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Permaculture Property in Piedmont, Italy

Permaculture Property in Piedmont, Italy

Sede storica dell’Istituto italiano di permacultura.
Casa solare passiva, completamente autosufficiente con pannelli solari ad isola con
2,4kw di potenza, raccolta dell’acqua piovana dal tetto con tre cisterne per uso
alimentare da 5000 litri l’una per un totale di 15.000 litri, acqua agricola comunale
con acquedotto privato (costo 120€ annui circa), costruita nel 2013-14 con mattoni
poroton certificati ecologici, fondamenta in cemento armato, igloo di 50 cm di altezza
sotto il pavimento per ridurre l’umidità, tetto e soppalchi con travi di castagno,
coibentazione del tetto in canapa, tetto con tegole in terracotta, fitodepurazione con
vasca imhof per le acque nere, scarico in vigna delle acque grige. Muro di gabbioni
riempiti di pietre per la stabilizzazione del pendio. Metri quadrati calpestabili 108
circa (includendo i soppalchi).
La casa è composta da vari vani open space: Vano cucina e stanza da pranzo (18
metri quadrati circa), salone (26 metri quadri circa), bagno (10 metri quadrati circa),
stanza da letto (12 metri quadrati circa), corridoio ( 8 metri quadri circa), soppalco
( 26 metri quadrati circa), soppalco ( 8 metri quadrati circa). Presenti due stufe russe
per il riscaldamento a legna (un potager per cucinare e una stufa).
Lavori da finire: Intonaco e pavimento stanza da letto di 12 metri
quadrati,pavimento del corridoio, l’intonaco esterno,impianto elettrico.
Sono presenti due strade di accesso sterrate percorribili solo da veicoli con 4 ruote
motrici.
Impianti sciistici di Viola a pochi chilometri di distanza, 60 km da Savona, 100 km da
Torino, 30 km circa da Mondovi’, 10 km da Ceva, 65 km da Alba, 61 km da Cuneo,
159 km da Nizza (Francia). Per informazioni sul paese di Scagnello visitate il sito
internet del comune
La proprietà è compresa anche da un terreno agricolo coltivato delle dimensioni di
10.000 metri quadrati. Coltivato con frutta di vari tipi. Una vigna di uva da tavola con
100 piante di uva matilde e moscato d’amburgo, 20 peschi, 30 prugni, 15 meli a
cespuglio, due nespoli germanici, un pero, 3 ciliegi,10 melograni, 10 mandorli, 2
kaki,2 noci pecan e molte altre piante, area orto. E’ presente un lago anti erosione,
d’irrigazione con annessi canali di alimentazione del sistema australiano della keyline
( che si riempie quando ci sono eventi estremi), il primo in Italia. Tutta la proprietà è
recintata con una recinzione anti cervo alta 1,90 metri.
Al momento il proprietario è in possesso di un comodato d’uso con accordo orale per
la gestione di cinque ettari di castagneto acquisibile in futuro visto che è confinante
con la proprietà.
La distanza dalla casa al centro del paese è di 5 min. a piedi.

Contatto [permaculturaitalia@gmail.com](mailto:permaculturaitalia@gmail.com)

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How diverse is too diverse?

How diverse is too diverse?

When considering that one needs to have enough time todevite to all your projects and endeavors, how do you figure out how many is too many?

I’ve been living closely with the land and/or farming for over 10 years. But I still have a hard time trying to envision my workload, especially as we are looking to expand onto a new property that already has (new to us) products–namely beef and honey. Now i know honey won’t take much time on the daily. Beef cows might take 20 minutes checking daily, and I can fairly easily estimate time spent calving, hauling/doctoring/working, and extra time when doing rotational grazing, perhaps once a week.

But then…adding on everything else we already do or want to add…like mushrooms, a CSA and farmers market, chickens for eggs, and don’t forget taking care of our kids and ourselves! Which–kids load will change soon too as they are starting school next year and beyond.

So, any tricks to quantifying? Do i just need to write up a mock calendar month by month or week by week??

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I am getting so freaking frustrated. Are there any “hacks” to speed this process along?

I am getting so freaking frustrated. Are there any "hacks" to speed this process along?

Hi y’all!

… basically what I wrote in the title.

We moved to our 5 acre plot about 3 years ago, and parked ~5 head of sheep and a couple head of cattle in the 4 acre pasture. I’ve been moving my chicken tractor around the front acre where I plan to make a veggie garden and plant fruit trees and bushes.

(I did come down with long COVID 5 months after we moved here, which took me out of play for a year other than composting and animal care, and then we had a baby which has slowed things down as well)

I feel like everywhere that has animals is doing better than it was before we got here, and I’ve also been composting food scraps.

My issue it that when I went to plant my spring flower bulbs, the soil is still so compacted. It is poor draining.

I have trucked some mulch in, but I’m running out of hope that I will have this thing thriving in time to really get any productive gardening done in the next spring/summer.

I just want to skip to the good part where my soil is thriving. Are there any “hacks” that can help me solve some of these issues in the next 4 months or so?

TIA!

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Reading the genome and understanding evolution: Symbioses and gene transfer in leaf beetles

Reading the genome and understanding evolution: Symbioses and gene transfer in leaf beetles

Scientists explored the evolutionary success of leaf beetles, the most diverse herbivores on Earth. They showed that symbioses with bacteria have evolved repeatedly and independently in different beetle lineages, and contribute significantly to the efficient digestion of plant food. These symbiotic relationships provide clues as to how genetic material was exchanged between bacteria and beetles. Key findings highlight the role of horizontal gene transfer, the incorporation of foreign bacterial genetic material into the beetle genome, which is thought to be the result of earlier symbioses. Overall, the study emphasizes the importance of microbial partnerships and genetic exchange in shaping the dietary adaptations of leaf beetles, which facilitated the evolutionary success of leaf beetles.

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Crossbreeding of three selected strains of Crassostrea gigas reveals heterosis in survival and growth

Crossbreeding of three selected strains of Crassostrea gigas reveals heterosis in survival and growth

Abstract

Genetic improvement via crossbreeding has been widely used in aquaculture production. In this study, we conducted intraspecific hybridization using three consecutive generation selected strains of Crassostrea gigas from China (C), Japan (J), and South Korea (K). Six hybrid lines and three purebred lines were constructed and their growth and survival rates were recorded to evaluate the heterosis and combining ability. The crosses of CJ (C♀ × J♂) and CK (C♀ × K♂) displayed higher heterosis for survival and growth during the larval to the adult stage. Specifically, the survival and growth rates of CK improved by 45.41% and 13.97%, respectively, compared to the KK group. At the grow-out stage, the survival rate and shell height of CJ were 34.23% and 15.87% higher than the JJ group. The general combining ability (GCA) of strain C was consistently positive at various ages, ranging from 1.36 to 4.68. The special combining ability (SCA) of the six hybrid combinations varied with age, yet the CJ and CK cross consistently maintained positive SCA values. These results indicate that strain C is a superior parental line and that CJ and CK represent optimal hybrid combinations. By crossing selected oyster lines, hybrids with enhanced survival and growth performance can be produced.

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