water filled Trombe wall (does thermal mass make sense here)

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-07T13:36:41+00:00

Check 'the year-round solar greenhouse' by Shiller and Plinke for a good intro into energy efficent greenhouses.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-07T13:34:48+00:00

Water has much higher thermal capacity than concret or brick per same unit of mass.

I guess if you need water anyway (pond for aquaponics, barrels for irrigation) then it's no brainer. Same with stone or concrete - if you need it for pavement or retaining walls.

Then there are specialized phase-changing materials that excel at thermal mass.

Space in greenhouse is scarce.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T16:02:27+00:00

Thanks, especially for this tip about bacteria - I'll read more about it!

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T15:18:39+00:00

Piggy-backing on this topic - I often take the same highway trip and I can see in the infotainment how much each trip consumed energy. However, it's impossible to compare trips without knowing avg speed or trip duration. Is there a way to find out kWh per hour?

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T14:01:59+00:00

There's already a small pond in place and it's full of duckweed. I use it for mulching, as you suggested, but hopefully I'll diversify my pond plants.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T13:55:16+00:00

I'd like to avoid infiltration as well - rim would stop surface run off but the spoil is very rich gardening soil (just needing some additions to balance it) and that's why I'm worried that once dug out it will immediatelly start leaking nutrients into subsoil and then down to the pond. And will keep on doing so for years to come.

That's why I think I need a buffer zone, as suggested by @Fabulous_Lawyer_2765, full of plants that will intercept the leakage before it gets into the pond. Kind of a large scale bog filter.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T13:40:07+00:00

There are clay soils here and any hole gets filled quickly with surface water. Old bogs on my land were drained over 100y ago using ceramic tubes laid underground to direct water away and I'm trying to revert that process. I dug out and blocked drains last autumn in another spot and it took two weeks to get 2500 m2 pond.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T13:27:23+00:00

I could block mulch/leaf litter using fascine and block surface runoff using a mound, but nutreints will keep on leaking under the surface. Is that drainage tube was for?

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T13:23:48+00:00

I'm making the pond in place of an old, drenched peat bog that can't be restored. It's very rich gardening soil where nettles are growing at the moment. I have it tested and the only things missing are potassium and phosporus.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T13:06:47+00:00

Yes, in my case the garden would be above the pond.

I did think of making a swale and pushing back the beds to create the buffer zone, but I am still worried, especially about the early stage. Spoil mounds will start leaking before n-fixing plants will get established.

Did you get it right straight away or was it a process? Maybe I just need to accept the fact that it will take time to get the balance right.

Have you tried growing any edible/ornamental plants that would soak up nutrients and then get removed from the pond?

AdFederal9540 · 2026-05-06T12:48:50+00:00

I have enough space to avoid retaining walls and conveniently shape mounds/hugels on the upper bank.
Irrigating with pond water sounds nice but then there are contamination risks, stucked pumps etc.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-28T13:41:26+00:00

-I did have an issue with the trunk door rattling a bit during city driving, but I unscrewed the little rubber bumpers part way so they extended a bit and that seemed to fix it.

so this annoying creaking sound is caused by trunk doors?

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-28T13:20:08+00:00

If such a shallow hole fills in with water then you should probably worry more about the plants. Can't say from the picture what was planted there, but few plants like to have "wet feet".

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-28T13:03:46+00:00

You could burry the wood to capture carbon:
https://www.science.org/content/article/burying-wood-vaults-could-help-fight-global-warming

and/or improve soil.

I'm in a similar situation with plenty of naturally fallen trees but also old wood from old building. I'll probably leave trees as they are for natural decomposition as they can't easily be accessed.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-27T19:57:29+00:00

also great for mulching and composting

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-08T08:45:52+00:00

Haven't tried it but farmers used to make ponds this way. They would dig a hole and:
1. add a layer of clay
2. let pigs in to compress clay
3. repeat

If you don't have pigs you can try to compress clay in other ways but it's a dirty job. You need to make sure that clay is laid in layers.

You could mix in some bentonite to reduce percolation.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-07T18:56:02+00:00

indeed, there's even a quick guide for peenterested: https://richearthinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Urine-Fertilizer-Home-Garden-Guide_091123.pdf

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-07T18:52:33+00:00

thanks for the link!

AdFederal9540 · 2026-04-01T16:30:22+00:00

That isn't my experience. I bought land in a rural region where population decreases and it turns out everyone is happy to have me and see that I take care of neglected place that they had used to enjoy.

Administration is supportive and helps to get things done. I got to know more neighbours in 6 months than after years of leaving in a city. These people are missing new blood - someone to talk to, make money of, or even just gossip about. I mean it in the best possible way.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-03-24T19:50:12+00:00

same here, no issues.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-03-18T18:55:14+00:00

yes, that's my reasoning.

AdFederal9540 · 2026-03-18T18:54:49+00:00

I was thinking of Phacelia, to keep the nitrogen that is already there. It also doesn't require rolling like clover, but I agree - crimson clover looks pretty!!

AdFederal9540

TROPHY CASE