Sometime in my childhood I seem to have taken on an environmentalist bent. I’m not sure quite when or why. It just seemed like the right thing to do and support, and still does. Thus, in my time I’ve read a lot of books, and watched hours upon hours of movies relating to this general genre. Despite all this information that has been out in the public sphere these past decades I’ve also watched things continue to decline. Who remembers the days when any sort of serious car trip involved stopping occasionally to scrape bug guts off the windshield so you could see out? When was the last time you REALLY needed to do that, and what does that say about the health of insect populations? If you’ve got enough years under your belt I imagine you can think of plenty of other similar examples yourself. So it would seem that all these past books and materials promoting environmental ideas haven’t been effective enough to overcome the increasing tides of destruction. Now here I am looking to review another book. Is yet one more going to be any different?
Continue reading “Building a Better World in Your Backyard Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys – Book Review”Category: Homestead projects
Posts related to various building projects around the homestead.
So how much is in a cord of wood?
As anyone who heats with firewood knows wood is generally measured in cords, but you also would know a cord is a pretty fuzzy measurement. Technically a full cord is a stack 4 feet high by 4 feet deep by 8 feet long. The problem is every time you stack that pile of logs it will sit a bit differently altering the gaps between pieces and thus changing the overall volume of the pile. Then there is the other issue that how much potential heat energy in that pile also depends on what type of wood it is, how dry it is, and so on.
Continue reading “So how much is in a cord of wood?”When Things go Awry
So the other day I got up and was raring to get out into the studio and start hammering. I feel like I’ve been slacking on my metalwork, getting pulled away in too many other directions. I really need to be getting some hammering done, both because it’s what pays my bills and I’ve got several galleries needing to be restocked! I’m feeling the pressure and guilt of not getting enough done. So I’m ready to head out the front door and go to the studio. “Oh, that doesn’t look good.” “Hmm…” Yep, the front door won’t open!
Continue reading “When Things go Awry”Being a Chimney Sweep with a Rocket Mass Heater
The leaves have turned color and the air has become cool. This also means the house is getting chilly, needing some heat for comfort. During these edge seasons when the skies are not overcast and the sun is shining bright I’m generally able to take advantage of all the excess electric power my off grid solar system generates and heat my place with a couple electric space heaters. Once my battery bank is full this surplus power just goes to waste otherwise, so I might as well utilize it. However, the days are going to be getting cloudy and overcast in my region due to the proximity of Lake Michigan and the effect it has on the weather. It’s also going to get much colder. So I’ll soon be feeding the small dragon in my living room that is my rocket mass heater.
Continue reading “Being a Chimney Sweep with a Rocket Mass Heater”Rebuilding the dry stack fieldstone wall of the art studio.
Sometime last fall after some heavy rains really softened and fully saturated the soil there was a deep rumbling heard in my house. At first I thought maybe it was thunder and disregarded it though the sound was a bit different, yet somehow still familiar too. Going out to the studio later I realized what I’d heard, the roll and tumble of boulders falling as my west side rock wall collapsed!
Continue reading “Rebuilding the dry stack fieldstone wall of the art studio.”The Garden Project Continued
A while back I did a short post about a small garden project I was starting, rebuilding a couple raised beds with cinder blocks and raising them higher. Today’s post is an update on the continuation of that project, which as so often happens with projects, became more time consuming than I first expected.
Continue reading “The Garden Project Continued”Heating during the edge seasons
Yesterday while I was chasing away on my latest vessel I realized I hadn’t had a fire in the rocket mass heater all week, nor has the regular propane forced air furnace turned on in probably a month, yet I was comfortably warm! That got me to ruminating a bit about heating my home in what I think of as the edge seasons, those periods in spring and fall when some heating is still needed, but not a lot. I had intended this to be the post for yesterday, but while I did manage to finish chasing that vessel I obviously didn’t manage to get the post written. So here today instead I’ll share some thoughts, observations, and ideas about heating in edge seasons.
Continue reading “Heating during the edge seasons”Transplanting a bed of onions
The garden project of new raised beds I wrote about previously has progressed a bit more. Earlier this week I was able to get the cinder blocks laid for the second bed. I’ve also put in a call to get a truck load of topsoil that I’ll use to fill these new, taller beds. (I haven’t gotten a call back yet though. I might have to try someone else.)
Continue reading “Transplanting a bed of onions”Can I have fresh salad greens grown at home year around?
Spring fever has hit, along with its annual increase in work load. It seems like I’ve always got a ton of metalwork to do in order to meet deadlines around this time, compounded by the equally time sensitive pressures to get the garden prepared and planted. This year I’ve added the task of composing posts about these activities for this blog. I’m struggling to figure out how to handle it all.
Continue reading “Can I have fresh salad greens grown at home year around?”Building a Better World in your Backyard instead of being angry at bad guys
Final Update (I think). The book is now done and available in print, ebook, and as an audiobook. If you are interested in purchasing a copy you can do so here.
Update. The campaign just ended with phenomenal success! A total of 2768 people supported it with $153,983.05! Thanks to all of you who joined me in helping make it all happen. If you missed out I’ll be sure to make one more update to this post when the book has gone through the final editing processes, been printed, and is available for anyone to purchase. Odds are good I’ll do another blog post too reviewing the book after I’ve got my copy and read the whole thing.
So I’ve known the Kickstarter campaign to get this book printed was coming up for months now. I’m excited to see it finally happen! Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop have been working on this for over a year. I’ve read a few sections they’ve shared in various threads on the Permies.com forums and it looks like it should be an excellent book that is essentially right along the lines of what I’m aiming to do with this blog.
Continue reading “Building a Better World in your Backyard instead of being angry at bad guys”