Free DIY Wire Hoe

How to make compost in the Mediterranean Summer

Since moving to the Mediterranean over three years ago I have struggled somewhat with making compost. The issues I find are that in the summer the air is so dry and hot that piles quickly dry out meaning they stop composting… There is no rain during the hot months so all water needs to come…

Layer Chicken Output Data – Mediterranean Region

We are in Portugal in Koppen Geiger zone CSa. Mediterranean, Hot Dry Summer. Our summer heat gets up to 40+C and winter nights down to -7C. Rain generally stops in May and starts again in October. All the data that I have previously seen regarding layer output shows high Spring and Summer rates followed by…

Rodent Proof Greenhouse

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 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…

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…

How to dry out your food waste before composting

Here we have a short guide on how to build a device that will dry out your food waste, ready for use in your composter, and also produce a pungent liquid which you can use to fertilise your plants. What will you need? Two of the same size large plastic buckets which can sit one…

Simple Composter in a Hole

Here we have a very simple design for a large composter. We had a group working on this for about half a day and we managed to finish it comfortably. You can see the full system in the photo below, so I will just make some comments about the design, and how to use it….

Make a Pallet Composter

Here is a straight forward design for a big composter that you can make from pallets, and a few more materials. Before we start, here is a picture of the composteira in situ, looking beautiful in the hills of Cardinot, Brasil. It took a couple of volunteers a couple of days to build this. All…

How to Make a Bamboo Plant Bed

Beginner build time around 3 hours with power saw Here we have a really straight forward design that anyone can make. If you have a power saw it will make things a lot easier. If you are using a hand saw then you may be looking at a one day build time. First you need…