Read http://www.selfsufficientish.com/main/

Wild Foraging - enjoy nettle soup, rose petal syrup, bambles and poor mans potatoes....

Hedgerow by John Wright is a good read if you enjoy food :D I bought this book a year or two ago and was having a early morning Boxing day read, next to our cozy fireplace, with the winter wind storm howling outside.


Its all about "Wild Foraging" - which is collecting your food from nature ...a traditional, age old, hunter, gatherer skill. 


Obviously the fruits of the hunt vary from region to region, country to country but the more that one learns about useful 'weeds' which are easy to grow, without pesticides and tasty to boot - the sooner you too can be enjoying your hunt. 


Each year, we personally enjoy yummy treats like nettle soup, rose petal syrup, bambles and poor mans potatoes. You can grow your own from slips etc, just be absolutely certain with your identification!

http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/hedgerow-by-john-wright-%E2%80%93-river-cottage-handbook-no-7-review-6914

Documentary

More on Earthships

Source:  greenheadmoss.org.uk

Source:  http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/earthship.htm

Source:  http://inspirationgreen.com/glassbottlewalls.html

Source: Wikipedia

Source:   vector1media.com

What is an earthship?

An Earthship is an alternative method of building.  An earthship is often created out of recycled materials such as tyres.  Although it has become a type of passive solar house made of natural and recycled materials. Earthships also usually incorporate their own special natural ventilation

Earthships are now also formally designed and marketed by several companies such as Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico.

They are still generally made of earth-filled tyres and thermal mass construction naturally regulates indoor temperature. They also usually have their own special natural ventilation system. 

Earthships are generally Off-the-grid homes, minimizing their reliance on public utilities and fossil fuels. 

Earthships are built to utilize the available local resources, especially energy from the sun. For example, windows on sun-facing walls admit lighting and heating, and the buildings are often horseshoe-shaped to maximize natural light and solar-gain during winter months. The thick, dense inner walls provide thermal mass that naturally regulates the interior temperature during both cold and hot outside temperatures.

Internal, non-load-bearing walls are often made of a honeycomb of recycled cans joined by concrete and are referred to as tin can walls. These walls are usually thickly plastered with stucco.

The roof of an Earthship is heavily insulated – often with earth or adobe – for added energy efficiency.

History

The Earthship, as it exists today, began to take shape in the 1970s. 

Mike Reynolds, founder of Earthship Biotecture, a company that specializes in designing and building Earthships, wanted to create a home that would do three things; first, it would be sustainable architecture, using material indigenous to the entire planet as well as recycled materials wherever possible. Second, the homes would rely on natural energy sources and be independent from the “grid”, therefore being less susceptible to natural disasters and free from the electrical and water lines that Reynolds considered unsightly and wasteful. Finally, it would be economically feasible for the average person with no specialized construction skills to be able to create.

Source

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Source:  practicalenvironmentalist.com

earthship.co.nz

treehugger.com

Water-less Toilet Systems !

Why do people get queasy when the subjects of toilets come up?  Its a natural body function and water - based toilet systems pollute huge volumes of water unnecessarily.  Imagine that with a world population of 7 billion!

We, personally successfully used a compost toilet system for 2 years on our small farm.  It was virtually oudorless too.  We used sawdust as a sprinkling on top each time.

There are a variety of water-less toilet systems.  I have seen some that seperate solid and liquid waste and use the liquid waste for ammonia/urea.

A friend posted this link on her fb page, so if you are interested, have a look here too:   http://www.loowatt.com/

Others are:
http://files.uniteddiversity.com/Permaculture/Compost_Toilets_and_Permaculture_Design_Principles.pdf
http://www.separett.com/
http://www.rotaloo.co.uk/
http://www.lowimpact.org/factsheet_compost_toilets.htm
http://www.ecoethic.ca/products_wl.html
http://www.clivusmultrum.com.au/
http://www.sunfrost.com/composting_toilets.html


Courses:  http://www2.cat.org.uk/shortcourses/index.php?cPath=3_14&gclid=CIKEvv7J8KwCFQMPfAodjH9tLg