Scott Middlekauf
Scott lives in Hawaii
Posts by Scott
Is This a Lawn or a Pasture?
Imagine owning a lawnmower that makes its own blades, moves itself around the lawn, requires no gasoline (it runs on grass), makes very little noise, replaces itself every year or so, and you can eat it as a delicious high protein food. All you need to provide is a fence around the lawn, a small [...]
Continue reading...Resources for Beginning Farmers
For those of you who are beginning a sustainable tropical Permaculture farm, here are some links and books titles which will help you on your project:
(BTW: We offer none of this for sale, so you’re on your own finding hard copies)
Our website is: http:EveningRainFarm.com/ (see our nursery)
Here is the local Hawaii island forum website: http://sensiblesimplicity.lefora.com/
Start [...]
What would you plant on a two acre parcel?
Ryan wrote me asking what I would plant right now, if I were settling on a small parcel in Hawaii, and I want to grow most of my food for my family on the land, and live somewhat sustainably.
My needs for a good combination of food crops is:
1) an abundance of calories, oils, protein, [...]
How expensive is it to live as you do, once you are set up?
Some folks think that living simply is a moral duty. Some others think that living simply improves their quality of life. Either way, I will discuss our present money situation, and a few of our unusual lifestyle choices.
But first, I will tell you about two billboards I saw while driving down highway 580 in Oakland [...]
Maintaining Food Security in Hawaii
Scott discusses easy to grow alternatives to some of our more conventional foods. What they are, how they grow and their nutritional value.
Just the other day, while I was eating my supper in one of my “doom and gloom” modes, it occurred to me that I have no idea what sort of a safety net [...]
Second Update on Our Food Experiment
Well, it’s been three years since we have written about how our food experiment is progressing at Evening Rain Farm. In these years, we have learned a bunch, and planted many more varieties of plants. We have gone way beyond what we need to meet our basic needs into an exploration of nearly every tropical [...]
Continue reading...World View Links
These are the blogs that I frequent. The first three are filled with a blend of opinion, wisdom, proposals, perspectives. The fourth is a daily updated series of news links.
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/
http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/
http://www.kunstler.com/blog/
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/BreakingNews.html
- Scott
A few notes on chickens
Q: Will the commercial ‘factory farm’ breed of egg layers fare well in a free range environment?
A: The White Leghorns: I did a brief bit of research on them several years ago, and was inspired enough to buy a dozen day-old chicks for our free range flock. They are good layers, industrious, good foragers, and [...]
Start-up costs for this experiment
Q: How much land would a family of four need? Any wildly ranging estimates and/or completely blind guesses would be greatly appreciated.
A: In a lower Puna environment,which is where I live on the Big Island, a family can grow all their own food in a permaculture style orchard on a 3 acre parcel with no [...]
My response to an unhappy mainlander
Q: I was thinking about you guys again, as my life becomes so unpleasant here, as I contemplate whether I could ever actually live a simple sustainable life, as you all do.
A: Firstly, I’m sorry you are unhappy with your life. I, too, spent over ten years feeling sad, scared, hopeless, and disconnected with my [...]
