#128 Our land almost burned (and other challenges)

Call for coders for the software of the PK map!

Check the Research module to help with extension of the water system:

Stats of our solar setup:

Support our project here:

Join our patreon to watch the next video one week ahead (without adds)

Or hangout in our online community. also cool

00:00 Intro
01:48 Digger update
05:13 Water System extension
07:08 Lagoon algae
08:08 Backend of PK
12:40 Safety
14:32 Fire situation
20:28 Q&A
27:19 Fridge box question
30:42 Outro

[atpsynthase]

Just a tip from the home of the Eucalypts- every vehicle needs a large, thick, 100% wool blanket. If you are overrun by the bushfire while evacuating, use the blanket to shield the occupants from the radiant heat, for a greatly increased chance of survival. Also, no synthetic clothing in fire season, because "shrink wrap".

[framegrace]

For the lagoon, just add plants. Floating plants; jacints, water lettuce, lotus... river plants; rush, water lilies cattails. Just 1/3 or of the pond for them to
They will consume all the nutrients on the water and starve the algae. (Root plants are much better at absorving nitrates than algae)

[inesmonteiro]

Hi, guys. I live close by (on the other side of the river) and I was waiting for this video as soon as the fire started. It was a miracle ❤ I'm glad you are ok. I felt it so fuckin close this time and it was like this all my life. 2005, 2012, 2017, well... It will always be complicated.

For the people that are watching fron outside: we have too many mimosas and eucaliptus. Not only in Project Camp but in the whole area and country. It's a big business here and there is no interest in cleaning the forest, have enough firefighters or buy planes (yes, we rented it to Spain or borrow from others contries 😅) . We can only keep planting some trees and try to join some neighbors forces - they will save us. It's everything that portuguese people are doing for years.

About the mold: I would love to have better news but the it's our best friend in the area. There's too much humidity in the winter and i never saw anything that could resist more than granite. As you see in the village, the older buildings are granite for a reason. Keep investing in the ruins. The licence process it's a mess but worth it in the long term.

I would love to visit you one day. Be safe!

[daylen]

Best management trick I can share from 15 years in software development; keep people up and running, but swap out their projects. If video makers are struggling with burnout, find something else for them to do and alternate weeks on and off video making. Hiving time off and something to do during that time off can help renew the energy without having to onboard entirely new people.

[l.m.]

The green, slimy algae from the lagoon is wonderful in the compost. I'm envious.

[Beth-kglz]

Glad to see Dave back!
I remember the first few videos when it rained for weeks and it was just Dave on the land in his van, wondering what the hell he had got into, then Rita arrived and everyone else!

[Willem_Lab]

In regards to the Lagoon growing Algea. If you pump the water through a grow bed where you grow vegetables, the vegetable plants will use the nutrients in the water which might decrease the amounts of nutrients in the water and the Algea will not be able to flurish as there is not enough nutrients for them to be able to grow.

I have been looking at an Aquaponics system to build at home where I get fish to add the nutrients in the water column but that might not be needed in your lagoon as you get the nutrients upstream.

[stephenhutchings]

I am praying that you all stay safe from the fires. Much love from South Africa.

[Philmill]

About the fires, here in Australia there are lots of government resources that give good advise for evacuation plans and what to do in case you are in an at risk area. Changing how your water system operates from the distribution perspective as the video talks about could be essential.

You occasionally hear stories of people leaving their homes with all their garden watering systems on in the middle of fires and its enough to prevent their homes from burning. Some houses have sprinklers set up on their roofs so there is water running over the top of the house during a fire.

People also intentionally block their gutters with rags and fill them with water. Adding gutters to buildings with roofs could be a good idea for water collection anyway.

Fire breaks are essential, if you are worried about the Eucalyptus trees on neighbouring properties, cutting down trees and bushes and clearing it from the area is necessary. In Australia, homes that border bushland can have a fire break of up to 10 meters wide and even larger.

Hope this information helps!

[vlaardingerrr]

Project kamp, when the fires are down start a tree nursery with more fire resilient trees. The more trees you plant now the faster you guys can chop down the last mimosa trees. Technically you can already chop down all the mimosas but you wouldn’t have any shade left.
It easily takes at least 15 years before a tree gives some (useful) shades.

If you do it the natural way it will take even longer. You can buy trees, but with the size of the land buying that many trees is very expensive. Because u easily need a couple of thousands of trees.

When you chop down a mimosa tree and turn it into mulch, mix it well with dirt, otherwise you have nice flammable pathways with mimosa trees laying on the ground, connecting all the important stuff around the kamp.

In the meantime i hope everything is going well with you guys.

[lorassorkin]

My heart breaks for all those caught in fires every year, but I'm so happy to know you're all safe for now. Thanks for the updates!

[soymilkman]

I appreciate the transparency and honesty in regards to safety. It was never my intention to dogpile you guys with my previous chainsaw comment, and despite that y’all took it in stride and are seeking to improve standards. It’s very refreshing! You guys are great, keep going!

And just one more thing, I’m not sure how litigious Portugal is, but speaking as an American it worries me a bit you don’t consider volunteer campers using your equipment on your property for your projects ‘your responsibility’ if they get injured. I just want to point that out because from my understanding that warrants suing your organization for negligence. I really don’t want this project to be cut short because of something like that, that would be genuinely terrible 😭 I actually love y’all 🫶

[freddiehill]

Algae is all about excess nutrients and light.

An easy fix is often to add additional things that take in nutrients.

The easy way to do this could be to add loads of plants! Local pond plants planted around the edges of the lagoon.

You could just add a floating duckweed (something locally native of course) and then let it take over, because it sucks up so much nutrients if you remove it semi-regularly you can dry it in the sun a bit and add it to your compost heap to make nutrient rich compost.

Duckweed also cuts the light to the bottom of the lagoon preventing algae growth.

Warning though, once you add duckweed it is very hard to get rid of completely.

[joeeigo]

Digging a ramp to get it out 😂 love that simple solution!

[disakek]

Really sad that you couldn't find the scammer yet hope he gets found somehow. In the meantime congratulations on the new digger :)

[jessheppell]

Glad to hear you are all safe. When I heard about the fires I thought of Project Kamp. I know how it feels to have a fire close by and information that lags. It can be frustrating and panic inducing. Getting everyone well away early on is a great solution. I am sure this has inspired you to make the land even more fire resilient next season.

[AlastairGray-ud]

For the lagoon ...

The classic algae suppresant is barley straw. Ideally it needs to be added to the pond before the algae starts, although adding it after you've cleared the bulk of the algae should also help.

The other thing is to add water lillies. These will die back in the winter and if planted directly into the bottom of the lagoon should remain in the mud/soil, ready to regrow each year. They absorb nutrients from the water and also shade the water both of which will significantly reduce algae growth.

Obviously take care to use native species (Nuphar lutea subsp. luteum and Nympaea alba). As there is a very problematic invasive Mexican water lily (Nympaea mexicana).

[urbanlucky]

For the tents: A common problem is that they don't use plastics so that the tent can breathe, yet the water proofing indeed runs out. One way to keep them dry is to build a roof above them, can be a thick plastic tarp (700+gm/m2), or use something more sustainable like a wooden roof or smth. Also a small little wooden deck, instead of putting them on the floor directly can increase lifespan a lot.

[susanadair]

You know fire, you knew it was an issue, the land itself told you. I think it’s perfect timing to educate the project. This is a constant danger. Knowing that is all you need. With the arrival of your digger you can create safety with fire breaks and such. Knowledge and a digger is power. I bet the fire scare got rid of the monotony ! Love to you all! PS. Eucalyptus is building material consider a sawmill purchase💋

[juha-mattikoponen]

Great video! What comes to power tools and protective gear, some tool are way more dangerous than others. I'm talking mainly about the chainsaws. If you make a mistake with it and it slips/kicks back and hits unprotected piece of human, it will make some really nasty effects. Talk about severing major arteries and such. So I would personally never let anyone use it with out saw pants and boots and a helmet. How ever hot and uncorfortable they are. I take sweaty and unconfortable over dead anytime!
But I am glad to hear that you are improving on the safety. Keep up the good work!