Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:33 pm Post subject: Lists of things to research...
Anyone else do this? I have a list going of things I want to research for live in a post-oil world. It's all kinds of things, trying to guess what will be needed for the future and living lightly.
Here's what is on my list THIS week.
How to make apple cider vinegar
Where to order organic trees from
how to waterproof fabric naturally
bedwarming pans
growing loofah sponges
where to find seeds for broom straw
saddler's thread, sewing leather, needles
dagger frogs, tankard straps, leather belt pouches
manual pasta makers
how to build a cistern, what kind of pump
how to build a solar oven and solar dehydrator
treadle sewing machines
Aquamira
resealable canning lids
how to make lye (and how to make soap)
how to press olives for oil, how to make a press, how to bottle oil
pottery in general
making beeswax candles, suppliers of tabs, wicks, molds
oxygen absorbers for seed saving
the safety of using bathwater to water gardens - flower and food
how to retrofit with strawbales
how to build a root cellar and/or cold room
long wearing clothing - Columbia sportswear, patagonia
making wool diaper covers from 100% wool sweaters from goodwill
the cost of a Temper-Pedic mattress
making liquid soap that is safe for woolens
blackwater = bilmass digester = methane fuel
extracting lanolin from wool
making essential oils
edible landscaping
ecological entrepreneurship - land based occupation
mandala gardening technique
solar oven recipes
homemade dog food recipes
how to make shoes (renaissance websites)
where to get a solar battery charger & batteries
how to make an energy efficient shower ala sunfrost website
where to buy cloth handkerchiefs
emergency birth kits
unschooling and homeschooling supplies and books
where to get educated on permaculture techniques and get certified
finding strawbale homes in my area and touring them
touring a Rastra block home in my area
raising chickens
seed saving
Madison, that is a good list. I'd like to know some of the answers as well. I'll help with one: Costco online now sells some solar panels, battery charges, inverters and has a great selection of batteries. Yesterday I actually found both golf cart batterier and marine / deep cycle batteries in one of their stores.
Oh, the loofah sponges are actually gourds. You can grow them in your garden. Might require a warm climate.
Joined: Mar 18, 2005 Posts: 2573 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:54 am Post subject:
forget the word "organic"...you want "HEIRLOOM" seeds!!! (NOT HYBRID SEEDS)... Try SEEDSOFCHANGE.COM or BOUNTIFULGARDENS.COM...almost everything you mentioned (and more) is in CARLA EMERY's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COUNTRY LIVING - AKA: book of old fasiond recipis ...go to amazon.com & search on carla emery (that's how i found it) even making lye (for soap making). I'm going to print your list...alot of excelent ideas!!!
I just picked up a new shovel with a fiberglass handle yesterday (for turning the soil in my garden)...sucker should last forever (I hope). This year i'm growing mostly the type of corn for grinding into cornmeal & saving all those seeds (last year it was 3 kinds of wheat). and apple, peach, and plum trees...i just haven't figured out where i'm gonna plant them
Consider raising ducks instead of chickens... from what I hear they produce more eggs for a longer period of time and are lower maintenance and have a better temperament. If you plant certain types of shrubs and trees they can forage mainly for themselves. Certain types don't quack much and don't tend to fly.
I am going to start a flock of Khaki Campbell ducks in 2 years when some of my bushes have gotten bigger, mainly for egg production but also for the fertilizer and their pest-eating abilities. 4 females one male to keep a sustainable system going.
A great permaculture book for small scale gardening is Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway.
Ish, just speaking from personal experience, have had ducks and chickens, still have chickens.
I know there are ducks that are good layers, but have never found any that laid as well as good laying hens. In addition, you have to hunt down the eggs, while my chickens like to come back to the house and use the next box, except when they get broody and want to hide out on a pile of eggs.
Another problem with ducks is that when they get broody they're as good as dead, at least around here. You know the old saying "a sitting duck"? Well, once they get on a nest they don't get off, no matter what, we've had them die of starvation and thirst on nests when the eggs didn't hatch for whatever reason and there was nothing we could do (as the nests were hidden in the brambles). Also, ducks are very vulnerable to predators, much more so that chickens. The chickens do a good job of feeding themselves, wandering over an acre or so with the sheep. We throw them a little grain while we can afford it but I think they'd do fine without it. The lay almost an egg a day for 2-3 years, then they go to the soup pot.
Ducks do less damage to the garden if they get in. Chickens aren't all that crazy about actually eating your garden, they just really like to look underneath each plant and see if there's any bugs hiding down there in the roots, but it doesn't do the plant any good, that's for sure. Ducks don't scratch, but I fence the gardens and keep both of them out.
Again, these are all my experiences with both, your situation may be different. My main concern these days with ducks is that they are such a rich vector of disease for humans I'd just as rather not have them around the yard.
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:57 pm Post subject: Great List
Lists are good for getting oriented and focused.
I am into downloading entire websites. I realize that an electronic book on setting bones won't help me when I don't have electricity and fall off the roof. But anyway, taking into account the preservationists attitude, it is nice to have at least electronic access to recipes, guides, encyclopedias, etc... and it is all free.
Or just search "offline browser review free" in a search engine. That will get you pointed right. I used to use web reaper. Now it seems that better ones are out there.
You need to get some practice in using this. Otherwise, you will start downloading more than you actually want.
Internet and information access will never be cheaper than today. As long as you have electricity and a computer, and a backup of your best data, you will always have access to your favorite information.
Also, emule is a great program for finding mp3 and videos. CD quality for free.
directinfo, I'll look into the downloading thing. I agree that now is the time to print out info. Consider using Archival Mist to preserve your pages, it's stuff scrapbookers use to de-acidify pages so they don't yellow and mold with age.
Bobaloo & ish, I'd rather eat chickens than ducks, lol, so I'm sticking with chickens I think. Might have a few ducks and do some comparing. My dad went hunting once and came back with ducks and my mom absolutely destroyed the meat cooking it, lol... can't stand the taste. Or maybe it was mom's cooking, hehehe, she is usually an excellent cook, lol.
Ron, yes, heirloom open-pollinated seeds, that's what I meant. I do have a good collection, a good start from Seeds of Change. Every time I shop at Whole Foods (weekly) I pick up another pack of seeds for $2.50... little impact on my budget, but good potential payback down the line.
erl, thanks for the tip about Costco. I'll look around! Very interresting.
Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5141 Location: Oklahoma
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 11:34 pm Post subject:
madison wrote:
Bobaloo & ish, I'd rather eat chickens than ducks, lol, so I'm sticking with chickens I think. Might have a few ducks and do some comparing. My dad went hunting once and came back with ducks and my mom absolutely destroyed the meat cooking it, lol... can't stand the taste. Or maybe it was mom's cooking, hehehe, she is usually an excellent cook, lol.
Try Muscovy ducks. The meat is not greasy like other ducks. It is supposed to be some of the finest meat there is. I have 10 Muscovy ducklings coming later this month. I haven't tried it yet but my mom found some at Whole Foods in Houston last week and confirmed it is fabulous. I don't mind "regular" duck once in awhile, but it's not my favorite. I've been told that Muscovys reproduce very well, too, which helps keep up with predation. Muscovys are not related to Mallards, unlike all other domestic ducks.
Joined: Feb 26, 2005 Posts: 107 Location: By the river
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 2:24 pm Post subject:
Wait a sec, this is your list for this week!!! WOW!
Seed Savers Ex. also has broom corn seeds.
I do not have a pasta maker, but I did dreak down and buy a rolling pin with the adjustable thickness thingys ( ) and it is much easier to get the pasta thin enough.
Mother Earth News had info on root cellars in the Jan 2005 issue. I think the book Storey's Basic Country Skills does too.
Joined: Oct 28, 2004 Posts: 294 Location: SoWashCo, Minnesota
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 2:45 pm Post subject:
Heh... I'm trying to keep some creature comforts at home no matter what.
I just picked up a French Press coffee maker this week (Much better than the typical drip coffee-maker, I'm finding). I am now looking at getting one of the Zassenhaus mechanical coffee grinders. While coffee will get more expensive over time, it's popular enough that there will be some kind of trade for it, I think.
I'm also looking to get a pasta maker, a spice mill or two, and a food mill.
Joined: Dec 04, 2004 Posts: 2337 Location: perpetual state of exhaustion
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2005 1:02 pm Post subject:
making chocolate from scratch would be difficult at best. after the beans are picked and cleaned they have a very bitter taste. the way they get rid of this is in a process called "conching" basically they grind it up and make apaste out of it. its put in machines that warm it up and stirr it for at least a week continuously.
the difference in quality and taste is the longer its conched the more mellow and less bitter it tastes. you would be better off to find a wholesale distributor and buy the bulk. it only keeps (depending on whether its milk or dark) for a year or two. the process is energy intensive. I'd stock up on cocoa powder and use that.
Edited to add: the way to control lice (as in head lice) is to wash the hair as normal then saturate with something slick like conditioner (some use olive oil and I think egg would work) this immobilizes the lice.
You then thoroughly comb through the hair with a lice comb (an animal flea comb can work too) then put the head upside down so the hair falls forward and comb through it again. You have to be extrememly thorough. do this once a week for three weeks. you put their coat in the freezer during the night and their pillow in the freezer during the day and voila.
Tempur-pedic mattresses (full size) are around $500. I gotta get me one of those before TSHTF!!!
My favorite source of nice beeswax is www.glorybee.com. Yummy smelling.
What are we gonna do about the lack of sunscreen with what we are doing to the atmosphere? What is IN sunscreen? Can something similar be made? Ideas anyone?
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