthship concept has refined to address this concern since I last looked at it.<BR/><BR/>-- JosephAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12729300304788760982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8427431878712446824.post-44873880418044181732008-12-01T08:28:00.000-08:002008-12-01T08:28:00.000-08:00"Greenhouse" *in* the living space. Hrrrm. Would..."Greenhouse" *in* the living space. Hrrrm. Wouldn't this be neutral at best regarding heat, unless you thermally isolate it from the rest of the house? And can the rest of the house handle the extra humidity, dirt, and need for ventilation?<BR/><BR/>Grandfather Beckenbach's house could not, so his beloved orchids thrived in a greenhouse thirty feet out the back door.<BR/><BR/>Some of the permaculture materials I've come across seems (to me) to suggest that attached greenhouses are suited only to warmer temperate climates. Even with the Solar-Slab added into the mix, Kachadorian notes attached sunspaces can't be justified on day-long average thermal benefit. (Insulated, isolated from the main house at night, perhaps justifiable -- run the numbers.)<BR/><BR/>Perhaps a local architect can assist with making that decision?<BR/><BR/>-- Joseph (son of a retired architect)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12729300304788760982noreply@blogger.com