April 2012
1 post
Spring means more garden work
I need to get some pictures soon, but I’l almost ready to start planting the summer garden. The straw bale bed has composted great, I turned it and reduced it from 16’ to 12’ so I don’t have to add as much potting soil on top. That extra 4’ on the end will be the next compost pile.
In other plans, here is another link dump of ideas I am kicking around.
Yard is...
February 2012
1 post
Butchery instructional videos
The start of some wonderful instructional videos on butchery, a project funded via Kickstarter a few months ago,. First one is online, more to come. I need to sharpen my knives! http://www.farmsteadmeatsmith.com/ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/farmrun/butchery-instructional-web-series-from-farmstead-m
January 2012
1 post
A couple of interesting DIY building techniques
Earthbags and Grid Beams.
I am going to consider a root cellar and firepit area made from earthbags.
http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/projects/rootcellar.htm
http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/projects/firepit.htm
Then there is Grid Beam - Erector Sets for Big Kids!
http://www.green-trust.org/wordpress/2011/11/14/grid-beam-erector-sets-for-big-kids/
...
December 2011
2 posts
Rain makes me think about water again
I am always so mad at myself when another rain falls and I am not yet ready with a rainwater collection system at home. I guess it’s all just time and money, right?
Anywhoo, another link dump:
http://secondrain.com/2010/02/advanced-rainwater-harvesting/
http://secondrain.com/2011/01/cedar-rain-bench/
...
Some DIY projects using recycled pallets
I have a couple weeks off work shortly, so I am planning a few projects, inside & out.
Inside: wall shelves in the kitchen, designed around Mason jars (to accomodate my future canning plans). Designs tbd, but ideas galore:
And then outside, a vertical garden planter which will also be the east wall of my mostly strawbale raised bed garden.
Lastly, a bit of a deck under the...
November 2011
4 posts
future homestead housing ideas →
vaguely considering the idea of moving to the woods sometime in the next 10 years. not off-grid, I plan to be still involved in the technology business as a source of income, but capable of sustaining itself with as little of the grid as possible. somewhere with mild winters, long growing seasons, livestock and wild game friendly, and good water supply. Pacific Northwest has seemed to be where...
Irrigation
Considering again the idea of using the 2x IBC totes (275 gallons each) as a filter system and reservoir for water. Goals would be to constantly maintain at least 3/4 capacity of the total system, constantly being topped up with city water passing thru a filter system to remove sediment and chlorine. The same system would be used in an emergency situation by manually filling a source barrel (see...
Winter garden
I am going to do half of my containers organic, using compost/planting mix with worm leachate and such. the other half will be using a soilless mix (bark/moss/perlite) and Foliage Pro 9-3-6 liquid fertilizer. the pots have been sitting and drenched with water to hopefully the nitrogen levels have stabilized (I need to get a test kit!) and I can plant in the next few days.
What I really need...
October 2011
7 posts
Passive Solar projects
More links for future system building:
Solar Still: http://www.thefoodguys.com/solarstill.htm
Solar Still: http://www.solaqua.com/solstilbas.html
Solar Still: http://homepower.com/article/?file=HP130_pg28_ATE_3
Water Heater: http://backwoodshome.com/articles/hackleman65.html
Food Dehydrator: http://www.motherearthnews.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=74486&seq=6
Food Dehydrator:...
water filtration on a larger scale than a...
I’m not yet ready to tackle LA River water, but having a way to filter large amounts of water efficiently will be useful for me, given that I am not the kind of guy who could easily say no to anyone in need and too many friends already know I am somewhat prepared in case of emergency. My current water storage is two 275 gallon IBC totes filled with city water and sitting behind my house in...
Smart Pots for winter garden
I decided I could manage to fill all the pots without a big trucking shipment, and in doing this, I could experiment with a few different mixes.
Al’s 5-1-1 Mix - 4 cu ft pine bark fine mulch, 10 gallons sphagnum peat moss, 10 gallons perlite, 4 cups dolomitic lime,
1x 20 gallon & 1x 10 gallon on the ground
1x 20 gallon & 1x 10 gallon on cement pad
Earthgro Planter Mix, 2 cu ft...
Winter garden
Since I won’t be doing much landscaping in the back until I have better plans and more savings, I am going to be planting a winter garden in Smart Pots. I have used these for my fruit trees in front, and this brand is great since they are fairly high walled.
one 200 gallon pot (50” base, 20” tall)
- red & green leaf lettuce, buttercrunch bibb lettuce, mesclun mix,...
Planning for Canning
Next spring, I need to be ready with a plan for preserving more fruit & vegetables from the garden, so here is a list of ideas at this early stage. The current thinking is to build an outdoor kitchen, why not in LA’s great weather?
I already have a deep plastic utility sink, a stainless steel table, and a 110v induction plate. Cold water is easy, will need to consider if I need hot...
I am going to start documenting my preparedness plans and progress. A lot of p’s there, sorry. As I go, I’ll try to write some thoughts about reasons for doing various elements, without getting into all the big “omg the world as we know it is ending!” sort of claptrap that is all too common on “survivalist” forums & blogs. My focus is more on...
June 2009
1 post
just a test, new here