When we planted our summer seedlings this year we had some issues with mice in the greenhouse eating the larger seeds that we planted. Our pumpkin, courgette and cucumber seeds were being targeted and eaten each night so after the second time of refilling our seedling trays I decided to make a mouse-proof section of…
How to make Adobe bricks
We are making a fireplace for our house and decided to use Adobe bricks. They use more or less the same mixture as your average cob, but instead of moulding the form using wet cob, you build using bricks which have already dried in the sun. Adobe bricks are much more commonplace in hot and…
How we made our Cob Floor
We have just about finished our cob floor and it looks and feels beautiful. As such I thought it necessary to start the blog post about how we did it. It was a lot of work but the techniques weren’t all that difficult. Here we go First up level the places in your home that…
How to make Wine
Each year we make wine using grapes from our little vinyard here in Portugal. The process is surprisingly easy and can be done by anyone at home with basic equipment. We realised during the process that we could make wine sustainably, and using a closed loop system. We can create 7 outputs, thats 7 consumable…
Wattle and daub with pine and olive
We have made our internal walls using a pine structure and green olive branches. It has worked very nicely so here is a little guide on how we did it. Firstly we built the structure using 70x100mm pine joists. We secured them to the floor horizontally and connected them to the first floor joists vertically….
Hang pictures on a cob/stone wall
Hanging things on walls built with natural materials generally requires different techniques from a modern build, and sometimes a bit of pre-planning. We are at the stage of our build where we are rendering the walls with cob and we know the layout of the rooms. As such, we are comfortable to start deciding where…
Off Grid Solar Hot shower
Before we begin, depending on where you are on the planet, this shower will not likely work during the cooler months. We are in central Portugal and experience 40+ degree C summers, and 10 to 15 degree winter days. During summer we had scorching hot water every day, warm water on cloudy days, but it…
Pallet long drop and compost toilet
Here are a couple of compost toilet designs you can make very quickly using a few pallets. First of all the situation: you need a toilet that same day, and you then need a permanent compost toilet for the foreseeable future. So here is our idea, using the same pallet for the long drop as…
How to make organic soap
Here is a simple way to make your own soap at home… First of all, what kit do you need? Large pan for melting solid oils over a heat source Your ingredients (an example soap is listed below) A probe thermometer (if you can get two it can make things easier) Scales for weighing your…
How to Transplant Mandioca – Video
A quick run down of the video, with some information which I forgot to mention Take a cutting from a previous Mandioca plant. The reason that potatoes and onions are usually grown from other potatoes or onions rather than seed is because they take over a year to go to seed. The reason they create…
Mediterranean Permaculture 