Hello from a tiny allotment in Cornwall

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself Here' started by tinyallotment, Apr 27, 2015.

  1. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hi Everyone. My name is Paul and I live in Cornwall in the far SW of the UK with my beautiful wife and three dogs. We have been of no fixed abode for 15 years and we do not have any land but we do rent a tiny allotment and we try to grow as much as we can on that tiny plot.
    I first heard about permaculture in the 80s but dismissed it as a load of hippy rubbish. It wasn't until I started listening to the survival podcast by Jack Spirko that I really started to get interested in the subject. I am now hooked and permaculture has become a large part of my life.
    When we first took over our allotment the other plot holders really though I was mad. There was nothing on the plot except grass, weeds and a solitary blueberry bush. We were asked if we wanted the plot sprayed with round up so we could start with a clean sheet but obviously we declined. We were offered the use of a Rotavator to "save us from all that digging" but we declined and people watched with interest as we built weird shaped beds and filled them with whatever we could find. I hate spending money. Mainly because we don't have any but also because I get an awful lot of satisfaction out of doing thing that cost nothing. So to fill our beds we used stuff that other people discard. There are a lot of horses around here so it is easy to get well rotted manure. Stinging nettles grow everywhere so we incorporated a lot of those in our early beds. We live on the coast so seaweed id a free resource and in the autumn people bag up their leaves and leave them by the side of the road to be collected and disposed of so there is no end of materials I can find for free to build my beds.
    We picked up a shed on freecycle and I build a poly tunnel lean to off the shed for starting seeds. This cost the grand total of £12 and that included a £10 donation to charity.
    We only used about a quarter of the space in the first year and just let the plot evolve. Now we have a lot more beds, a pond and a barrel garden where we can grow 60 vegetables in 4 square feet. The barrel includes a composting tube that has worms to quickly convert kitchen waste into compost. There is more about it on my blog which I will post the address when I know I am allowed.
    This years big project is we are building a geodesic dome greenhouse that will incorporate a micro food forest and an off grid aquaponics system.

    The great thing that I have noticed this year is lots of no dig beds springing up on our neighbours plots and even a couple of barrel gardens so the message is spreading.

    Paul
     
  2. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2013
    Messages:
    1,791
    Likes Received:
    148
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Occupation:
    gardening, reading, etc
    Location:
    near St. Charles, MI, USoA
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    -15C-35C, 10cm rain/mo, clay, full sun, K-G Dfa=x=Dfb
    sounds like great fun! welcome. :)
     
  3. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thanks Songbird.

    It is a lot of fun

    paul
     
  4. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2006
    Messages:
    3,046
    Likes Received:
    200
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E Washington, USA
    Climate:
    Semi-Arid Shrub Steppe (BsK)
    Good work Paul,
    Looking forward to hearing/seeing your geodesic dome and aquaponics (something I'm looking at myself)!
     
  5. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thanks
    The dome is progressing steadily and we hope to have it build within a month. I haven't decided what sort of aquaponics system I want to build yet but will probably be a CHIFT PIST (Constant Height In Fish Tank-Pump In Sump Tank) system to protect the fish as we cannot be there all the time and there is no electricity so the whole system will have to be off grid. This will also mean that I have at least twice the amount of water in the system as a normal IBC system which will help regulate water temperature and PH ect. It will also help regulate the temperature in the dome itself. We hope to employ a simple heat recovery system to take the hot air from the top of the dome down in the day to heat the water in the tanks which will release the heat through the night. It is all an experiment.
    Paul
     
  6. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2006
    Messages:
    3,046
    Likes Received:
    200
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E Washington, USA
    Climate:
    Semi-Arid Shrub Steppe (BsK)
    Exactly!

    Can't wait to see your system as it progresses.
     
  7. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Unfortunately, at the moment there are just a lot of triangles to make and it doesn't make a great article of pictures but my progress so far is in my blog

    Paul
     
  8. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2006
    Messages:
    3,046
    Likes Received:
    200
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E Washington, USA
    Climate:
    Semi-Arid Shrub Steppe (BsK)
    Ha!

    Did I miss the link to your blog? (or did our forum anti-spam software remove it??)
     
  9. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I don't think I am allowed to post links yet but it is set as my homepage if you click on my name to the left

    Paul
     
  10. James Wardell

    James Wardell Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2015
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Awesome Paul - sounds like you are creating a chain reaction amongst the other plot holders. I've enjoyed browsing your home page and kudos for you for creating such an array of innovative things. Your geodesic dome looks as if you are going off on a terraforming mission to Mars...;)
     
  11. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2006
    Messages:
    3,046
    Likes Received:
    200
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E Washington, USA
    Climate:
    Semi-Arid Shrub Steppe (BsK)
    Hi Paul,
    After three posts you have full privileges and may add your blog homepage link to your signature.

    And what a great blog homepage you've built! I especially liked your post on dock.

    = )
     
  12. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thanks Guys
    I do love doing the blog and I also love building projects etc. I am very excited about this year. We are introducing lots of new techniques all the time (new techniques to us anyway). We are also going to start experimenting with more perennials and also using weeds to our advantage.

    I might also look into having a couple of ducks to keep the slug population in check.

    paul
     
  13. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Nearly finished all the triangles just a few more to make and that is the bulk of the woodwork done.

    [​IMG]

    I ordered the plastic cover today which should be here tomorrow.

    Then I need too get busy covering the triangles in plastic ready to actually build the dome next weekend if the weather is good.

    paul
     
  14. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    In the last two hours I turned these

    [​IMG]

    into these.

    [​IMG]

    38 triangles. So that is all the triangles including the custom ones that go around the door done.

    The plastic didn't arrive today but that is OK. As long as it is here by the weekend I will be happy

    paul
     
  15. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    All the triangles have been sanded to accept the plastic and I have started covering the panels in plastic. I am going to knock it on the head because it is difficult on my own so I will need Jules to give me a hand with covering the panels.

    [​IMG]

    I am now off down to the allotment to start prepping the base so we can start erecting the dome next weekend.

    paul
     
  16. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Had a bit of a nightmare getting the base perfectly round yesterday in the rain.

    It is a 15 sided circle and the know the measurement from the centre to each of the 15 points needs to be 2250mm but try as we might we could not get all points to this figure and ended up chasing a bulge around thee base. It turns out after much head scratching that the head of the nail used to hook the tape measure onto was too big so the tape was under reading by 5mm. it doesn't sound like much but trying to make a solid circle 5mm smaller all round just ain't gonna work. once we discovered this and made allowances it when together.

    So the base is now round and level and painted. I tried to drive some stakes down into the ground but they would only go about a foot into the ground so i am going to make up some steel stakes to anchor the dome down.

    [​IMG]

    This size dome is quite efficient when it comes to wastage. This is thee kind of waste we get from making the triangles.

    [​IMG]

    paul
     
  17. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Some pictures of the build

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Paul
     
  18. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Finished the door this evening between the showers


    [​IMG]


    Paul
     
  19. tinyallotment

    tinyallotment Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Just done a quick write up of the the day we built the dome


    Find it here


    Paul
     

Share This Page

-->