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I’m doing my best to implement Permaculture principals into mine and my families lives, and quite proud at the progress we’ve achieved so far. Except for baby/toddler products. Especially nappies and wet wipes. These are the bane of my Permaculture conscience. You can’t compost them, and we go through them like no tomorrow. I’m open to trying more sustainable products, but the problem is getting my wife on board. As most parents, myself included, convenience in the disposal of soiled nappies and having wet wipes always on standby especially when you are out to wipe the kids mess, is hard to give up. I’ve looked into compost able wet wipes but far out they are so much more expensive to the product we currently use, and let me tell you, we go through them like no tomorrow.

So annoying that you can’t compost them either.

I’ve thought of maybe having a small spray bottle with water on standby in places where the kids will make mess and use that and a compostable napkin in place of the wet wipes.

But yea, it’s going to be hard to break the habit of these two particularly. As open as I am to implementing positive changes in this regard, my wife will not have a bar of it, and I can’t really blame her, considering that she is spending the most time dealing with their mess. I’m looking forward to when they don’t need neither anymore which is a good year or two away.

Anyone here have any suggestions for good ways to approach this?

Do any of y’all have a preferred method of quantifying soil health? I’m particularly interested in assessing a fruit tree orchard. I would love to have a way of comparing parts of our orchard and identifying which areas need more work vs. which areas are doing better based on our current practices.

Can anyone here speak from first- or second-hand experience building or even seeing a Bio-Veda architecture home?

They appear to be something like a permaculture-driven Earthship redesign that can withstand harsh winters. His new design has a rocket-mass sauna, a waterfall, and an integrated tropical greenhouse. Just… wow.

I am curious if someone here has sorta third party validation of any of his work?
(And/or do you know of other engineers doing similar things?)

Hello Everyone,

My husband and I are building a year-round, off-grid homestead on 1.2 acres in Washington County, Maine, surrounded by 38,000 acres of conservation/ managed forest. We’re working to design and construct a bermed, earth-sheltered home with a green roof and an attached walipini (pit) greenhouse. Our focuse is on sustainability, water management, and resilience in a cold northern climate.

We’re finally at the point where we’d like to bring in someone or a company with real-world experience in off-grid planning and land design. Ideally, you understand how water, soil, trees, and buildings interact, and how to use elevatiion and slope to your advantage. Proper drainage, runoff, and protecting our foundation long-term are primary focuses.

We’re looking for help with:

Permaculture landscape design (off-grid focused, Zones 0-3)
Whole-site water system planning, including underdrainage, runoff control, drywells, erosion prevention, and surface water capture using plants
Soil management and tree/ root preservation
Earth-sheltered home design (structure, passive systems, and long-term durability)
Familiarity with Maine’s LUPC guidelines is a plus, but not required

You don’t have to do everything, we’re just happy to work with someone who is knowledgeable in one or two of these areas, especially if you think long-term and understand how systems connect. Onsite presence is ideal, but remote support is welcome depending on your skills (design modeling, water flow analysis, planning, etc.).

We also welcome interest from apprentices, design students, or early career professionals seeking to contribute to a serious, real-world initiative. If you are knowledgeable, motivated, and prepared to engage meaningfully, we would love to have a conversation.

If this sounds like something you’ve done, or want to be part of, please reach out by DM or reply here. Happy to share more details.

Thank you!

Hello all.

So, big thinker here… I’ve been thinking about permaculture and how life would be given we all adopt the permaculture way. One question that comes up for me is, when thinking about humans thriving here on earth, and how we are part of a much larger whole, where do we fit in? In a sense, do we have to choose between losing biodiversity or having predators? Is it possible to live in such a way that we are the “dominant” species (where we don’t have to worry about getting eaten by something) without losing biodiversity?

These might be some silly questions – forgive me if they are. Hopefully my word vomit is somewhat understood.

TIA

Just moved into a new house and I’d like to plant something around the yard. There’s a drip system and the yard is facing east, the house west. I don’t know how long I’ll be here so maybe not anything too permanent (for example I don’t think I’ll be setting up rain catching systems or so), but plants that will do well in the Phoenix area climate, add some shade, and provide some support to the animals in the area. The dirt area around the yard varies from about 20 inches to 40 inches wide and looks to be around 40 inches high. Also the drip system is half buried in the dry soil so I assume we’ll have to kind of dig it out to lay it on top/next to the plants? Or is it supposed to be under the soil?

I appreciate any help!