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177 results for “ecosteader”
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Great article. I'm always bringing up the fact that my hippie-generation parents were like this.
"Despite their long hair and countercultural leanings, the New Alchemists were not hippies; they were scientists. ... alongside quotations from Tolkien and poems about mushrooms are reports on their experiments on the insect-resistance of certain cabbage varieties, diagrams of their low-tech wind turbines or progress reports on aquaculture techniques.
Nor was the NAI a “commune”. It was a research project, the Todds explain; people came there to work, not to play. At its peak, the NAI had around 30 members, aided by hundreds more temporary volunteers. Few actually lived on the site."
And about that awesome building: We focus on "solar panels" a lot, but #PassiveSolar is just as great in many respects.
"Aligned east-west, the Prince Edward Island ark was partly sunken into the earth on its north side, with sloping glazing along its south facade to capture maximum #solar radiation. The south facade also featured a row of vertically aligned solar collectors (heating water rather than generating electricity – photovoltaic technology was nowhere near advanced enough yet). A prototype #hydraulic wind turbine nearby covered the building’s electricity needs.
The dominant space inside was a high-ceilinged #greenhouse containing plant beds for growing vegetables, herbs, flowers and tree saplings. Lizards, newts, ladybirds and even a resident snake controlled insect populations. The ark also contained 32 of Todd’s “solar-algae tanks” – primarily for fish cultivation, but the tanks proved so effective at storing heat that the building’s other experimental climate systems became redundant."
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It’s a dire time in California for wild chinook salmon (Nur) – climate change, giant dam projects and draining rivers for "Big Ag irrigation" which threatens water and livelihoods all up and down coasts.
Independent journalists, writers, people being peaceful in their expressions have organized a few days of gatherings to celebrate the simple gifts that only healthy fish extend.
Peaceful people don't carry guns. Peaceful people #HonorTheTreaties
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Don't even try to build an oil pipeline in the middle of a flood plain.
The best thing about all this flooding is that it's keeping away the monsters' infringing machinery on Mother Earth's territory. While people bicker there are, obviously, greater forces at work.
Article on "The Great Flood of 2019" by the NY Times.
insert obvious correlations...
The gist of it is that:
Obama (a good guy) rejected the pipeline permit requests due to lack of environmental impact studies. Smart.
Election happens and then (as we all know)
The EVIL MONSTER DONALD TRUMP "invited TC Energy to resubmit its application. Once resubmitted, the U.S. State Department did not bother to seek any new information or public comment, but instead quickly granted TC Energy a permit. Now, after the courts have told the United States it must follow the law, President Trump has attempted to circumvent the courts by issuing a new permit. But, the President must comply with the Treaties, and TC Energy must comply with Rosebud law."
Commentary on strength of Tribal courts superior system of clan motherhood, inherent knowledge of Earth's vulnerable systems.
"The United States must answer to the Tribes for violations of the treaties and be instructed to honor them. NARF will not allow the US government to ignore or forget the agreements made with tribal nations. Neither the president nor wealthy foreign corporations are above the laws of our country."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/11/us/midwest-flooding.html
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@Thomas Sure you can. There are many approaches to take. Some are along the lines of #VerticalGardens that make use of pocket, or pockets of containers slung over any kind of vertical structure, and others are artsy installations that have layers built in for erosion and water capture.
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The addition of a #livingwall made out of nothing more than #plants, #moss, driftwood, or succulents transforms a totally boring wall into the #art of something beautiful and alive.
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Great idea for naturalizing outdoor #urban spaces:
The #construction of this outdoor #livingwall in the video was undertaken with the hope of reducing urban flooding in London.
"Two months, 16 tonnes of soil and 10,000 plants later, Victoria has just welcomed London’s largest Living Wall, designed to reduce urban flooding. Housed on the side of Rubens at the Palace Hotel, the 21 metre high wall covers a 350 square foot area and is home to seasonal flowers like strawberries, butter cups and winter geraniums to ensure it’s in bloom all year round.
The lack of absorbent surfaces in the area, means Victoria is prone to urban flooding but with specifically designed storage tanks, the wall can house up to 10,000 litres of water which is channelled back through the wall to nourish the plant life."
https://vimeo.com/victoriabid/livingwall
Some more #inspirational designs:
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A revived forest floor can sprout fortuitous friendships ... the #Ecostead has found more than a few for new non-clonal firs.
Aeration, condensation, drainage all important.
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A revived forest floor can sprout fortuitous friendships ... the #Ecostead has found more than a few for new non-clonal firs.
Aeration, condensation, drainage all important.
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Citizens Send Big Line 5 Message to Michigan Elected Officials
“Why is Enbridge spending millions to convince Michiganders their Line 5 pipeline is safe and vital to Michigan and they care about protecting the Great Lakes? Because it’s not true,” said David Holtz, spokesperson for Oil & Water Don’t Mix. “Enbridge has lied about the condition of its dangerous Line 5 pipeline and just over a year ago paid a $1.8 million fine for failing to thoroughly inspect its pipelines for weaknesses. But you won’t see that in Enbridge’s paid ads, the talking points they write or the message they tell lawmakers.
“Our job is to help regular citizens pierce Enbridge’s lies and let their elected officials know directly that they demand the put protecting Michigan and the Great Lakes over Big Oil money.”
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#Eco-building, IRL. More back story on the re-construction (Part Two):
Nevada Barr, an author known for US National Park ranger Anna Pigeon mystery books (which come highly recommended!), put out a memoir of sorts a few years ago. The book is called _Seeking Enlightenment Hat by Hat_. Lots of autobiographical random snippets, mostly, but one that stuck out to me was her lamenting (briefly) about heeding a builder who told her during her own house remodel that she "didn't need an architect."
"I should have hired an architect," she wrote.
Since many of my limited undergrad dollars went to feed her, her agent and publisher, I figured that was some sage advice. So my first call-out on this project was to find an architect. That was over 2 months ago...
Fast-forward to now. And, as it turns out, hiring an architect is basically a pointless endeavor unless you are also prepared to hire a structural engineer! Heed the layers of wisdom writers who communicate across time and space dole out, kiddos.
I guess it makes sense though; different people wearing different hats. And at the end of the day, sometimes you've just gotta trust the experts. 🤷
Anyway. the #Ecostead has many good and a few not-so-great things about it. The good definitely outweigh the bad though.
The defunct laundry / mudroom we tore off wasn't added until at least the 70's (rough guess; don't take that for fact). I'm guessing that the beautiful red Acer Palmatum (AKA Japanese Maple), pictured below was probably planted afterward, in the 80's, as you can see how it filled in only on one side. These trees tend to grow fairly slowly.
Background is of covered work tent and wood waiting to be refinished and re-used in parts of the remodel.
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#Eco-building, IRL: Preface
The #Ecostead was built in 1948 and is currently about ~740 square feet of house. When I first walked around the outside of the property a few years ago, I "heard" some cries of the suffering plants being choked out by weedy and invasive ivy, disgustingly snaky bindweed, reed canary grass, caterpillar grass.
It had once had a well-planned yard design, but the existence of a lawn and child's playground toys meant it had been neglected for a long time.
My decision, at the time, to mortgage myself to this little stead was not that hard. My heart had always yearned for some "filthy" dirt on which to compost my kitchen scraps instead of piling them into the trash (which you kind of have to do when you're an apartment dweller), or shoving them down the noisy garbage disposal with grinding-gear machinery that imitates the greedy gears of evil and extortionate landlords.
My mother was also literally born in 1948, so I took this, too, as somewhat of a nudge from the Great Mystery that perhaps this would be a good idea.
The house, as many of these old houses were apt to be, was built out gradually a room or two at at a time. The most recent addition was a laundry / mud room on the back of the house. I came to learn, after an electrician informed me that the power main and inside breaker boxes would both need replaced, that hey this part of your house was never permitted properly. So here's a massive expense.
Anyway... I've saved and scrapped these last few years and did the tear-down of the add-on over the summer.
Finally ready to re-do the addition the "right way": with permits and paid professionals and plans.
Here's progress so far (before & after teardown) ...
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@salixlucida There's already ample evidence that it was actively involved in increasing the use of private "for profit" prisons.
It's also an #OpenFact that Salesforce was knowingly involved in sex trafficking.
"“The evidence in this case is astounding,” the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Annie McAdams, told Rolling Stone. “[Salesforce] knew who Backpage was, yet they continued to take Backpage’s money, and they helped Backpage become a $500 million company that openly prostituted people.”"
Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/salesforce-sued-sex-trafficking-814814/
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@salixlucida There's already ample evidence that it was actively involved in increasing the use of private "for profit" prisons.
It's also an #OpenFact that Salesforce was knowingly involved in sex trafficking.
"“The evidence in this case is astounding,” the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Annie McAdams, told Rolling Stone. “[Salesforce] knew who Backpage was, yet they continued to take Backpage’s money, and they helped Backpage become a $500 million company that openly prostituted people.”"
Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/salesforce-sued-sex-trafficking-814814/
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CW: random: Cooking electrically does not seem more efficient than with gas.
Convection heating is a thing, too though.
In the International Solar Decathalon, neat ideas, for example, "solar panel to convection surface". In a solar-intensive place like Las Vegas, potential for storage locally (K "potential") doesn't require CO2 emission.
Solar to "cooking surface" area (or direction) design not only supplements opportunities for efficiency, but also has a partial reflect and *refractionary quality.
Source: (sources)
https://www.solardecathlon.gov/international.html
https://www.solardecathlon.gov/past-build-challenge.html
#OffGrid #SustainableDesign #LeanDesign
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In media studies, they often show how reporting of things can be skewed by how "close" the observer is to the event. Sometimes it's a good idea to back up and look at the big picture. And with footage from a drone, it doesn't get any more #impartial.
Flooding across at least four counties in the region; drone footage showcasing the reality of a large concentration of climate change deniers. How closely have they read their insurance policies? Good luck cleaning that up!
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Interesting #conceptual design making agriculture in "hot and dry coastal regions" all the more efficient...
It a seawater-powered #solar #greenhouse and it's engineered to work with the variety of climatological region that has easy access to salt water, but maybe not fresh water... yet still do water-intensive agriculture.
"A #seawater greenhouse produces crops year-round in hot dry areas using only seawater and sunlight. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, strawberries, herbs—anything that can be grown in traditional greenhouses—can be grown in seawater greenhouses. The award-winning technology, invented by Seawater Greenhouse Ltd. founder Charlie Paton, was inspired by the natural water cycle where seawater heated by the sun evaporates, cools to form clouds, and returns to earth as precipitation."
"The idea behind the process is simple. It combines two unlimited resources - sunlight and seawater - to provide ideal growing conditions for crops in hot, arid environments.
The innovation [uses] the cooling and humidifying power of water vapor produced from evaporating salt water. Using modeling and simulation techniques developed in collaboration with our partners at Aston University, we are able to process local climate data to predict greenhouse performance and inform the design. The combined effect of reducing temperature and increasing humidity, together with providing a protected environment for crops, results in up to 90% reduction in Evapotranspiration. This to greatly reduced irrigation requirements, which can be provided by desalination, and improved growing conditions."
Sources: https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/18/seawater-greenhouses-produce-tomatoes-in-the-desert/
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Fallout from my whim to "rip out lawn and plant flowers", year three, with a wink at our bees friends, many of which meander at the #ecostead.
Jewel colors in a bouquet of echinacea, yarrow, agastache, coreopsis and rudebeckia.
A bumblebee on some "smartie" dahlias.
Super close-up of intricate ipomopsis, AKA "standing cypress", grown from seed. It didn't flower last year and I transplanted it to a sunnier spot. This year it and one other grew over 7 feet tall and ended up bending sideways. This is a flower that hummingbirds love because their beaks alone are long enough to get the nectar.
All the moar #florespondence.
🏡 :ecostead: 🦋 🐝
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Designs (plural). Because they can be applied locally.
As the population of cities increases, there cannot be mistakes in the overestimation.
Balance in what is sustainable has to be defined.
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Some angles on #florespondence at the #Ecostead; these including a happy bunchberry groundcover, #kitty named Simon, and a gorgeous dahlia.
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This is a thread about berries (cont'd):
... Lingonberries Huckleberries Nannyberry Boysenberry Cloudberry Dewberry Hackberry Thimbleberry Cranberries Cherry Mulberry Wolfberry Tayberry Loganberry Crowberries
Many fruits not commonly known as berries include grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bananas, and chili peppers. A plant bearing berries is said to be bacciferous or baccate. Yesterday's list was off the top of my head, but apparently I was wrong to initially include strawberries, raspberries and blackberries on my list; Wikipedia tells me these are not actually berries, but "aggregate fruits".
So why are berries on the brain? Yesterday I acquired two small Bunchberry plants, AKA _Cornus Canadensis_ for groundcover in some of the #Ecostead's more sloped and shady areas. These are considered "threatened" in some of the more central areas of their native habitat, but not so much in the #PNW. Gorgeous and happy little plants they are; I am looking forward to seeing how wildlife takes to them.
Here's a #CreativeCommons photo. Photos of the new plants on the ecostead coming later
Image source: https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/f0ba653f-d94a-4b3a-9b36-f8300ab67fe2 -
Wow. All the Masto/Fediverse #Portlanders should watch this:
BBC World News just aired a well-produced segment on the cultural tensions of Portland's "Antifa" and the "Proud Boys":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0c6f888/our-world-portlands-battleground
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@GwenfarsGarden Totally fabulous.
It took me a minute because I saw your pic from yesterday and my brain just would not register that you built these UP, not down. I was literally sitting here thinking "How did they attach the bottoms of the beds? Did they dig down and level from there?
Long day.
I'm looking forward to posting some of my progress on the #ecostead remodel soon. I can't wait until the back is done so I can really do the permanent landscaping back there. Your post is inspiring me to maybe do some sort of raised something!
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Facebook has pretty much always had that attitude. Don't do brand management on Facebook is my advice. Why pay _any_ form of currency to have your work and messages censored by a greedy and selfish algorithm? Let's define Facebook's "greedy and selfish" algorithm as such: You discover and share unpleasant facts about a company. You urge your "network" to boycott or cease patronizing company.
Facebook instead decides to censor and vaporizes your message because it doesn't want to promote _anything_ that it can't extort.
Here it sounds like the "extortion currency" is going to be this supposed cryptocurrency debut. It also is probably intended to further confuse people.
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https://www.europesays.com/es/535752/ por qué el analista de Ecotrader recomienda comprar si cae a la zona de los 3,5 euros #Bolsa #Business #Economía #Economy #ES #España #iag #IBEX35 #Inversiones #MercadosYCotizaciones #Spain
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A Decade of Marine Excellence: Icons of Change and PHILMARINE 2025 to Spotlight Transformative Leadership and Ocean Advocacy
June 20, 2025 | SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, Philippines#IconsOfChange #DecadeOfMarineExcellence #PhilMarine2025 #KaDodoy #DavidDAngelo #NEDA #BlueEconomyPH #IconsOfChange #LifeBelowWater #FashionForTheOceans #EcoLeadership #TogetherForTheOceans #RecognizingVisionEmpoweringTransformation