Comments for Kerrplunk

Comment on Why Take the Train by CO2 by Train

CO2 by Train — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:13:21 +0000

I think that high-speed rail should be a priority for the USA and other countries too.

I travel to the USA regularly, however I live in the UK near the new high-speed train station in Ebbsfleet, Kent. This CO2 calculator demonstrates how much you can save in CO2, almost ten times compared with short haul flights.

Investmest could be gained with commercial companies willing to gain from the geo-locations of new railway stations, similar to the UK. Train travel will save money for the country in expensive short haul flights and provide better transport for the future generations.

Comment on I claim this post for SCIONS! by Erik

Erik — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:12:23 +0000

Thanks for the great post. I was wondering about how I could put together mini-orchards that are affordable. I am a little sad I missed out this year but I am looking forward to next year.

Comment on Evolution, resilience, and building “antifragile” systems by aaaaa

aaaaa — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:45:50 +0000

Interesting post, although I think you would benefit from a closer examination of Taleb’s ideas. In everything, I’ve encountered he points to nature (and by implication evolution) as the prime example of an anti-fragile system.

There is an interesting talk here which expands a bit on the post you linked to, which in my opinion, appears more like a public page from a note book than a detailed exploration of the idea of anti-fragility.

Cheers.

Comment on Why Take the Train by Harriette

Harriette — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:00:34 +0000

I travel Amtrak cross-country about once a year and love it, although by the time I get to Vermont from Northern CA 5 days later, I am very happy to be on solid ground. Most of the delays mentioned above are because Amtrak does not own the tracks it uses and must defer to freight trains, even if the freight train is off schedule. I treat my train trips like camping trips. I bring food, a pillow and blanket and lots of reading material, as I have been taking the same trip for 10 years. I do have parts of the country that I must see each time, however, such as the mountains and canyons in Colorado. I do wish that Amtrak had the domestic equivalent of Eurorail passes (there are passes, but only for people from out of the country), because it would be wonderful to be able to visit multiple friends on a round trip.

Comment on Recap of recent events by Kerrick

Kerrick — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:20:24 +0000

I haven’t read Hutton in years, but I share his views of the ahistoricity of contemporary neopaganism, and that’s put me directly at odds with an elder in my tradition who is very close to me, and for whom I have a great deal of respect. And I share his view that that ahistoricity is not necessarily in itself a problem for the foundation of a strong pagan movement. By analogy, there are Christian theologians and even congregations where the historicity and authorship of the Christian Scripture is viewed critically, and of those I’ve seen their faith practice seems to be even stronger and their community healthier for it—although not everyone wants to engage in that kind of analysis, of course. Is that sort of the lines along which you’re thinking?

Comment on Recap of recent events by Anne

Anne — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:06:14 +0000

Hey, what do you think of Ronald Hutton? I’m reading him at the right time in my own life, when I’ve just gone through this intellectual process of recognizing the irrelevance of literal truth applied to belief systems, or rather recognizing that literal truth isn’t necessary to the form a positive community. Thoughts?

Comment on Shrubs for Livestock Forage for Mixed Species Grazing by Kerrick

Kerrick — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:49:10 +0000

I’ve seen seabuckthorn used in a chicken run, and they did forage the leaves–it became a bundle of thorny sticks, in fact, without a leaf on it. I hadn’t thought of using goji berry that way mainly because the berries are so desired by humans, but if someone had a large number of goji bushes for market growing and suddenly the goji fad disappears and they’re left with an excess of bushes, running chickens and goats in them seems like a good solution.

Comment on Shrubs for Livestock Forage for Mixed Species Grazing by Permaguy

Permaguy — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 10:41:28 +0000

Hi,

i’m very interested by your post, as i’m designing a permaculture poultry fodder system for my home flock (south of France, steep slope, deers).

About Lespedeza : “Published studies reported that consumption of sericea lespedeza, a condensed tannin rich forage, has offered control of parasites in sheep and goats” http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/226193.html

What about seabuckthorn ? Very promising berries for poultry, and great leaf fodder (for poultry in pellets, don’t know about consumption of leaves directly, and i don’t know about goats)

Goji berries are very promising too, in terms of amino acids content (and it is said that goji brushes are browsed by every animal).

I think also about persimmons/kaki to produce kcal for poultry (and goats? ) in winter

Comment on Selecting Species for Coppice Firewood by Mike K

Mike K — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:47:56 +0000

http://dnr.wi.gov/forestry/publications/Handbooks/24315/43.pdf

Hayden,

I just became interested in sustainable living and ran across this page because I was interested in learning what species are good for coppicing in Michigan. Where I currently live, there is a small stand of Balsam Poplar on the back of the property. I kept looking and finally found the above link which states that Balsam Poplar (very common across Northern Michigan) can be simple coppiced indefinitely. It sounds reasonable as I have seen entire acres of Balsam stands clear-cut and thousands of six feet tall suckers grow the following year. The article states that typically 10,000-30,000 suckers regenerate per acre. From what I have personally seen, I would recommend you transplant some Balsam Poplar.

As far as the others go:
Beech – very very very, I mean very slow growing. American is the slowest growing hardwood in the area I can think of, probably not the best candidate.
Maples and Oaks would be middle to long term
Sand Cherry and Black Cherry would probably make good candidates from what I know of them.
Walnut probably falls under the same category as Beech.
That’s about all I know. Try contacting some local tree nurseries or foresters, even firewood delivery and ask them what species rejuvenate quickly after harvest and make “usable” firewood.

Comment on Why Take the Train by Peter

Peter — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:11:25 +0000

Living in the Northeast, I’m lucky to have access to the comparatively fast Acela corridor. My Mom worked in transportation for years, and was always frustrated at the entrenched ideological opposition to transit.