permaculture

[Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com>]

Thanks John for the great info.

Michael, as an aside,

I recommend double checking the source of the nutrient loading into the
Potomac and Chesapeake Bay to make sure your proposal addresses the actual
flow of nutrients into the aquatic ecosystems.

Are the N and P carried in surface runoff or subsurface leaching,
percolation, and flow?  My guess is both, so the ? becomes what quantities
are moving in each pathway, and where do they enter these pathways (i.e.
surface runoff from manure piles, sediment carried off fields or manure pond
leaching, etc.)  Hopefully this will provide you with some high leverage
locations for remediation strategies.

To get this quantitative info, you might want to check with the university
researchers, environmental consulting firms, the state department of
environmental quality (water division), and local environmental groups
(maybe something like friends of the potomac or chesapeake or ...).  And you
may want to do some direct testing of your own...or write it into the
funding proposal.

You might already have funding sources in mind.  If not, you may want to
look at partnering with local farmers and assess if some NRCS grants are
appropriate (EQIP, CIG, etc) or SARE grants.  Also look at www.grants.gov.

I've thought briefly about this issue before and thought it might be
interesting to see if one could match two industrial ag by-products to deal
with nutrient imbalances (although ideally the industrial ag model would be
reformatted to a regenerative and eco-systemic model).  For example, the
by-products of wood pulping and lumber production such as sawdust and other
high lignin materials might be reasonable to mix in with manure lagoons from
pig operations to balance the C:N relationship...these might also be a
source of materials for your spawn production.  Of course this depends on
proximity, fuel costs, mixing machinery, and other details.  just a thought.

cheers,
Neil

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 8:28 AM, John Thomas Naisbitt <
johntnaisbitt@gmail.com> wrote:

> For my two bits worth on this subject, I'd highly recommend avoiding the
> outright purchase of earthmoving equipment unless you are going to make a
> business out of it. I have worked in and around large to small scale mine
> remediation and geotechnical projects both Stateside and in South America.
> Most equipment in the economically affordable range for small operations or
> even the building of "test plots" is costly and can be a crap shoot if you
> don't know what you are looking at. (Ever buy a used car off a lot?) In
> fact, the majority of contractors on earth moving projects will only have
> in
> their own possession a small fleet of equipment; renting and billing back
> the rental to their clients at a mark-up cost. I personally like rental
> fleets due to the fact that I don't like to have to constantly maintain
> "yellow iron" and have it sit still. The rental fleet is more like a
> "community fleet" as rentals are readily available with some planning and
> can be broken down to use time by the hour, day, week, month, etc. giving
> you the opportunity to budget the machinery as such and "love it and leave
> it". There is also the advantage of mobilizations costs as the rental
> centers usually deliver and that can have it's own mark-up as well to
> better
> fund your project.
>
> When looking into heavy iron, be sure to check out the manufacturers
> "Performance Handbooks" as they will give you insight as far as power,
> reach, hauling capacities, and assist in managing time and production.
>
> Operators are out there and in today's economy, are getting just as hungry
> as the rest of us. Many are looking to pick up new skills and disciplines;
> another cookie in our favor these days.
>
> As far as the mycofiltration goes, look into the book by Harbhajan Singh,
> "Mycoremediation, Fungal Bioremediation"; it gives an excellent baseline
> for
> mycoremediation activities and concepts based on formal studies. In
> addition
> try to directly contact the fungal mentor himself, Paul Stammets at
> fungi.com (F. Perfecti) - he is a wealth of information (and as you well
> know) has experience in what you are proposing.
>
> Best of luck on this one, I could only dream of doing what you are
> inspiring
> to do.
>
> Cheers,
>
> John
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 8:50 AM, Michael Judd <campesinomike@hotmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Neil,
> >
> > Wonderful help, thank you. Good suggestions as I consider a potential
> > machinery purchase. Also I've checked in with Keith Morris of NE perm
> > network and he shared some good posting sites.
> >
> > Getting a little low down from the folks at Fungi Perfecti re species and
> > design. They mention that burlap can break down in 2-6 months and may be
> > best off with just a wood chip bed of stropharia. Which makes sense as it
> is
> > a terrestrial species but I'm looking for info on it's ability to break
> down
> > run off, both biological and chemical.
> >
> > I'm going to look into the construction wattles you mentioned and see if
> I
> > can come up with a hybrid system that makes this easy to replicate.
> >
> > Again, thank you very much for the support and time.
> >
> > Hasta pronto
> >
> > Michael
> >
> >
> >
> > On Aug 17, 2011, at 11:19 AM, Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I recommend contacting the Northeast Permaculture network, and
> hopefully
> > > some people with direct experience in your region can help you with the
> > > details.
> > >
> > > http://northeasternpermaculture.wikispaces.com/
> > >
> > > Re: earthworks, double check the designer's manual chapter, and here
> are
> > my
> > > basic suggestions (with the caveat that I have minimal experience with
> > large
> > > machine use and planning)
> > >
> > > 1. shop around and talk to people to try and find a skilled operator
> > > 2. If access to site and slope are adequate, a slightly larger machine
> > will
> > > often cover the cost in decreased time to move the same volume of earth
> > > 3. Consider slope of the land and shape and size of swale/drain that
> you
> > > want to create.  Three tools that could be used are a grader, a
> > bulldozer,
> > > or an excavator (a hydraulic tilt bucket or ditching bucket are often
> > > useful).  each tool creates a slightly different cross sectional
> profile
> > of
> > > drain.  I think as slope increafses you would shift from grader to
> > bulldozer
> > > to excavator, although you might take some pictures of a site and a
> > design
> > > detail to some excavation companies and ask what they would do.
> > >
> > > I'm sure there are many details I'm missing that you will want to check
> > on
> > > with machine operators, local farmers, local designers, etc.
> > >
> > > for inoculum, you might consider the erosion control straw wattles used
> > for
> > > BMPs on construction sites.  they can be made long and in a range of
> > > diameters.  Or you might look at long tubes of burlap from a
> manufacturer
> > > before they sew them into individual sacks, then fill it using a hopper
> > or
> > > some type of chute.  growing the spawn then moving it may be difficult
> > with
> > > this method.
> > >
> > > hope this helps
> > > Neil
> > >
> > >
> > > On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 6:50 AM, michael judd <
> campesinomike@hotmail.com
> > >wrote:
> > >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>         Greetings Permaculturists
> > >>
> > >>         Moving from Nicaragua to the Chesapeake Bay watershed of
> > Maryland
> > >> has been a big translation. Similar patterns but different tools and
> > scale.
> > >>
> > >> Pollution to the Bay is huge. I'm looking into funding for
> > >> mycoremediation/mycofiltration that initially targets farm run off,
> both
> > >> chemical and animal, into streams. To design a replicable system.
> > >>
> > >> I can figure how to go out and hand dig a bunker spawn swale with a
> hand
> > >> full of burlap sacks but it is scaling the process to farm and mega
> farm
> > >> that needs to be figured.
> > >> I am seeking support in brainstorming the components and investments
> > needed
> > >> for each stage of the system, i.e. best machinery for swale cutting,
> > >> successful fungi species with easy propagation set up, stream edge
> tree
> > >> species that feed aquatic life, success and failure stories,
> maintenance
> > >> challenges, really any experience information or resources  would be
> > greatly
> > >> appreciated.
> > >>
> > >> En Paz,
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Michael Judd
> > >> 240.344.5625
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> http://www.projectbonafide.com/
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> "To do good you actually have to do something" Yvon Chouinard
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