Home » Posts tagged 'permaculture institute' (Page 3)
Tag Archives: permaculture institute
12-Plus Methods For Keeping Challenging Weeds and Pests Out of the Garden
12-PLUS METHODS FOR KEEPING CHALLENGING WEEDS AND PESTS OUT OF THE GARDEN
With organic gardening, especially at the outset, comes a few new challenges for transitioning growers. Pesticides and other chemicals have, for several decades, become the go-to solution for all things in the garden, and now that many of us are clearing our heads from that fog, we are left to rediscover methods for dealing with everyday garden problems.
When herbicides have been the trick for combating weeds, how do we do it without the chemicals? Where aphids once elicited a poison spray (on our food no less), how do we now stop them from eating our crops? When voles are feasting, how do we protect our food without resorting to awful compound killers? This is our food after all, so we have cause to protect it! If we have to do so without chemicals (which seems a form of protection in its own right), what are we to do?
The permaculture way is to find somewhat natural solutions (we kind of stage them) to such problems. Bill Mollison is famously quoted as claiming there isn’t slug problem but rather a duck shortage. In other words, we can control slugs with ducks and get more production from the system on the whole. With permaculture techniques, solutions to problems have multiple functions in the garden. Not only will pest insects be thwarted, but pollinators will be invited. Not only will weeds be suppressed, but the soil life will be enlivened. Stacking solutions is how permaculture gardens, much more organically than typical organic gardens, handle weeds and pests, as well as fertility, soil structuring, and so on.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Battery Technologies for Off-Grid Living
BATTERY TECHNOLOGIES FOR OFF-GRID LIVING
There are so many battery technologies out in the marketplace, and it is highly likely between me writing this and you reading it there will be another new fandangled world’s best battery that has hit the market.
What Elon Musk has done with Tesla is to create a market awareness of wanting to install home battery storage and reduce our impact on the environment from burning fossil fuels. This has been fantastic for raising the level of awareness.
As any good permaculture teacher will tell you “It all depends on the situation.”
My experience with batteries is that all the technologies have a place and purpose; it’s about choosing what’s right for you and your situation.
It’s about choosing the right tool for the job and understanding the capabilities of that device. Not choosing the correct tool for the job can end up with a broken machine!
This week I got the inside on the Tesla power wall training I attended about installing home battery storage from the distributor of Tesla powerwall in Australia. It was a fascinating look on what can be done with the technology and it’s limitations.
The three top batteries sold around the world for battery storage are Lithium, Lead Acid, and Nickel-Iron Cells. Australia is currently the largest installer of nickel-iron cells around the world for stand alone solar applications.
Let’s start with the number one selling battery worldwide the Lead Acid Battery.
Lead Acid Batteries
Lead Acid cells have been the biggest selling batteries for home energy storage as they have been the most cost efficient and simple cell to use. Being the battery of choice for cars has helped bring down the cost of production.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Benefits of a Natural Pool
THE BENEFITS OF A NATURAL POOL
Nothing is better than having a pool in the backyard, they’re great during the summer, make your backyard look better, and raise the value of your property. On the other hand, they require quite a bit of maintenance to care for. The pH levels have to be carefully monitored, expensive and dangerous chemicals needed to be added, and their filtration systems need to be regularly cleaned out. There is a much easier way to have a pool in your backyard that doesn’t require all of the maintenance or cost that a normal pool involves.
A natural pool is a beautiful extension of your backyard that regulates itself without the need for expensive systems or chemicals. A natural pool uses plants and a simple water pump to keep the water clear and bacteria-free. A natural pool consists of two pools, one pool is just like a traditional pool, it has a cement or plastic liner that can be as shallow or as deep as you would like. The other pool is much more shallow and is host to a bunch of water plants, like cattails or water lilies. A pump cycles the water from the large swimming pool to the plant-filled pool removing bacteria and any contaminants.
A natural pool costs about as much to install as a traditional pool but because you do not have to have to add chemicals yearly it will save you hundreds of dollars every year. The most you will have to do is skim leafs of off the surface. Where a normal pool requires you to not only regularly add chemicals, like chlorine, it also uses quite a bit of electricity to run. With a natural pool, you will start saving money from the day you install it.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
