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Making a Habitat where Everything Fits




Jerome Osentowski's permaculture site in Basalt, Colorado, has a greenhouse attached on the south side of his house for quick access. His home and the greenhouse heat each other in the winter. Sunlight penetrates the south-facing roof of the greenhouse and a long compost pile rests against the wooden north wall, consuming Jerome's garbage while generating useful 100° temperatures as the compost decays. A large black metal tank filled with water soaks up heat from the sun and radiates it out into the greenhouse. Carp and catfish in the tank not only provide on occasional fish dinner; their wastes are carried through a drip system to water and fertilize surrounding plants. Chicken and pigeon coops against the west wall send bird body heat into the greenhouse instead of the winter sky, and a small wood-fired sauna gets fired up on extra-cold nights to heat people and all the other denizens of the greenhouse. Among his other innovations, Jerome has a "rabbit tractor" -- a rollable wire mesh rabbit pen which he moves slowly (it takes months) over new garden beds. The rabbits eat the weeds and simultaneously fertilize the soil with their manure. The list goes on...