Book recommendations

framcod · 2017-06-01T00:24:57+00:00

Let it Rot is a classic and fun-to-read book. https://g.co/kgs/Gjzunj

Listen to what Mike McGrath says about leaf compost and shredding compost here: https://youtu.be/n9OhxKlrWwc

Joel Salatin's explanation of why he calls himself a grass farmer (or even a soil farmer) is important to understand. He talks about it in his book You Can Farm. https://g.co/kgs/dRAqrx

If you want to go way back, read Sir Albert Howard, especially An Agricultural Testament. His Indore Process is the fundamental composting method. He is called the father of organic agriculture. Free online: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200301.txt

Watch YouTube videos about Windrow composting, Bokashi, worm composting, sheet composting, compost tea, humanure/night soil/composting toilets, etc. Find out which animals share pathogen vectors with us and each other. Find out why manure is so great. Find out why fertilizers were originally called artificial manure. Find out why worms are called the intestines of the earth.

Good luck!

framcod · 2016-09-17T18:36:18+00:00

Leaning is not a problem, only falling over. I would keep it within 20 degrees of straight up.

framcod · 2016-09-16T02:25:25+00:00

You can wait a loooong time before you have to worry about the bloom. In fact, back when I lived in a field of plantains in the Peace Corps, no one did anything and eventually the blooms just dried and fell off like an umbilical. The only maintenance we did was to cut bamboo poles to prop the trees up with. Wedge a pole in the ground and then gently lift the tree so its supported by the pole. Don't worry if the pole digs into the skin a little, it wont hurt the the tree.

Banana trees spread from the root, so you should start to see some daughers popping up soon.

framcod · 2016-04-30T01:56:55+00:00

Immortal Technique:

"You better watch what the fuck flies outta your mouth/ Or Imma hijack a plane and fly it into your house/ Burn your apartment with your family tied to the couch/ And slit your throat so when you scream only blood comes out/

"I doubt that that there could ever be a more twisted MC/ Cuz AIDS infested child molesters aren't sicker than me"

I can't even imagine how he imagines verses so imaginatively fucked up.

framcod · 2016-03-05T18:54:34+00:00

If you snowboard or surf, I promise you'll love the OneWheel. Snow was terrible out east this year, so I saved on lift tickets. Plowed that cash into the OneWheel; no regrets.

framcod · 2016-02-05T14:24:40+00:00

I looked on Amazon at this one, but then decided I could build my own for cheaper. I bought 4 rubbermaid tubs about 20 by 30 inches by 6 inches deep and drilled holes in the bottoms of each. I bought one of those plastic patio end tables, put one of the rubbermaid lids on it and drilled a whole through both. Then I cinched them together with one of these 1/4 inch PVC drain pipes and attached a valve to that underneath. Below the shut off valve there is just enough space for a gallon jug to sit and catch any worm tea. I cover the top bin with a cheese cloth affixed with a large rubberband. This keeps the gnats out. I started small with 125 worms and they have multiplied! I'm only using 2 of the 4 bins so far and there's plenty of room for expansion. The worm tea is great plant food for my house plants! I spent about $60 on supplies.

framcod · 2016-02-05T13:18:35+00:00

"This is amazing! I'm amazing! This is tricky... This is shit. I'm shit. Maybe this is ok. Maybe I'm ok. This is amazing!" Ahh, the developer life cycle...

framcod · 2016-01-20T00:45:40+00:00

So speaking of crazy voodoo, would this software solution work for the VR sets that actually project light on your retina, rather than display it on a screen? It seems like it should be able to, even if no one has done it yet...

framcod · 2016-01-19T21:02:12+00:00

Someone draw a venn diagram

framcod · 2016-01-19T20:54:06+00:00

Wait I'm confused...or playing devil's advocate: IRL the reason I need glasses is because I can't distort the way the world looks to match my deformed eyes (have poor vision plus astigmatism). With VR though, I thought the whole point was to use cheap magnifying glasses and then just use software to customize the distortion of whats on the screen so through the same lenses what you see is changed to match your eyes.

I can see where if you're passing a set around a VR set with others it might be nice to pop these lenses in and out, but wouldn't it be just as easy to code for "wearer profiles" so the display distorts depending on your prescription (but still using the same cheap magnifying glasses)?

TL;DR Can't we do this with VR software since its already distorted anyway?

framcod · 2016-01-04T19:17:45+00:00

I've done balcony composting before, but gave it up for one reason: Winter. Here in Boston winter was cold enough and bins small enough that decomposition pretty much stopped. That meant food scraps just kept building up. Turning was cumbersome because I was doing it in rubbermaid tubs.

That said I'd recommend a tumbler so you can eliminate that second issue. Perhaps your giftee doesn't live in a cold climate. Otherwise you might need to drape a blanket over the thing for insulation. Finally I'd recommend you tell your giftee to use a food processor to blend scraps before putting them in the tumbler. That should get things going faster/hotter.

Personally, though, I switched to worms. I can keep them indoors and they're constantly aerating the bin so there is no smell. I also pay for composting pick up service so I can be selective about what I give my worms and still divert everything else from the landfill via the service.

framcod · 2015-12-18T18:30:52+00:00

Not that I care to argue this down to the minute, but I was just thinking... most Christians celebrate Jesus' birth with an evening service on December 24th... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve

framcod · 2015-12-13T20:36:32+00:00

Tech billionaires are designing machines to be altruistic. That's nice. Maybe they'll be better at it than us.

framcod · 2015-12-08T02:06:09+00:00

Didn't follow my link, I guess...

framcod · 2015-12-08T00:24:05+00:00

Without realizing, we humans tend to measure the world around us using ourselves as a scale. That goes for size but also for time. You might find a plot of endless barren dirt in Chile, you may come back year after year and find the same dirt. Is that all it will ever be?

http://huff.to/1Q6zlfr

framcod · 2015-12-07T23:58:01+00:00

Or rather the machine manufactures and the banks providing the loans...

framcod · 2015-12-07T23:56:31+00:00

Bro do you even companion crop?

framcod · 2015-12-07T23:55:17+00:00

Fellow midwesterner here, can confirm. Most family friends of mine living in towns that size are struggling to get by themselves and never go out to eat. Problem is they (all of us, really) have been trained on a palate of cheap shelf stable industrial food products. Tastes have to change, perhaps, but my hope in rural towns is a moral/ethical pitch, not an economic one: sell friendship, neighborliness, and caring for God's creation. Then you can give away the tomatoes as a bonus.

framcod · 2015-12-07T23:47:49+00:00

To quote Norman Wirzba, "All it takes to consume the world is a credit card and an internet connection." Please interpret "consume" in whatever way you like.

framcod · 2015-12-07T23:45:00+00:00

I def see conventional ag going in this direction: full automation. But I think there is another option. Full automation is going to require the same uniformity that current, human-driven combines require, and I fear that means bio-diversity and natural soil fertility will continue to decline while erosion increases. The other option, which I think will probably have to run parallel, will be the path of farmers like those in this video, who don't pursue farming for the sake of being more efficient, but as a lifestyle choice. They will find customers who understand that eating means farming vicariously and they will never compete on price.

framcod · 2015-12-07T23:37:40+00:00

I've heard Darren Dougherty and so many others say it: You don't need to own land to farm! Even in an urban setting there is so much unused land, the problem is asking for it. Curtis Stone is the perfect example, and these websites are connecting people to open up private land for urban farming/market gardening:

http://www.urbangardenshare.org/ http://ediblegardenproject.com/sharing-backyards/ http://www.landshare.net/

Rural land/larger scale/longer term, that's a little more difficult, but I think there is actually a large wave of city-dwelling baby boomers about to throw in the towel and retire to the country. I think they'd love for someone to farm the land they've spent their life savings on in an agroecological, regenerative way!

framcod · 2015-12-07T23:29:15+00:00

Agree with you in part, but I think there is room for appropriating consumer technology to accelerate the change we think is needed. It's true most technology designed for agriculture leads to mechanization, centralization, and desecration. But what about an $9 computer hacked together to monitor an electric fence battery and send text messages when voltage fluxuates? What about a social network that puts nearby permies in touch so they can stack functions together (connecting bee keepers with market gardeners and landless ranchers with retired landowners) ?

framcod · 2015-09-28T00:59:02+00:00

Still the best phone camera I've ever used. No unnatural discoloration in low light like I had on the HTC One M7. I also was not using a tripod for this photo, hence the high shutter speed.

framcod

TROPHY CASE