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Continue reading →: How to Make Wood Shingles
WoodlandsTV from the UK shows us how to make oak shingles with hand tools. He notes that the oak shingles should last about 70 years untreated due to their high tannin content:
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Continue reading →: Learning to Card Wool
Sue Macniven in the UK shows us how to card wool well for good quality yarn:
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Continue reading →: High-Efficiency Wood Stoves
“The latest next generation wood burning stoves are over 90% efficient and look good too. If you are thinking of installing a wood burning stove then find out more. They come in a variety of designs with some being more efficient than others. Some wood burning stoves can revolve and…
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Continue reading →: Homemade Laundry Detergent and Dishwasher Detergent
Ingrid Barlow shows us how she makes her homemade laundry detergent. She uses borax, baking soda, and shaved bar soap for the laundry detergent:
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Continue reading →: Rainwater Harvesting
Brad Lancaster from Tucson, Arizona talks about what got him interested in harvesting rainwater and some of the solutions he’s learned. Brad talks a lot about needing to develop secure water and food systems and relearning an interest in local foods and local resources (he gives the example in his…
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Continue reading →: Aquaponic Greenhouse in Connecticut
“Rob Torcellini bought a $700 greenhouse kit to grow more vegetables in his backyard. Then he added fish to get rid of a mosquito problem and before long he was a committed aquaponic gardener. Now his 10 by 12 foot greenhouse is filled with not only vegetables, but fish. And…
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Continue reading →: DIY Composting Toilet
“Make your own composting toilet using a 55 gallon drum, peat-moss and a few other items.”
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Continue reading →: Rammed Earth Construction
Rowland Keable from the UK talks about rammed earth and rammed chalk construction.
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Continue reading →: Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper and Urban Beekeeping
“Bryon Waibel runs what he believes is the world’s only urban beekeeping store [in San Francisco]. It’s called Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper and Waibel, who uses the handle 006, does seem to believe that he/ the store/ urban beekeepers are serving a cause.”
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Continue reading →: Earthen/Cob Floor
“Natural building expert Michael G. Smith from the Emerald Earth Institute shows us the first layer of an earthen floor (clay soil, sand, chopped straw and road base, or crushed rock): just one layer of the 3 layers they eventually use. He also shows us a finished floor that has…