Guttering

Hi @Merlin, I have seen straw insulation used on Grand Designs projects, but I decided to go with foam as I was concerned with the prevalence of bugs here that eat anything organic.

There was no implied criticism of your project in my post, Bandersnatch, and you're 100% correct that the bug issue here could be an insurmountable problem if there's nothing that can deter them. For me, the argument for governmental support in finding a solution is overwhelming given that the smoke pollution costs the country so much in health issues, reputation, and lost tourism revenue (which can only become worse if the situation worsens.)

Making the burning of stubble illegal is one thing, enforcing the law is another, particularly when those who do the burning are mostly subsistence growers without funds to pay any fines levied. Better to address the problem from the other end of the telescope, and persuade them that they have a saleable resource available to add to their earnings than to penalise them perhaps?
 
Hi @Merlin, no criticism detected on this end, just an interesting suggestion. In fact it is nice to have some feedback.

With regard to rice straw, I buy up all that the family can produce which is not needed for animal food. I use it as mulch for the fruit trees and to improve the structure of the soil. I am hoping to get really serious about composting once the house build is finished - maybe that would a business opportunity/initiative as the soil is surin is ####!

The burning is a big issue in my opinion as it normally done under cover of darkness to hide the crime and can quickly can get out control fanned by night winds. A few weeks ago we were called to the house build when a fire had spread to some woodland near the house. Luckily the fire engine got there in time.

(reminder for the to do list - get fire insurance)

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Appears Fort Bandersnatch is prepared for its defense against the empire.

(I believe I've seen something equivalent for diesel in one of the Mad Max series.)

Seriously @Bandersnatch , a very novel design concept and bold statement towards self-sufficiency. Well done.
 
13th July 2019 we had one hour of rain:
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My tanks (the ones set for rainwater harvesting only - I have some tanks reserved for well water) went from 5% full to 75% - I collected over 20,000L in one hour. So basically it only has to rain hard once for me to have enough water to last me all year.
 
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