We bring nonindustrial subsistence technology to (over)developed societies. We exist at the nexus of ancient, ethnographic, and modern subsistence. We aim to 1) identify ancient and contemporary nonindustrial technologies appropriate for use in modern, small-scale, self-sustaining infrastructure; 2) create do-it-yourself, resource-light solutions to sustainability problems; 3) provide our findings to the public for free use; and 4) create platforms to share information related to sustainability, especially solutions derived from ancient or ethnographic sources. We prize simple solutions over complex ones and eschew needless complication.
A few weeks ago, we got a call from the institute’s treasurer, Paula, who works at Historic Wagner Farm in a suburb of Chicago. Wagner Farm was originally outside of the metro area and then Chicagoland grew up around it and the Village of Glenview decided to turn this working farm into a city park. … More Welcome New Chickens!
The hour-per-day gardening project continues. It has been two months since my last update to this project. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as diligent as I’d like to have been, as the Sustainability Skill Share was coming up on June 1 and 2. Since then, it has been a busy time, getting starts transplanted in the … More Striving Towards Hour-Per-Day Gardening
The Madison-based weekly, The Isthmus, published a story about the upcoming Sustainability Skill Share. We’re glad for the coverage! If you’ve been putting off signing up, now’s the time! Check out the whole article here: https://isthmus.com/arts/emphasis/low-technology-institute-sustainability-skill-share/
If you walk barefoot onto a paved road on a balmy August night, you might notice the retained heat of the day has charged up the massive concrete with quite a lot of residual energy. Despite the sun having set hours prior, the ground is still quite warm. If you then took a step onto … More Skill Share Workshop: Rocket Stove Construction
I’ve been splitting hives since I started keeping bees 4 years ago and I’m still on my original line of bees (meaning I bought one nuc four years ago and am still going). This Saturday afternoon at 3:00 P.M. I’m going to start splitting my hives. The weather is cool, but I don’t want to … More Come Learn to Split Beehives This Weekend: 3 p.m. Saturday
It might surprise you to read that our post on different types of beehives is the most popular blog entry of all time. About once a month I get a call or email asking to ship a long Langstroth hive out to folks in California, New York, or other far-flung locations. Unfortunately, the shipping is … More Long Langstroth Hive Build from Twin Bees Apiary
This is a repost of material from Botan Anderson’s site, One Scythe Revolution (1SR). Botan is teaching a weekend full of sycthing classes at this year’s Sustainability Skill Share (see full course descriptions at the linked page). Attendees can take a day- or weekend-long course covering scything basics and/or more intermediate topics, with prices starting … More Skill Share Workshop: Basic and Improving Scything
Low Tech Podcast, No. 38 – 08 Mar 2019
Discussing the #GreenNewDeal and Low Tech New Deal. … More Low Tech Podcast, No. 39 — Sustainability Skill Share Instructor Interviews
These are a few stories we found this week that may be of interest to institute regulars. If you have a news tip, please send it to lowtechinstitute@gmail.com.
Learn to sharpen your knives, chisels, and scissors by hand on a variety of stones and mediums. Throw away those cheap, store-bought guides and jigs, come explore the world of sharpness, leaving with knives sharper than you’ve ever had and the knowledge to put a fine edge on them whenever you like with the just … More Skill Share Workshop: Introduction to Sharpening Knives and Tools
