paul wheaton

Geoff:  it would seem that geoff's philosophies about permaculture are different from mine.

Why would corn be out if a person does a three or four sister's garden?

Corn is out.  so three sisters is out.  And four, five, six, and seven sisters.

Plant corn and walk away for two years.  There is no more corn.  

If you want more about why corn would be discouraged in a permaculture system, read Mark Shepard's book Restoration Agriculture.

Many people are not lucky enough to have that much space to allocate to a garden.  

Lucky?  My guess is that they elected to live somewhere that has very little (or zero) garden space.  

I hope to demonstrate a style of gardening that will entice people to seek a place to live where they can have a large garden.

Crop rotation has been proven, over and over, to be an excellent strategy ...    for monocrop systems.

Permaculture  ....   ("permanent culture") is going to lean heavily on perennials, guilds, polycultures and self seeding annuals.  

Crop rotation is an excellent technique for organic systems.  But ...  my position is that it doesn't fit with permaculture gardens.  

A few positions I think about in this space (and the "you" is "me"):

  - if you are thinking of crop rotation, you are doing it wrong

  - if you are thinking of a block of monocrop, you are doing it wrong

  - corn it out

  - wheat is out

Move to a system that will pump out food without any seeding, fertilizing, irrigation ....   without any care at all ... the only effort is on harvesting.  That is the permaculture goal.  To design a system so well that years can pass with zero care.  And with zero care it grows more food and is spreading.

Maybe try. "Gardner" as a last name.

This is a special offer of the 4-DVD "better wood heat" plus the 4-DVD set "wood burning stoves 2.0" - all 8 videos as Physical DVD's

HD instant view	$10	$25	$25	$30
tiny (SD) download	$15	$40	$40	$45
physical DVDs (US shipping)	$20	$45	$45	$23.50
physical DVDs (non-US shipping)	$45	$70	$70	$100

Here are some of the benefits of rocket mass heaters:

• cheap to run. About a tenth the cost of natural gas, electric or conventional wood heat.
• clean. They emit about a hundredth of the smoke of a conventional wood stove.
• good for the environment. Less than 2% of CO2 emissions of natural gas or electric heat. Can reduce your carbon footprint as much as parking 7 cars.
• sustainable. It uses a renewable fuel which is easy to find and store.
• cheap to build. About $200 to $600.
• quick to build. Often built in a weekend
• luxuriant. Like the luxury of a heated floor but without all that standing.

Watch the intro video:



wood burning stoves 2.0

This was the first 4-DVD set created by Paul Wheaton and his merry band of rocket mass heater innovators. It is a great introduction and shares lots of good information about fire in general, and what can be done with rocket mass heaters.

DVD 1: fire science



This is where Ernie and Erica set stuff on fire in all sorts of wacky ways. This is the foundation for understanding how rocket stoves and rocket mass heaters work the way they do.

DVD 2: sneaky heat



The wood burning stove built in this DVD is the result of a collection of experiments that led to a rocket mass heater an order of magnitude better than any previous rocket mass heater. For the first time ever we have a shippable core.

DVD 3: boom squish



Named after a series of podcasts where we discuss the dangers and strategies of alternative hot water. Caleb Larson and Ernie work together to talk about how to do this right. Caleb is a professional alternative hot water installer and is very familiar with the explosive properties of steam, flash point and vapor lock.

DVD 4: hot rocket




We set out to prove that a few twigs can outperform a huge propane turkey cooker. Mission accomplished. This is with a J-tube style rocket stoves. Other rocket stoves feature an L-tube style the requires constant manual feeding. The J-tube style is self feeding. This DVD will also have information on some tiny home made cookstoves, and several different pocket rocket designs.


better wood heat


DVD 1: cob style



This is all about the ol' reliable cob style rocket mass heater. Watch how a couple spent a winter in a tipi with only a rocket mass heater for heat, and how comfortable they were. Even at 26 below! This DVD works as a stand-alone purchase, or can be purchased with the rest of the set.

DVD 2: pebble style



Watch the construction of three pebble style rocket mass heaters. This style of construction is easier to deconstruct and move than the traditional cob style heaters. They are also better for installing on wood floors as they are generally much lighter.

DVD 3: shippable core



This DVD shows an early prototype, and some how-tos for a variety of techniques for building one.

DVD 4: innovators event



This event has been captured on film, featuring the best of the best in the rocket mass heater arena. This video shows a variety of builds such as a rocket mass heater shaped in a circle with glass to show the burn; an outdoor rocket mass heater/cooker/smoker; A "batch box style" rocket mass heater with measured output cleaner than anything we have ever encountered; and an indoor rocket stove, griddle and water heater. Very cool stuff.



For more information, see the official pages:  Better Wood Heat and Wood Burning Stoves 2.0

Philip McGarvey wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:For me, a 96% solutions was to go poo-less.  

Next step - while on a different health journey it was suggested that dandruff is caused by what you eat.  

Same here.  Up to age 23 I used soap and shampoo regularly and usually had bad dandruff and stinky hair.  Then I quit shampoo and soap completely, and also improved my diet, and I have barely had any dandruff at all in the 12 years since then, and my hair smells OK according to my family who are not inclined to flatter me in this respect.

I do wash my hair with just water, and brush it, every week to few weeks.

our silly ad for this

three hour long discussion with four engineers - the consensus is that now is not a good time to go to college

For me, a 96% solutions was to go poo-less.  

Next step - while on a different health journey it was suggested that dandruff is caused by what you eat.  

And the last bit, again, for a different thing, it was suggested that I needed to have more minerals through the skin.  Castor oil topically was suggested.  The idea was that i would absorb minerals and the like at night.  But man that stuff is sticky.  So - no way.  .... until i got this little cotton sleep hat.  https://amzn.to/3QlCZL8  - i put the oil on my noggin, cover with the hat and wake up with horrible bed head.    It does seem like the oil is 90% gone in the morning.  And a poo-less shower seems to take a bit more away.      Da oil https://amzn.to/3QlCZL8     I might do this every week or two.  My guess is that at some point i will stop completely.

Zero danders.

Mostly, I enjoy not smearing the dandruff shampoo goo on my head - even the highest quality stuff struck me as toxic.  It has been more than 15 years now.  I feel like it is one of the smartest things i have ever done.  

I also like that my daily shower is about a minute long rather than ten minutes long.  

The idea of ever using shampoo feels brutally unhealthy.  My current path feels extremely healthy.  I am so glad i made the change.  

I will even go so far to say:   i wonder if the anti-dandruff shampoos actually CAUSE dandruff!

like this?  https://permies.com/wiki/69260/Wood-Heat-DIY-Rocket-Mass

Tys Dammeyer wrote:Working on our travel itinerary and have a quick question: If we book a Sepper RV site for 30 days, do those days have to be consecutive  or can we come and go for a total of 30 nights?

30 days in a row.