Tag Archives: vermicompost

Green House Repair, Tool Treasure Hunt, and More Land Lessons TPP247


In this episode I share more from my list of updates and observations working on a permaculture project

My Non Verbatim show notes:

Don’t want to say full time

full spirited, full assed, full hearted

quality of attention, quality of design


beautiful experience to be doing hard work, then pause whenever you feel like it

track an animal, meditate on a thought

or realize you’re doing something wrong and have to correct it

99 hours of design 1 hour of work

experience of repairing the hope house, large green house, provides shade protection from sun, rain, plastic sheeting and shade cloth

long half circle structure frame, walk into, looks like an aircraft hanger, giant commercial industrial ag land size

tend to get battered by sun, rain, this one had seen better days, weight from rainfall, pockets and pools of rainwater, adding stress and pressure onto the frame until part of it gave it

it did take down one of the main supports, could only walk about half way through it, just as wanna be Feng shui

geek, one of first things I did, create pathway conducive to moving through with wheel barrows

as an access point, had to do macguevering, more resistance than I expected being able to put it back up, hoped to be able to just get some leverage with a broom handle, that was not happening based on sheer weight of it, impossible to bend back into shape properly, able to rig together a floor jack to get clearance, opened up the path way, just a few inches of lift so you could easily walk through without ducking, it could stand on the side and hold it up, an adventure to figure out, beholding that moment when you create a clearance in a blocked area, that’s the kundalini magic, what a difference it makes when you have the infrastructure of free movement, metaphorical as well as quite literal removal of blockages, by any means necessary, for now not hindering access, and ability to practice the art of permaculture

its been an interesting meditation going through process of sorting through what’s become junk, the fact of life on any kind of rural ag land, generations and generations of stacked layers of dilapidated

, tools hardware, food wrappers, all kinds of madness, whereas a lot of people, myself at different stages, look at some of these heaps and feel really distraught, it’s been a breath of fresh air, something to sink teeth into, meditation aid, sort through and find gems, treasures, all these tools, that’s money that doesn’t have to be spent, just loved and restored and maintained, tested, higher state of repair, that’s just more assets more and more capital that make me feel even wealthier than I am, adventure, scavenger hunt

doesn’t feel that good to go and buy brand new tools, you have to really go out of your way and have a high budget to purchase items that are brand new

still to this day, a percentage of everyday goes into that process of sorting and seeking and finding new fun stuff, super exciting, exciting to find dank compost, mulch, find cuttings that have been planted, that are flourishing in overgrown areas

a lot of updating that needs to happen to spruce the place up, there was a peak state of of maintenance of all the plantings, all the permaculture zones, due to unforeseen circumstances, personal matters, its needed more love than has been available to it, this property, for awhile, that’s where I come in, be that booster shot of love, zipping around tiding things up, sorting and organizing

aha moments of discovering you recognize a plant, it’s hanging in there, you can promise it will have a home planted in the soil, good shade good moisture, good nutrients

cuttings, seedlings hoping to get in the ground this season, very invigorating, soul building, people out there that don’t feel useful to anything or anyone, planting things is the easiest way to feel useful to something

there’s no limit to how much you can love a plant and how much a plant can love you

while sweeping up, in the main hoop house area, there was a time when I had to be on a phone call, arguing, a c level argument of myself and a fellow creative business partner, very refreshing to be multitasking on my own time, on my own clock, my time, doing my work, multitask and roll with the frictions of creative minds butting heads, ultimately seeking alignment, this is the life I can have, I can do the Hollywood hustle as long as I’m far away from the urban madness, and actually enjoying my chores doing my clean up, multitasking with farm chores while grinding gears with contracts, not feel like a net loss

spent a lot of time cooped up in stuffy office cubicle environments have partner debates, if you ever get the chance, dancing too, I may be pacing a little bit, but every time I pace I’m doing some more sweeping, comedic to watch

maybe see people walking their dogs having business convos in the city

a few more things worth mentioning for this catch up, I’m not the biggest birder in the world, don’t have much knowledge of bird id, amazing action of predatory birds doing their thing, amazing aerial maneuvers, always looking up and remembering for most animals, most life on earth life doesn’t have to be more complicated than the honest living of seeking a meal

here there’s next level rubberized chicken wire, usually gives me creeps, tries to a find a way to get a little too close for comfort on sharp edges

trashy look, this stuff is less obvious at a distance, less sharp, safer

duty to try to find balance between rustic americana and white trash, don’t want to look like a junk yard, better have story, soul, character, black rubberized chicken wire, next level upgrade, less noticeable at a glance, tuck away that loud metal wire

I want to be post fence, post wire, and that feeling of being in an agriculture prison colony for enclosures, mainly to protect vulnerable livestock, in poor countries may not even have fencing material, have to use organic fences, fast growing shrubs and bamboo, it’s a luxury to not use those cheap materials here and evolve to a less prisony looking landscape

discovered air pruning pots that prevent the self strangulation of plant roots in black pots, air holes allow roots to know the boundaries and to stop trying to circle around, more natural growth pattern

feel better about long term health of the planets

more mother load ground scores of hidden compost piles, save me time, money, and energy to work with

finding lots more rosemary, part of my daily culinary/medicinal lifestyle

wanting to really move away from plastic as much as possible, clay pots, glass, whole set of stainless steel serving trays

subirrigation strategy, sterilish substrate, that can create a miniature wetland environment for starting seeds, saturate the bottom, organic matter on top, less organic matter decomposing underwater, if the organic matter is above that more sterilish medium, can afford to have more water and not wastewater running off through drainage wholes, having done it right have very vigorous, strong, happy healthy seedlings, ongoing supply of moisture, they’re not constantly going through shock of near drying out

lots of frogs, met my first couple of big toads out here, really stoked to see these beneficial predators around, the ones if you continue to provide them the right habitat, they’ll manage pests, maintenance in the garden

very stoked to find vermaculture composting bin, worm bin, transmuting food scraps from kitchen, any organic matter, best when kept moist, daily use of kitchen green waste, not so much dairy or meat for worm bin, avoiding garlics and onions and relatives, avoid citrus, mostly green waste, fruits and veggies they love to propogate to their hearts content, you can harvest the leachate, harvest, next level you can run filtered/dechlorinated water through the worm bin and create own diluted compost tea from that, very prized product for a number of uses, creating a smoothie for soil organisms, been a huge part of my life for many years now, one’s here very exciting, can hit the ground running so to speak

getting to know some of the neighborhood dogs, becoming friendly with the dogs of the land, never been surrounded by as many coyotes, seeing them move around even during the day, hear coyotes going nuts even in the afternoon

this is where the prana really comes from