Build a Solar Dehydrator

October 1, 2008

Appropriate Technology, Preparedness, Solar

...Issue #57 and Issue #69. You need to download and read through both before building this dehydrator. . Alternatively, the always excellent Build it Solar website has a whole bunch of solar dehydrator designs, including a nice cardboard version. And while you’re in the library there’s also a book by Eben Fodor, The Solar Food Dryer. As an added bonus to the tinkerers out there, take almost any of these designs, remove the top box, stick it in a win...

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Learn to Build with Adobe

Mr. Homegrown

December 27, 2013

Appropriate Technology, Events

2 Comments

Kurt Gardella made me an adobe convert and helped us build an oven in our backyard that is responsible for many delicious pizzas. I’ve taken a few classes he’s taught, both in person and online. If you want to learn adobe, Kurt’s your man. Here’s some info on upcoming classes he’s teaching: Are you looking for college credit for your adobe construction coursework? I am teaching the following spring 2014 semester classes through Santa Fe Community...

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How to Build Walls with Pallets

Mr. Homegrown

August 8, 2016

Design

4 Comments

...your pallets whole and adding a 2×4 to the end to make them into a kind of building block. The 2x4s can be new or salvaged from broken pallets. With the added 2×4 you can construct walls, fences, compost bins etc. It’s an elegant solution to the pallet conundrum. Sketchup model by Ron S. Cutting pallets and staggering them with whole pallets adds to structural integrity in a wall. Not all pallets are equal. Some are odd sizes and some are made out...

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Paper Wasps: Your New BFFs

Mrs. Homegrown

October 31, 2016

Gardening, Insects, Nature Awareness

10 Comments

...eir native counterparts, Euro wasps aren’t shy. They are the ones who will build a nest by your back door, or on the side of your mailbox. Paper wasps build those distinctive, easy to recognize papery nests made of many cells. There are other types of native wasps which build with different materials, such as mud. Honeybee colonies, of course, are made of wax, and in cold climates you’ll never see those just hanging out in the open air. Honeybees...

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Homegrown Evolution in Chicago

Mr. Homegrown

May 9, 2009

Events

2 Comments

...ter with: nettlesting@yahoo.com Erik will lead an informal presentation on Urban Homesteading in Los Angeles – focusing on his and his wife’s homegrown systems of adventurous experimentation of chickens, growing, greywater, brewing and more – some successful, some not so much! Copies of The Urban Homestead will be for sale. Many thanks to Nancy Klehm for arranging these events! See her website Spontaneous Vegetation for more info on other events a...

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