thinking about buying a 'geodesic dome home'
phdn19csh
17 years ago
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scryn
17 years agopamghatten
17 years agoRelated Discussions
Am I delusional? Thinking about buying land...
Comments (25)Don't know if your crazy mylonite. But food production will be a very important part of survival as our world moves towrds a psot carbon direction. Edible landscaping will be most important to feeding what is left of us when TEOTWAK arrives. I got a late start as I knew nothing about food production before 2/11/08 and by the time my garden was ready to accept some seeds the summer was about a quarter over. But, as the saying goes...better late than never. My lot is only 2/3 acre and I have to use the intensive method of planting. My main garden is about 750 SF but it has rock paths. I also have 6 smaller beds that are from 20 SF to 80 SF each. Also have 26 fruit tress. Here is main garden. [IMG]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk187/fookisan/reargardenvuew.jpg[/IMG] Next year will put in another bed on side about 30 SF and a few more fruit trees. if things get tougher, l'll put in squash bed about 359 SF Here are 3 good books for those interested in developing an urban homestead. [url]http://www.amazon.com/Food-Not-Lawns-Neighborhood-Community/dp/193339207X[/url] [url]http://www.amazon.com/Gardening-When-Counts-Growing-Mother/dp/086571553X[/url] [url]http://www.amazon.com/Self-Sufficient-Suburban-Gardener-Jeff-Ball/dp/0878574573[/url] I think we have a real food crisis brewing for the world. Not enough young farmers replacing the old, we will run low of fertilizer as the NG dries up and that food which is grown is devoid of nutrition and not healthy. And to make matter worse, fewer people can even afford to buy produce. With the recent food shortages in the news I have to wonder as Richard Heinberg brought up "Who will be growing our food 20 years from now?" "The average American farmer is 55 to 60 years old. The proportion of full time farmers younger than 35 years of age has dropped from 15.9% in 1982 to 5.8% in 2002. Who will be growing our food 20 years from now?" from "Peak Everything" by Richard Heinberg "Amish farmers can't compete in conventual agriculture farming. 40 years ago 90% to 95% of the Amish were farmers. Today less than 10% are farmers." from: "How the Amish Survive" DVD And even if the farmers keep up with production, many people cannot afford the high prices of produce. At Krogers a butternut squash was $7, a large apple was $1.85, a rutabaga was $3, an artichoke near $5 and a lemon was $1.35, a bag of cherries was $14.75, ONE organic yam was $8.25. And these high priced produce are being offered when times are still relatively good What will this stuff sell for when gas is $10 or $15 a gallon? Peak oil, peak NG, peak water and food as well as peak uranium will fuel mass starvation as our artificial and unsustainable world decomposes around us. As people buy less produce due to affordability issues and the produce stops selling and rots on the shelves, the farmers will grow less produce that just rots unsold and less potential farmers will be entering that field. Book and DVD list. All available from your local library. Beyond Oil: the view from Hubbert's Peak by Deffeyes, Kenneth S. [url]http://www.princeton.edu/hubbert/[/url] The Coming Economic Collapse - how you can thrive when oil costs $200 a barrel by Leeb, Stephen A Crude Awakening - the oil crash Lava Productions AG, Switzerland DVD [url]http://www.oilcrashmovie.com/[/url] The End of Suburbia - oil depletion and the collapse of the American dream by Greene, Gregory DVD [url]http://www.endofsuburbia.com/[/url] Fed Up [url]http://www.amazon.com/Fed-Up-Angelo-Sacerdote/dp/B000CNGC6G[/url] High Noon for Natural Gas: the new energy crisis by Darley, Julian [url]http://www.highnoon.ws/[/url] The Long Emergency: surviving the converging catastrophes of the twenty-first century by Kunstler, James Howard Oil Apocalypse History channel DVD Peak Oil Survival: preparation for life after gridcrash by McBay, Aric Powerdown: options and actions for a post-carbon world by Heinberg, Richard Resource Wars: the new landscape of global conflict by Klare, Michael T [url]http://www.amazon.com/Resource-Wars-Landscape-Conflict-Introduction/dp/0805055762[/url] A Thousand Barrels a Second: the coming oil break point and the challenges facing an energy dependent world by Tertzakian, Peter Twilight in the Desert: the coming Saudi oil shock and the world economy by Simmons, Matthew R. Well written book examining 12 of the key Saudi oil fields. Who Killed the Electric Car? Sony Pictures Classics release [url]http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/[/url] Zoom:the global race to fuel the car of the future by Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran. [IMG]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk187/fookisan/victorygarden.jpg[/IMG]...See MoreWe're thinking about building or buying a greenhouse
Comments (10)Janet, I'm just the hunter/gatherer/builder while my wife is the grower/gardener. But I would build it where you want it, and make it structurally sound enough to withstand the elements, though I'd probably stop-short of making it hurricane-proof! In hindsight we probably should have built ours with at least a LITTLE protection from the midday sun, but since we didn't I have to make an exhaust fan/shutter system for it and possibly an evaporative cooler as well, a shade cover too at some point, regardless we do fully expect that we'll have to completely vacate it probably sometime in mid-Spring. You had said something about using windows you have--also that you need to "learn how to use it". Maybe you just want (need?) a comfy place to put a potting bench and overwinter some plants--whatever I say build what you think you want/can afford and go from there....See Moreturning geodesic dome into greenhouse
Comments (9)I think you might run into an issue with the dome being curved in two dimensions. Most commercial GHs are only curved in one dimension (sides going up to the roof peak), but straight in the other dimension (along the length). That allows you to use the wirelocks along the base of the sides, and the plastic will curve nicely put to the roof peak and down again to the other side. On a dome however, it is curved in two dimensions. This means you can't just throw a flat piece of plastic over the top and pull it tight on two sides. You will end up with "extra" material because the dome is curved in two dimensions. I don't know how you can deal with this excess material from the dual curving. Perhaps you could run the channel along the perimeter of each triangle that makes up the dome. This would take care of the "excess," but would be a bunch of work and a lot of seams. Or perhaps you could have someone fashion a dome shaped cover by seaming together appropriate sized triangles. This would be more waterproof and easier to put up, but would require careful sizing to fit. Good Luck...See MoreAnyone for a geodesic dome GH?
Comments (16)Hi That is the interesting part about the "Cool house" in Singapore. It is being designed entirely for plants that will not tolerate high temps. Warm / hot growers are no problem . Also I thought interesting was the primary occupants will be Bromeliads not orchids. I have used both evaporative cooling and refrigeration on my small area and both were miserable failures for opposite reasons lol. My average humidity is too high to allow EC to work particularly during summer. Refrigeration lowers temps but causes a corresponing drop in humidity. Both bad news for High altitude tropicals. Their yearly temps average way above mine without a winter respite like I have. Kew uses outside cold air during winter so gets a big break on operating costs during winter. Summers are also generally mild. So evaporative cooling is effective. But Singapore just like s. florida has no "cold " air lol I have a big break over Singapore in that I have around two months of tolerable conditions so the OC drop. Singapore does not have a single week !! This is particularly what caught my eye . Can't think of a worse location to build a "Cool house" Another thing from my own experience. I generally find heat tolerant tropicals far more adaptable to cool or even cold temps while cool to cold growers are far less adaptable to heat particularly without a night time drop. Another thing is the selection of species. Bromeliads, as a guess I'd say they can grow at least 80 percent of all species without any moderation at all. One serious problem for many would be rainfall. Gee a simple roof would handle that problem except for the high lights. There you could use no media perhaps with fans for quick drying. I grow several on hanging wires for that reason But here again I get a big break during winter. Rainfall is tolerable for at least two months as well as humidity drops, I can fall into almost ideal ranges for several weeks. I had always wanted to have a cool house even a very small one but could find no way to make it work at all let alone be practicle. Maybe they know something I don't !!!lol gary...See Morechisue
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