tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4714620535851711902024-03-10T08:51:28.844-07:00Virid ViewsSteve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-85548009680820095382023-07-30T14:05:00.000-07:002023-07-30T14:05:13.143-07:00A garden shed<p><span style="font-size: large;"> Finally built a garden shed, as the garage was getting rather crowded.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitR-qbva377altefQG0NfMfYPQ5k42gS4xluQA_14Z1EbIOwrO1mPTmpkh2lvlgqlVI20qYj2FZSauznQR79Z1j52-oWGg4dXjTY42yuXNkadWvCetRunjX4CNNduaKvaZhmcJ1Pgp1WfSta7jN3hsvl27CYYxJgJBKeKkXtHEFT1A4c4nEWq9XVWM4EBn/s3072/63BB1B7E-F1F2-4F9B-8EA3-48877FF91F0D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3072" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitR-qbva377altefQG0NfMfYPQ5k42gS4xluQA_14Z1EbIOwrO1mPTmpkh2lvlgqlVI20qYj2FZSauznQR79Z1j52-oWGg4dXjTY42yuXNkadWvCetRunjX4CNNduaKvaZhmcJ1Pgp1WfSta7jN3hsvl27CYYxJgJBKeKkXtHEFT1A4c4nEWq9XVWM4EBn/w640-h480/63BB1B7E-F1F2-4F9B-8EA3-48877FF91F0D.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A lot of the material was scrounged, or leftovers, or bought at random intervals, mostly from a friend who had to end his sawmill days and clear out the inventory before moving. So, some odd choices, but it made it more interesting to design as we went.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I had read about the wood preservation technique of Yakisugi ( or shou sugi ban), as mentioned in a post from last year. That is one of the bigger experiments in this adventure. Turns out to use a LOT of propane to do the treatment. That, or perfect the traditional method, which is quicker, but trickier. We decided to just do part of one wall with this method, and wood shingles ( also made by the friend from pine on his land) and metal for the rest.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Flat land is hard to come by here, so we had a contractor flatten an area near the</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">house. The drop off was still rather much, so I am building a retaining wall to stabilize things. I've used tires for walls in the past. While they can be had for free, they require lots of labor and are time consuming, so went with the easy landscaping blocks. each weighs 82 lbs( 37kg). </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Since I was rather in a hurry, and not getting any younger, I actually hired a young fellow for the day to help. First time I had ever done that, and it went well.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"> A harbinger of things to come??</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Next up is a greenhouse. Will report on that when it is finished.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-83617282715503300932023-03-15T12:53:00.002-07:002023-03-15T12:53:59.507-07:00hazelnut lessons learned<p> <span style="font-size: large;">This year's hazelnut harvest is the largest yet, as the trees continue to come in to full production. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It was a real challenge for just my wife and I hand harvesting, since the ripening nuts start falling to the ground a couple weeks after ripe enough to harvest, and they are impossible to gather once on the ground in the tall grass. The window is narrow with all the other things going on. Research is being done to mechanize harvest, but likely we'll be hiring help for the near future.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Harvest is a one time pass through, and all are harvested even if some of the husks (involucres) are not drying back yet. The genetics of these selected hazels is still variable, so they don't all ripen at the same time. Multiple picking passes would be quite onerous, so we put in drying bins for a couple weeks to finish drying, making the husking effort much easier.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">After husking they are bagged and hauled to where the prototype shelling equipment is, a five hour drive from here. This equipment is far quicker than hand shelling, but again, the genetics of these hazels is still a work in progress, so the equipment has to handle a large range of sizes and properties.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Hazelnuts as a new food crop for the midwest is slowly progressing, but in a low energy future, perennial food crops will be much more central to our diet. Us early adapters and permaculture advocates hope eventually millions of acres of corn and soybeans will be switched to trees like hazels, but the current system does not want to change. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Here are photos of the processing and kitchen experiments.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">These are kernels back from the sheller. Note that in the real world, food is not all cosmetically perfect, and one uses their own judgement as to how much funkiness is acceptable.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHajOSbiD7DGBHu6SvWP4XVzXsNl2UPgZL4TCYe65ZzYNfjL97x-_mAgzjPcBKOcLK5OkUd9t16z8tmUxExcaUIhBClulUSD_zxUIADei-N1qY1Q1jscYMv9F0dL9yMqGgNolGHdAMjQcJmIMIocrQ2mQ3NDh3YIuh44DdKQaHTD9m4PBwsov1Q-U5BA/s3072/0D1E8BF6-6A72-4480-944E-1D70400C3A85.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="2304" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHajOSbiD7DGBHu6SvWP4XVzXsNl2UPgZL4TCYe65ZzYNfjL97x-_mAgzjPcBKOcLK5OkUd9t16z8tmUxExcaUIhBClulUSD_zxUIADei-N1qY1Q1jscYMv9F0dL9yMqGgNolGHdAMjQcJmIMIocrQ2mQ3NDh3YIuh44DdKQaHTD9m4PBwsov1Q-U5BA/w480-h640/0D1E8BF6-6A72-4480-944E-1D70400C3A85.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Not the greatest photo, but these are hazels that have been toasted a bit and lightly coated with maple syrup, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Crunchy and tasty.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyi0ypYJChfucJMENYkgrYvAH31-P4pD-JAyBp-9wpl3XCGrPRVzR5f2_-Tr2h-6sb1tfhQDiH5v3RSUhUYIg0p_mIlIBkGcwN2QJg8g4CR0rC75EvooVRbSmGtIjoA5t-S8DhZsvbF6hQm5qH4ddekagR8iucK6ENVZqGwjw-0KXz2UrRARV5bb9vbQ/s3072/E61BCFA6-6A7C-4F34-8D5D-8613C50B9614.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3072" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyi0ypYJChfucJMENYkgrYvAH31-P4pD-JAyBp-9wpl3XCGrPRVzR5f2_-Tr2h-6sb1tfhQDiH5v3RSUhUYIg0p_mIlIBkGcwN2QJg8g4CR0rC75EvooVRbSmGtIjoA5t-S8DhZsvbF6hQm5qH4ddekagR8iucK6ENVZqGwjw-0KXz2UrRARV5bb9vbQ/w640-h480/E61BCFA6-6A7C-4F34-8D5D-8613C50B9614.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is some nuts being turned in to nut butter in a melanger. Normally, melangers are used to take cocoa nibs and make very smooth cocoa liquor, but it works fine to break down the nuts. This this has granite wheels that spin around and thoroughly grind the kernels. I've also made a batch of hazel and chocolate spread to replace Nutella, which is yummy, but environmentally poor. We are calling our stuff "chazel". It has hazelnuts, cocoa powder, and sugar- that's it. No palm oil or other stuff.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR3QS4yuxGiwEv1lqPfIg-qUU87RmXGWPV6rM69PHSrk-W8gtb4V9Ip8Afiyh7Zdvd9tAjXvVOJohEPUxXhpIBmeguielqvDEsusYfXEyDQAyRusZCCB0yfhueJJ__KQo2Znl2MPO4SYxLxkZOEe6QX1nfBvczulMFs8qz_N1B6-q6_3xo0HjZQsNxag/s3072/A71E75F7-28FB-4DEF-8127-78936C5EBC87.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3072" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR3QS4yuxGiwEv1lqPfIg-qUU87RmXGWPV6rM69PHSrk-W8gtb4V9Ip8Afiyh7Zdvd9tAjXvVOJohEPUxXhpIBmeguielqvDEsusYfXEyDQAyRusZCCB0yfhueJJ__KQo2Znl2MPO4SYxLxkZOEe6QX1nfBvczulMFs8qz_N1B6-q6_3xo0HjZQsNxag/w640-h480/A71E75F7-28FB-4DEF-8127-78936C5EBC87.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is some nut oil fresh from the press, with fines and water/oil emulsion settling out. I'll pour off the clarified oil and store it that way. The Piteba press works optimally if the nut are at 10% moisture. I checked moisture content, adjusted, and pressed, so this emulsion results. I boil the water off and filter to get there rest of the oil.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_kI69r8mRU83nugC1kBlbDI05xGMgyWVr5QDZ61uciq_L8AbjDnz_c8zrW9OYl1JxW9_ADxhpZ2Ni4LrDVfSL2_ZZANbpYgh0NRlXjXANEDkaD9K5nq5ulp2bPogQ7q5GpJnKkX04d7olIV8-v-nCAHoR7VuMM1mBYlSvVXHMmPtwkC4x9CJKtrPBQ/s3072/EF96CBF8-C085-488A-8218-BDEB3DFC767A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3072" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_kI69r8mRU83nugC1kBlbDI05xGMgyWVr5QDZ61uciq_L8AbjDnz_c8zrW9OYl1JxW9_ADxhpZ2Ni4LrDVfSL2_ZZANbpYgh0NRlXjXANEDkaD9K5nq5ulp2bPogQ7q5GpJnKkX04d7olIV8-v-nCAHoR7VuMM1mBYlSvVXHMmPtwkC4x9CJKtrPBQ/w640-h480/EF96CBF8-C085-488A-8218-BDEB3DFC767A.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Some lessons learned: The nut butter has an odd mouth feel, way more stick to your mouth compared to peanut butter. We will do more experiments with added ingredients.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The nuts are around 30% oil, but this home scale press only gets a little over half the oil. The rest stays in the press cake. We are using the press cake in baked goods, and if nothing else, food for the chickens, who love it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The volume and weight ratio of harvested nut in the shell with husks still on to the shelled kernels is crazy. Lots of effort to get to useable food.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-59187844909153904302023-01-13T06:09:00.001-08:002023-01-13T06:09:37.146-08:00Snow and rumination on acclimatization<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Got a wet, clingy snow this past week, and it really hung on to the trees and caused drooping and breaking of limbs.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLso2bBjRYlnTbYmizJftdsZvByYxtUJVtD30UiVGe4Ni97h8S5O5OOUoMq9O5aksBSK-OxjPo_Bfmu6qCMDAek90euj6uj4yEyjyFcgpTVH84mnawv4EQaskUJBLji8OQV69sKpdLIqfMJykjTPXxwJ0UAtsqE2BDxUjGpzITBD68sOyd9ov009DnNw/s2016/B416A445-4F0F-47BD-927F-12353AFFEAA3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLso2bBjRYlnTbYmizJftdsZvByYxtUJVtD30UiVGe4Ni97h8S5O5OOUoMq9O5aksBSK-OxjPo_Bfmu6qCMDAek90euj6uj4yEyjyFcgpTVH84mnawv4EQaskUJBLji8OQV69sKpdLIqfMJykjTPXxwJ0UAtsqE2BDxUjGpzITBD68sOyd9ov009DnNw/w640-h480/B416A445-4F0F-47BD-927F-12353AFFEAA3.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUzdsDx5H_B3RuvnCvfUdAqblMhpf_F5wkxYwWBG0tPELjBvhv_xlnEHvyNdRKBpqer2pfgU_khwsoEcZTxuW2kNfWIuqzkKQYQWw3EhsCa5iqqtV9bepIKqyAqQtmB6JoQUB3tXuTlaSVgG41xy1TII-9MvPXr6w9TXyOBcWQij8h1_yOyfRmDq5Aw/s2016/AA7DD1CF-3906-4C8E-AE78-06D832DEF887.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUzdsDx5H_B3RuvnCvfUdAqblMhpf_F5wkxYwWBG0tPELjBvhv_xlnEHvyNdRKBpqer2pfgU_khwsoEcZTxuW2kNfWIuqzkKQYQWw3EhsCa5iqqtV9bepIKqyAqQtmB6JoQUB3tXuTlaSVgG41xy1TII-9MvPXr6w9TXyOBcWQij8h1_yOyfRmDq5Aw/w480-h640/AA7DD1CF-3906-4C8E-AE78-06D832DEF887.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We hiked the trails through our woods, and reveled at the transformed landscape, but had to really tunnel though in spots where the crusted vegetation blocked our way.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Got me to thinking once again about how not just plants and animals have figured out how to get through winter with all its challenges, but what about those hardy souls that walked across the Bering Straight and lived here for thousands of years once the glaciers receded and the land recovered?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We've domesticated ourselves in the last few centuries, and we've gained a lot of knowledge, but lost some as well. As we try to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, and are forced to move from the lifestyles that are really only a very recent thing, what will we relearn? </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I recently read a book that had some accounts by early European impressions of the indigenous folks who got here first. They were seeing the lifestyles of people that had not yet been altered by the brutal imposition of the European replacement. Anyway, the writer was watching some kids playing on an iced over pond, with scant clothing, and having a ball, seemingly unaffected by the cold.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">So humans have an ability to acclimatize, maybe more than most of us in coddled modern lifestyles realize. All warm blooded animals strive for homeostasis, and that is one aspect of it.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">To give an example, we had an early cold snap here this winter, and so I got a lot of acclimatization done early. Yesterday, a relatively warmer day at 38F/3C, I did some work outside finishing up a shed I had built this fall. After a bit, I had to take off the coat, hat and gloves to feel comfortable. Two months ago, I'd have been chilled to the bone at the same temperature.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We heat the home with wood primarily, but have propane heat backup for the upstairs bedroom. We set that thermostat for 50F/10C and are quite comfortable with a good comforter on the bed. (Admittedly, it seldom gets that cold except on very cold nights, 55F-60F or so is more normal).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">As the end of fossil fuels continues and becomes more evident, turning down thermostats, intentionally acclimatizing to the seasons will not just save energy and cost, it will prepare us for the future that is coming.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-84462406261122851082022-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:002022-12-21T11:27:39.689-08:00Sugar from sugar beets- homestead style<p> <span style="font-size: large;">Our experiment with sugar beets has concluded. These Lovecraftian beasts were what our crop looked like on harvest.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-6TTHWxpVeOQNQEMWsE5bAk61VXomvZVXhICNLW-fIrNfmLqIBhpb26mvoMHnn3Q6-12FfQ9kt__NqmvrPzoKEEtpGZekziBYM_1xMFtKEv621vl8U8BL8DmDn0aPw8hkYhalUnF5oDQ_JkjwjrBaMykvCrCfy9pnaZ8OyNlrtFX9X5QM_4P8yKvRtQ/s2016/A09B0611-38E4-461D-8CF3-A77DCAE35FDA.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-6TTHWxpVeOQNQEMWsE5bAk61VXomvZVXhICNLW-fIrNfmLqIBhpb26mvoMHnn3Q6-12FfQ9kt__NqmvrPzoKEEtpGZekziBYM_1xMFtKEv621vl8U8BL8DmDn0aPw8hkYhalUnF5oDQ_JkjwjrBaMykvCrCfy9pnaZ8OyNlrtFX9X5QM_4P8yKvRtQ/w640-h480/A09B0611-38E4-461D-8CF3-A77DCAE35FDA.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">So we're not doing that again ( for now). When studying the crop on line earlier, ( see my Feb. 10 post ) the roots looked so smooth, uniform, tidy, and big. Since this was an experiment, I only planted about twenty seeds. Germination was not that great, and ended up with a dozen plants.</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I did water the plants occasionally this past summer, and weeded them, but I'm generally trying to find food sources that can handle minimal inputs and management. During the summer, the tops looked vigorous and large, much larger than regular beets. No clue why the roots got so gnarly and feral looking. The soil had fairly good tilth and organic content.</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">These guys needed more peeling, cutting, and trimming than I had thought, but that was not the clincher. I just didn't get that much sugar for the effort. Running through a food processor to shred, throwing in a pot to boil a bit and then straining the water though cheesecloth, and then cooking down to a syrupy consistency, it was a fair bit of work to do at small scale, for not much reward.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Taste was ok. You could tell it was not your regular sugar, but I got no strong added taste, and when used to sweeten my last batch of granola, could detect no hint of earthy beet taste.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Did my technique need improvement? Could I have gotten a lot more sugar out with a tweak to my process? Maybe so, but for now, I think I'll stick to the maple syrup we tap and cook down. And of course, as with most of us, I could eat less sugar.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div></div>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-7919029622579019512022-07-19T09:05:00.004-07:002022-07-19T09:05:45.557-07:00Porous borders<p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQrfgiezma2Ld6VjvNYLWkCcM_iyYVm1_ewwXFa9GS6LBhMqxPVgVya_1m6tzze_BNO4TJod9kI40HhW9bRk4w2uHn9iqAcAVLzbAIYSD5mgtT8QesudVmHd6-S_blqFbFF9Tk1ouLsOTQhW3slITSQxGdmJafWZp_WJVeJ9uTRMiZyMnMXXcxGNuGw/s1092/figure-10-free-body-diagram-for-example-1-2755155611.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="1092" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQrfgiezma2Ld6VjvNYLWkCcM_iyYVm1_ewwXFa9GS6LBhMqxPVgVya_1m6tzze_BNO4TJod9kI40HhW9bRk4w2uHn9iqAcAVLzbAIYSD5mgtT8QesudVmHd6-S_blqFbFF9Tk1ouLsOTQhW3slITSQxGdmJafWZp_WJVeJ9uTRMiZyMnMXXcxGNuGw/w640-h404/figure-10-free-body-diagram-for-example-1-2755155611.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">In my college studies to be a civil engineer, we were taught how to solve for the forces and resulting stresses by drawing a boundary around the item or area in question, and then systematically identifying and accounting for all forces that crossed this boundary. This was called a"free body diagram". </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This is a tool to break down complex systems so individual elements can be analyzed and quantified. It is also a tool that doesn't work well with a good bit of the real world. A beam connecting to a column is laughably simple compared to ecosystems.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This famous quote by John Muir is more like how things interact:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I was thinking about this as I wondered just how far we've come on our journey to self reliance here on our homestead.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Not very far. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Now, I realize that to be completely self reliant is impossible and a very unrealistic, even counterproductive goal. But, ever striving to reduce dependance on the fossil fuel enabled economy and logistical chains is I think prudent.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So here is a rough first cut at defining the "free body diagram" for our home, and acknowledging all the dependencies that remain.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Crossing the boundary:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Sunshine, air and rain are givens of course.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Food from the grocery store as there are still many things we don't grow ourselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">electricity- We generate a fair portion here, but the grid is the 24/7 backup and supplement. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Feed for the chickens- It's organic, and they forage a certain</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">amount, but the majority of their calories are still from the feed store.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Building materials for the various projects and regular maintenance.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Information from the internet that would otherwise be very difficult to find so quickly.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Seeds- We do some seed saving, but more than half our garden, and all the tree seedlings are from suppliers.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Chickens- We haven't pushed the incubating and hatching like we could, so still buy chicks every so often.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Gasoline- to run the brush mower, tiller, chain saw, and of course the cars that get us to town and haul things for us.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Money- Our savings and income leave the home in exchange for the above purchased items.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">All manner of personal goods- Clothes, cleaning supplies, medicine, all the "normal" household goods we so easily acquire today, coming from hundreds and thousands of miles away.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I'll even count water, as the domestic water is from our deep well. It would be inaccessible if not for electricity and the well pump. Till now, we are only capturing a small percentage of rain from the roof, to use for watering trees. So much more to be had.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Just pausing to think about losing one or more of these connections should make one deeply appreciative of the flows across our boundaries that sustain us.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So where do we fit in here?</span></p><p><img alt="Ecosystem Project-FOOD WEB - MRS. CHRISTENSON'S CLASS WEBSITE" class="detail__media__img-highres js-detail-img js-detail-img-high" height="567" src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fchristensonclass.weebly.com%2Fuploads%2F5%2F8%2F7%2F2%2F587259%2F2416566_orig.gif&f=1&nofb=1" style="display: block; height: 441px; width: 498.1211699164346px;" width="640" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-65859809926699132042022-04-26T08:58:00.002-07:002022-04-26T08:58:42.513-07:00The egg report<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">Update on the egg storage experiment.........</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">From my March 29, 2021 post, we get an abundance of eggs in the spring, when the hens start back up after taking the winter off. I stored some eggs in half gallon mason jars covered in a water-calcium hydroxide ( pickling lime) solution.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This late winter and spring 2022, a year later, we have tried them out and find them to be fine for most things. They are quite edible, with no off taste that I could tell, ( and I'm still alive) but the consistency has changed a bit. The whites have a bit less body, and the yolks have a tendency to settle next to the shell, and sometimes stick to the shell a little. This means they are fine for scrambled eggs or baking, but are tricky to use if you want sunny side up fried eggs.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">All in all, a success I'd say, and storage for a year is quite impressive. Again, these are unwashed, unrefrigerated eggs fresh from the hens, I don't know if store bought eggs would fare the same.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We have also been hand rolling egg noodles and drying them as another way to store eggs. Just this week, we used the pasta extrusion attachment on the KitchenAid, and the macaroni turned out pretty good. We ate some macaroni fresh, but have dried some also, and will see how they cook up later.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4AKk-7pw2t8y5VzfhAXy3J-HgWSTEd3REERWa6f78GSqS6nruG_9nVqQmUplWQ5B-nbthTLBlXm7YohMqvey2ckt2GyajwNyizimy1MVoS9uxrDOj6FKR34gNj04Z6ekEYgjQ6o0t9yiN_IikmRIUIGkGJ3mqZRydlCQFIs55eY2vfTQw18qCF75YA/s3072/4ADB7A9B-D787-4BEA-8A43-5F52C7AA064C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="2304" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4AKk-7pw2t8y5VzfhAXy3J-HgWSTEd3REERWa6f78GSqS6nruG_9nVqQmUplWQ5B-nbthTLBlXm7YohMqvey2ckt2GyajwNyizimy1MVoS9uxrDOj6FKR34gNj04Z6ekEYgjQ6o0t9yiN_IikmRIUIGkGJ3mqZRydlCQFIs55eY2vfTQw18qCF75YA/w480-h640/4ADB7A9B-D787-4BEA-8A43-5F52C7AA064C.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-51136370167909279752022-02-10T08:38:00.000-08:002022-02-10T08:38:15.112-08:00From bees to beets<p> <span style="font-size: large;">To bee or not to bee, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the hive to suffer the mites and diseases of outrageous nature, or....................to grow beets.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I've come to accept that for now at least, I do not have the husbandry habits to be a beekeeper. Chickens? Pigs? Other critters, yes, but bees seem to be a combination of bother with protection, non chemical hive health management, and remembering to tend them with some regularity that it's not working for me. They seem so self sufficient most of the time, and it just slips my mind, or when I do think of checking on them, I just say one more day won't hurt.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"> Keeping bees alive through Wisconsin winters and dealing with colony collapse, varroa mites and other pests requires more attention and interest than I have been able to give. Even long time beekeepers lose a lot of hives each year.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But I also know that I have an incurable sweet tooth, and there are a reasonable number of native pollinators that can do the honors in spring when the flowers bloom.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I've been tapping a few box elder and maple trees for a bit of syrup, which been great, but it's good to have redundancy in as many things as you can.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, letting the hives stand empty for now. I plan to try growing sugar beets for the first time this next garden year. I've read up on it a bit, and found some methods described to extract and distill the sugar ( they are 20% sugar content by one source) that don't sound too tricky. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Wash, shred, boil in water, strain, cook down, how hard could it be? We'll find out this fall.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTCChPORyh6Mbt2HCoo1QMSxLTVmbGhC46wySGHese76tsgdN3rhjZvxn-MLp1P8Y_6uKXjOD7zJEju-A4aoGtDfKAmgMNuu-mEOo2juU8ki3l9rfj8dtEKmqddJ1pNmwvcND_MIWXQTKsJyx8VhXvYhJZmJ9C_uuVGuJ8fN5osI9dXNbnhYxFGv_lhA=s1200" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1200" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTCChPORyh6Mbt2HCoo1QMSxLTVmbGhC46wySGHese76tsgdN3rhjZvxn-MLp1P8Y_6uKXjOD7zJEju-A4aoGtDfKAmgMNuu-mEOo2juU8ki3l9rfj8dtEKmqddJ1pNmwvcND_MIWXQTKsJyx8VhXvYhJZmJ9C_uuVGuJ8fN5osI9dXNbnhYxFGv_lhA=w400-h333" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9gi7uiWgWGhdn3orbkP4P8B3oqtbpnM689PAI0IT0IXbQQhfROy63EwFdu1qzPhKGR5fn-atG4Hlof27mzN1Txb8bXbqxUxo66uLupEi1IcwCrQK0QaPAJ8xxMrBDCR-qQnJ6_HFFIO6Shy_QYDiWv9sxeEPVIaiMCHW-qHvqrzrxiIiOthuvIgSoyQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1280" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9gi7uiWgWGhdn3orbkP4P8B3oqtbpnM689PAI0IT0IXbQQhfROy63EwFdu1qzPhKGR5fn-atG4Hlof27mzN1Txb8bXbqxUxo66uLupEi1IcwCrQK0QaPAJ8xxMrBDCR-qQnJ6_HFFIO6Shy_QYDiWv9sxeEPVIaiMCHW-qHvqrzrxiIiOthuvIgSoyQ=w400-h306" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-43863009497413767502022-02-07T06:20:00.000-08:002022-02-07T06:20:10.202-08:00Seeing the water<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Don't know how much truth there is to it, or if the truth of it really matters, but there is a saying that fish aren't aware of the water they live in because they are immersed in it from birth, and it is just a universal aspect of every part of their lives.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFefu2X3IXtGMFw0MR_j-4yEpSVE5LS008C6W_PH6st19kcWLc89rrZd2wQb5AYqpZvygnHhawZVgxNCa2-rakGfoheemV7zs4JVh-RiTOTgr-2WkENMx2iRaGwXl2ORS7nnoSeRyKdXytUrOySShOVNpFz82IukcQNe5RKrnGiOe_dR63I0caAugWGQ=s921" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFefu2X3IXtGMFw0MR_j-4yEpSVE5LS008C6W_PH6st19kcWLc89rrZd2wQb5AYqpZvygnHhawZVgxNCa2-rakGfoheemV7zs4JVh-RiTOTgr-2WkENMx2iRaGwXl2ORS7nnoSeRyKdXytUrOySShOVNpFz82IukcQNe5RKrnGiOe_dR63I0caAugWGQ=w416-h640" width="416" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The concept is then used for us to imagine what aspect of our lives is unquestioned and "invisible" to us because it's always there and is background to us, even though it is essential or has major impact on our behavior.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, weak as the analogy is, what things are there that we "swim through" every day that we need to realize affect us? How could one stand to the side, summon up an impartial perspective, and see the paradigms we live by that might be completely arbitrary or even dysfunctional?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We are more complex than fish ( in some ways) so there could be myriad layers of reality and human interaction that are taken for granted but might be available for understanding and acknowledgment. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">White privilege is a concept recently in the news that is a good example of one of these layers that at least the Caucasian of us in the U.S. could try to gain awareness of. That particular layer is not a universal, but are there other, more universal media that all human societies are immersed in? If not, what does that say? If so, what are they?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I think one of, if not the most important invisible mediums we are immersed in is that of the luxury and ease afforded by our fossil fuel slaves. A barrel of oil contains the equivalent of roughly 25,000 hours of human labor. Here is a good primer on the concept:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">http://22billionenergyslaves.blogspot.com/2013/11/our-army-of-invisible-helpers.htm</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Every waking minute, we ( at least those of us likely to be reading this blog on our electronic devices) are surrounded by materials, services, and ease of life entirely supported on a foundation of fossil fuels. To become aware, and appreciate the implications, one soon thinks about the ephemeral state of this ease that relies on a resource that is soon to decline. Ask yourself, what should a fish do when it senses the waters receding? Maybe swim toward waters from another source?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I've been reading books lately about the widely varied ways that humans have gone about organizing themselves in groups, cultures, empires, and what it might mean for our potential to chart a rational future path. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I gotta say, there have been ( and are) some really weird beliefs and ways humans have chosen to organize themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But we first worlders of usually European descent currently seem to all think that all that history inevitably led up to us, as we are, and things will just keep on progressing......Where?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We are in a time of change, and it will require massive acts of imagination and reflection to see the myriad waters we swim in, and figure out the direction toward water from deep, reliable springs.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-25083850065743497322022-01-23T15:15:00.000-08:002022-01-23T15:15:38.468-08:00seeds of change<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> I just received the last of the garden seeds I ordered. Last year, covid caused a lot of first time gardeners, and seed availability was affected. I had to scramble to get everything on our list, but ended up ok, just couldn't get some of our favorite varieties.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This year I ordered a bit early, and did see a bit of sold out stock, but in general, much better than last year. So, did all those new gardeners become once off gardeners? Did the seed companies ramp up in reaction to the new surge? Don't know, but we are set, and starting plants indoors is not that far away.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I have never listed what all we grow, but thought I would now just to show the large variety, which we feel is important to stay resilient, since the weather from year to year results in some veggies having a good year, and others a dud. This way we always have something to put in the larder. We are also shifting further to heirlooms and less hybrids, to do more seed saving than we have so far.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So here you go, in no order, just off the top of my head.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">carrots</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">parsnips</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">beets</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">broccoli</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">brussels sprouts</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">lacinato kale</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">collards</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">lettuce</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">red cabbage</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">green cabbage</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">shelling peas</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">potatoes</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">flint corn</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">four types of soup beans</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">butternut squash</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">honey nut squash</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">kabocha squash</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">cucumbers</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">red onions</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">yellow onions</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">shallots</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">hard neck garlic</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">ancho peppers</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">sweet peppers</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">cherry tomatoes</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">slicer/sauce tomatoes</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">zucchini</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">lima beans</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">rutabaga</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">swiss chard</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">okra</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So that's the garden. We have an asparagus and rhubarb patch, and some black raspberries that are going a bit feral.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We also grow cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme, and mint in our herb garden near the house.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In past years, we've grown wheat, green beans and sweet corn, but we still have plenty of wheat and green beans ( both canned and frozen), and corn can be a pain, takes a lot of room, so now just buy from a local farm that specializes in it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I also ordered some more trees. More apple, pear, tart cherry, hazelnuts, and some hackberry for the critters. I'll review the trees in more detail another time.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here is the south garden, asleep in the snow. 9F ( -13C) as I type.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZuHDm3EqtbyNdbV-TPsx_cPktR7ncQZGySLgUVWUxA8cQBg-5M_2ZtlUdGCiBrUAYIoi_D3cvc5V5ETi4xlrFhZTnklOYovx6BTiqaOJqsY7Ex9Ag_jKXpQgcMeMhMGZs6vAFVx8TpY78XG05ka_2AD4lDi6Zi_jBrFOSSgloENVTdKjKPNsv1q0cVA=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZuHDm3EqtbyNdbV-TPsx_cPktR7ncQZGySLgUVWUxA8cQBg-5M_2ZtlUdGCiBrUAYIoi_D3cvc5V5ETi4xlrFhZTnklOYovx6BTiqaOJqsY7Ex9Ag_jKXpQgcMeMhMGZs6vAFVx8TpY78XG05ka_2AD4lDi6Zi_jBrFOSSgloENVTdKjKPNsv1q0cVA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-29038686712478809632021-09-13T18:10:00.001-07:002021-09-13T18:10:25.770-07:00September<p> <span style="font-size: large;">Wow, time has flown this summer. I won't try to recap, but for now will just mention that we finished harvesting this year's hazelnuts.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Our hazelnuts are hybrids, and some plants have bushlike genetics, and some have more treelike genetics, and they all ripen at different times, and have different sized nuts. As the outer husk, or involucre starts drying and separating from the nut, you only have a short amount of time to pick the nuts directly from the bush. Once the nuts fall to the ground, collection is very tedious, and probably a net loss of calories.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So once "most" of the nuts are ripe enough, we pick them all, and let them finish drying in bins in the barn. Once they have finished drying, dehusking is much easier. They can then be stored for shelling later.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Each year, as the plants come more in to full growth and production, the yield has increased where it is real work to get them all picked before they fully dry and fall to the ground. Most will be sold, or traded as barter, but I'm saving back a good portion to eat and experiment with various recipes.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I'm bad at photographing progress, but here in the back of the truck is one of the harvest bins half full. We eventually harvested about three binfulls of nuts.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6iH3nyAatWfZ-IHwVp049c0B_wX1tMZR8fMX30ZMype7V3RgNiUlXdCIRILs47QDLU7aAE8p1MJ05TZj9CJRLDPoG4Gdle1z3CUOp1NODaa4adC2Qh9L5A8c7PNyI3aPBNORc6aHlmjl/s2016/6485B519-09BE-4A6D-B7F5-0D600EA23EC7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6iH3nyAatWfZ-IHwVp049c0B_wX1tMZR8fMX30ZMype7V3RgNiUlXdCIRILs47QDLU7aAE8p1MJ05TZj9CJRLDPoG4Gdle1z3CUOp1NODaa4adC2Qh9L5A8c7PNyI3aPBNORc6aHlmjl/w640-h480/6485B519-09BE-4A6D-B7F5-0D600EA23EC7.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-91941684237338670662021-05-28T05:58:00.003-07:002021-05-28T05:58:56.105-07:00finger pointing<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #9e5205; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 20.799999237060547px; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">https://slate.com/technology/2021/05/shell-dutch-court-ruling-engine-no-1-exxonmobile.html</span></h3><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4852215944835863248" itemprop="description articleBody"><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This article is just one of many I could have linked that describe the litigation, protest, and anger aimed at fossil fuel companies. The number of people around the world that are becoming aware of and concerned about global warming grows</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">continuously, but full awareness is sadly lagging.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oil companies would collapse into bankruptcy if there was no demand for their products. We the consumers are the other partner in this dead end pillage and waste of the planet's resources. Until we acknowledge our own complicity and truly make the changes needed, this era will continue ineffective and misguided confrontation theater.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwIeZnlHVWWAI5ls84bM0vf22DQsdumXfzbyg7vSoqwLZdme0iV0kRkrCQQ1uiXAKLrJx34ESHxgKGVpePOwBxESO1NHWi5agMK_dWiTu3xeMyKxIb771pFq2johDQ6kZQIdRJ0ttqEY/s450/iu-8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #de7008; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwIeZnlHVWWAI5ls84bM0vf22DQsdumXfzbyg7vSoqwLZdme0iV0kRkrCQQ1uiXAKLrJx34ESHxgKGVpePOwBxESO1NHWi5agMK_dWiTu3xeMyKxIb771pFq2johDQ6kZQIdRJ0ttqEY/w426-h640/iu-8.jpeg" style="border-width: 0px;" width="426" /></a></div><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I fully realize that the changes required are massive and painful, but we live on a finite planet. It's not an if, but a when the party will end. It would be preferable to wind down in an organized, methodical fashion than through chaos. And I admit how far I have to go to change. All I can do is work on it one step at a time, and not waste time looking for scapegoats.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;">And while I'm at it, can we all quit fixating on climate change? It's a terrible thing we've wrought, but it's a SYMPTOM. I think I understand why the environmental movement decided to focus on climate change, but now wonder if it was a strategic mistake? There was probably no good way to tell people they have to scale back and live a much less convenient life.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The real issue is overconsumption, and climate is one of the many side effects of our population overshoot and lifestyles. If we somehow figured out how to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere from some Deus ex machina technology, we'd still be screwed by all the other impacts and depletion that are unwinding at the same time.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Won't be that long till they all look like this. What then?</span></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nN0ZvMwhtNiKeK1vCCz4bfcRQZhG9fv9drQ1H60ThLV66L43_hk8dDE9-bapnnC4f_DE8DVSHVNGg2b75FtM3tBevujoqtV9kn54eQ0jF3HZQnn8y6xMT-XyX4rchOU_zO_dK-CLr2A/s1030/088-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #de7008; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1030" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nN0ZvMwhtNiKeK1vCCz4bfcRQZhG9fv9drQ1H60ThLV66L43_hk8dDE9-bapnnC4f_DE8DVSHVNGg2b75FtM3tBevujoqtV9kn54eQ0jF3HZQnn8y6xMT-XyX4rchOU_zO_dK-CLr2A/w640-h484/088-01.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" width="640" /></a></div><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oil companies have been defensive and even deceitful, but they are protecting their interest as we all have been doing by denying our part in this. So stop blaming oil companies and look inward.</span><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ok, end of rant. (too much coffee).</span></p><p></p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-75264693437659100992021-05-18T06:46:00.003-07:002021-05-18T06:46:24.740-07:00Gardening Sheds on fire<p> <span style="font-size: large;">I have been slowly gathering materials for a garden shed.( turns out TOO slowly! material </span><span style="font-size: large;">prices have gone nuts due to pandemic caused disruptions in supply and demand)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Design decisions have prioritized local materials, and attempts to be more sustainable. A nearby friend has his own sawmill, making lumber from pines that were on his land. I bought most of the framing lumber I needed from him.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The roof will be steel, bought from a local Amish business. The steel coils aren't actually made there, but they fabricate the roofing panels there. All without electricity.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Here is the real experiment though, something I had never heard of till recently, and why I titled the post like I did.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">There is a technique of siding preservation that involves charring the surface. This layer of charred wood minimizes rot and sun weathering, since fungus cannot break down this form of carbon, and leads to very long lifetimes for the wood. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This technique is becoming all the rage recently, and was first widely used in Japan. Thus it's name(s).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakisugi</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">https://mrtimbers.com/shou-sugi-ban/</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7njUwFVWJnTOHWVwNcbn95sp1ketwyn8WFWyBac0rgVAiZMT22jXAUlBj5wOGpfMnz6xPC1aEm5shLRoBVjt-X-boSFxZCsYKbSW1T9ubGu5uRS5QAd_ZA-X6rwl-Su0AnsB_lEGrszk2/s762/iu-7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="692" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7njUwFVWJnTOHWVwNcbn95sp1ketwyn8WFWyBac0rgVAiZMT22jXAUlBj5wOGpfMnz6xPC1aEm5shLRoBVjt-X-boSFxZCsYKbSW1T9ubGu5uRS5QAd_ZA-X6rwl-Su0AnsB_lEGrszk2/w582-h640/iu-7.jpeg" width="582" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Will post later on how it goes.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-45257495632828904332021-03-29T05:56:00.001-07:002021-05-03T05:48:14.171-07:00storing eggs long term<p> <span style="font-size: large;">We've been keeping a flock of laying hens for a few years now, and are used to the annual up and down cycle of egg production. In late fall, as molting happens, and as hours of daylight lessen, we get fewer eggs. And since some of the hens are getting on in years, the falloff can be rather dramatic. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Today, late March, they are back in good production, and laying more eggs than the two of us can eat. In the past, we would sell or barter some, but that has been more random this year, so I started thinking about ways to store and even out our egg supply through the year. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I remember reading about pioneers heading out across the plains with eggs in barrels full of lard or waterglass ( sodium silicate), but both those ideas sounded rather messy and uncertain.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I searched various homesteading and prepping websites, and settled on using pickling lime ( calcium hydroxide) solution. Eggs need to be unwashed and fresh from the hens, and clean. The source I used says use a ratio of an ounce of pickling lime to a quart of water, and make sure eggs are fully submerged.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I have no idea by what mechanism this is supposed to work, so this is definitely an experiment.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">While the solubility in water is not that great, it does enough that the resulting </span><span style="font-size: large;">solution has a pH of over 12. We will store away a few dozen now, and try them out next winter, to see how well this works. I'll do a post then to report how well the technique works.</span></p><p>Here is the solution right after mixing and pouring over the eggs:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkoFvntphJ14ZmFSlIN-_-BTfdmarYDLF2-x5fOO2kPoZq3ydX-oBQh1P6bT2kIp-RJnLe1-vZGESmXLL3o8IhM1FloVeJYnYQxdHGmnsXYuStZ7Ucv1KXYZuADPvrEBG7nYeU3ntPIDU/s2048/C6EB2660-EF45-4518-8ABF-58E4D6AEAF58.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkoFvntphJ14ZmFSlIN-_-BTfdmarYDLF2-x5fOO2kPoZq3ydX-oBQh1P6bT2kIp-RJnLe1-vZGESmXLL3o8IhM1FloVeJYnYQxdHGmnsXYuStZ7Ucv1KXYZuADPvrEBG7nYeU3ntPIDU/w480-h640/C6EB2660-EF45-4518-8ABF-58E4D6AEAF58.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p>And here is the solution after much has settled out:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2hZ3g-D5UIk1Fr3bRB-q52qvaAXIKFSVuc6oQpok5M4PKrupKL7b0OjpA23gb652qtCH94uX8AfQ0fmXHzVMhxKMSMgCZEHvkPAPm82-yIqzgdtUPmYkjkMWwNUG4YxlYCUmQsoaARfI/s2048/4ADB7A9B-D787-4BEA-8A43-5F52C7AA064C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2hZ3g-D5UIk1Fr3bRB-q52qvaAXIKFSVuc6oQpok5M4PKrupKL7b0OjpA23gb652qtCH94uX8AfQ0fmXHzVMhxKMSMgCZEHvkPAPm82-yIqzgdtUPmYkjkMWwNUG4YxlYCUmQsoaARfI/w480-h640/4ADB7A9B-D787-4BEA-8A43-5F52C7AA064C.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-91295183389066988002021-02-24T11:20:00.001-08:002022-03-08T05:41:32.410-08:00descent engineering part twoBack in April of 2017, I posted some thoughts on what the engineering discipline should try to consider for design criteria as we approach the end of the fossil fuel era. What I did not do, was list any of the things that the engineering disciplines should first figure out how to redesign.<br />
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There is an uncertain amount of time till we get severe energy constraints on making infrastructure choices. It would be best to work over those things that are most critical to reducing the shock to society as our lifestyles change. We actually always have constraints on what is feasible, the ever-present gap between wants and needs.<br />
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We will be entering a phase where the balance between effort and return will be a marked change from what we've done the last two hundred years or so. Instead of the enormous energy source of fossil fuels, we'll be back to muscle, wind, water for power, and easy to mine materials will have been already harvested. So one would REALLY need something badly to marshal the effort and resources to create or maintain infrastructure.<div><br /></div><div>Just a wild guess here, but we will probably have a century or two where engineering will be relevant and a potential aid to soften the descent.</div><div><br />
In fact, the very profession of engineering may eventually become obsolete. At some point, craftsmanship and being limited to simple infrastructure will result that we won't need calculus or stress analysis. The odd cathedral or bridge would be made from stone and wood, and maybe one or two engineers. It'a actually amazing to see some of the structures that were designed without the aid of calculus and engineering as we know it today.<br />
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I read this account of the large dome built in Florence, Italy, and recommend it for the story as well as the example of significant structures that did not need engineers as we understand them today. <div><br />https://www.amazon.com/Brunelleschis-Dome-Renaissance-Reinvented-Architecture/dp/1620401932<br />
<br />This architect's blog entry has the short version in the first ten or so paragraphs:<br />http://fiveyearsproject.blogspot.com/2015/05/brunelleschis-dome.html</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNKVIxQnxiZ3z7p49HVY7iVUWvsMNx9Vb6EY5YySFDPBrZ7O9QNnV93-z0bBQbcNcjH0m55YXkc4OON59WXqgMhJ5c1v2iO4054I96hC_jhT-w7hsdSXL6h9HB8HtPHukmtq87J1L2qNG/s1797/iu-5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1797" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNKVIxQnxiZ3z7p49HVY7iVUWvsMNx9Vb6EY5YySFDPBrZ7O9QNnV93-z0bBQbcNcjH0m55YXkc4OON59WXqgMhJ5c1v2iO4054I96hC_jhT-w7hsdSXL6h9HB8HtPHukmtq87J1L2qNG/w428-h640/iu-5.jpeg" width="428" /></a></div><br /><div>I'll point out that they did it without fossil fuels and modern equipment, but it took generations to do, in addition to the devout faith based persistence required to complete something of this magnitude. What might our descendants deem justified to build at this level of effort and duration? </div><div><br />So here are a few design problems that might be called engineering problems.<br />
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1. redesign concrete. They say the first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging. Concrete as made today will only last from 25-100 years. It takes huge amounts of energy to produce, and all the millions of tons we have built with it so far will need to be replaced if we want to maintain our current arrangements, and much of it its coming to the end of its life. Time to stop making things from concrete. ( and believe it or not, we are running out of sand!)<br />
https://www.businessinsider.com/global-sand-shortage-could-cause-damaging-effects-2018-12<br />
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Maybe engineers need to come up with a design method that replaces concrete with stone, or other natural materials, and begins creating standard designs for all the critical infrastructure we feel needs to be maintained. Even if they can't be rebuilt now, the designs will be there, "shovel ready". One would hope that modern stress analysis could make these designs more efficient than similar structures from the past that were made of stone.<br />
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2. Water. Again, many impressive canal and irrigation systems were built in the past without fossil energy or engineers, but designing new canals and water distribution for the locations which now rely on pumped water would be a key need. Another side result is that some cities or areas will be assessed and come up short on low energy input water options, and should be abandoned. In addition to water distribution, low tech ways to assure germ free water will need to be reinstituted. No more chlorine injection or pumps and motorized clarifiers to treat incoming water. <br />
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Changing weather patterns will make this tricky to predict, but also making water management all the more important.<br />
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3. transportation- add more canals, reopen old abandoned canals, and redesign roads. Roman roads lasted ( and some still last) hundreds of years, because they were built to last. Copying Roman designs won't work for the many places that get freeze thaw cycles, plus, we have much heavier loads than the horse traffic of Roman times, so coming up with designs that don't use concrete or asphalt, and will last centuries would be useful for the key routes that will justify such effort.<br />
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4. Energy- Biogas, pyrolysis gas, oils, various ways to make electricity or generate mechanical work from organic materials exist, but need more design work to become more efficient, and to scale up to an appropriate level. Work has been done to burn pyrolysis gas and oils in turbines, but turbines have been optimized for methane, other fossil fuels, and need redesign for bio materials. I'm thinking that steam power could persist for quite a long time, and direct mechanical wind energy conversion will return as well. These could both benefit from the engineering analysis that has been done to make them more durable and efficient than their ancestors.</div><div><br /></div><div>5. It's more of a question of political will, but transportation in general, especially shipping trade goods will need a return to simpler, low energy methods. <br />
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So much of current engineering knowledge is bound up in, and caters to the high energy, complex technology society we live in. Once one starts thinking about what could persist without the initial foundation of plentiful energy, the house of cards looks pretty shaky. It also makes much engineering expertise a bit irrelevant in a low energy future.<br />
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<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ba3Fw6J5igEv4S20rYV3GJe4AZOt9_z6dFc2tIn0VYnKbjvDQTqMYfxFDqPhacrKOAY00BvoBQcdpFKDxLG4HyvySPUZocX6W-3Ij3CwSRHNFF4WSJ0s1zWJW8JYcgNwT7s2GbvmrHiZ/s1024/iu-6.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1024" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ba3Fw6J5igEv4S20rYV3GJe4AZOt9_z6dFc2tIn0VYnKbjvDQTqMYfxFDqPhacrKOAY00BvoBQcdpFKDxLG4HyvySPUZocX6W-3Ij3CwSRHNFF4WSJ0s1zWJW8JYcgNwT7s2GbvmrHiZ/w640-h404/iu-6.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-14652489637207417332021-01-12T09:29:00.000-08:002021-01-12T09:29:37.762-08:00Return of the Pissoir?<p> <span style="font-size: large;">Humans, all 7.8 billion of us as of 2020, comprise an outsized portion of the world's mammals. We and our livestock equal roughly twenty times the biomass of all remaining mammals, and are still increasing.</span></p><p>https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/17788/how-much-of-earths-biomass-is-affected-by-humans/</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We have become the unlimited apex predator, and consume a huge portion of the annual world photosynthetic productivity. This trend can't continue, but for now, there it is.</span></p><p>http://vaclavsmil.com/wp-content/uploads/PDR37-4.Smil_.pgs613-636.pdf</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Population overshoot and our impact on the world is the start for myriad topics of discussion, but this post is about pee.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Our population trend is only made possible through the energy utilization of fossil fuels. This energy base enables easy access to all the other many </span><span style="font-size: large;">resources we consume. Industrial agriculture relies not just on fuel to run tractors and harvest equipment, it is used to create or mine the fertilizers that have enabled the green revolution.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So as we begin the downward glide of fossil energy use, what will agriculture look like? I think it inevitably will slowly return to the closed cycle nutrient scheme that was the way for millions of years.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Currently, agricultural soils are mostly worked to death, and are often treated as a physical matrix for root anchorage, with all plant nutrients supplied annually by the farmer, shipped in from thousands of miles away by truck and pipeline.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">As this scheme unwinds, how will we maintain soil fertility as we continue to harvest crops, even if by muscle power?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Human urine is an excellent source of phosphorus and nitrogen. getting it back to the field and garden will need to be central practice of agriculture. Many have heard about the Chinese farmers of forty centuries and their night soil practice ( it wasn't THAT sustainable, there was still soil loss, but it was better than relying on chemicals that won't last forever)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But the general descriptions I've heard don't mention whether they used both the feces and the urine. Organic content is good for building soil, but our urine actually contains most of the nitrogen and phosphorus that we excrete. To separate and target the most impactful nutrients makes a lot of sense.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Which brings us to pissoirs. </span></p><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine_diversion</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I think we know that as humans built larger and larger cities, the issue of waste build up was poorly dealt with. Disease and a simply unpleasant environment was becoming too much.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">One conjures up visions of drunk men staggering home from pubs, stopping to piss on the sidewalk as the urge overcame them. ( What were women to do? We'll leave that question and its various implications right there)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Makes for unpleasant smells. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Leave it to the city of light to attempt a higher level of civilized behavior and deal with the problem.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Paris began installing pissoirs to solve the problem, but these all drained into the slowly developing sewer system. The concept spread to other European cities, and over time, large cities became a bit more pleasant to saunter in. Now we are all modern, and there are a range of public restroom designs out there. There are even unisex or separate female accommodations!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p>One of the original pissoirs in Paris</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IbTPCWEjEB-V219qTxRGiI2oQdQY-MO6WB2YawXFZKtzEt4oiGEKDa6g17JwbOSUJEUboVhEZCAt8hAs7AwJoV6aerT31avSPGKZ_mKkuPLkUjZ3NlMSJe1THnQv7nqP0ia_DXQfEiFw/s799/799px-VespasienneLarge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="799" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IbTPCWEjEB-V219qTxRGiI2oQdQY-MO6WB2YawXFZKtzEt4oiGEKDa6g17JwbOSUJEUboVhEZCAt8hAs7AwJoV6aerT31avSPGKZ_mKkuPLkUjZ3NlMSJe1THnQv7nqP0ia_DXQfEiFw/w640-h480/799px-VespasienneLarge.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A modern version- but where does it go?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC2la_TpcMbHCgmYN8T4dtdws5ALWzRHZD7mYhcuS9YMyWLTeLFYL-9zeyu8Yx-ni0XbX52-0Z1pCdd1pBSczQvXwsUipUGUudNj45yN4SBIOTE9zrvP8BP5XGi9MhFVzfChMONk33fGOW/s2048/Pissoir_Antwerpen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC2la_TpcMbHCgmYN8T4dtdws5ALWzRHZD7mYhcuS9YMyWLTeLFYL-9zeyu8Yx-ni0XbX52-0Z1pCdd1pBSczQvXwsUipUGUudNj45yN4SBIOTE9zrvP8BP5XGi9MhFVzfChMONk33fGOW/w480-h640/Pissoir_Antwerpen.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">On our little homestead, I have two composting toilet setups, one at the house, and one in the barn. I don't do all my business in them, as the house plumbing is so convenient, but a good share. The one in the barn is a simple lovable loo bucket system as described in "The Humanure Handbook" by Joe Jenkins. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The one at the house has separation, provided by a special seat modification.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLteb0SeB_ys8sPknTQAOd8PDROOZ6ZWwPzKQ0JjqKPF1CwSitSi4Rf4Gqi2MK4rpZa9wy9nSvXjEGp88EEQwd0Iq5q-xtfhBgeY_SbYSKDhyCBBMCRPkAxmFa33uCzAj4ZcFabllqvuY7/s700/1121-03privy501.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="525" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLteb0SeB_ys8sPknTQAOd8PDROOZ6ZWwPzKQ0JjqKPF1CwSitSi4Rf4Gqi2MK4rpZa9wy9nSvXjEGp88EEQwd0Iq5q-xtfhBgeY_SbYSKDhyCBBMCRPkAxmFa33uCzAj4ZcFabllqvuY7/w300-h400/1121-03privy501.png" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div>https://www.separett.com/en-gb/our-products/toilets/urine-diverting-composting-toilets/privy-501</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I can say it is amazing how much pee one generates when you actually collect it and see the resulting volume. There are questions on how much to dilute before application, and how to minimize loss of nitrogen from ammonia volatilization, so I'm still looking for the best science based practices.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, for the vast majority of people, be they urban or suburban, this scheme might be hard or impossible to utilize. Mores the pity.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">But I can imagine a future entrepreneur starting a business that collected from neighborhoods and delivers to local farmers to give needed nitrogen and phosphorus inputs, as what else can they do as commercial fertilizers become scarce or very expensive?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Or a new network of pissoirs in dense city centers where the pissoirs are NOT hooked to the city sewers, but to storage tanks that periodically ship off to the farms.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">It's hight time to get over the ick factor and close the circle.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-35966458809343147612021-01-03T13:59:00.005-08:002021-01-04T05:34:49.732-08:00pressing concerns<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> This fall, after harvesting hazelnuts, I saved some back to hand husk and shell, to experiment with. I made some nut butter and some homemade "Nutella", but that's another post.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Hazelnut oil is another way to made an added value product, or just one more way to be self reliant instead of buying GMO soybean oil for cooking.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I've known about the hand cranked oil press made by Piteba for a while, but till now, had no justification to buy one. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">https://piteba.com/en/</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I could have bought through Amazon, but Piteba sells direct, and get more of my money.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Some observations/learnings</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Piteba makes a product that works, and fabrication quality is ok, but seems like it should go through one more product improvement cycle.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>soot, wick length</b>- The little oil lamp heats the area where the nuts get crushed, to reduce viscosity and get better expelling of oil. I tried to make the wick short, but it still got soot all over the barrel. No problem functionally, just messy. Also, the little jar and wick holder have no retaining ring to hold the cover in place- it just lays there. The bottle is threaded, so it's bizarre that they don't include a retaining ring. An accident waiting to happen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>cleaning end cap</b>- The info I read on line cautioned about getting the cap off and cleaned out before it cooled and the retained nut meat hardened. Bullshit- it's hard as soon as you stop, and just has to be soaked in water for several hours to loosen and clean. Plan on it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>end cap settings</b>- for hazels, the cap worked best for me with the nut meal holes set to full open. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>fastening down press-</b> It takes a pretty good force to turn the crank for the hazelnuts I was pressing, and the press will shift and wobble if the hold down bolts are not pretty darn tight. They sell a hold down attachment kit, but I did not buy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>catching the oil</b>- the barrel has a slot cut in in halfway between the end and the fill hopper. Oil flows back toward the slot, and drips out. However, it sometimes moves along the barrel before dripping. Piteba has put a couple bumps on the underside to stop and encourage dripping, but it's still tricky to get under the drips. I may design a collection attachment to improve this.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>feed hopper</b>- is too small and is fastened to the barrel with a rubber band. Kind of cheesy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>oil settling</b>- The oil looks pretty cloudy right out of the press, but clears up real nice, just gotta wait.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>chopping hazels</b>- I chopped the hazels by hand a bit to help them feed into the screw, but I guess one could pulse them a bit in a food processor. I just don't like those things.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I'm still refining my technique- crank speed, prechop size, etc., but so far am pleased. This is not for large production, but fine for home use. Next is to process the expelled nut meat to get it edible for the chickens( or us!). It's very hard coming out of the press. I will soak in water for a bit to soften up.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The setup-</b> I had already built this frame for clamping to the kitchen table for my grain mill, bolts can be seen at the other end. Just drilled and countersunk a couple more holes on this end, and ready to go. Press needs a pretty sturdy support- don't think you can just quick clamp it to the edge of a card table.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyWEnuLAk3HmvtWV247mBSNG0GIJiRjUy0w2rIssSW_denE38z_3jVbQYprwKFZ3_Y_4OYNCWf5ETAuTAjZxu63DZvsYPh6CLuSTIRwt5s6YsBP6Bmr6Up8eyOUVAjifmf9s32hQAukFw/s2048/D366C473-36F2-4975-97FB-0A96A05A4DB7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyWEnuLAk3HmvtWV247mBSNG0GIJiRjUy0w2rIssSW_denE38z_3jVbQYprwKFZ3_Y_4OYNCWf5ETAuTAjZxu63DZvsYPh6CLuSTIRwt5s6YsBP6Bmr6Up8eyOUVAjifmf9s32hQAukFw/w480-h640/D366C473-36F2-4975-97FB-0A96A05A4DB7.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">View of the heating lamp and the receiving bottle. Note the soot on the barrel. It is hard to find a bottle the right size to fit and catch the oil dripping, these spice bottles we had saved were just right. Only a little missed the opening.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMssfoF0o48ljRl6pLFZhMpn689Q8lCOnRDyC8fXFV1jdHnl6pPIIvCyWWwIeE62oBDLvTm-czfxpp08bru2NvOej17Dzamfc5lmMyMbQBwe6YiTy4opfoPMIFfg6oSpTLLlkgbjKWxP60/s2048/7A730E2D-78FE-4AD4-9002-653C82C8735A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMssfoF0o48ljRl6pLFZhMpn689Q8lCOnRDyC8fXFV1jdHnl6pPIIvCyWWwIeE62oBDLvTm-czfxpp08bru2NvOej17Dzamfc5lmMyMbQBwe6YiTy4opfoPMIFfg6oSpTLLlkgbjKWxP60/w480-h640/7A730E2D-78FE-4AD4-9002-653C82C8735A.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-13747709071399969362020-09-23T12:16:00.000-07:002020-09-23T12:16:34.249-07:00Involucres and obtaining a yield<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> I just finished harvesting the hazelnuts this fall, and so will share how that went.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The first planting was in 2012, but we weren't living here yet, and when the drought happened that year, we could not figure out irrigation. Nearly every single seedling died back to the root, but most came back next year. So they are tough, but had a big setback. They are native to the region, and normally rainfall is adequate, but a drought year is tough on brand new seedlings that had not had time to set roots well.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Care has been minimal. They have received no fertilizer or water, and were planted directly into untilled pasture.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> I do mow next to each row to reduce the competition a bit from grass and other annuals the first couple years, but now that they are larger, I just mow to make access easy and stop woody plants from migrating over from the woods. The ash, prickly ash, box elder, wild grape, sumac, and briars have plenty of room to play elsewhere. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">These plants were from Mark Shepard's nursery, so they are from his best plants, but were neither controlled cross nor propagated, so the genetics are only roughly predictable. The variation in plant shape and productivity is large. Many plants have no nuts at all yet, and some are prodigious. Overall, it's a chore to hand harvest</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Without the initial setback, and more intensive management, they would be in full production by now, but are still ramping up. That's ok, I am intentionally trying to see how this food crop will do with as little fossil fuel input as possible.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOqw2yFLPExZCjBfqiQ6MJJBr8iguwZmmHwieMjFsLraOf_yivWHQx4lumccg1Lu5AYVJ3ZlKDGjVCe3GC0gUdl0iuSBIV24L3EYfFffIiNgOanejE3rCEm8eiW_u_lB8FlDvXPJV_d89/s2048/DSCF2179.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOqw2yFLPExZCjBfqiQ6MJJBr8iguwZmmHwieMjFsLraOf_yivWHQx4lumccg1Lu5AYVJ3ZlKDGjVCe3GC0gUdl0iuSBIV24L3EYfFffIiNgOanejE3rCEm8eiW_u_lB8FlDvXPJV_d89/w625-h469/DSCF2179.JPG" width="625" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span> <span> </span></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span>Here are two typical plant shapes with decent nut production. Note that there are a lot of nuts under leaves that you can't see.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span>Taller, more tree like, nuts scattered along the stems.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUf-cK8qO2GVOE2yip56i2T6lPUwbCHvKib8a_D0_XCm28nP_garWtMYuQHFweo64Ooeyvr_2hWEAivy-5xBzHS_O_KmHg-j4CZVarF5wIUhP8dpOq0erGjzhSqSpm_o-9WEYx5ZivMmk/s2048/DSCF2175.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="781" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUf-cK8qO2GVOE2yip56i2T6lPUwbCHvKib8a_D0_XCm28nP_garWtMYuQHFweo64Ooeyvr_2hWEAivy-5xBzHS_O_KmHg-j4CZVarF5wIUhP8dpOq0erGjzhSqSpm_o-9WEYx5ZivMmk/w586-h781/DSCF2175.JPG" width="586" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span>shorter, bush like, nuts mostly at the top. That's goldenrod in the row, blooming. The bushes will eventually shade them out more completely.</span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi245rRT5jXBADkvjFS8NN2b5kKvpvFZLMLQdFIEnjgWY3pHAe00AmErak_WROyvDyPy1U4_jY0fkSGVnvziZIqqzIj9YVk0hGLSjKKpIi2k0Mqh-79bvhwWzXukS-3ONeMDp6gz-UoJ6_3/s2048/DSCF2178.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi245rRT5jXBADkvjFS8NN2b5kKvpvFZLMLQdFIEnjgWY3pHAe00AmErak_WROyvDyPy1U4_jY0fkSGVnvziZIqqzIj9YVk0hGLSjKKpIi2k0Mqh-79bvhwWzXukS-3ONeMDp6gz-UoJ6_3/w781-h586/DSCF2178.JPG" width="781" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">I used harvest bags similar to this:</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJL3MdabSFwLFICyyg0Yz7HqWxBwIOJrcpbW5mtpeqbU54GeHCVzRpDEV2gnA3jxTxlJs1O76SBYRzUCHVv6YTYhw6Ggr6zrRL42ZmmpfBoDfq1kb7cR0U5Xf8kQdzCWuxBWHS9uHsyQcR/s730/52a0119_1_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="730" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJL3MdabSFwLFICyyg0Yz7HqWxBwIOJrcpbW5mtpeqbU54GeHCVzRpDEV2gnA3jxTxlJs1O76SBYRzUCHVv6YTYhw6Ggr6zrRL42ZmmpfBoDfq1kb7cR0U5Xf8kQdzCWuxBWHS9uHsyQcR/w400-h400/52a0119_1_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">and nearly filled two bins (45" x 48" x 30", 1140mm x 1220mm x 760mm) like this:<br /></span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCrzAN5HSN-zza6_kgoh7sZPDSGi7fhIFLyYypGTKjcYyg0sUm2KjxzSjdKNLsZgH6xaxXLgKFnPRBxdA0UMIIadM4hnJLckqvFIRHS6Ps_0eww6BL4Jmz-cA1Ul_zPtgB5lEcoAuk3xz/s300/M484434-V_STD.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCrzAN5HSN-zza6_kgoh7sZPDSGi7fhIFLyYypGTKjcYyg0sUm2KjxzSjdKNLsZgH6xaxXLgKFnPRBxdA0UMIIadM4hnJLckqvFIRHS6Ps_0eww6BL4Jmz-cA1Ul_zPtgB5lEcoAuk3xz/w400-h400/M484434-V_STD.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I kept back a few pails worth for hand processing and making home made hazelnut chocolate spread, but most went on to Mark, who has been developing farm scale mechanized processing equipment.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Which brings us to involucres. This particular nut is mostly enclosed by a fleshy covering that wraps around the nut, and slowly releases as the nut matures and starts drying. They are basically a type of husk. I guess it is some sort of evolutionary adaptation to give a bit more protection from insects to the nut?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Since I harvest when the involucres are still a bit green, the nuts don't pop right out easily. If I waited longer, many of the nuts would release and fall to the ground, greatly reducing harvest efficiency. So after the nuts dry a while in our sunroom, I remove husks by hand, which is time consuming. All the time I'm husking, I'm thinking there must be a way to mechanize at even smaller scale than currently being worked on. Like a household gadget similar to a grain mill. Maybe a good winter project for the workshop.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Permaculture design principle #3 is obtain a yield. That struck me as funny the first time I read it, seems obvious, but it does point out that as a food system, at the end of the day, calories out have to be more than calories in, or the arrangement won't continue. All the hand work I presently do is exploration, but at some point, I will need to tot up both sides of the ledger and see how well I can do as I scale up.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The hazelnut spread is quite good, and no palm oil!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-34905289022775350302020-07-31T06:31:00.000-07:002020-07-31T06:32:22.282-07:00wheat from our garden<div>A long delayed post:</div><div><br /></div>To start, I am terrible at photo documentation of progress here. Didn't get any shots of the wheat before harvest, or the piles of wheat in racks, drying before threshing.<br />
<br />In fall of 2018, we planted red winter wheat in a section of our garden. I checked on planting densities, weighed out the portion required, and then hand sowed it as best I could.<br />
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The stand turned out quite well, crowding out weeds, healthy all through the summer, and dried well, no disease or lodging.<br />
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What did not turn out so well was the scything. I had taken an intro class on scything two years ago, but failed to put in the hours to refine my technique. I also studied various simple cradle attachments that others had come up with, and picked a simple one to do.<br />
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This fellow's technique and attention to detail on his cradle is worth viewing, and I may try this same design again, just doing it better.<div>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF0kdhIcG7U</div><div><br /></div><div>I ended lip using a sickle to harvest about half of the wheat since I was making such a mess of the scything. Using a sickle is slower, and you have to bend over a lot, but wasn't that bad for the small area I was working with. Would't want to feed the village that way......</div><div><br /></div><div>Getting the fanning mill screens and settings right was tough, and the thresher I made following another concept found on line did not work as well as I had hoped.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless, I did end up with a nice quantity of grain, it just still has a bit of retained hulls I need to remove. I have two five gallon buckets (roughly 30 kilograms) of wheat berries, and will grind as needed.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmoiXnHh9mIyXrQA9uC5kv_q7h8DshpVVDiYJCgA1F_xCOyK5xECDWRjDwA-p-OV8QMjYCsAgbpLZBeXLZjCZVo_IFANRcOxo7umAprVKk0mmpJ_w8nG9azwHXCG8887By9nkl1aYog9D/s2048/DSCF2173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmoiXnHh9mIyXrQA9uC5kv_q7h8DshpVVDiYJCgA1F_xCOyK5xECDWRjDwA-p-OV8QMjYCsAgbpLZBeXLZjCZVo_IFANRcOxo7umAprVKk0mmpJ_w8nG9azwHXCG8887By9nkl1aYog9D/s640/DSCF2173.JPG" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So, this year I decided to give oats a try. Things got worse.</div><div><br /></div><div>Winter wheat at my latitude is planted in the fall in prepared soil, sprouts and grows a while (timing of sowing is important) and goes dormant in winter. In spring, it restarts, getting a good jump on many of the typical warmth loving weeds. A good stand will crowd out weeds, and make it easier to harvest.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oats do not overwinter, and are planted in the spring. My hand sowing is not perfect, and the oats did not get a head start on the weeds, so the stand was spotty and had lots of weeds. Luckily, I planted a much smaller area, so the loss was not as bad. I also chose a hull less variety, so maybe it is not as vigorous? I don't know.</div><div><br /></div><div>But......I finally took more photos.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is the thresher I built. When the lid is closed, the shaft spins the wooden beaters, and grain is fed in through the little windows one handful at a time. I also built a bike powered attachment, but then you need two people to thresh, and it gets TIRING.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEmsfIvwWexZv_YZWcs7u9YrEXyEj_gYvt3bDIcMdYlXq70qfFi3Y4gOq3jDZdufi7i2NkT2Z1nui1HXOfzfvrYx55vdeonCtiHXfGTq4XDJXh23V-fi2u6UFPlaYyxE2dfYejEMNsDxa/s2048/DSCF2168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEmsfIvwWexZv_YZWcs7u9YrEXyEj_gYvt3bDIcMdYlXq70qfFi3Y4gOq3jDZdufi7i2NkT2Z1nui1HXOfzfvrYx55vdeonCtiHXfGTq4XDJXh23V-fi2u6UFPlaYyxE2dfYejEMNsDxa/s640/DSCF2168.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5T2v91Br2_uXFp6pdyKAMUXQell93i2OzQ1to5dny-deZD3SMMuFhNITV82YkuKwMSrClKm8GpSeLL4pawsXMKtFApkkmKviRbJeVJGTMgDiDT2oRDJbv1hpVJq5G6alPX4tbJET7cr2j/s2048/DSCF2169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5T2v91Br2_uXFp6pdyKAMUXQell93i2OzQ1to5dny-deZD3SMMuFhNITV82YkuKwMSrClKm8GpSeLL4pawsXMKtFApkkmKviRbJeVJGTMgDiDT2oRDJbv1hpVJq5G6alPX4tbJET7cr2j/s640/DSCF2169.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here is where I "borrowed" this idea.</div><div>https://farmhack.org/tools/bicycle-powered-thresher</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Here are some to the oats, bound and dried.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4Ci4WMH2K1p9ibzpCEypOnSKtwBILeimAtjCLeOaPGr2ozSn3jrXmXx3Nq3mNCSegUdE5FjvlIX2Y_AcKdqeQNXl-Tyoesi7AaXfYhUNdN5T5hqKit6m0krPFYO3u6jfvTPNGebKt5iP/s2048/DSCF2170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4Ci4WMH2K1p9ibzpCEypOnSKtwBILeimAtjCLeOaPGr2ozSn3jrXmXx3Nq3mNCSegUdE5FjvlIX2Y_AcKdqeQNXl-Tyoesi7AaXfYhUNdN5T5hqKit6m0krPFYO3u6jfvTPNGebKt5iP/s640/DSCF2170.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3A967mq9PeIJY6BGAtIabS06ycSjjFqK-0YnVmsBsMLkGiLcg_uad10Gpj0NqVDjYt58blP3g7mPEIv5KjSeOhQ2dvlPWUBMoPsRh_qFvsQy9zECeo2b858qfjxNutz59BhyX8-jlhvT/s2048/DSCF2171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3A967mq9PeIJY6BGAtIabS06ycSjjFqK-0YnVmsBsMLkGiLcg_uad10Gpj0NqVDjYt58blP3g7mPEIv5KjSeOhQ2dvlPWUBMoPsRh_qFvsQy9zECeo2b858qfjxNutz59BhyX8-jlhvT/s640/DSCF2171.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Traditionally, grains are stacked in shocks, and left in the field to finish drying. Stacking properly is a fiddly thing, and I did not have that much, so I put mine on racks and sun dried out next to the barn. If rain was forecast, I moved back in the barn till sun returned.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCV3N4p3c3B8cs9KMHYX2Xz3rRlYcOjKnfvj40vNzXSmC9nxZYw7610W6kQ92C_QEM8W9Eh5o2ZqPWWoebr-fmIAR7W_Y4E5eggw7TEACwM1i9rdZafpxKNVQnaTqGXAtRZMlMUQlg43b/s2048/DSCF2172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCV3N4p3c3B8cs9KMHYX2Xz3rRlYcOjKnfvj40vNzXSmC9nxZYw7610W6kQ92C_QEM8W9Eh5o2ZqPWWoebr-fmIAR7W_Y4E5eggw7TEACwM1i9rdZafpxKNVQnaTqGXAtRZMlMUQlg43b/s640/DSCF2172.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I found that the hulless oats were generally hulless, but again, a percentage did not release from their outer husks, so I have some more processing to tinker with.</div><div><br /></div><div>In general, I have been making our farm into a perennial based food system, but boy I sure like grains. I also like the long term storage properties of grain. These will continue to be small, side ventures, I'm trying barley next.</div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-9557988239690702792020-04-07T10:53:00.002-07:002020-04-07T10:53:21.147-07:00Toilet paper guiltRecently, I read another article bemoaning the vast tracts of Canadian temperate forests being cut down and pulped to wipe our soft American bums.<br />
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This is not a new issue, and I have read similar articles in the past. Not much has changed.<br />
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We buy the recycle stuff most of the time, for added cost, but is there another way? How do people clean their anus in other countries? How did people do it here in the U.S. before mass consumer products started rolling out?<br />
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A quick visit to wikipedia and we find that toilet paper was actually first used in China in the 14th century. One more time we find that Western countries had a lot of catching up to do. But, I imagine the paper was mostly used in the royal courts and wealthy homes.<br />
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More perusal of the wikipedia shows that people will use just about anything. The list is crazy. I guess if I could find some substitute that was effective and comfortable ( and with less impact to the environment), I'd be wiling to try it.<br />
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Last year, When we harvested our sweet corn from the garden, I saved some husks, and actually sorted through them finding mid layer husks that were softer that outer husks, but still large enough to be usable. I then flattened them and used sissors to cut them in to squares. They are still sitting in a box in my workshop................<br />
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But back to that guilt thing. I guess for me, and maybe many others, it's not so much guilty feelings, but rather a feeling of unease.<br />
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Update Apr 7, 2020:<br />
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I started this post months ago, and just left it in my draft folder, as it didn't feel finished, and it was goofy topic anyway. WHO KNEW!<br />
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With the current pandemic, we've now had TP hoarding, shortages, and articles on various alternatives to the current first world use of virgin tree fibers. While we try to use recycled TP, it is still a cost, and I wonder how much better it really is.<br />
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For, now should it come to it, Guess we may switch to "family cloths". Maybe in combination with a bidet? Since I already use a composting toilet, managing the ick factor is minor.<br />
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Anyway, the guilt is still there, because why haven't I switched already?<br />
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<br />Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-64882402259742004322020-03-04T13:54:00.000-08:002020-03-04T13:54:36.989-08:00quick note on climate control<span style="font-size: large;">It is now late winter here, and the sun is gaining strength, climbing higher in the sky, and days are getting longer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">BUT, it is still winter, snow is still on the ground, and the average March will still get 7 inches ( 180mm) of snow in our region.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We are fortunate to have a large sunroom along the south face of our house, gaining warmth, and a good place to start garden seeds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When we have sunny days, and when it is warm enough in the sunroom, we open the sliding door, and let warm air enter to replace burning wood for the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How to know when it is warmer in the sunroom than the house? I have a very sensitive temperature differential sensor, and when it signals good conditions, we open the door, and monitor the sensor to know when to close the door in the late afternoon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">It's a bit low tech. I taped a small length of black thread to the top of the door jamb, and if the thread starts being blown in to the house, I know that warm are is moving in to the house in the upper half of the doorway, and relatively cooler air is flowing from the house out in to the sunroom in the lower half of the doorway. When the thread is no longer moving, or even showing flow out in to the sun room, it's time to close the door.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yay for the buoyancy of warm air.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">hopefully you can see the thread in this shot, showing warm air entering the house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-43523789344865551232020-01-30T07:43:00.000-08:002020-01-30T07:43:04.108-08:00The life of a tarpA tarp is a handy thing when you want to keep something dry, but don't have an industrial sized warehouse in the back yard. Now that we are hobby farming/homesteading, we have acquired some "stuff". Some of it won't or shouldn't fit in the pole shed, and some of it is just temporary. We also heat with wood, and it should be kept dry to make the most of it. If I've split more wood than will fit in my storage sheds, I tarp it. (time build another wood shed!)<br />
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While it's not that green to go buying things made of plastic, I"m not a purist, and will buy things made of plastic when the need outweighs my desire to consume less.<br />
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There are actually several life stages of a tarp. Tarp in its initial setting sits on a shelf in a home improvement or hardware store. They used to be only blue, but now come in several colors. Once purchased by the typical home improver, they might be used for about anything. They come in light duty, medium duty, heavy duty, trucker industrial duty, good old canvas, and even one called recreational. I have never had a recreational tarp, but suspect they are pretty flimsy, more for casual frippery and nothing serious.<br />
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While it depends on the application, I generally buy a medium duty, trying to go for the eternal compromise between short term and long term economics.<br />
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When a tarp is put to its first use, it is pretty much waterproof, and I use them for covering things that need the best protection, or that probably really should be stored inside. But after a few months, or a season, the wind and sun takes its toll. They begin to wear, and you can see wrinkles, light streaks of discoloration, and maybe even the beginnings of light showing through in pinholes. They are still pretty good, but might be leaking a bit, so moved down the hierarchy to slightly less demanding duty.<br />
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This new tarp is protecting a new electrical wood splitter we just bought. The splitter will get its own post later.<br />
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This tarp is protecting our grill/smoker. It's a bit older. but still in good shape.<br />
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Another season or two, and now they definitely leak, but only in areas, and most of the surface does deflect rain. Can still be used for things that can stand a bit of water. Maybe used for temporary coverage, maybe to cover a tiller or brush mower that ran out of gas before getting to the shed. Or covering a load in the pickup truck on a trip that threatens rain.<br />
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After another year or two, it is definitely tattered, and you wouldn't want to count on it for shelter in a rain. By this time, it is good for gathering leaves to drag to the mulch pile, or to catch wood chips shooting out of a chipper, but not much else. It can be in this stage for a couple years, if stored when not being used.<br />
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Once large tears have developed, it's pretty much useless, and time for the trash. They are effectively unrecycleable here.<br />
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Recycling has always been a bit of a conscience salve anyway, rather than a true implementation of a circular economy, but it has become even less effective since China stopped taking our poorly sorted detritus last year. I suspect much of it is going in to landfills now, but reducing plastic use can be hard to do completely.<br />
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I'm ready to try the used old billboard tarps next time I need new tarp. While they don't recycle either, at least I'm repurposing some plastic. Until I can figure out a better, more sustainable way, I will use tarps for temporary wether protection, and just use them for as long as I can.<br />
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<br />Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-86367946263512909102020-01-19T08:57:00.000-08:002020-01-19T08:57:24.560-08:00Energy flowsIt is winter here now, with about five inches ( 127 mm) of snow on the ground, with wind chills around zero F ( -18C). Pretty typical for a Wisconsin winter.<br />
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Plenty of activity around our bird feeders, especially the juncos hopping around on the ground. Since retirement, I spend a bit more time just watching and trying to grok the natural world around me.<br />
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The thought that keeps coming to mind as I watch from my warm home is how amazing it is that these little balls of fluff can survive and thrive in the cold, with so little food easily accessible. They enjoy the bird feeder, but do just fine without it. Their existence proves that their ancestors for millions of years managed without birdseed from the hardware store.<br />
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The same applies of course, to the other creatures that stay active all winter, but to me these little guys epitomize the ability to find a way to survive in marginal conditions. Heat loss is a function of the ratio between volume and surface area, so small birds are playing a tough hand in that respect.<br />
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The world, and the universe itself, for that matter, is a big old entropy generating engine, and we are all busy doing our part, consciously or not. I imagine there is some soil bacteria species that will find sustenance even in the tiniest spec of junco poop.<br />
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I'm no paleontologist, but my mental image of evolution goes like this:<br />
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The planet has many different energy flows happening continuously, with sunlight being the main one driving living systems, once plants figured out how to photosynthesize. Boy, wasn't that a great leap forward.<br />
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Then, as plants multiplied and got to crowding each other, evolutionary forces kicked into overdrive, with some plants growing taller to grab the sunlight first, or others changed other features to get enough energy to reproduce.<br />
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Before you know it, the tropics were packed, and some plants figured out how to withstand freezing by going dormant each winter or changing their internal chemistry. Thus plants crept toward the poles, covering more and more of the land. ( hmm, wonder what might have happened without our 23 deg. tilt?)<br />
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Insect and animal life came along over time, and they all figured out a way to harvest energy and reproduce as well. All along the way, more and more subdivided niches were filled, as one species or another found an energy flow to exploit.<br />
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And then Homo Sapiens came along. Our unique assemble of traits mean we are a generalist that can exploit many energy flows. Even fossilized carbon from millions of years ago. Oh, we'll finish extracting all that energy soon, and the food web will adjust accordingly.<br />
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The thing to keep in mind, with all these energy flows, is that each species finds a balance between population levels and the energy flow they are a part of. At the geological scale, our use of fossil carbon is a one time brief blip, and our numbers will readjust to the available energy, as the food web hopefully restabilizes in a complex, diverse new balance.<br />
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I'm thinking juncos will still be part of it.<br />
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<br />Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-79691474173716122012019-11-04T11:24:00.002-08:002019-11-04T11:29:38.442-08:00demand side power managementThis is a thought experiment on how a local community might utilize electricity on a completely solar powered resource.<br />
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The obvious changes and limitations from our current arrangement are radically less energy available, and much restriction on when the power is even available.<br />
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But let's say that we want to ( or simply must) power our village, town, or neighborhood with only solar power. Till now, it seems all focus is on how solar could replace fossil energy as we are currently used to using it. That ain't going to happen.<br />
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Rather than figuring out matching power output to demand, what if we matched demand to supply? Individual off gridders already do this, and seem to get by fine, though with different habits and patterns than the rest of us. What if a neighborhood or small town did this collectively?<br />
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It might look like this.<br />
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The power grid gets divided up into many microgrids, with optional connections to the wider grid.<br />
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All homes have solar panels if homes are situated correctly.<br />
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Some shared solar farms could also be part of the generation mix.<br />
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All energy users have smart meters, as well as smart disconnects, meaning a central coordinating function controls where and when available energy is routed if needed.<br />
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Someone(s) in the collective could manage and maintain the system. There doesn't have to be help from some distant on call utility office. This will be a big step toward self reliance.<br />
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Some sort of equitable allotment scheme would be created, and then schedules and rules would be followed which basically gave each household a turn at the power so the generation does not get overloaded by demand.<br />
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This really goes against the normal individualistic mind set and culture of America, but when the end of easy energy looms, compromise and collaboration may well be forced on us as the alternatives would likely be even less palatable.<br />
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The thought experiment gets interesting when you try to imagine what the fair rules and scheduling might be. How to share cost, how to allocate power- by size of family? Strictly by ability to pay? Some mix? What about medical needs? How might time slot trading work? What about time of use pricing, or peak use pricing? Lots of questions come to mind.<br />
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How would you rearrange your life to use electricity only for certain stretches, and in only partly predictable patterns. Maybe a collective choice to spend on more storage would improve flexibility and access, but would it be worth the ongoing cost? Each microgrid might decide for themselves.<br />
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I guess the first thing I personally would do is ruthlessly eliminate waste and inessential loads. Find new ways to do things without electricity, or don't do them at all.<br />
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Another big one for each house would be water use. In rural areas, everyone is on a well here in the midwest, with an electrical pump at the bottom of it. Increase or create aboveground storage? Have an extra large pressure tank and even a cistern? What about homes in an urban neighborhood on city water? How will local utilities power themselves and still provide sufficient water? I can see water bills going up. Less and very quick showers would become the norm.<br />
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Home heating is a whole other can of worms I won't go in to right now.<br />
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Next would be learning how to time shift, and how to get household chores arranged so they are prepped and ready to go as soon as a sunny day occurs. Lots to think about.<br />
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Electricity will become very expensive, and thus husbanded like the unique resource it is. Could this concept even be affordable?<br />
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But at least we'd still have it for a while.<br />
<br />Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-77960690075393109172019-05-03T06:37:00.002-07:002019-05-03T06:37:50.947-07:00top down or bottom up<span style="font-size: large;">In responding to the unfolding environmental crisis, I am torn about what the best personal and societal response(s) should be. Sure seems like we are in new territory, there are so many variables in flux, with human hierarchies and psychology making it murky as to what are realistic options.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Top down solutions are not likely to be forthcoming, and bottom up change needs a great amount of anger before it explodes, and the results might not be optimal or as intended. Our collective brain wiring doesn't respond well to the diffuse, long term threat we have created.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's an ongoing internal debate on how to proceed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For me, the choice is how much effort to spend on either personal, local change, or to put myself out there and advocate for wider, systemic change. One is direct and at least partly achievable, but the other is more daunting, and seems less likely to be of any significant impact, seeing how things are trending.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One can advocate by being an example, but sharing your example to more than the neighbors turns in to public advocacy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">( Gore was of course the poster child for the hypocritical inverse of this)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I recently read about the Christian dilemma which has a similar fork in the road to consider. Prolific writer Rod Dreher, has written a book and blogs a lot about the concept he calls "The Benedict Option". The concept is a bit tricky to grasp in terms of religion, but the base question it tries to answer, is how to respond to a world that is going in a direction that you feel is wrong? Do you hole up in a monastery, or redouble efforts to advocate/evangelize for your faith?</span><br />
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Dreher#Benedict_Option<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So the analogous situation for those who are to the attuned to our unfolding environmental crisis is how to act? Should one hole up in a bug out getaway, eating foraged foods and going off grid, or joining forces and taking to the streets to demand the oligarchical political system change and react rationally?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Many options between those two poles exist, and as Chris has shared, some sort of split, parallel effort could be managed by some.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> So is there a way to describe a sort of Benedict Option for environmentalists? Some way to be in the world but not of it, to borrow biblical phrasing. This is a sort of middle path, though how it could be lived out would vary considerably, depending on ones situation and personality. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As I've mentioned before, for now, I plant trees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And one more thought.. Are we truly at this epochal a turn, or does it always feel thus for people getting rushed along in the tumult and torrent of history?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-471462053585171190.post-1172698322220260602019-03-18T20:23:00.001-07:002019-03-18T20:23:25.896-07:00A permaculture gatheringThere is a young organization here in Wisconsin that is promoting perennial agriculture. Since I am trying to informally use a permaculture approach to our land, I decided to go see what others in the area are doing. The Savannah Institute hosted a gathering for permaculture approaches to food production couple months ago, so I signed up. ( I'm just now posting this!)<br />
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My first impression was, there are a lot of people here! Sometimes, when we chose an interest or specific path in life, it might seem eclectic or lonely, but the internet has enabled a lot of people to connect with their tribe(s). We are of course a tribal species. And let's face it, alternatives to conventional agriculture have been ascendant lately, so I thought the showing was good.<br />
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Second impression, since I knew no one there, was that there was a kind of "look" to the assemblage. Kind of farmer hipster look? Not suburban, but not full on bibs or clodhoppers? Or maybe I'm just out of touch on fashion for younger generations who also happen to be drawn to the land. Dunno.<br />
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I saw mostly young folks, but a few grey hairs sprinkled though the group. The oldsters were pioneers, early adopters of sustainable food production methods. Good on them. The younger folks seemed to be very networked, and of course, full of enthusiasm, but short on resources to see their plans come to fruition very quickly.<br />
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Presentations covered orchard and fruit production, progress of hazelnuts as a new midwest crop, business plans for starting farmers, marketing, research reports, collective efforts, and so on.<br />
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Other thoughts on reflecting on the two days: There was a lot of enthusiasm there, both in the younger set, but also in the older folks, who were happy to see others taking up the quest. Farming is hard work, and trying to step away from conventional food production is even harder, but it felt like many there were "mission driven", to borrow a phrase.<br />
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The system as it works right now does not make it easy to acquire access to land, either conventional or alternative ways of growing food and stewarding the land. So these young folks have a tough row to hoe, so to speak. I wish them well, as they are the future.<br />
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<br />Steve Carrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com2