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The Real Know How

biking, cargo bike, save money, transportation

Vertical Cargo Carrier For A Bike

Published by

elodie

on

March 29, 2012

From Bruce Thomson in New Zealand: “A strong carrier with vertical steel bars can carry even a guitar plus a banjo plus a backpack (or similar otherwise ‘impossible’ loads. As in the previous video ‘ Cheapest strongest bicycle trailer ‘ this vid enables you to survive very well without a…
Continue reading →: Vertical Cargo Carrier For A Bike
eggs, food preservation, preserving

Storing Eggs In the Old Days

Published by

elodie

on

March 28, 2012

Imstillworking gives a really detailed explanation of the different preservation methods that were used in the past, in the absence of refrigeration to store eggs. She also covers salmonella in eggs. egg bloom, the conditions under which chickens lay well, etc. at length. Here are the results of her experiments:
Continue reading →: Storing Eggs In the Old Days
biking, california, cargo bike, save money, the west, transportation

Antelope Valley Inexpensive BoxBike Build

Published by

elodie

on

March 28, 2012

A boxbike (bakfiets) is a kind of cargo bike popularized in the Netherlands. They can be a really useful way to get around — and to move your stuff around – but they are also very expensive to buy (prices are in the thousands). Here’s an inexpensive boxbike build tutorial…
Continue reading →: Antelope Valley Inexpensive BoxBike Build
agriculture, farming, irrigation, save money, suburban farming, the northwest, urban, urban farming, washington state

How Much Food Can I Grow Around My House?

Published by

elodie

on

March 27, 2012

Judy Alexander in Port Townsend, Washington (a city of 9,000 people about 40 miles north of Seattle) talks about how and what she’s been growing and gives us a tour. I found the rainwater/rain barrel irrigation system she and her brother rigged really interesting.
Continue reading →: How Much Food Can I Grow Around My House?
dairy, fermented foods, lacto-fermented, oregon, recipe, the northwest

Easy Way To Clabber Raw Whole Milk

Published by

elodie

on

March 27, 2012

Wardeh Harmon (Gnowfglins) in southwestern Oregon makes sour cream for her family and soured (clabbered) milk for her chickens and dog from raw milk she gets from the family cow. She writes, “We get around 4 gallons of milk per day from our Jersey cow. For our family, this is…
Continue reading →: Easy Way To Clabber Raw Whole Milk
dehydration, eggs, food preservation, preserving, recipe, save money

How to Make Powdered Eggs

Published by

elodie

on

March 26, 2012

Here’s a video on how to make powdered eggs using a flour mill. The eggs are cooked in a nonstick pan, dehydrated and then run through a flour mill a couple times until powdered. Teflon is nasty stuff, so I hope she uses a ceramic coated non-stick pan — and…
Continue reading →: How to Make Powdered Eggs
beverages, food preservation, preserving, recipe

Make Ginger Vinegar Cordial or Shrub

Published by

elodie

on

March 26, 2012

A shrub is an old-time drink with an acidic base, in this case vinegar. The shrubs I’ve read about call for fruit. Pairing fruit with vinegar was a way of preserving it without refrigeration, so that, for example, you could have a berry drink in winter, when berries would otherwise…
Continue reading →: Make Ginger Vinegar Cordial or Shrub
aquaculture, aquaponics, farming, fish, hawaii, meat, success story

Small Scale Aquaculture and Aquaponics in Maui

Published by

elodie

on

March 25, 2012

Aquaculture and aquaponics on a family-sized scale in Maui, Hawaii. They are growing mainly tilapia whose waste they filter out and use to grow food plants. CLICK THROUGH TO VIEW AS EMBEDDING IS DISABLED.
Continue reading →: Small Scale Aquaculture and Aquaponics in Maui
beekeeping, honey, livestock, north carolina

Beekeeping 101

Published by

elodie

on

March 25, 2012

Beginner beekeeper (at the time he filmed), Guy Michaelson in North Carolina takes us through picking up his bees and his initial set-up and experiences with the bees. Kudos to Janis Michaelson who it seems is the camera person behind these videos.
Continue reading →: Beekeeping 101
biking, cargo bike, denmark, europe, success story, transportation, urban

Copenhagen Cargo Bikes

Published by

elodie

on

March 25, 2012

That video was for me a little like visiting Mars. This next video highlights what Copenhagen did to get to a state where so many people are transporting their stuff and themselves on bikes.
Continue reading →: Copenhagen Cargo Bikes

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for visiting The Real Know-How.

Our focus: Passing along essential information for sustainable, self-sufficient living on an individual and community level.

The posts on The Real Know-How speak to how we feed and clothe ourselves, how we generate energy, work, get around and dispose of waste.

This know-how comes from hundreds of ordinary and not-so-ordinary people who are thinking up new ways of doing things and reviving traditional methods.

We’ve got video and photo tutorials (I’m a visual learner), articles and success stories for inspiration.

In selecting what to post we’ve tried to stay away from strongly ideological and jargony content. I think the know-how has to be shared regardless of what school of thought or movement you align with.

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