Modular raised beds with dimensional lumber

By Ben Stallings |
In a previous article, I ended by suggesting that raised beds could be made with dimensional lumber (specifically 4' long boards, 1.5" thick) by spacing the posts in a grid 4' apart, although I hadn't yet tried to implement it. I proposed that the uniform bed size would allow a structure such as a chicken tractor, cold frame, or trellis to be moved to any square of bed where it was needed and secured to the boards below.

Notes on OLCERI IWPSC at Pine Ridge, SD

By Ben Stallings |

August 30 to September 3, 2018, I attended the second Indigenous Wisdom and Permaculture Skills Convergence (IWPSC) at the Oglala Lakota Cultural & Economic Revitalization Initiative (OLCERI) on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. It was a very eye- and heart-opening experience, and it's taken a while for me to wrap my head around it. Here are my notes from the sessions, with some commentary.

Rudolph the Aerobic Microbe

By Ben Stallings |

Author's note: It's generally accepted that the reason aerobic microbes weren't around to prevent the Great Oxygenation Event is because they hadn't evolved yet. It's very convenient that they evolved just in the nick of time to save all life on earth from going extinct. But I got to thinking, what if they had evolved earlier, and they just weren't invited to the party? Then the story starts to seem very familiar...