Investing In Alternative Energy For Practical Living
I have a series of rain catchment systems around the house and thought I'd share how I installed them. We live in the "high desert" which just means a desert at high altitude. There's not much rainfall and when rain does happen it's usually one of two scenarios - a torrential downpour that lasts a … [Read more...]
The Issue It gets hot enough here that the ability to allow a lot of air to flow through is very important to keep the heat down in a hoop house / greenhouse. When the hoop house was first built, I installed metal screen on the lower 3 feet of both sides. The idea was to later add some hoop … [Read more...]
Building A Hoop House - The Beginning Realized there really isn't too much about how the hoop house was built in the first place. I didn't take too many photos back then, so the documentation is sketchy at best. The Hoops This hoop house was made from 3/4" and 1" metal conduit. The inside of … [Read more...]
Finally got all the aquaponics barrels installed. Each of the halves are bolted to the one next to it to provide stability and to make sure they don't move around too much. Short stainless steel bolts, washers, lock washers, and nuts were used for this. Water Input As you can see from the … [Read more...]
Many of you are probably already familiar with the concept of carrying around an emergency kit in your car. If not, it's time for you to get familiar, as many people are creating custom emergency car kits and putting them in their car trunk, or under a desk at work - or both. They usually consist … [Read more...]
Insulating my garage door has been on my list of things to do for a couple of years. We live in the high desert so experience mild winters, with a few snowy days and some days with sustained 60 mph winds, and deathly hot summers, when every day is sunny with some days of sustained 30-40 mph winds. … [Read more...]
This article isn't really about how to build a pizza oven, although you will find links to documents with complete instructions. There are many articles about building with cob and many places to find everything you need to know about using cob - which is one of the easiest building materials you … [Read more...]
Fire pits are the latest craze in backyard updates. However, above and beyond being trendy, fire pits are also great backyard resource for cooking and heating. An addition that can be used year after year for not only entertaining, but as an auxiliary place to cook and keep warm. In other words, … [Read more...]
From Frugal to Fabulous! 1. Simple and Very Inexpensive Probably the least expensive way to hide trash cans outside - and the easiest to make. This one from ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com is simple, nice enough looking, and does the trick. Looks like it could be made in a few hours (minus waiting … [Read more...]
Here are examples of hydroponics systems with enough variety that there's one for every budget and (almost) all of them have complete instructions. (There are tips and knowledge links throughout and at the very bottom.) 1. A nice setup using Rubbermaid tote. The instructions have lots and lots … [Read more...]
