permaculture

[chauncey williams <chaunceyfree@yahoo.com>]

I am looking to get a greenhouse and was wondering if anyone can suggest a 
good style and place to get one that is sturdy enough to withstand strong 
(60mph) Winds.
thanks in advance.

Sean

       
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>From rolling_stone123@yahoo.com  Thu Feb  7 22:40:10 2008
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From: Josh Robinson <rolling_stone123@yahoo.com>
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Subject: [permaculture]  reed beds
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Milagro co-housing in Tucson, Arizona set up a reed
bed to filter their community greywater to then be
used in the landscape.  What they found is that the
reed bed was a water hog that required extra water
pumped from a well in the summer just to stay alive! 
Many people take vacations during the summer and with
the high temperatures and evapotranspiration rates the
system was quickly going to ruin.  They have since
shrunk the area of the reed bed, but it still water
hog.  

I think in these instances you have step back into the
bigger picture and assess what you are really trying
to achieve with a reed bed.  One technique does not
work for all circumstances.  If the water is just used
for irrigating perennials, shrubs, and trees then why
not just send the water out to them to begin with.  My
favorite is to send the greywater into a series of
mulch basins as recommended by Art Ludwig and then
plant fruit trees in or around the basin depending on
the tree preference and soil conditions.  The soil
microbes, plants, and organic matter work to filter
the water on their own and minimal water is lost in
the process.  Now to harvest the purified greywater
all I have to do is eat a peach, cherry, or apple that
have been grown near my greywater mulch bed.  This
system also allows for periods of vacationing during
the dry times since the trees and shrubs can go quite
sometime without irrigation unlike wetland plants that
need lots of water all the time.  Of course if you are
wanting to use the greywater for a veggie garden or
crops with edible parts in direct contact with the
soil then the mulch basin would not work and something
like a reed bed could be the better choice.  

In a dryland environment such as where I live in
Arizona, I take water very seriously so it seems hard
to justify a water intensive reed bed when I can just
use the water to irrigate the plants I want to have in
the first place.  If I lived in a wetter climate I am
sure that a reed bed would work great, but remember
everything in permaculture is site specific and
techniques are not one size fits all.  

As for greenhouse greywater reed beds...Michael
Reynold's who came up the earthship concept has some
pretty innovative and integrated passive solar
greenhouse greywater systems detailed in his book
called "Water from the Sky."  He designs homes in cold
and arid regions (7 inch rainfall) to catch and store
all rainfall.  The water is then used for showering,
dishes, etc. and then passes through a greenhouse
greywater system.  But instead of using reeds that can
be considered famine food at best, he uses bananas,
avocados, and other fruiting plants mixed in with the
system.  After the water passes through this system it
is used to flush toilets.  The toilet water is then
sent out into another bio-filter system irrigating
outdoor plants.  But keep in mind that these
greenhouse systems are in cold climates.  In hot
climates, I think that a greenhouse would get too hot
and kill all of your plants or require such extremes
of energy inputs to keep the temperature down that it
wouldn't be worth it.

Take Care,
Josh Robinson

www.EdenOnEarthLandscaping.com
http://QuakingAspenPermaculture.blogspot.com/


      
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