PermaKent Permaculture Ideas of J. Kent Hastings

From Australia comes a story, “Trend blossoms,” by Meg Sobey in the Moonee Valley Community News about neighbors doing an extreme makeover of a family’s backyard. (Thanks, Google Alerts).
“IT is difficult to imagine that Melanie Henkel’s kitchen once looked out over a grey courtyard. Her backyard now resembles a miniature farm, offering vegetables, fruit and […]

ArsTechnica reported a perfect Thirst-Day item about a proposed wireless internet standard that uses the white space frequencies between broadcast channels for the interactive data.
The article, titled “WhiteFi” could be worth $15bn a year—and fix climate change, describes its market potential due to bringing about easier rural datafication and the energy savings implied by its […]

“The New Homesteaders: Off-the-Grid and Self-Reliant” is the title of the main feature of the October, 2009 issue of Popular Mechanics. The cover says it’s the “Self Reliance Issue,” but the largest font size goes to the word “SURVIVAL.”
Yet another indication that the recession is over and prosperity is right around the corner. (That was […]

Here’s the YouTube trailer for the latest feature film I edited, Crustacean.
Exploitable elements include Yours Truly as The Bearded Fat Lady, a lobster clawed humanoid mute murdering man beast, nudity, violence, bad language, and funny satire.
The description at the CrustaceanTheMovie channel reads:
“Crustacean is a Comedy Horror Feature Film Written and Directed by L.J. Dopp […]

A description of a biodiesel making breakthrough, called the Mcgyan Process, from Minnesota’s Augsburg College and SarTec Corporation found its way into my inbox thanks to a Google Alert.
The name “Mcgyan” comes from the three inventors’ names–McNeff, Gyberg, and Yan.
Another article in WCCO describes the process and benefits in a concise nutshell:
“Taking an idea from […]

From Milkwood.net mostly
Permaculture Noosa describes a geodesic enhancement to the classic Linda Woodrow chook dome design.
Who thought Bucky Dome Climbers for kids had such a practical use? Too small for a human dome home (thanks PlanetGreenTV), but the perfect sized skeleton for an improved chicken tractor.
Now one person can lift the enclosure intact instead of […]

Brazilian Coast Oil Platform
ConsumerWatchDog published an article by Bradley Brooks from AP titled “Alternative Energy Powerhouse Brazil Finds Big Oil.”
To paraphrase a bit, Brazil currently leads the world in ethanol production and hydroelectric power. But the national company Petrobras, as well as partners such as BP, will develop the recent offshore oil find (deeper than […]