Eco House Film - Ecological House in Sweden

pretty and edible is the goal.

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

7800 square meters of mountain.
Will need to import earth, as right now it is barren.
Ponds in the planning.
Clover, rosehip, lupine, potatoes, jerusalem chokes. Looking for fruit trees.
Planning for chickens and pigs or yaks. Will need more farm help.

Reading up on permaculture, diy and farming.
Lots of good info out there.
Natural farming is not just for growing crops – it is for the cultivation and perfection of human beings.
Fukuoka Farming Permaculture Grow more without agriculture.

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

Holy Scrap Hot Springs

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/

thinking about how much energy we can produce with a wind generator and some solar panels, in Sweden, which is not the most energy abundant place on earth, with little sun and low winds where we are.

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.

A timber frame small house built on a layton camper trailer bed.

The camper is from the70s and was bought for $100.
The owner did all his own building, with the help of his brother, an experienced framer.
I wonder how heavy those large timbers are.

For those contemplating stripping a used camper bed-

You need to calculate carefully the costs of stripping a trailer for a frame for building a small house.

One must inspect the trailer bed carefully before purchase, and you need to make sure the camper is road-worthy. Can you even get it to your new location?

-stripping / deconstructing new trailer cost of labor and time

-old trailer remains /garbage disposal

-transportation to new site (you will need to rent a truck if you don’t have a pick-up)
-repainting the trailer bed

Camper Trailers (or trailers of any kind) are much more expensive in Sweden than the US, so I am not sure what the alternative is here.

source: Minimal Mansion

Located deep in a forest in Gothenburg, Sweden, the Bird Bridge crosses a rift, linking a hospital to a series of botanical gardens. Two pedestrian bridges are also intended as bird-friendly, providing secret resting places for the our avian friends.

We think the photoshopped presentation for the bridge is over the top, but even if it is just a publicity stunt, at least it is a green publicity stunt.

source:inhabitat
You do not need a fancy bridge to help your local bird population.

Bird homes, feeders, and hedges and trees for Birds to live in are an easy way to help birds in your are today.

The easiest to start with is a bird feeder made out of a box / milk or juice carton or a plastic bottle [video].
This is another bottle project fun to do with your kids
Remember to hang it up without cats nearby! House cats kill too many birds today.

One very easy thing to make is an owl box
Here are more links on making shelters for owls

Ett ekologiskt hus på Nya Zeeland

ecological house in New Zeland

En man bygger en friggebod som inte kostar någonting- gratis friggebod!

pallets made free tiny house

Continue reading tiny free house

Addressing the urgent need to green our built environment, Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects have conceived of a Super Sustainable City
Continue reading KKA Recreates Gothenburg as a Sustainable Ecotopia