Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
I'm wondering if detailed instructions for the balloon method for wine are posted somewhere. I missed them if they are, I tend to get spells when I'm too busy to read this.
That used to be the preferred method for the home wine making IIRC.
We still have those in Texas too. They gotta farm it and then process it and that's their meals. Seems fitting to me.
Ditto. I can hardly sing through that whole hymn without tears flowing. It's such a beautiful word picture of how I spend time with my Savior.
These are some of the reasons why my man does not wish to return to Maine. He gets on a rant everytime this topic comes up. Of course he's seen it in his 18 years in Texas also but I guess more slowly. When we got together he moved to my area of the state which is rural so we are just beginning to see a trickle of that. Every time a new "outsider" thing comes up it sets him off.
seedman.com
Hey Snippy! Nice to see you.
I just got a new greenhouse this year. I have not had terrible times with bugs in my greenhouse yet, being only February but I do notice that everytime I have the door open for very long I have honeybees in there. That's a good thing though.
Seedman guarantees the seeds as well! Will replace for free if they don't germinate. Going to start them inside, as recommended, not too mention the soil is frozen solid right now! My guess is they won't be able to get planted until May, but they WILL be ready from the startup tray before then.
Whew! It just finished downloading... 30.3 megs! Took a while on this air card (not quite as slow as dialup, but close enuff!).
Planters and earthboxes:
http://www.ecoyardfarming.com/all/build-a-5-gallon-self-watering-earthbox-part-i/
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0501044214330.html
http://howtogardenguide.com/2007/04/07/window-box-planter-plans-building-your-own-wooden-window-box/
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/brug/msg071442033372.html
Solar Cooker:
http://solarcooking.org/plans/
All kinds of solar cooking information:
http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/solarcoo.htm
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Solar_cooker_plans
This should get your imagination going, build a rocket stove, I almost could,.
granny
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Rocket_stove
The Rocket stove is a variety of wood-burning cooking stove. It is easy to construct, with low-cost materials. These are low-mass stoves designed to burn small pieces of wood very efficiently. Cooking is done on top of a short insulated chimney. The stoves are typically constructed out of trash: tin cans, old stovepipes, etc. A skirt around the pot will help hold heat in, increasing the efficiency.
Rocket stoves use branches, twigs, small wood scraps, or just about any small combustible material. The pieces of wood or other material burn at their tips, increasing combustion efficiency, creating a very hot fire, and eliminating smoke. The low-mass stove body and insulated chimney assure that the heat goes into the cooking pot, not into the stove. Rocket stoves used in conjunction with hayboxes can save enormous amounts of fuel, cooking complete meals while using very few resources.
A related design, the rocket bread oven, is constructed using two 55 gallon drums, one inside the other. The outer drum is split open to create an insulated chimney space between the two drums and to allow for a doorway. Baking is done inside the inner drum—in a sealed compartment within the chimney, above the firebox.
Contents
* 1 Overview
* 2 Key features
* 3 Problems
* 4 Alternatives/Variations
* 5 Audio and video
* 6 See also
* 7 External links
* 8 See this page on our other wikis
edit Overview
It operates roughly twice as efficiently, and substantially more cleanly, than the open fire cooking methods still used in many areas of the world. Furthermore, the design of the stove requires small diameter lengths of wood, which can generally be satisfied with small branches. As such, sufficient fuel for cooking tasks can be gathered in less time, without the benefit of tools, and ideally without the destruction of forested areas.
Because these qualities improve local air quality, and discourage deforestation, the rocket stove has attracted the attention of a number of Appropriate Technology concerns, which have deployed it in numerous third-world locales (notably, the Rwandan refugee camps). This attention has resulted in a number of adaptations intended to improve convenience and safety, and thus the size of the target audience. The Justa Stove, for example, is a cousin of the rocket stove adapted for indoor use and family cooking needs.
edit Key features
A Rocket stove made from a barrel in Bolivia
A Rocket stove made from a barrel in Bolivia
The Rocket stove’s main components are as follows:
* Fuel magazine - a short length of steel or ceramic pipe fitted horizontally into the base of the chimney
* Fuel shelf - holds the fuel clear of the bottom of the magazine to allow air to flow underneath
* Chimney - a metal box (such as a 5-gallon tin can) or pipe standing vertically and supporting the cooking vessel
* Heat exchanger - a tubular metal shield that forces hot gases from the chimney to pass over the sides of the cooking vessel
[Text for this page was borrowed from Wikipedia:Rocket stove and from http://www.lostvalley.org/haybox1.html
And, you can make the egg cartons into even better fire starters if you drizzle a little parafin on them. Doesn't take much and is a good use for the leftover bit after you've burned a candle. The parafin on the egg carton material will burn long enough to start wet wood or charcoal to burning.
I also ordered from them!
Man, them suckerz are small, eh?
I’ve already started my seed trays for vegetables, and will set one up for tobacco in the next day or two.
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Soda_bottle_pasteurizer
Soda bottle pasteurizer
From Solar Cooking
Jump to: navigation, search
The Soda bottle pasteurizer is a solar water heater and pasteurizer made from everyday recyclables.
edit Tools and equipment
Scissors, Knife, Glue, Tape, Thermometer*
edit Materials
* 1 or 2 liter clear plastic soda bottle.
* 12 oz. aluminum soda can,
* Corrugated cardboard box approx. 16” x 16” x 16”
* Aluminum foil or reflective plastic from inside chip bags, etc.
© Eric Marlow2008
© Eric Marlow2008
edit Instructions
From a 1 or 2 liter clear plastic soda bottle (A) cut off the top, 1” below where it becomes straight.
Cut 4 tabs 1/2” wide x 1” long into the top (fig.1)
Paint a 12 oz. aluminum can (B) with black paint. It is also possible to coat the can with carbon black from a candle or wood fire.
Put the can filled with water into the plastic bottle bottom and insert top with tabs folded out (fig.2).
© Eric Marlow 2008
© Eric Marlow 2008
To make the reflector (C), start with a corrugated cardboard box approximately 16” x 16” x 16”. Cut off the top and two sides of the box. Cover the two remaining sides and bottom with aluminum foil or potato chip bags with silver coating facing out (use wheat paste, glue or tape to adhere to cardboard).Place bottle on reflector (C) and place in sun. Keep bottle shadow centered on back of solar panel.
To pasteurize, water must be heated to 158° F (65° C).
edit See also
* Water pasteurization
* Water Pasteurization Indicator
edit External links
For lots more great projects made from Everyday Recyclables go to: http://www.recyclabits.com
A copy of this project may be made for personel educational purposes only. © Eric Marlow 2008 All rights reserved
I always took my daughters to shop for things at Goodwill. We found that if we went to locations near colleges a week after a fall or spring semester ended we found great bargains for the girls. My youngest found an Armani (I think) dress for $10. Fit her prefectly and she still has it to drag out for special occasions.
Great, I hope you enjoy it. Believe it or not there are close to 9000 pages all told. Plus the first file has some extra stuff thrown in.
Granny, Did you tell me on the last thread that you had cut the roots off onions from the store and planted just the roots?
You did tell me about planting a whole onion and coming up with 4 onions every time but the onions I have are good and I want to use them... Although I can plant some also. I was just thinking you’d gotten a whole onion by planting only the roots.
I also do this with cheeze - Walmart has gallon (#10 cans) of concentrated cheese sauce for about $6.00. I store the cans and as needed I put them in half pint jars (just right for us) and process them in a hot water bath. Got the recipe from Jackie Clay over at Backwoods Home Magazine site. Works great! Very little effort, big savings, great food making possibilities and we are rotating our stock and eating very very well.<<<
Interesting and I didn’t know about the cheese, as I can’t go shopping.
Yes, good planning on the yeast, I freeze mine and pour a couple ounces in one of the little brown jars and keep it in the refrigerator door.
LOL, you are right about the seed test.
Thank you for sharing with those that need real help.
There is always a market for fresh eggs, or was for me.
I can’t eat the store bought eggs, they smell to me.
Thanks for all those zucchini recipes!<<<
If you go to the links for them, there are more that I finally had to walk away from, several good ones.
LOL, I could hear some of the readers groaning and thinking that granny did not know the seeds have not been planted yet.
Good recipes are when and where you find them, whatever season it is, LOL, that is my platform.
Here’s one recipe - Even though I am from before the hippie generation, I tried it and was quite good. The one I tried was with 1/2 cup sugar and a 2 liter bottle - that was a bit dry, so I increased it to 3/4 cup sugar. Fun experiment - seems to work great - Oh, I did not use the string - balloon vents if you don’t tie it.
Freaked Out Hippie Wine Recipe
2 - 12 oz. cans frozen grape juice
3 1/2 cups of white granulated sugar
1/3 cake of yeast (Fleishmann’s is best)
A large Balloon and some strong string
One Gallon Jug
First, set the grape juice out to thaw, until slushy. Next, mix the sugar thoroughly in with the grape juice. Pour the sugar and juice, into the gallon jug. Dissolve the yeast in a cup of lukewarm water and add to the juice mixture in the gallon jug. Mix everything thoroughly. Now add just enough lukewarm water to fill the gallon jug up to about 2 inches below the neck. When this is done, place the balloon over the top of neck and secure tightly with a string or heavy duty rubber band.
NOTE: This must be an air tight fit!
If you have followed all directions carefully, the balloon will soon start to expand with the gas, caused by the fermentation. Store the mixture in a cool area, 60 to 75 degrees is ideal, for a period of from 3 to 6 weeks. Check the balloon every other day. If the balloon expands too the point of bursting, untie and allow the gas to escape and then reseal. Be sure to reseal tightly to make it air tight once again. When the balloon ceases to expand, the wine is done.
WARNING: Do not bottle this wine before it is done fermenting. Bottles may exploded from excessive pressure.
Strain your wine with a cheese cloth or a tea towel and pour into bottles. Cap or cork bottles and store on their sides in a cool, dark place. All that’s left now is to enjoy yourself, man.
Nurse Healer is one of my favorite sources.
She had powerful newsletters, before Y2K, I have learned much of what I know from her.
Thanks for the links.
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