Cost of Heating and How to Cut It Down.

First let me wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. A few days ago I got my electric bill. It is twice what I paid for the same period last year. The only difference is I am running an 800 watt electric heater in my garden room.

Which brings me to today’s blog? How do I heat my Garden Room without going broke? I started looking at different ways to heat my garden room without electricity. My plants like the temperature near 70F. The garden room is in the basement that usually stays about 58-60 F. The small heater did the trick in an expensive way. I started looking at alternative ways to heat my garden room. Online I saw many experiments that were not enough for my situation. Using a candle to heat a clay pot almost worked until the wick burned down and the flame was very small. It did not heat the clay pot. Using a Forever candle made of vegetable shortening worked for one day until the wicks burned down into the grease. They did not heat the pot for more than a day. Several variations on the theme did not work.

I went to a local concrete block company and got a 12 x 12 x 2 inch block. I put this on a couple of concrete bricks over a cake pan filled with Vegetable oil and six floating candle lamps. This has burned for a full day. The Garden room was at 62 degrees. I add a second block and candle to see if it would heat the room over 65F.

It seems to use very little oil to burn overnight. I did not see a large change in the level of the oil in the first candle this morning after a 24 hour burn. To test the efficacy I put my hand on the block the block was too hot to hold my hand on for more than a moment. Not hot enough to burn but definitely uncomfortable to keep your hand on for any length of time. I will post later this week on the efficiency of the two candles working together.

I am also was looking for some alternatives to fire wood in my new rocket stove. I saw a video where a man-made what look like Papier-mâché blocks from junk mail. I am going to do something similar with a big pile of leave waiting to go into my compost bin. My plan is to take some of the leftover shortening and mix it with a bucket of crushed dry leaves and make little cubes for cooking. My wife does not like the shortening to cook with so there is no great loss if it does not work. I will be doing this on Thursday after New Year’s. I’ll post my success or failure on Thursday night. Wish me luck

Games People Play

Today I was thinking about the Games people play. Not games such as board games, or video games, but games of manipulation and control.

Which brings me to today’s blog. I do not want to sound dower or down, but is there a benefit to mind control games? I believe there may be a beneficial use of the techniques of “The Game”. Instead of using the techniques of control on others to coerce them into doing what you want. Why not use those techniques on ourselves to improve our lives. I am certified in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) therapist, and I am an Ordained Priest. Both of these callings have stringent rules on manipulation of others. I use NLP to aid other people in finding the answers for themselves.

Can a person use certain manipulation techniques on themselves to cause a life enhancing benefit? I believe the answer is definitely yes. We can talk ourselves out of a good idea and into disastrous situations with little effort. Why not use that self-talk to bring out the best in ourselves. Instead of looking for what can go wrong, look at a situation with an eye to what will go right. You will increase what you focus you attention towards. If you want to focus on doom and gloom then it will be what you find. If you focus on the bright side; not some Pollyanna fantasy, but a realistic scenario of what can happen with the right attitude and actions. As with anything keeping a proper attitude is important but action is where you will create the outcome you want.

Planning and action are very much intertwined in creating anything. Attitude is paramount to continuing. From your attitude will spring your enthusiasm this can be enhanced with motivational self-talk. You will need to give yourself a pep talk at least once a day and on some day many more. There will be challenges at different points along the journey. Playing The Game on yourself increasing the proper attitude. And on occasion bribing yourself with a small reward for making a milestone. As many have found Bribery works more often than threats or punishment. The reward does not have to be a big thing. I use the bribery approach with myself by promising myself a gift when I do “X” in the last case I put a book out for sale on Amazon.com. I told myself I would be able to get a new cup holder for my bike if I hit a distribution of 5000 books. I more than tripled that goal. I went out this week and got my new cup holder. I promised myself the reward and I delivered. This is good training for anyone to learn to keep promises no matter how small.

When I was in the Army, the Military Intelligence officers taught how a foreign government would try to coöpt us in several different situations. One being as a prisoner of war, the other as an active duty military personnel, and lastly as a counter spy. The M.I. people have an acronym M.I.C.E. Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego. These are the four-way to control anyone. If one method does not work then try another. In the self-talk method money may be a driving factor but not something you can use on yourself. Coercion does not work in the self-talk. You are not going to turn yourself in to the authorities on a false claim just to prove a point to yourself. So this leaves ideology, and ego as the two control methods for you to use. Ideology can be used but I think in most cases it is the lesser of the two choices.

Your Ego needs to be built up from within. You need to put only good intentions and suggestions towards your ego. I am saying build up not puff up the ego. When you do a good job complement yourself. When you go the extra mile recognize the effort it took. You only need to tell yourself. Other people are not important in this situation. As you do better others will notice and many will let you know they see an improvement. In my office I have seen many people excel at their jobs and were not recognized for several months. Then they are tagged for promotions or special projects; which is one of the ways the company has of rewarding. In the past few months management has sent out site wide emails when a rep gets a complement from a customer. This is a small thing for a manager to do but it gives the reps a sense of accomplishment. Whenever you do a good job send yourself a quick email saying something such as “That was great keep up the good work”. Maybe add a motivational picture you have or can find online. Look at these every night and at the end of the week. It will make a huge difference. Just one or two a day will make a big impact at the end of the week when you see how many good things you have done.

The first few times you do the self-talk you may feel a little naïve or think this is not going to work. Trust in the universe to help make it work. As you focus on the positive you will see more positive things and your attitude will improve towards what you are focusing on; be it a project at home or at your office. The universe is infinite and full of more blessings than anyone can begin to imagine. Now is the starting point of your future. Yesterday happened and is gone. Learn from it and continue forward. Tomorrow is a promissory note.

You have now to make a decision. Now is the time to act. Start by telling yourself one good thing about you. Send it to your primary email account. Put a sticky note on your mirror. Commit to telling yourself one good thing a day for 21 days. That is just three weeks. A small commitment to improve your attitude. With a better attitude you will have a better outlook on life and the people in your life. As you grow into the new person you will have more self-confidence and people will recognize this and the right people will want to become closer to you. They will help you as it will help them. Everyone loves to be near a winner; mainly because they have a great energy that they freely share. Most everyone love to be around this energy even though they do not realize that it is there. They just feel good around certain people. These people reciprocate with their own positive energy and it builds up everyone nearby.

There is no magic to this only starting with a positive step and continuing in the most positive direction. As the Chinese proverb states “The journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step.” It is time to take the first step and see what wonderful places this journey with take you.

 

What do I need?

Today I was thinking “What do I need?  The answer is very little compared to what I have.

This brings me to today’s blog.  What is necessary to thrive?  We all need food, water, clothing, and shelter.  After that the list is non-existent.  I went through my house and looked at all the stuff I have.  All of it is useful to one degree or another.  But not all of it is necessary.  I like my hobbies such as knitting, sewing, spinning, and mechanical drawing.   I like that I have two sets of dishes; enough for ten people to sit down for dinner.  I think the most we have had over in the past three years is three people.  And that happened only once.  I have enough crystal glass ware for a bar and way too many books.  I sometime wonder is it possible to have too many books?   But that is another discussion.

When I was much younger could fit everything I owned into a ¼ ton pickup truck and leave without a care.  The last move took a 40 foot trailer and my wife left a lot of stuff behind when she packed up out house back east.  I have found I only missed a few of the things she left back east and then only on occasion.  I am now looking at starting a new career and trying to decide do I need everything in my house and yard?

I believe not.  I want to keep the garden tools and supplies the chain saw for cutting wood and my fiber arts tools and supplies as they are useful for making clothing and generally useful item for the house I would otherwise have to buy.  The shop tools are a good thing to keep. As they let me make some of the garden and greenhouse items that are necessary.  The TV, and half a dozen radios can go.   We rarely watch TV because in my opinion it is nothing more than propaganda and mindless drivel.  Reality TV???  What is this about?  I could go into a several hour-long rant on why TV is a total waste of time. But I will spare you the diatribe.  Radio is only marginally better.  There are stations that play decent music and I enjoy listening to the shortwave radio broadcast from different parts of the world.  During emergencies and natural disasters HAM radio is the best source of information.  I recommend everyone have a SW radio receiver.  A complete HAM radio setup is a good thing but they require more work and money than I feel is justified for me.

In a sustainable lifestyle I believe I need to let go of the unnecessary thing in my life.  If the grid goes down as many are predicting; all electric appliances are useless.  My fancy computer controlled gas oven and stove will be of little use since with no electricity there will be no gas to cook with.  I have an alternative to my stove and oven.  Electric lights will not work and heaters will be useless.  I have alternatives for all of these and I have paper books on various subjects to help my family thrive.  My neighbor across the street has a similar mindset and he prepared for a grid down event.  I cannot say the same for most of my other neighbors and friends.   This November when the doomsayers were predicting the grid will go down as part of Gridex 2013 I took the opportunity to check my stated of preparedness.  We have food, water, and fuel for a fire to heat and cook with.

So now I know I have too much stuff; what to do next?  Lighten the load to what is necessary.  I am looking at what I need:

• Food for two for at least a month.
• Water for two for a month.
• Season appropriate clothing for each person.
• Fuel for cooking and heating.
• Some type of light source (Candles, hurricane lantern, manual crank lantern…)
• Gardening tools and supplies.
• Medical supplies and necessary medicines for two months’ as a suggestion.

This is a very short list.  Now for the “What do I want list”:

• Books and paper for writing.
• Radio for information and entertainment.
• Hobby tools and supplies (mechanical drawing tools, knitting, sewing…  These kinds of hobbies can help thrive for bartering/trading)
• An alternative fuel vehicle for transportation; a pedal bike for getting around town.
• A couple of decks of cards or other portable games for entertainment purposes.
• For children you will want some favorite toy or stuffed animal to help them with anxiety.

There are many other things people will want to have.  This is just a short list of nice to have items.  Everyone will want to define their own needs and nice to have list.  Your location and time of the year will determine what you need to thrive.  I’m certain you will not need a heavy parka in Kansas in July.  You will need it in December.

I bring up these things so you can think about what you need and what you can walk away from if necessary.  Many people are acting as the proverbial ostrich and putting their head in the sand saying “It will never happen.”   I have found in my life whenever I have used a universally declarative statement the universe had taken a great pleasure in making me eat my words.  So I try to not use words such as always, never, everybody, and nobody.  I realize I have used this type of statement here in my blog.  I am certain one day the universe will conspire to make me eat these words also.  Till then I will wait and see.  The world is in a constant state of flux; changing to meet the current situation.  We as a race need to adapt to the changes so we can thrive.

In the end of the 1800’s people did not need cars and advanced communications equipment such as cell phones and WI-Fi enable computers.  They did not exist. People relied on each other and they talked to one another in person.  People now will send a text to a person in the same room.  Or they will email someone in the next office.  Whatever happened to talking to each other?  People do not need high-tech toys; we like having them and they are convenient.  We need to move forward to a state where we can rely on ourselves and our neighbors and not on a distant government.  The neighborhoods that band together and have everyone pull their own weight so to speak, by sharing resources and skills will be the ones that thrive.  I do not know when a situation will occur.  I just believe it will; as it has happened over and over in human history.  Many civilization have started grown and withered away over the millennium.  They all believed they would last forever.  Nothing last forever.

To close I hope we all thrive in the uncertain time ahead.  Rome lasted for nearly a thousand years with bread and circuses for the citizens.  We have the internet and mass-media entertainment.  They are very similar; they both distract us from the real problems.  We are facing many new and unprecedented challenges.  Never before have we had so many global challenges at one time.  It will all come down to each of us choosing to be ready and then acting on that choice.  As for me and my family we have chosen to look ahead and be ready not in fear but in hope.  We hope for a better world in the future and prepare for a time of change.  It is what I believe we all need to do as responsible citizen and members of the global community.  Plant a tree and then tend a garden.  These are two of the best therapies I know.

Motivation Vs. Empowerment

This morning my wife and I were discussing what being motivated or encouraged or empowered means.  We both agreed that empowerment is better than just being motivated.

Which brings me to today’s blog. What is encouragement and empowerment?  Every day from motivational speakers bombard us on how to boost our self-esteem.  When do we ever hear about empowerment?  How long does this incentive to do something last?  The next question is when are we empowered?  Does empowerment cause us to feel or act differently?

I believe this impetus to work is a very temporary state.  We use it to do a single thing.   Such as clean the yard of leaves in the fall.   Or clear the rain gutters on the house.  This is usually after my wife reminds me that gutters are full again.   We have large elm trees in the neighborhood and the rain gutters fill up a few times during the fall and early winter.   An event or person will encourage us for a short time.  Encouragement is a great thing to gets us moving.   The issue is it fades away after a short time.  The feeling of empowerment seems to grow with every success not fade away.

Wanting to write this blog motivates me.  But I find empowerment comes from completing the blog.  Empowerment lifts my spirit and I feel gratitude.  This is empowerment. It does not fade it grows and feeds on itself.  To live a sustainable life you must feel empowered; as there are many challenges in changing to sustainability.  You will need to learn many new skills and leave some preconceived notions behind.  This means leaving the known and facing the uncertain; this is uncomfortable.  We all love our comfort zones; myself included.  But growth and change means we need to look at everything in our lives and decide is this helpful or harmful to my life.  Leaving the comfort zone is the only way to grow.  Once you decide to change to a more sustainable lifestyle you will have many decisions to make and follow through on.  Empowerment will carry you through to act on those decisions.

To live empowered is to feel gratitude for each day.  Each challenge that is overcome adds to your empowerment.  Many changes are not difficult but they take a consistent effort to make into habits.  As a trainer told me one time it takes 21 days of doing the same thing to make something a habit.  This means to change the time you wake up in the morning as an example. You will need to wake up to the alarm clock and get out of bed at the new time every day for nearly a month.  After that your body will recognize the time and you will wake up naturally.  My wife took a new job that requires her to wake up at 6:00 am where we used to wake up at 10 or 11 in the morning so I could get to work at noon.   We are in week three of getting up at 6:00 am.  I find it is good for me as I am able to get a lot of work around the house and on my latest book done.   It is becoming a habit to get up early.  And empowering that I have day light to work on my garden and fix things around the house.

I believe we need empowerment to live a sustainable life.  Planting and harvesting a garden is a big investment of time and effort.  Seeds will sprout but they need attention and care through the growing season.  Weeding is a big chore and hard work.  You will reap the rewards during the summer and fall when you are eating and storing for winter what has grown in your garden.

Again it is encouragement from ourselves or other  that starts the project, and empowerment that see it through to completion.  We all need self-empowerment.  This comes from within.  As the sages have said over time “Happiness is an inside job.”  So is empowerment.   If you wait for someone else to give you empowerment you will wait a very long time in vain.  You are the only one that can give to the proper empowerment you need to move forward.  Just as happiness comes from within so does empowerment.  You can go to all the seminars, workshops, and gatherings on earth looking for it, and never find empowerment.  All you need to do is look into your own soul and reach to your higher spirit and you will find the empowerment you need.  Motivation is a fringe benefit of self-empowerment.

So to close look inside yourself to find what you need to allow you to continue.  With the empowerment you will find happiness and joy.  It will sustain you through the hard days and nights to come.  After a day of cutting and stacking wood or removing the unwanted plants from your garden this empowerment will give you solace and hope for the future.  Living sustainably is fun and a beautiful challenge to grow and be creative.   A person needs to look at the world with new eyes and listen with new understanding.  Creativity and innovation are two of the hallmarks of successfully living a sustainable lifestyle.   I am improving everyday by looking at things with the idea “How can I use this better?”   This is the beginning of a beautiful and great adventure.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Happy gardening and as Spock on Star Trek often said “Live Long and Prosper”

Kenn The Urban Gardenmeister.

What If’s in Life

Today I was thinking about where I have lived and where I would like to live. I have lived in many parts of the world. The U.S. Asia, and Europe. All of them had something to recommend themselves. NYC, San Francisco, L.A., Washington DC, Baltimore, and Boston to mention just a few. Were all good at the time. Now I live in a medium-sized town in the South West. There are many thing I miss on the Coasts. The Diversity of the people of the large cities was great. As a friend said in Washington D.C. “Every time there is a new war or Natural Disaster DC gets a new Restaurant.” It was true. We ate many different types of food.

But now I am glad we are away from the large cities and the Megalopolis of the East Coast. NYC and L.A. are two places I am glad I left. They are death traps by any estimations. There is no way for the majority of the populace to get away from either city in the event of an emergency. To make this point I have a personal event that happened back in 1998. I was in Manhattan and wanting to leave for Philadelphia after a long week. Someone dropped a box off of their vehicle in the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The brave men and women of the Police and Fire department closed the tunnel. It took several hours to decide the box was harmless and it was just an accident. The bad part of this is traffic grid locked up to the Holland Tunnel. A trip that should have taken only a few minutes lasted for several hours. I saw many vehicles run out of gas and add to the problems. People were getting frustrated and very angry. I learned a few new words that summer night.

So if there is a major event such as a prolonged power outage or the main water pipe to the island breaks many people would not be able to get off the island. L.A. is just as bad the road are not able to handle all the people trying to exit the valley at the same time. Last time I was in L.A. the traffic jam reports started at 2:00 pm. They lasted till past 7:00 pm. The first day I asked if there was a special reason for the report so early in the day. My co-worker said it is the normal time for the reports to start.

I am not proposing any conspiracy theory or enemy attack just a thought. What will happen when there is another Coronal Mass Ejection similar to the one in 1859 that melted the telegraph wires in the US and Europe? It is only a matter of time before this very natural and unpredictable event will happen again. With many of our basic services dependent on computers; how are we going to manage the nuclear power plants with the computers permanently offline? Fukushima and Chernobyl are just a precursor to a global level nuclear power plant meltdown.

If you are in a major population center with limited resources such as food fresh water and heating fuel you and just about everyone else will be wanting to leave to a safer place. We moved away from Philadelphia to the more sedate South West. It is a healthier lifestyle where we can ride our bikes or walk to work. There are the mountains for recreation and providing water and food. The Great Plains are east of us; Nebraska or Kansas are a few hours drive from us where there are large farms and areas that are still growing food. The mountains provide food if you know where to look foraging, fishing and hunting are still possible in the mountains. I prefer to do my foraging in the foot hills and around town. When a major event happens there will be too many people in the forest and mountains for my comfort. This is also true for large cities. Many people struggling for the limited resources. There is a lot of food available if you know where to look and what to look for. I spend a lot of time improving my foraging skills and finding better low and no tech ways to thrive.

I would urge everyone who is reading this blog to consider; “What will I do in a prolonged emergency?” My wife was correct when she convinced me to leave the East coast for the South West. We left a year before Super Storm Sandy hit the East Coast. I have many unprepared friends back east caught flat-footed. They had a day or two of food and no stored water. A couple of batteries for the flashlight. Some of them were out of electricity for more than two weeks. Many homes flooded and one of my friends had a generator. The problem was it was under three feet of water in the middle of the storm. Many believed the outages would only last for a few hours. They did not put aside any food or water nor did they have an alternative means to cook food or heat their homes.  There are those who did prepare and still had problems such as my friend with the submerged generator. There were more people who just did not believe it can happen to me. Too many people suffered needlessly. All it would have taken was a little forethought and planning. Every month put aside some non-perishable foods and a buy a few buckets with lids for water and storage of dry goods such as flour, rice, and beans. Granted these are not the tastiest meals but when you are hungry a bowl of rice could be considered a feast.

As with my friend bad luck happens and no matter how well you plan something can go wrong. Murphy’s Law stated it best “If anything can go wrong it will and usually at the worst possible time.” O’Tools commentary is also true “Murphy was an optimist.” He said only one thing will go wrong. It is best to have at least one back up plan in the event the original plan is untenable. I like several options I have made friends throughout the area and have options of where to go and what I can do to thrive in an unpleasant event. In the Army we knew the first casualty of any engagement was the Battle Plan. So a second or even a third fall back plan is something to consider. Don’t over think the issue. A major plan and a backup are all you really need. Keep some basic resources on hand such as money, medicines, food, and water. You and your family will most likely be fine and weather the storm; whatever its cause.

As I have said before Barter will be the continuing economic model. You will need either commodities or in demand skills to trade for what you need and are not able to make or grow. Many people today barter skills and services. It will be very important to learn or refine skills and maybe start a garden. During both World Wars it was your patriotic duty to grow a victory garden. The reasoning was simple if you could feed yourself the major farms could grow food for the soldiers, marines, and sailors who are not able to tend a garden. I have two greenhouses in my back yard that extend the growing season up to 10 months in the year. I will be able to start putting out plants at the middle of February where last year I had to wait till the end of March and into April. My tomatoes and peppers will be out in the middle of March. Which means I will have garden fresh tomatoes in June. This is the best way to provide food for my family. Heirloom seeds and lots of love and attention.

To close, living in a less populated area where there are more natural resources is in my opinion the best option. I realize it is not possible for everyone. Being ready for a week of no electricity is something you can do. Look at how much your family eats and drinks in a week. Over time you can stock up on non-perishable food stocks. Canned food is not the best as the canning process cooks the food  to death. There is very little nutrition left in a can of vegetable. But they will help satisfy you hunger and give some calories to keep going. Stocking up on grains such as millet, oats, quinoa, rice, beans, and a week’s worth of water are something everyone can do to prepare. They are also great trading commodities. Have a few hurricane lanterns and oil ready and flashlights with fresh batteries. I keep my batteries in a cool closet so they stay fresh longer. Do not keep them in the flashlight as they will go dead. A radio with a battery or manual charging crank for official information is a good item to have. Shortwave radio receives are great as the ham radio operators pass information very quickly and in my experience provide valuable information on resources and where to go for help. The government cannot always be where you need them. So the ham radio operators pitch in to help where they can. To live a sustainable life you must think ahead and plan for the “what if’s” in life. An alternative way to cook other than the microwave is also a good idea.

Prioritize and Organize

There are many people talking about “The System Is Going Down.” I am not one of them. The system will change but it will stay in place. The Sky is not falling Chicken Little that was an acorn from an oak tree. Which brings me to today’s blog.

I am naturally disorganized as are most people. I also like to procrastinate. So I put off preparing for anything to happen to the infrastructure; until the government announced “Gridex 2013.” This was to be a simulated Grid down exercise for Canada, The US, and Mexico on November 13 & 14. There was a lot of misinformation and outright fear mongering. We did not want to be caught with no water or heat if the government brought the grid down as part of the simulation. This gave me the impetus to stop procrastinating and get prepared for a bad time. My wife and I prioritized and decided what is and is not important to us. The lists were very different in length. We have a lot of stuff we could get rid of either by bartering, trading, or outright selling. We had some interesting discussions about certain items. In my next book I ask the religious question “Is a coffee pot necessary?” I believe it is essential for good health and a proper spiritual life. My wife was not convinced. She came around as part of a compromise on some other items I did not think were important.

The good part in Gridex is I went out and cut and stacked a cord of wood for the fireplace, bought some containers for potable water, and stocked up on some basic necessities. As we know the grid did not go down; all the fear mongering was for nothing. I am glad the test was held as the electrical grid is the glass jaw of our society. Imagine what how you would fare for a day or week with no electricity. Most people would be in a sever way after the second day of a grid down situation. So my wife and I went about deciding what was important to us and what we would need to keep and what we could either sell or trade for what we would need. The list of what we could dispose of was frightening. It was most of what we have collected over the years. The list of necessities was short in comparison.

The main question is “What do I really need?” This is an important question. I find the list falls in to three categories food and water, shelter, and clothing. A lot of the food on the grocery shelves is dead food and will not sustain you for long. This is why we have so many “lifestyle diseases” such as diabetes, gout, and obesity to name just a few. Natural food that my great grandparents ate is what we need today. They lived into their late 90’s. Granny and Poppa lived on a farm for most of their lives and were the healthy. Poppa died of Pneumonia in 1962 and granny after she fell and hit her head in 1976. Pneumonia is not as dangerous now as it was in the early ‘62. We did not have the medicines or treatments that are available today. After the fall caused irreversible brain damage Granny passed. She was still healthy in body and spirit. What they ate would cause most so called nutritionist to have a cow. Granny cooked with Bacon Grease and Lard she made Ham, Beef, Cheese, breads of every description, Corn Bread with lots of butter, biscuits with butter and honey and that was just for breakfast. Lunch and dinner were much smaller meals. My favorite to this day is “Ho-Cake and Lassus”. For those not born in the Deep South; Ho-Cake is Corn Bread baked in a cast iron skillet and Lassus is Black Strap Molasses. None of these things are being recommended today by the medical establishment. I don’t recommend them either. Since most beef, ham, chicken and any other industrial grown animals are full of drug, hormones, and G*D only know what else. My Great Grandparents never heard of the word “Organic.” The food was from local farms and ranches. This is what we need to move forward to. Local farmers and ranchers providing for the local area.

I digress good food and clean water are the most important things for survival. A good water filter is important and I believe necessary. A good set of pots and pans is convenient but you really only need one or two to cook a small meal for your family. Eating utensils are necessary this could be a knife and spoon. Forks are a relatively new invention. As I said earlier a coffee pot is necessary to me but I have also made what we used to call hobo coffee by putting the grounds in a pot of water and letting it boil then strain the water through a fine screen. This makes a decent cup of coffee or pot of tea. I like both. To cook food you have several options. A fire pit, a Bar-B-Queue grill, a Dakota Fire pit, the fire place in your living room. These are a few ideas. There are many more. For a permanent shelter I like the rocket stoves. They direct the heat to the pot or pan and are very efficient so they use less cooking fuel. They can also be used to heat a small shelter as long as you have a place to vent the smoke. I have the plans available for anyone that wants them. They cost less than $10.00 to make. Send me an email at urbangardenmeister@gmail.com and I will send you the plans from my next book.

For a permanent base of operations being able to grow your own food is important. You can use the food yourself or trade some of it for the things you need and are not able to grow or make. There are companion plants. By that I mean they help each other. A sample is Corn, Pole beans, and lettuce. The corn provide a stalk for the beans to climb and the beans provide nutrients from the air back into the soil, the Corn provides shade for the lettuce and the lettuce help keep the weed to a minimum. There are other pairings. You can look up online for companion plants. There is the French intensive method of farming. It uses every available inch of dirt. The plants are as close to each other as possible. You use the crops as you thin them. The weeds are choked out by the food plants. All of the beds are planted in companion style. The lettuce grows and is ready for harvest before the beans and corn. As you remove the lettuce the beans and corn continue to grow. The beans climb the corn stalks as it provide them shade. I will do a more in depth discussion on plant paring in a later blog.

For those who are in transit from one area to another foraging is going to be the order of the day. You will need to know what plants are good and which ones are noxious and to avoid. An example of this is the Black Locust tree and the Honey locust tree. The only thing eatable on a Black Locust tree is the flower in the spring. Almost all of the Honey Locust tree is edible. The bark, Seed pods, and leaves are all eatable. The wild carrot “Queen Ann’s Lace” and Hemlock look very similar. The former is good in a salad and the latter is deadly. Ask Socrates about Hemlock tea. Foraging is a dying art in this country; event among the rural population. There are many internet sites and a few people who can teach foraging in your area. This is a valuable skill for anyone to have as you never know when something such as Katrina or Super storm Sandy will hit. Again you will need to prioritize your time to learn these skills. I spend many hours a month refining these skills and looking for food plants in my area just in case.

Shelter is more relevant to your location and the time of year. I would prioritize shelter higher in the winter in New England than I would in the late spring in Florida. You need shelter in both places. In the winter in New England it would be necessary to prevent you from dying of hypothermia. Where in Florida it would be less important. You could do as some friends of mine and I did when we were in the Army and sleep on the beach. It was an adventure. Shelter can be as simple as laying under an overhang or a Poncho lean. Then there are small houses build from local materials. These would be more permanent and used as a base of operations where a lean to or tent would be for temporary for a night or two. The list of improvised shelters is too long to put down in a simple blog. There are how to books on every type of shelter anyone could think of. My personal favorite that I have seen is in the Crystal Forest in Arizona. It is an ancient hunting lodge build out of agate. The natives in the area built it over a thousand years ago. The agate are still very plentiful in the area and make a great building material. If you get to Arizona you may want to check it out. I will be writing a book on temporary and permanent shelters after I finish my current book on Sustainable living.

Clothing is the third leg of our survival triangle. Clothing will wear out eventually. Having an extra pair of pants and shirt will help but eventually they will wear out. This is where knowing how to make and mend clothing is vital to long term sustainable living. This is something you will need to learn how to make or mend. I like fiber arts as have recently learned how to make thread and yarn with a drop spindle and spinning wheel. The wheel makes a more consistent thread but the both work for creating a good yarn for knitting or crocheting. Weaving is also a good art to learn. The drop spindles are good in that a few of them take up very little room and you can use them almost anywhere. This is a skill that will come in handy in any sustainable living situation. If you can make the thread or yarn to make or mend clothing you will be able to trade for things you cannot grow or make. Everyone needs cloth for mending old pants and shirts. If you can make that you are going to very popular in the community. If you are not good at making cloth you probable have other skills you can trade for these services. Barter is an age old economic model many people use to this day all over the globe.

It is all a case of priority. What you feel is important may not be important to someone else. This is the wonderful thing about our society, we are all different and together we make up a beautiful mosaic. I like being able to make things such as knitted mittens and hats. I also like to garden I have two green houses that allow me to grow crops 10 months out of the year. My next door neighbor does not care to garden. They have other priorities. Many people have gotten my e-book on Amazon.com “How to Build a Greenhouse on a Shoestring Budget” because it is a priority for them to be able to extend the growing season. If you have a permanent base you have different options than someone in transit. Both of you have options you must prioritize and organize yourself to make the best of any situation. Including the voluntary move to live sustainable off the grid. There are many question you need to answer for yourself. Find what is important to you and organize so you know what you have and what you can do; is the best advice I can offer to anyone.

 

Sustainable Means Long-term and Comfortable

This is my first blog. I believe to live a sustainable lifestyle you are committing to a life long en devour. This means you and your family need to be comfortable. If you have to give up too many creäture comforts you will give up and go to a more desirable life style.

My wife and I both like hot and cold running water and electric lights. I would be hard pressed to give these up entirely. There are many alternative methods to modern conveniences. A gas or electric water heater is great, there are alternatives and natural ways to pre-heat water. I will be covering some of these methods in future blogs. A modern convenience does not have to fight nature. Sustainable living is about cooperating with nature and living in balance. To be honest it is more effort and takes some forethought and planning to live sustainability.

To live in balance you will need to think about many small and several large things that we as a society take for granted. If you need food you run to the market and pay with a debit card. For lights in a room you flip a switch and there you have light. If you are off the grid; you will need to be conservative about electricity as you are probably using a battery bank or using oil lanterns or candles. I love the ambiance of candle lit evenings or a decorative oil lantern. These are very handy to anyone in the event of a power outage.

A generator using bio-fuel with a wind or solar system is a great alternative to using a public electricity utility. Again you will need to plan and conserve to prevent an outage. This is the beginning of a great adventure. I will be adding information on alternative energy and how to get mostly off the grid. I do not kn ow that it is possible in a city to get all the way off. You can do a lot to minimize your carbon footprint and save money.

To conclude my first blog I would like to say “Thank You” for stopping by and I hope you find some value in my blog. I will be adding more on different methods to provide for your self and your family. We are not islands alone but part of a great mosaic.