I am continuing my first foray into deer hide tanning. In this post, I’ll outline the methods that I’m following. Tanning has three main steps with a few additions (given in parentheses): skinning and fleshing, (salting and rinsing, refleshing, hair removal,) pickling and neutralizing, and softening. We’ll go through these step by step. Before we … More Research Update — Deer Hide Tanning Instructions, Part 1
I’m happy to have the chance to share what I know about making char cloth, a material used to help start fires over a hundred years before modern matches and lighters, on the Low Tech Blog. Char cloth is simply carbonized cloth that, when it is lit, will hold a smoldering hot ember for several … More DIY Project — Making Char Cloth for Low-Tech Fire Kindling — Contribution from Fred Sutherland
We’re continuing to talk about meat this week. Without refrigeration or freezing, many of us would have trouble keeping meat from spoiling. Potted or canned meat is one option to preserve the harvest, but it doesn’t have the allure or flavor profile of smoked or dried meat. Drying techniques preserve foods by robbing microbes of … More DIY Project — Jerky
Okay, I’ll level with you. My aquaponics system is not really low tech. This is my first foray into growing plants from fish excrement, and so I consider it a proof-of-concept project. In the future, I plan to build a large-scale, wind-powered aquaponics set-up (described in yesterday’s post), but for now, I am depending on … More DIY Project — Aquaponics Pump Filter
Raised beds have become a staple of urban gardening and for good reason. Artificial beds have plenty of advantages: Excellent drainage Easy to keep tidy Able to be installed over poor soil or potentially contaminated soils Good foundation for garden infrastructure (irrigation, row covers), see photo. Prevents soil compaction Can keep away some pests Can … More DIY Project — Raised Beds
Sourdough bread is tangy, chewy, and gone in a day or two in my house. Sourdough was probably the first type of bread ever made, and it is simplicity itself: flour, water, salt, and time. When flour and water are mixed, the protein gluten begins to form chains. Over time those chains get long and … More DIY Project — Sourdough Starter
Lawns are a waste of resources. Consider the time, effort, fuel, and money we spend to create a carpet of grass, which has no functional value. Why not replace the grass with clover? It tops out at six inches and provides flowers for bees and fodder for animals (it is high in protein, and chickens … More DIY Project — Clover Lawn
The F-word. It happens. Even if we had the benefit of hands-on mentors, we’d still experience failure. We’ve had a number of failures this year and we’d like to share them with you. In addition to avoiding our missteps, you’ll benefit from hearing the solutions we’ve found. Greenhouse Tomatoes We have squirrels here and last … More Failure — 2016 Edition
Don’t worry, I’m not composting my chickens, instead I’ve hired my chickens as sanitation workers. With a few minor modifications of your compost stall and composting habits, you can give your chickens supplemental food as well as speed the decomposition of your inputs to complete compost. The Composter This takes a bit of planning and … More DIY Project — Chicken Composter
Before prohibition, cider was the most popular drink in America. Cider ferments when yeast eats sugar in the apple juice and excretes carbon dioxide and alcohol. Ingredients and Materials 1-gal. glass bottle*/† Airlock and one-hole stopper — either three piece or bubbler* Potassium metabisulfite* (optional sterilizer) Autosiphon* (optional) Four wine (700-ml) or eight pint-sized fliptop … More DIY Project — Apple Cider Fermentation