Frugality [669]

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Brad Walsh"
>
> >Construct a chamber, start your first lot, then feed all of the
> >compost from your construction workers into the chamber and grow
> >more soil. Do this for the 10-20 years that it takes to build your
> >Habitat and keep expanding the chamber.
> >
> >Presto. Open the hatches to the new Habitat and transfer over all
of
> >that rich, fertile soil.
>
> Tango:
>
> I'm glad folks are thinking about this problem.
>
> The organic gardening writers describe composting in glowing, Gaia-
laced
> terms: "a natural process," "nature's preferred way," "completing
the
> cycle." What is not clear are things like gas exchange, the
interaction
> with nearby plants, etc. In other words we don't know just how
well the
> process would work in your sealed chamber.

Brad:

Thanks for the details necessary for the process. It's an area that
I have no familiarity with. It was very informative.

The critical point I wanted to make with my post was that the
planning for soil placement should take account of the long lead
time required to grow it and plan for it.

To cover x amount of square km of Habitat to a depth of x cm with
rich topsoil will require x m^3 and it grows with y inputs at a rate
of z cm^3 per day . . . .

Of course, the process would have to be engineered according to the
principles you laid out, and it would have to be monitored and
maintained.

Do you think it's doable?

TangoMan