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Worming

Entrachyadid wormsOur permaculture worm tower seems to be working well. But we have just noticed that lots of the thin white worms that were in the bin have gotten out and gone wriggling around the garden. There seems to be a heap of them. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we instantly knew what they were and what to do.

Entrachyadids are a type of earthworm, and not a nematode as I first feared. They are a sign that the soil is too acid which is a result of putting in too many kitchen scraps. Although, the entrachyadids don’t do any damage, we will be adding lime to the beds to reduce the acidity.

Watch the short video on permaculture worm towers.

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Permaculture Design Certificate with Bill Mollison & Geoff Lawton

mollison_lawtonSeptember 21 is my birthday. It’s also the start of a 2 week PDC course with two of the godfathers of permaculture – Bill Mollison & Geoff Lawton. Which would mean 2 weeks in Melbourne around my birthday. Can I combine all these elements? It would be dreamy. But then so would this one in Jordan…  Oh decisions I wish I could make if only I had some extra coin. Dear Universe, please provide – I promise I shall do good with it!

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Greensulate – Insulation from Mushrooms

In the very cool but very warm plant product category this week, we have Greensulate – a low-cost, rigid insulating board made from mushroom spores.

“The insulation is created by pouring a mixture of insulating particles, hydrogen peroxide, starch, and water into a panel mold. Mushroom cells are then injected into the mold, where they digest the starch producing a tightly meshed network of insulating particles and mycelium. The end result is an organic composite board that has a competitive R-Value a measurement of resistance to heat flow and can serve as a firewall.” (Thanks Sustainable Times)

Spores from oyster mushrooms are used in the board which according to David Blume can be grown on distillers grains. Another part of link in the permacultural chain? Corn – alcohol – distillers grains – oyster mushrooms – earthworms – castings – and insulation board? I may have to get one of these NZ oyster mushroom kits for Christmas.

Watch the video Stop Global Warming by Growing Styrofoam with Fungi on YouTube.com.

Read Environmentally Friendly Organic Insulation Uses Mushroom Spores at ScienceDaily.com

Image: Oyster mushrooms by the lovely maggihc @ Dog Hill Kitchen

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Notes from US Biofuels Expert David Blume – Growing Your Own Fuel

Last week, I went to the most inspiring talk. None of this doom and gloom the world is ending stuff that you’d expect from any talk concerned with Peak Oil. Instead, David Blume described how we can take control of our fuel needs by growing it ourselves, or with the help of neighbours with Community Supported Ethanol.

David stresses that almost everything that can be made from oil can be made from plants. This stuff is pretty near and dear to the hearts and minds of the LovePlantLife team. We’ll be doing lots of follow-up on this one.

Notes on David’s talk on how Alcohol can be a gas, why biofuels don’t steal food from hungry mouths, how we can grow our own fuel and other additional benefits after the jump. Read more

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