towards actually sustainable farming in Ahualoa
Power tools are slowly moving from gas to battery, and dozens of companies are jumping in. Some are big general companies that have making battery tools for a long time (Makita, DeWalt) and some have traditionally made one gas-burning thing (like Toro for lawnmowers, Husqvarna for chainsaws) and now reluctantly, belatedly going electric. As they …
I’ve spent a couple weeks researching, and this is what I’ve learned about milling your own wood with a chainsaw, and in particular a battery-powered chainsaw. Note that I have not actually done any milling yet, but after so much reading, searching, shopping and youtube-ing, I feel like I’ve learned enough to share and be …
I bought a new lawnmower on 2022-05-13 – here’s a comparison to my previous mower. Toro model 20340 (“Toro Recycler® SmartStow (22”) 163cc Personal Pace® “) Makita XML08 (“36V (18V X2) LXT® Brushless 21″ Self-Propelled Commercial”) Typical cost: $450 $700 (includes 4 5Ah batteries) Caveats: I can really only compare these two mowers, so this …
I’ll be back on the island from August 24 – September 15 – to work on the farm, plant tea plants, split firewood, make compost, make biochar, and experiment with lots of cool stuff like making native bricks and larger and better biochar production techniques. I’ve also just bought a GoPro and Steadicam so i …
The farm is in a very rural, remote location – which is why it’s so surprising that Google actually got around to driving the neighborhood – but they did. You can even see the bottom part of our tea field clearly from the road, since the camera on the Google van is a bit higher …
I read the Transition Handbook last year. It’s a growing movement, and it’s full of great ideas for making sustainable local communities. There are lots of issues to figure out, about how to interact with local government, and finding the people who have the time and talent for organizing. I’ve spent some months thinking about …