wood stove hot water

Zen forest house: 11K, handcrafted, small home in Oregon

saving flower seeds

iframe width 459 height 344 src //www.youtube.com/embed/LHYxYlC9m-E frameborder 0 allowfullscreen> /iframe>

Living Off Grid Self Sustainable Living

http://www.youtube.com/v/3cHkfi1-KoY?version=3&autohide=1&showinfo=1&autohide=1&autoplay=1&feature=share&attribution_tag=nxEUMDV8bqQtu6ZyeDDHxA

The beginning of my adventure to living off grid and becoming self sustainable.

pumpkins

Preserving Squash and Zuchinni (+playlist)

This site was shared with me so share on.
Little House Living blog
http://www.littlehouseliving.com

Brazil Iguazu Fall's what a sight

I know this is not sustainable living or organic gardening but it is beautiful.
In South America, Brazil you can find this amazing waterfall. You can wikipedia it to learn more about the falls.

Iguazu Falls

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

 

Bloom Fuel Cells new eBay Data Center

New eBay Data Center Runs Almost Entirely On Bloom Fuel Cells

http://www.forbes.com/sites/heat...

The Salt Lake City installation includes 30 Bloom Energy Servers arranged in five racks. eBay is raising the bar (again) when it comes to sourcing power for massive data centers. Its massive new facility in Salt Lake City – the main hub of technology powering more than $175 billion in annual e-comme...

Repel animals from your garden

Not much time lately to blog much, sorry about that. I took a class with Master Gardeners, last weekend took some notes I would like to share. The day started with a wonderful speaker Shayne Zurligen, from the Boggs Tract Community Farm, about the Food Forests.
So, you may say to yourself what is a food forest. It is really about the layers of trees and plants that create a sustainable living environment. Spacing the layers helps each group to thrive and provide for the others.

• Tall Tree
• Low Tree
• Shrubs
• Herbal
• Ground
• Vine
• Root 

Each providing for protection from evaporation and replacement of nutrients into the soil, such as leaves and grass into nitrogen.

Bulbs like Daffodils can help repel animals such as deer and gofers. The bulbs release  a smell that keep deer away. Daffodils are not only beautiful but help sustain your garden from wild life.
Also needed in the garden plants that attract birds and insects.

• queen ann's lace
• cosomos
• zinia
• fennel
• yarrow
• maples
• butterfly bush
• rasberry
• blackberry
• blueberry

Important to share the harvest not only with people but the animals and insects in your garden community. When I find that the ants have taken over one of my eggplants, I leave it in the garden for them. Taking a loss on one eggplant means they have what they want and only take what they need.

Providing habitat nooks for garden creatures provides them with a place to hide while staying near the garden to create the life cycle to sustain the garden. Placing ladybug houses in the garden protects ladybugs from birds and provides them a place to come back to.

Grass and herbal ground cover provide protection from evaporation saving on water usage.

There was so much information to take in from the Master Gardeners Class, that one day was not enough time. I suggest that if you ever get an opportunity to attend a Master Gardeners, to do so.


thanks for reading
Please share any additional information you may have.

Master Gardeners Stockton 2013

There was so much information to obtain from this years Master Gardeners in Stockton. At a latter time I will update the information to share with every one. For now I am posting some photo's of the reuse ideas for your garden.

September 1st 2013

I haven't been very active on my blogg lately. Quick up date.

Working on garden and actually getting things started for the winter garden.

Did a review on earthship homes so here is a youtube:

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more info on Earthship homes

entry to the earthship home.

Gray water and recycling

 Building Earthship's and the water storage.
Below is a battery bank for solar or wind energy storage.

What a Battery Bank

Earthship Homes Recycle and Reuse

 

Self sustainable homes. Once asked if you could smell the tires. Watch and see what happens with the tires. Saving the earth one step at a time.

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Open Eyes

August 10, 2013 garden

OK I have not dedicated very much time to my blog lately. Have not been feeling very good lately, but got a lot of sleep today and was able to do some stuff. This is the update video of the garden August 10, 2013. I also made some cupcakes and a cake with cream cheese icing. Not much for most of us, but I have been down and out for so long it was good to do something. I will have some photo's of pink naked ladies plants / also known as pink lilies soon. Thanks for watching.....

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Uploaded videos (playlist)

dandelion root

Dandelion (taraxum officinale), historically speaking, had medicinal use as treatment for diseases of the liver, spleen, and kidneys. Fast forward into contemporary times, medical research could not find any dandelion root benefits to treat any such disease. Could it be that the ancients were wrong about the dandelion root? Some believe that old wisdom still has its merit as we present reasons why dandelion can still provide huge health benefits.

read more at
 http://www.bestherbalremedies.org/dandelion-root/dandelion-root-benefits-six-reasons-why-your-body-will-love-it.html

This is just a reminder that sometimes even a weed can be beneficial. So when thinking about your rosemary, oregano and basil you can take a look at dandelions for a benefit to your health.

Drip Watering System For Garden

I saw a YouTube on a watering system today. Turned out to be an add for a drip line to hook up to a water bottle. Cleaver.....
Any ways, I thought I would repost what I am using to water the garden.

If you don't have an ice pick handy, you can always use a bottle with a screw on lid. Fill the bottle and after turning it upside down in your planter, unscrew the lid slightly until it is dripping the amount you would like.

I have other garden video's on YouTube search kathy hunt. Please like and subscribe, thank you for watching.

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5 ways to use pee in the garden

 

Pee. Yes, you read that correctly, pee. If you can manage to get past the ewww factor, urine is full of nutrients, making it an excellent fertilizer amongst other things.

The best part is it’s free, environmentally friendly and available on tap (kind of).

5 Ways To Use Pee In The Garden

Okay, I’ve convinced you! You are ready to drop trou’ and add your liquid gold deposit to your garden. But how do you pee in the garden in the most effective way (and without getting arrested for indecent exposure in the process!)?
1. Compost Accelerator
Is your compost pile cold? A little long on carbon and low on nitrogen? Pee, poured or – ahem – directly deposited – on the pile can start to speed things up and add moisture. If you are nervous about using urine directly on your plants, incorporating urine into a compost pile is the way to go.
2. Dilution is The Solution
Dilute fresh urine at a 4:1 ratio and apply to the root-zone of corn every two weeks or as needed. (Some people say corn, being a grass, can handle fertilization with straight urine. Proceed with caution.)
Dilute fresh urine at a 10:1 ratio and apply to the root-zone of fruiting plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, or to leafy crops like cabbage, broccoli, spinach and lettuce every two weeks or as needed.
Dilute fresh urine at a 20:1 ratio and water in to the root zone of seedlings and new transplants.
3. The Straw Bale Sprinkle
When Straw Bales are used for gardening, they must be “conditioned” or partially broken down / composted before use. This is accomplished with the addition of a very high nitrogen fertilizer. Guess which free, Bud Lite-hued high-nitrogen fertilizer I’d recommend?
4. Deep Mulch Direct Application
If you thickly mulch your woody perennials, cane fruit and fruit trees with a high-carbon material like leaves or woodchips, you can apply your urine straight onto the mulch, which will absorb and moderate the straight shot of nitrogen in your pee.
5. That Asparagus Smell!
If asparagus makes your pee smell funny, take revenge and pee on your asparagus! Nutrient hungry, deep rooted, perennial and salt-tolerant, asparagus might be the ideal crop to fertilize with pee. If you grow your asparagus under a thick layer of carbonaceous mulch, like straw or wood chips, use the Direct Mulch Direct Application technique, otherwise dilute 2:1 if your asparagus is in the sandy soil it prefers, or 4:1 in heavier soil. Apply throughout the growing season, along with a good source of potassium, like bone meal, in the early spring.

I did a pee solution in my watering barrel for the garden. the boy's would pee around the edge of the garden and property to deter deer and other animals from coming into the garden. Now that I am no longer up in the mountains I haven't thought about this much.

Chicken's are also a great source of fertilizer for the garden. Mix the chicken poop in a barrel of water for the garden. We kept it covered other wise it was smelly.

Remember to water at the root so as not to get containment on the plant.  If you know what I mean...


Thanks to Tina, for bringing this to my attention again.

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Bloom Energy The progress of the not so new energy source

Bloom Energy Box

Bloom Energy Server

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Bloom Box)

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This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (August 2012)

The Bloom Energy Server (commonly referred to as the Bloom Box) is a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) made by Bloom Energy, of Sunnyvale, California, that can use a wide variety of inputs (including liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons[1] produced from bio sources) to generate electricity on the site where it will be used.[2][3] This type of fuel cell can withstand temperatures of up to 1,800 °F (980 °C), which would cause many other types of fuel cells to break down or need maintenance, and is highly advantageous for its smooth operation.[4] According to the company, a single cell (one 100 mm × 100 mm metal alloy plate between two ceramic layers) generates 25 watts.[5]
Bloom stated that two hundred servers have been deployed in California for a number of corporations like eBay, Google, Wal-Mart and many more.[6]

BIO E® World: 12 foods you should definitely buy organic

BIO E® World: 12 foods you should definitely buy organic

photo review of my time off grid

Questions about solar panels and grid ties, has got me back to reviewing my life off grid. Being self sufficient means different things to different people. What one person may hope to achieve living in a country side setting, may not be the same as a city person. Remember every little bit adds up. It may take a 100 pennies to make 1 dollar but if you didn't save that first penny you couldn't make it to that dollar. OK pennies and dollars may be an out dated saying but it does make it's point. It is the same as moving forward has to take that first step.

Please share any questions or ideas. I am always inspired by what others come up with.

Grid tie and your solar power

 I love getting questions about self sufficient living. Weather it be about gardening, off grid, or energy storage. To tell you the truth i don't know every thing there is to know, but am happy to share and gather information.

Depending on where you live and what your plans are for energy saving, there will be a different answer for each of us. Living in a city or large community areas can be inconvenient and costly.   This is just my opinion not a factual statement. My experience has been on a peace of property that had no power service. As we worked on the property it was a plan to turn power on. While camping and building we found we could live just fine without being tied to the system. During storms when other people on the mountain had no phone or power, we where still up and running. When living in an area where a storm can take power out for hours to days at a time, it was very convenient to be self sufficient.

Some photo's of my living off grid.

A Spider in the garden shows how you can grow organic in harmony with nature.

 

 

A little garden

Wood camping stove. I turned it with the opening for firewood up. This made it more efficient for cooking. We where able to put a Wak on it and have a wonderful stir fry out side without a hug mess.

Solar panel on hill side to the right.

This little garage became our studio apartment. The house that was on the property was so far gone there was no rehabbing it. Power had been shut off for 12 years and what it would have taken to upgrade to get it turned back on was not worth it. The plan was to build up the garage into a studio and pay off the property. Future plans to build a home and the hook up to PG&E. After seeing how well we did in the studio and saving power plans changed to become more self sufficient and finding ways to build and not hook up to the system. Although at times having PG&E would have been easier. 

Put together all of my research for web sites and references on info for self sufficient living.

 Additional informative sites about Grid Tie.

Check out Mother nature news for off-Grid vs. Grid-Tied
http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/off-grid-grid-tied-zbcz1305.aspx#axzz2YYvpXlIs

 I found this insightful site title "Reality check: When the power grid goes down, all grid tie system will go down to.
http://www.naturalnews.com/036194_solar_system_grid-tie_power_grid.html

July 7th garden

Top Tip to Guarantee Better Success in your Vegetable Garden

progress of my sunflower July 3, 2013

flower garden

photo up date on garden and flowers June 23, 2013

cantaloup

 

eggplant

 

eggplant

 

onions and flowers

green beans

oregano

 

sun flower

squash

 

sunflower

 

tomato plant

Thanks for checking out my garden. I haven't had much time to update my blog, so I apologize for that.
That is just how life is. Sometimes you have to go with the flow and live life.

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