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Sixteen common firewoods ranked by heat per cord at 20 percent moisture, from one university table, with splitting, smoke and spark notes and the seasoning rules that matter more than species.
Read More →Build it yourself. Home and outbuilding projects, field and land work, seasonal challenges and the small DIY jobs that make a homestead more self-sufficient.
A few weeks ago, I posted a series of articles detailing the uses for, and construction of rain barrels. As I scanned the comments later, along with noticing quite a few folks pointing out my error of switching oxygen for nitrogen, I saw a few people mentioned that, in some sections of the country, the…
Okay, so let me start by saying, I know what you’re thinking. If I stumbled across an article like this on the internet, my first thought would be “Seriously?! A DIY rain barrel?? Step one, buy barrel, step two, collect rain. How hard can it really be?” While that would be a perfectly adequate rain…
Go to almost any homestead, and you’ll see something interesting. Many of them seem to have a bit in common with a New York City apartment building–they feature a rain barrel (or three) to catch water. Now on the first glance this seems to make sense. After all, water is essential to human life, so…
I realize at a few points in this solar-power series, I have said a component is absolutely essential to the system. While this may seem hyperbolic, in actuality, it is because most parts of the system I outline are truly essential to its success. While this next component may not be technically essential to collect…
If you’ve stuck with us this far concerning solar-powered setups, congratulations! If not, perhaps consider going back to review the other articles on solar systems that have brought us here. This week, we’re continuing the series with a discussion of batteries, the primary source of power storage for your system. While they’re heavy, expensive, and…
So, you’ve selected a sunny place, laid your panels and fastened them down. Next, you ran all the wiring and hooked them all together into one clean, combined unit. From here, you decide all you need to do is wire in the battery! After all, sun shines on panels, panels emit energy, energy is stored…
So you’ve misdrilled a few holes and gotten your solar panels up, now you’re trying to figure out what to do with all those damn wires. First you try twist-tying them together, but as the first stiff breeze unseats your work, you think to yourself, “There must be a better way!” No? Just me? You…
Last week, we posted a little primer on the overall makeup of a solar energy system. That, of course, is only the beginning. Every specific category on that list, from panels to batteries, represents a complex segment of the system that requires serious research before buying. This in mind, we’ll be covering each of these…
It’s no secret that one massive barrier to living off grid in this modern age, is how to power the numerous appliances that make our daily lives more convenient. To be sure, some who prefer a rural existence eschew these time-saving devices entirely, but for the vast majority of homesteaders it’s a serious concern. Fortunately,…
While it may be a few months from opening day of deer season, experienced hunters know it’s already high time to begin prep. From sighting in one’s bow or rifle to scouting game trails, work in the offseason equates directly to in-season success. For those who hunt on their very own homestead, this is doubly…
Convinced you don’t have a green thumb? Tired of having to choose between constant weeding or seeing your plants choked out? Raised garden beds may be the key to your problems, and they’re rather easy to craft. Read on for the why and how of this time- and back-saving garden addition. Benefits While obviously too…
Welcome back to our two-part series on root-cellar fundamentals. As a quick recap, in the previous article we discussed the ways a root cellar uses the natural insulation of the earth to keep food fresh in any season (read more about that here). The simplest type of root cellar, therefore, is a dug hole, usually…
