Thu 2 Jul 2009
Posted by Inga
I took many hours of video at the workshop in Kassel, Germany - 11 hours total, I think. Some of them I commented in English, some are in German. The videos tell the story in either language but if you have questions, just ask me.
Thu 2 Jul 2009
Posted by Marcin
Interview:
First Day Video:
First Day First Break:
Framework:
Preparation for the Rammed Earth Wall:
See http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Instructions#Embedding_from_Blip.tv if you erase any of the code.
Thu 2 Jul 2009
Posted by Marcin
One peach tree planted two years ago is now dripping with fruit. Here is a quick walkthrough at Factor e Farm on July 1, 2009 with this and some other details of natural history. The land changes drastically here on 2 week time scales. Now the dry season is beginning.
Mon 29 Jun 2009
Posted by Marcin
Power Cube is our open source, self-contained, modular, interchangeable, hydraulic power unit for all kinds of power eguipment. It has an 18 hp gasoline engine coupled to a hydraulic pump, and it will later be be powered by a flexible-fuel steam engine. Power Cube will be used to power MicroTrac (under construction) and it is the power source for the forthcoming CEB Press Prototype 2 adventures. It is designed as a general power unit for all devices at Factor e Farm, from the CEB press, power take-off (PTO) generator, heavy-duty workshop tools, even to the LifeTrac tractor itself. Power Cube will have a quick attachment, so it can be mounted readily on the quick attach plate of LifeTrac. As such, it can serve as a backup power source if the LifeTrac engine goes out. See the construction of Power Cube, and demonstration of it powering the PTO generator:
The noteworthy features are modularity, hydraulic quick-couplers, lifetime design, and design-for-disassembly. Any device can be plugged in readily through the quick couplers. 
It can be maintained easily because of its transparency of design, ready access to parts, and design for disassembly. It is a major step towards realizing the true, life-size Erector Set or Lego Set of heavy-duty, industrial machinery in the style of Industrial Swadeshi. Via open source, it is now becoming accessible to everybody. With the addition of local biofuel (pyrolysis oil) and steam engines, we await the time where local production is a reality.
Fri 26 Jun 2009
Posted by Jeremy
Ben, Guy, and I are headed to the Rainbow Gathering in New Mexico tomorrow. We’re going to be looking for organic farm volunteers after the main event of July 1st to 8th during the cleanup phase from July 8th to 27th. We’re also going to be giving a little presentation on OSE after the Intentional Communities presentation on July 4th. If you’ve never heard of the Rainbow Gathering, check out http://www.welcomehome.org
Is anyone else going? We hope to meet you there!
Thu 25 Jun 2009
Sunday, June 14th at 5:30 a.m. Erich and I left Klagenfurt, Austria for Kassel in Germany. Erich’s car has only about 95 hp and we were pulling a small motor home behind us. After some involuntary detours in the vicinity of Munich we arrived in Kassel at around 8:30 p.m.
Next morning at 8:30 sharp everybody showed up at the (Forschungslabor fuer Experimentelles Bauen) Building Research Institute at the University of Kassel. Our instructor Dittmar Hecken greeted the 7 men and 14 women of our group. Apparently women really love to work with loam.
We were divided into 5 groups, given a lot of documents to study every night, and then entered the round straw bale house where we given a very detailed overview of the sheer endless possibilities of working with loam. Each group received a schedule for the whole week and the time slots for working in the six different working areas. The straw bale house was used as a large seminar room and as sleeping area-dormitory for the 11 female students from the University of Trier, all interior designers. The other three women were: an architect who will build a school in Uganda, a wonderfully wild and very skilled mason from Berlin, and myself.
In the afternoon Dittmar took us through the entire test area and explained the various buildings that had been erected there by various student groups. Very impressive and somewhat frightening because all of us would be working on those buildings during the next days.
I had asked Dittmar if it was alright to videotape some (a lot!) of the work we would be doing. He is a very easy going guy and gave me permission. You’ll see a lot of him as soon as the videos have been transferred to a DVD and shipped out to Marcin at the farm.
Later in the afternoon every group started to assemble the tools needed for next mornings project. My group had to start with plastering the outside wall of the straw bale house. In the evening the 11 students, Erich and I had an impromptu party with everybody pitching in some food, beer, wine.
Sleeping in the mobile home was a new experience for me but I slept like a log. Tuesday morning we should be ready for work at 8:30 a.m. I wondered if everyone would make it on time….
Fri 19 Jun 2009
Posted by Marcin
Ben de Vries, permaculture designer, has been with us for over one month. See some of his work in the video. We are workng on drainage issues and further plantout in the garden and orchard. Compare this to the May 1 Walkthrough shown two posts ago, for comparison of the changes in the land as it turns fully green. This video is about 30 minutes, the longest one to date.
Mon 15 Jun 2009
Posted by Marcin
We were recently featured in MAKE Magazine. Thank you to Abe Connally of Vela Creations, who wrote the article.
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Mon 15 Jun 2009
Posted by Marcin
Here is the natural history of Factor e Farm just at the beginning of plantlife leafing out - May 1 prior to my Austria trip. We go through the wild areas, garden, orchard, and greenhouse. This is a major contrast to what the place looks like right now. I will blog about that in my next post - showing both the full greenness of the place and the permacultural developments that happened in the last month since Ben arrived.
Sun 14 Jun 2009
Posted by Jeremy
It’s been a while since we reported on the hexahatch project, here are the results of the first test. We started collecting eggs in an insulated chest in Marcin’s room the week before April 25th, when we put 48 eggs in the incubator, and then put in 6 fresh eggs the next day. Over the next 18 days we made sure to keep the eggs turned and to check the temperature. We didn’t have a good way to candle the eggs so we just waited for the results. After 18 days we stopped rotating the eggs for the next 3 days to let the chicks hatch. 4 days later I found a hatched chick walking around the incubator. It looked like he had hatched in the tube right behind the left light bulb.
