Images from the forest
Natural wisdom of the forest
That’s the problem with looking for strength rather than resilience in a building material. Every traditional building method is a system where all the parts are doing certain, multiple jobs for each other. As you change to a new material, it takes time to develop the system of all the detailing that needs to be done so that new material gets to deliver what it has promised without creating problems.
around ~38:00 of “Building a Cob Style Rocket Mass Heater” from Permies.com
You want it to be plumb… Masonry is the art of stacking everything so gravity becomes your glue. …doesn’t matter what arch you’re making, what bridge you’re making, it’s held together by gravity…all those stresses are going down to the ground, not out to the side, …”
around ~50:00
I begin giving thanks to the source, to the indigenous people of the land I’m in, and to the indigenous people of the ancestry I’m from.
Lest we forget, forests can provide for all our basic needs as humans. It may not be easy but it is true, and tight knit nutrient cycles remind us of our arboreal foundations.
This guy (Primitive Technology channel on YouTube) and bushcraft have been a huge inspiration for me. Whether that inspiration shapeshifts into homesteading or what, I have it near and dear to my heart.
Forestry, specifically the forest operations (e.g. logging) and forest products (e.g. milling) side of things, is both beautiful and gross. It can be a celebration and harvest of an honorable, mutually beneficial relation. It is also filled with death and disturbance.
Decay and succession; life lowering entropy as the universe increases it. Peaces with
LVX
After harvesting many hazelnuts, I set out to build portable-sized, modular air prune beds to propagate trees. I followed inspiration from Twisted Tree Farm and Edible Acres. I built one air prune bed before and it works but I learned a lot I’d change from the process: deeper sides, sturdier sides and no need to fuss with building handles as I had before. I also use gifted premade air prune beds for apple and pawpaw seedlings and am happy to have them!
I started by revisiting the videos by Twisted Tree & Edible Acres linked above, then drew plans out – both a helpful and recreational activity – as a loose guide for modular air prune beds. Then I gathered materials for the build.
Continue reading →It’s a great situation to be in to always have a need for more trees in an area. Imagine a farmer or forester, happy to enhance and be enhanced by more trees in their life system. Life in mutual benefit with life itself: net primary productivity, biodiversity, etc. (e.g. Biodiversity promotes primary productivity and growing season lengthening at the landscape scale – Oehri et al. 2017).
Akiva Silver of Twisted Tree Farm – a regenerative tree nursery near Ithaca, NY – once said how despite growing thousands of trees, he feels bad to find himself turning down customers when sold out of trees. It’s a wonderful problem to have, wanting to grow more trees! So long as they’re able to grow – sadly worth noting considering environmental and economic degradation and deforestation.
Thankfully, trees beget trees in many ways! Supporting the propagation of future generations of trees; providing material for the propagation & other operations; regulating the environment to facilitate life; and facilitating regenerative culture in all our lives.
How can you integrate the right tree in the right place for the right reason in your life? Think beyond the tree itself. What end-goals can (and do) sustainable, regenerative tree systems satisfy? Some ideas from the 6 F’s forests offer: Food, Fiber, Fodder, Fuel, Farmaceuticals, and Fun.
Some amazing bushcraft skills and courage to build this thing solo. Cool cabin!
Coming to pass
A beginning and an end
Something like a breath
With a simmer and a sizzle
Something like a nest
Built with care over time
To stand the test until finding
When ready to move on
And in motion heat is made
And in light the path is paved