Call for Study Participants — Three Sisters, Companion Planting

November 6, 2018

The institute will be assisting with an agricultural study in 2019. Please see below and get in contact with Scott if interested in being a paid participant in this study. Study Summary Companion planting has become a popular way to increase yield, better utilize garden space, and encourage symbiotic relationships among plants. This study will … More Call for Study Participants — Three Sisters, Companion Planting

Input Data for the Potato Harvest — Lab Note 2.03

November 5, 2018

We just finished the last harvest for our potato plant study. We are comparing the growth, labor, and yield of five different potato-growing ideas: trench and hill, straw mulch, newspaper-and-straw mulch, containers, and towers. In order to help others reproduce our study or grow potatoes using these techniques, we are providing detailed instructions on our … More Input Data for the Potato Harvest — Lab Note 2.03

Installing Solar Hot Water Panels, Part 2 — Lab Note 1.07

October 16, 2018

Last year I built prototype solar panels and summarized the preliminary data gathered in some test runs (see this project’s archive here). Yesterday I provided the plans and schematics for this build. Today I’m going into some of the nitty gritty installation details. Burying the Supply and Return Lines The supply lines are buried 2 … More Installing Solar Hot Water Panels, Part 2 — Lab Note 1.07

Installing Solar Hot Water Panels, Part 1 — Lab Note 1.06

October 15, 2018

Last year I built prototype solar panels and summarized the preliminary data gathered in some test runs (see this project’s archive here). Here I will outline the plans drawn up to get a building permit from our local municipality. Schematic Plans These show the basic operation of the system. It is a schematic and not … More Installing Solar Hot Water Panels, Part 1 — Lab Note 1.06

IPCC Special Report — Summary and Comments

October 9, 2018

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just published their fifteenth special report, which projects the changes we can expect with warming of 1.5°C and 2.0°C. While the full special report is quite long, the summary for policymakers is approachable to nonprofessionals. They also produced a three-page headline summary — the IPCC equivalent of “tl;dr.” … More IPCC Special Report — Summary and Comments