guildfordcycads

So this is my first time making a raised bed and I am not sure how to finish it off. The wood I have used is heat treated, and the bed is slightly raised with a wooden bottom(I don’t have a big garden with soil so I cant really just put it on top of the floor). I have some “extra strong” outdoor cover sheets, and I dont know if it is a good idea to use it to line the bed to prevent rot. I imagine I would have to drill some hole at the bottom for preventing waterlog. But I don’t know, should I leave the wood bare, or use the cover, or use a completely different material altogether? I am on a tight budget and not sure what I could use to extend the lifespan of my raised bed as much as possible.

Does anyone know how to get hold of an English copy of Sepp Holzer’s Desert or Paradise? In the UK Amazon has it for £60. It’s listed for less on other sites but they’re all out of stock.

I’m hoping to find it for a farmer who’s enthusiastic about introducing sustainable water management techniques to his land.

I’ve been avoiding raising animals because they add quite a bit of maintenance. But I am intrigued at the prospect of more wild raised chickens that can mostly forage on their own.

I’m looking at Icelandics, which should be cold hardy, foragers and have good predator instincts. And they are apparently able to fly reasonably well, which is importsnt (see below). I am confident in being able to setup automatic feeders and waterers with backups so as not to require daily maintenance.

The big question to me is whether it’s feasible to let them run fully free range without needing to lead them into a coop every night. I am imagining an elevated coop along with some predator fencing/baffle to prevent ground predators, inside of a small wooded area to provide aerial cover from raptors. Or maybe instead of an elevated coop, there is fencing that’s high enough to block ground predators but low enough for the chickens to fly into it.

Is this reasonable? I know Mark Shepard has discussed his dinosaur chickens that have basically already adapted to mostly wild hands-off living. But I want to make sure I am not being irresponsible with animal stewardship.

Thanks!

Hello! Just wanted to share a game I’ve been working on that’s heavily inspired by permaculture.

A while back I visited an research farm in a super dry area where they were helping townfolks improve their farming capabilities. They were using ollas for irrigation to help with the dry land, planting aromatic herbs next to lettuces to deter bugs, rotating beans to fix nitrogen, even making garlic and chili sprays. It really stuck with me, and I’ve been wanting to make a game influenced by that kind of smart, resourceful farming.

Now I’m building Pollinarium, a minimalist, turn-based gardening strategy game. These are a sample of my “appliances” 😊: bee hotels, wild ponds, rainwater tanks, compost bins, hügelkultur mounds, insect sanctuaries, etc. All based on different permaculture farming practices.

https://preview.redd.it/9pom08vbjvdf1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=0c4bee0a9e5ca45d90c916498b9c32f0e91b8ac6

If you’re curious:
Steam

Is there anything that you would like to see?