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ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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In order to live a simpler life and to
be more self-sufficient in the event of disruption of our present sources of supply,
it is important to rediscover and develop methods and tools that can be simply
used and manufactured. The manufacture and sale of useful and ecologically
sound implements is a good place to start for families and communities attempting
to become more self sufficient, both for their own use and for economic exchange
with others. How to make and use a simple "sawdust toilet" How to make and use a "sawdust" composting toilet
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recommended articles and tools from
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neighbor was so kind as to give me a large stack of unused mobile
home trusses made of 2"x2" stock which I readily attached together
with a few screws. I shoveled out a walkway 24" wide, and 36" deep
into the earth, leaving easily workable growing beds at ground
level. The same neighbor had pieces of plywood lying about which
he wanted hauled away, and I used these to line the walls around
the walkway. I used two sheets of foil lined insulation board on
the north wall to increase the illumination, and covered the exterior
of the wall with plywood and polyethylene film, before berming
it with earth.
No additional heat source was ever installed, but the greenhouse works great for extending the season on both ends, spring and fall. Some hardy plants such as Swiss Chard continue to flourish throughout the winter without damage in our zone 7 growing area. It is a thrill to go into the structure in the coldest days of winter and bask in the warmth. Unfortunately the voles apparently feel the same way, because they burrow into the beds as well. Next time I build a below grade greenhouse, I will sink a barrier of some kind around the perimeter to discourage underground interlopers. Jerry B |
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The
Missouri Designed Masonry Stove
A
construction manual on how to build a do-it-yourself masonry stove
fireplace that results in 90% woodburning efficiency.
For ease of printing and maneuverability, a
.pdf file of the masonry stove manual is now available.
The free Adobe Acrobat Reader is
required to access the file,
This is a 2.0 meg file so it may take a good while to download.
To download directly to your computer, right click on the link below
and select "save link as" if you are using Netscape, or "Save target as"
if you are using Microsoft Explorer.
MASONRY .PDF FILE --2 megs
A LARGE FOOD DEHYDRATOR
(A YET UNTESTED PLAN)
Made using two 55 gal metal drums bolted together, with a polyethylene cover.
For kitchen design, I'll put in my testimony for open cabinets and hanging utensils, designs that do away with drying dishes, and then having to put them away. For one kitchen I built, I made deep (6") doors on the two cabinets on each side of the sink, with racks for cups, and glasses. These items are directly placed in the opened door sections after being rinsed. I used a Formica covered bottom piece easily wiped dry when necessary. A slightly sloping ceramic-tiled shelf with rubber coated racks for plates was placed against the wall behind the sink. Wash the utensil, set it in the rack, or hang it on a hook....a single-stage operation!
In our temporary, make-do kitchen, that we put together for our stays at our son's house, we bought a self-standing $39.00 rubber coated wire rack that straddled the entire 5' sink cabinet, with two 5' shelves, that serves the same function. Anytime we "do dishes" using standard cabinets, it now seems an unnecessary pain to have to dry the dishes. We highly recommend open storage areas adjacent and over the sink area! Jerry B
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Planting on a contour - How to make an A-frame home made transit
The A-frame is the home-made land transit ... , from Bill Mollison's permaculture teachings. Take three thin pieces of wood, say one inch by two inch material, two around seven feet long, one about three and a half feet long. Join the two long ones at one end. I drilled a hole and fitted a small bolt and nut there. Spread the unfastened ends apart, say six or seven feet. Fasten the remaining piece across the two long pieces, to create an A figure. Now get a strong string and tie it--I just use a loop over the protruding bolt end--to the top of the A, where the two long pieces are united. Tie a weight--I use a stone--to the other end of the string below the cross piece. Your A-frame is now ready for calibration. Set the two legs onto the ground. Let the string stop moving and mark where the string lies against the cross piece. Reverse the legs precisely so each is where the other was. Mark the crosspiece again where the string lies against it after it stops swinging. Now make a strong mark exactly between the two previous marks. That is the level point.
- To use the device, choose a starting point in your field or garden. Set one leg onto the beginning point and move the other leg up or downhill until the string is exactly on the level mark. Now, leaving the second leg in place, pivot the device so the first leg goes past the second and on to the direction desired. Again, move that leg until the string is exactly at the level point. You are now following the contour of the land. You can put a stone or stake at each contour point or you can lay down a line and move it to the point each time. Continue across the land until you reach the end of your desired space to be laid out on the contour.
I have used this device to this year lay out a 150-foot chicken run across the field behind my chicken run and also to lay out my new garden design. I have made raised beds on the contour by staking oak two by twelves on the downhill side and filling the uphill side with soil/compost/leaves/grass clippings. I put the planks nine feet apart. The beds are now only about eighteen inches wide but I have lots of room to expand. I slightly sloped the path area uphill of each bed so that rain will run down to the bed and the path will stay dry enough to walk upon even after a rain. I will mow the grass and weeds in the pathway, blowing the clippings onto the downhill bed.
Beds or field crops laid out on the contour deter erosion and make maximum use of rainfall. My garden beds are most pleasant to work in as I am always walking on the contour, instead of up and downhill. When I irrigate, the water stays where I want it, on the beds.
with permission from Gene Gerue, author of How to Find Your Ideal Country Home http://www.ruralize.com/
Solar energy usage for purposes which
otherwise require much energy, costly both to the environment and pocket
books, is presently much neglected. I covered the interior surface
of a throw away six-foot
parabolic dish-antenna with silver mylar film, and stuck the holder support
into a PVC pipe sunk into the ground. I hung a large black enameled canning
pot from a hospital-bed trapeze frame, filled it with washed apples, and
in a few hours had delicious apple butter. This was accomplished without
heating up the summer kitchen, and using any electricity, gas, or wood.
I look forward to the opportunity to design and construct a water distiller,
an efficient food dryer, and several other modular appliances making good
use of these 'dishes' quickly becoming obsolete for their original purposes.
Jerry B liberty@kaballero.com
GLASS HOUSES
This method of constructing
buildings of infinite variety, might be an over-powering wave of the near
future. The energy of the sun will be used to melt sand and/or other heat
responsive materials to form monolithic shells. Light-impervious surfaces
and walls will be formed by adding opaque substances in areas desired, or
covered and/or bermed with soil. The shell will be reverse molded in the
earth in any number of free-form shapes. The materials ... sand, the
earth; the energy, the sun. The cost? Dirt cheap. Patents prevented
by this public disclosure. :-) A free gift from the Creator. Jerry
B.
