My little garden is shaping up, planted a boy and girl Sea Buckthorn, with one pathetic yellow berry. We will see how they take.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippophae_rhamnoides

Found some bastard Peonies growing by the road on the remains of a demolished garden. Tore the roots out and planted them as well, they do say Peonies sulk for 3 years after you tear them out.

Some great ideas to replace decorative japanese garden plants with edible.

http://balconyofdreams.blogspot.com/

Replace Bamboo with Asparagus

Replace clipped pine with clipped rosemary

Masanobu Fukuoka is a farmer/philosopher who lives on the Island of Shikoku, in southern Japan. His farming technique requires no machines, no chemicals and very little weeding. He does not plow the soil or use prepared compost and yet the condition of the soil in his orchards and fields improve each year. His method creates no pollution and does not require fossil fuels. His method requires less labor than any other, yet the yields in his orchard and fields compare favorably with the most productive Japanese farms which use all the technical know-how of modern science.

Instead of deciding which vegetables would do well in which locations he mixes all the seeds together and scatters them everywhere. He lets the vegetables find their own location, often in areas he would have least have expected.

Slow sand filter- filter your water with a simple sand filter to 99.7 cleanliness.

strange edibles

to end – this is wonderful

and some Swedish permaculture resources
swedish DN article on biochar
Sweden/ Sverige permaculture

One couple’s journey to independence with a green house and motel.

Papercrete, reuse and recycle, and a lot of great ideas.

http://blog.holyscraphotsprings.com/

Found via Ryan Is Hungry

http://ryanishungry.com/2007/04/26/green-acre-the-40-yr-old-mobile-gets-a-green-re-do/

Maybe with 2 laptops to power and 4 LED lights for the house we will be ok, store food in the basement cellar (will have to cut some rock, it is all rock in Sweden, all the way down)and do laundry in a hand-crank machine.

http://www.velacreations.com/

I have a friend, farmer Paul, that put up a wind turbine on a 30 meter pole, and no wind…. This was in NY. So i am sceptical of alternative energy, no hippie that I am. It’s just that it does seem the only way for independence.

I am thus looking into atmospheric water generators. $1300 and up

white buffalo nation
aquamaker
EcoloBlue
MirageWaterMaker

side note to self
An interesting hydrogen tech as well
http://www.oxy-hydrogen.com/

A cheap solar cooker has won first prize in a contest for green ideas.

The Kyoto Box is made from cardboard and can be used for sterilising water or boiling or baking food.

The Kenyan-based inventor hopes it can make solar cooking widespread in the developing world, supplanting the use of wood which is driving deforestation.

Other finalists in the $75,000 (£51,000) competition included a device for streamlining lorries, and a ceiling tile that cools hot rooms.

Organised by Forum for the Future, the sustainable development charity founded by Jonathan Porritt, the competition aims to support concepts that have “moved off the drawing board and demonstrated their feasibility” for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but have not gained corporate backing.

The Kyoto Box has the potential to transform millions of lives and is a model of scalable, sustainable innovation,” said Peter Madden, the forum’s chief executive.

It is made from two cardboard boxes, which use reflective foil and black paint to maximise absorption of solar energy.

Covering the cooking pot with a transparent cover retains heat and water, and temperatures inside the pot can reach at least 80C.

As many as two billion people in the world use firewood as their primary fuel.

The official website (no information )
http://kyoto-energy.com/
The BBC article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7991654.stm
sky news link

Stationary Water Filters

For heavy use

Berkey Filter

http://www.berkeywater.com/
Berkey filters are recommended worldwide as the best
Berkey system removes pathogenic bacteria, cysts and parasites entirely and extracts harmful chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, VOCs, organic solvents, radon 222 and trihalomethanes. It also reduces nitrates, nitrites and unhealthy minerals such as lead and mercury. This system is so powerful it can remove red food coloring from water without removing the beneficial minerals your body needs. Virtually no other system can duplicate this performance.

A wonderful idea to save lots of money is to buy just the filters and use two buckets. One to pour the water in (and have the filters), the other to collect water.

You should use food grade plastic or stainless steel.

DIY Berkey filter on the cheap

Save $100 or more in 5 minutes.
Set of Two 9″ Black Berkey Water Purification Elements

Needed: 2 Berkey filters / filter elements ($100 or less, shop around), Two five gallon buckets, a spigot.

Tools: drill or knife.

1)Drill or cut an appropriate size  hole for the threaded filter tube on the bottom of the filter in the top  bucket and in the lid of  the other bucket

making sure that they line up

2) put the threaded filter tip section through the bottom of the bucket and then the lid of the second bucket

3)secure with nut that comes with the filter. Place this on the other 5 gallon bucket and fill the top with water. Have a base for the bottom bucket (secure with wood, wire, rope) so the filter does not topple over.

Optional) Add a spigot to the bottom bucket to get the clean water out.

I would suggest the recieving container is larger than the top container, that way you can add more water to the top without worrying about overflow.
Here is a good starter link

If you think you will only need to filter water in emergencies (floods, blackouts) there are cheaper options, although not as reliable.

Just Water, ceramic drip filter

Hiking and outdoors

When you are out in nature, often filtering water through a cloth filter and adding iodine or chlorine bleach is enough.

Some people use an ultraviolet pen or oxygen.

It is a better idea to use a filter with charcoal, membranes and silver, as this will take out pathogens and chemicals more efficiently, provided the filter is fresh.

Flera besökare till siten har undrat “Hur bygger de ekologiska hus i Sverig?”
Mitt svar blir att de inte gör det.

Vi kommer inte i närheten av de som bygger earthships och halmhus i andra delar av världen.

Ofta, när du läser om ett “ekologiskt hus” visar det sig att de bara använde giftfria byggmaterial.

Giftfria hus betyder inte ekologiskt för mig!
Men låt oss tänka på den viktigaste frågan- var ska man börjar när man vill bygga ett ekologiskt hus?

Svaret är enkelt- läs på! Varenda ekologiska hus jag har hört om har haft något fel i slutändan (men det har de konventionellt byggda också haft).

Folk som bygger earthships i nordliga klimat klagar på kyla, de som bor i fuktiga klimat klagar på värmen, och halmväggar har frambringat klagomål på mögel.

Men ett väl planerat ekologiskt hus kan spara dina pengar, hälsa och göra dig finansiellt oberoende vid låg ålder, om du är villig att bygga ditt hus själv.

Såhär börjar man:

1)Bestäm dig för vad du vill ha.

Folk vet ofta inte vad de vill. Det är här vårt snälla universum kommer in och slår dig i huvudet till du i alla fall ver exakt vad det är du inte vill.
Om du inte har pegar, vill du antagligen bygga ditt hus själv (vilket du kan, a la Simon Dale)
Om du tjänar mycket pengar och har lite tid, kan du betala någon att göra det åt dig.

Har du hälsoproblem? Är du allergisk mot vissa material eller elekrticitet/wi-fi (en del är det). Behöver du ha det varmt och skönt inne i huset, eller nöjer du dig med att sätta på varma kläder?
Finns det tillräckligt med vind och sol där du ska bygga för att kunna klara dig utan att ansluta till et kommunala nätet? (förvånansvär nog är öknar idealiska, massor av energi med het sol och stark vind)

Varenda del av ditt liv bestämmer vad du behöver, och därför ditt hus.

Vet du hur mycket du vill engagera dig i huset? Skulle du tycka det var roligt att planera varje del av det nya gröna hemmet? Är du lycklig när du shoppar eller när du tillverkar saker själv?

Ekologisk är en term som ofta är för vid att definera.
Se vad du kan använda för att det ska passa in i ditt liv.

Antingen kan du odla din egen mat, göra din egen elektricitet, återanvända allt vatten (så att du inte behäver någon kommunal anslutning), och klara dig utan värme (passivhus).
Eller så kan du bara använda lågenergimaskiner, bättre isolering, LED-lampor och solenergi för att halvera kostnaderna för el och uppvärming.

Början med gröna lösningar ligger i att inse att grönt verkligen är färgen som gör ditt liv lättare.
Med lite noggrann planering.

Snar kommer fler artiklar om:
2) Planera ditt gröna hem

3)Hemman
Hur man slutar betala hyra och bor på platsen för sitt nya hus- nu.

–Alex