I will be updating this page with more information on this exciting project, dirty water comes in, clean water comes out! This and a compost toilet, and bio-degradable washing materials, and you don’t need central sewage! Thousands saved, and so much less damage to the environment!
They have a great website with videos here.

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

Time to consider some edible water growing food sources.

http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/edibpond.php at Plants for a Future

Trapa natans – Water Chestnut

Acorus calamus / Sweet Flag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Flag

Typha angustifolia / Reed Reed Mace

Water Spinach

Ipomea aquatica

Stachys affinis Chinese Artichoke

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

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Zizania+aquatica

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Typha+angustifolia

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Trapa+natans

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Sagittaria+sagittifolia

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Nasturtium+officinale

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Cornus+canadensis

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/26/technology/village_saving_planet.biz2/index.htm

21-year-old student/inventor/entrepreneur Emily Cummins has designed a brilliant portable solar-powered refrigerator that works based upon the principle of evaporation. Employing a combination of conduction and convection, the refrigerator requires no electricity and can be made from commonly available materials like cardboard, sand, and recycled metal.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/01/12/solar-powered-fridge-by-emily-cummins/

Naturally, I am atracted to permaculture.
Sepp Holzer and Fukuoka and

http://www.richsoil.com/sepp-holzer/sepp-holzer-permaculture.jsp

We have very little soil on our mountain, but we do have 7000 square meters of it.

One slope has accumulated quite a lot of oak leaves over the years, that have turned into mulched/ composted leaves.

I have made two raised beds, one out of wood and one by laying earth over a long dead and rotten birch.

Potatoes and
jerusalem artichokes / Helianthus tuberosus

and some beets, pumpkins and wildflowers to fix nitrogen.
are the start of our garden, planted in July so not hoping for any crop this year.

Need to find more local swedish tubers, but also thinking about the North American Ground Nut /
Apios Americana dutch seller
One can only learn anything by doing it, so this is simply starting now as opposed to waiting for the perfect conditions in the future that does not exist.

Anna got the potatoes for free, and the Jerusalem artichokes cost 12 crowns.
I bought a mix of heritage seeds on ebay for 17 dollars, and will try to get as many local permaculture compatible plants as possible.

Dont know if I should bring earth to the mountain for raised platform beds, as there is literally no earth, just rock covered with a thin layer of grass and roots.

Now I will go harvest some willow and plant it around our outhouse, if it takes, next year maybe I will convert it into a treebog.

http://www.ee7drs.org.uk/bog/treebog.html

http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Tree_bog

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/

something like this maybe but out of metal or regular wood.

<img src=”http://carryfreedom.com/images/P_Bamboo_FL_Line.gif”>

<a href=”http://carryfreedom.com/bamboo.html”>http://carryfreedom.com/bamboo.html</a>

<a href=”http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1981-07-01/Dime-on-the-Dollar-Bicycle-Trailer.aspx”>mother earth bike plans</a>

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.