Lawn solarization

While cleaning the bird cage, we had parts out on the front lawn to be pressure washed.

One of the items was a clear heavy plastic sheet we keep on the floor under the cage.

We washed one side then let it dry a little. Later, we flipped it over and washed the other side

and let it dry. Then we packed it all up and put it in the POD for the move.

Later that day we noticed two dark patches in the lawn where the plastic had been. The next day they were completely brown and the lawn was dead. I'd heard of doing this with black plastic, but was surprised how "effective" it was at killing the lawn with a clear sheet.

Natural calendar

I have been thinking about how to break down the year into parts that are short enough to have similar weather from year to year and across the period, and the breaks along the eight days in the Wheel of the Year (Solstices, equinoxes, and their mid-points). I am leaning towards 16-divisions of about 3 weeks each:

6/21 Summer Solstice

3 weeks

7/11 Mid-early Summer

3 weeks

8/ 1 Mid Summer (Lughnasadh)

3 weeks

8/21 Mid-late Summer

3 weeks

9/23 Autumnal Equinox

3 weeks

10/12 Mid-early Fall

3 weeks

10/31 Halloween

3 weeks

11/20 Mid-late Fall

3 weeks

12/21 Winter Solstice

3 weeks

1/11 Mid-early Winter

3 weeks

2/ 2 Groundhog Day

3 weeks

2/25 Mid-late Winter (Gas Tax Day)

3 weeks

3/20 Vernal Equinox

3 weeks

4/10 Mid-early Spring (William of Ockham Day)

3 weeks

5/ 1 Beltane

3.5 weeks

5/25 Mid-late Spring (Towel Day)

3.5 weeks

6/21 Summer Solstice

Not really sure what to call the mid-mid-points.

Some of the dates are fudged (e.g., Beltane) a little to match cultural traditional dates rather than the astronomically derived date. I'm more interested in fostering some cultural resonances than being a slave to accuracy.

I think this will be useful for organizing garden tasks, planting dates, gathering statistics, grouping journal entries, seasonal menu planning, managing and planning around solar access, etc.

Musings on rocket stoves

In reading The Urban Homestead, I have been getting interested in taking a closer look at rocket stoves (more at wikipedia).

I wonder if there is a way to make a combination rocket stove / solar oven. So you could use a small amount of fuel if clouds (or timing) make solar unavailable. Or use both to obtain high heat. You could use a parabolic trough to bring in heated air into the intake of the rocket stove. You could also use a fresnel lens to goose the heat at the rocket's output.