Green Trust Sustainability & Renewable Energy

Anguilla Solar

2008-03-26T22:11:00.003-04:00

We just got back from our trip to Anguilla. We helped Francoise set up her new solar power system. Two Kyocera 130 watt PV panels, a Xantrex C35 charge controller, a Trimetric Battery Meter, a Morningstar Microsine 300 sine wave inverter, and a 70 ah AGM battery, power up 3 Compact Fluorescent Lights, A LG WP-680N Washing Machine (260 Watts) and a Shurflo 12v pump. Two weeks of testing, and we were never able to pull the battery below 12.4 volts. The system consistently output 1.5 kWh's daily. More pics at http://www.green-trust.org/Anguilla Solar/.

Solar Install in Anguilla

2008-03-08T10:25:00.004-05:00

We are off on our trip to Anguilla to do a solar install. Be back in 2 weeks, and expect to have a tan. Will post pics when we return. The install consists of two 130 watt panels, 35 amp charge controller, 1 AGM 70ah battery, a 300 watt sine wave inverter, and a 12 volt shurflo cistern pump. See pics of last weeks solar install at Woodhenge.org

All About Batteries

2008-03-03T09:21:00.003-05:00

Off grid homes, RV's, and boats use a house bank, a bank of batteries used to store the energy from solar, wind, and backup generators for times of no sun or no wind. These are not car batteries, these are specially designed deep cycle batteries that can handle repeated deep discharge and charge cycles. Learn about the following and more from Living With 12vdc and Wiring For 12vdc, on the Ample Power CD at http://www.green-trust.org/products/

What happens inside a battery when it discharges and
charges?
How much energy can be stored?
How is storage capacity measured?
How can capacity remaining be determined?
When is the best time to recharge?
What charging techniques yield optimum performance?
How fast can a battery be charged?
How should a battery be discharged?
What kind of regular maintenance is required?
What pitfalls must be avoided?

Watermotor - Simple Mechanical Drive

2008-02-28T20:19:00.002-05:00

Most of the common machines used in workshops, industry, and farms are driven by motors of only .5 - 5 horsepower. The Watermotor will produce this amount of power at an extremely low cost and with a minimum of ecological disruption.

High energy efficiency means that the quantity of water necessary for operation and cost of installation is greatly reduced, while on the other hand the number of actual locations where waterpower on this scale is available increases exponentially. In effect, every small fast-flowing stream becomes an important local energy resource, perhaps in many cases the only practical one available. In the world's hilly and mountainous areas there are often few roads and even fewer electric power-lines. While frequently rich in small scale water-power resources, the people are poor.

The Watermotor is a practical means of utilizing one of the easiest to use and most efficient sources of natural energy.

http://www.watermotor.net

Solar Homes & Solar Collectors

2008-02-24T13:03:00.001-05:00

Solar energy is our birthright like the air we breathe or the water we drink. Solar Home Plans and affordable Solar Hot Water Plans are the gateway into a "Solar Age" of energy independence. Fossil fuels are no longer necessary to keep the wheels of civilization turning. Build your own solar heating system with an MTD Solar Collector Kit. Explore the Strawberry Fields Book Store for more information. Alternative energies like solar energy will increase in value as fossil fuel prices escalate. Solar collectors, solar hot water systems, heat storage vaults, photovoltaic electricity, solar panels, solar greenhouses and solar house plans will become more important in this century. According to Buckminster Fuller "We have wondered too far from the roots." An energy crisis can only be avoided only if we learn to rely on a diffuse, sustainable resource like the sun. .

http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/

Invention of the Month - The Green Steam Engine

2008-02-19T13:18:00.001-05:00

This one has been around a while, and has met the test of time. It's a reliable design, and we think it's awesome. See more at http://www.greensteamengine.com

Installing Solar at Woodhenge.org

2008-02-18T09:04:00.003-05:00

Jim Juczak's power system was damaged by their recent house fire. A group of us went to help them rebuild various aspects from sheetrock to applying primer. My son Matt and I tackled upgrading and repairing the power system. Jim had built wooden frames for the 12 new solar panels. These panels are a bit different than the usual ones we run across. Each panel is a 45 watt, 98 volt open circuit amorphous panel. Matt and I built combiner boxes and wiring whips so that each frame will hold 4 panels wired in parallel, and a master combiner box that parallels the 3 frames, feeding the Outback MX-60 in the house. The house contains a 24 volt Trojan L16 battery pack.

Each frame has a small combiner box connecting the 4 panels with 12 gauge cable to a 10 gauge uplink to the master combiner box. The master combiner uplinks to the house with 6 gauge. See pics at http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/12VDC_Power/photos/browse/5156?c=

They bought a 40' shipping container to put belongings in while the house is being finished, so we put a temporary pv system on that as well for internal lighting.

We go back next weekend to fix the wind turbine and install some ground lines for the panels.

Low current LED Lighting

2008-02-11T12:58:00.000-05:00

We recently got a line on these 110vac LED light strips. Containing 198 LED's, 5mm in size, the strip consumes 11 watts and outputs almost 700 lumens. They sell for $25 delivered in the lower 48 states. Get them at http://www.green-trust.org/products/.

Worm Composting eBooklet Finished

2008-02-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

We finished our eBooklet on worm composting. We are adding the final pictures, and polishing up the video. The booklet is $15 and comes with support group access and a $10 discount on the video (normally $35). See http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/.

Agrichar - Soil Productivity Magic Bullet?

2008-02-09T15:23:00.000-05:00

The huge potential of agricultural soils to reduce greenhouse gases and increase production at the same time has been reinforced by new research findings at NSW Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) Wollongbar Agricultural Institute.

Trials of agrichar - a product hailed as a saviour of Australia’s carbon-depleted soils and the environment - have doubled and, in one case, tripled crop growth when applied at the rate of 10 tonnes per hectare.

Agrichar is a black carbon byproduct of a process called pyrolysis, which involves heating green waste or other biomass without oxygen to generate renewable energy.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/may-2007/soils-offer-new-hope

http://www.abc.net.au/science/broadband/catalyst/asx/Agrichar_hi.asx

Fire damages round house

2008-01-28T13:31:00.000-05:00

A unique Jefferson County home (http://www.woodhenge.org), celebrated for its eco-friendly design, was damaged by fire Sunday afternoon.

No one was home at the residence of Jim and Krista Juczak at 14910 Fuller Road in the Town of Adams when the fire was reported to Jefferson County Emergency Dispatch at 1:26 p.m.

The round-shaped home, constructed of concrete and face logs is one of the more famous abodes in the area, having been the subject of various broadcast and print reports as well as host to tours for educational groups.

Mr. Juczak said he believed the blaze originated as a chimney fire and that most of the damage probably resulted from smoke and water. The structure is insured.

Firefighters from Adams, Adams Center and Town of Watertown were at the scene.

Heating and Cooking, on the cheap!

2008-01-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

Do you have a small cabin, camp, or just want to be a bit more self sufficient? Here's what we are playing with. The military used to use these tent heaters. They can heat a small space, and be used for cooking. What makes them particularly neat, is that they are multi fuel. They will burn wood or coal, plus they can burn liquid fuels from diesel and kerosene, to gasoline and alcohol. Here's the best news, THEY WILL BURN USED FRYER OIL. Yes, the waste vegetable oil that your Italian or Chinese restaurant throws away after frying your food, is a fuel source. We even use it in our diesel engines. Imagine producing your own electricity in a fryer fueled generator. We do this here at Green-Trust. Learn more about these stoves at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/.

Free Book Download: Much Ado About Almost Nothing

2008-01-25T22:15:00.001-05:00

**Much Ado About Almost Nothing**

A History of Electricity and Electronics

2007, Hans Camenzind

This is the story of the electron. 3,000 years ago the tiny particle caused nothing but fear and superstition whenever it appeared. Its perception by man changed slowly as a few heretics dared to investigate. Then man discovered the "Leyden Jar", a gadget which produced a vicious electrical shock, to the amusement of the experimenters and kings.

Discover a new side of Benjamin Franklin as an unlikely scientist in an unlikely place, who stunned the European establishment by discovering fundamental principles and thus opened the field to other people. People like Luigi Galvani (who drew the wrong conclusions), Alessandro Volta (who corrected him and ruined his life), André Ampere, an emotional mathematician, and Georg Ohm, who discovered the basic law of electricity but presented it so badly that he was ignored.

Happy worms!

2008-01-24T13:16:00.001-05:00

We just added 1000 worms to a new worm bin. One hour after spreading them on top of the litter, they disappeared into the bedding to munch away happily on our kitchen scraps. We are thrilled that we are able to keep up our composting indoors, even when it's below 0 (F) outdoors. There is no smell other than an earthy dirt smell right near the bins. We cover all submissions with coconut fiber as we add it. No ants, flies, or smells. This picture was taken as we were adding some old stale tortilla shells and a fresh batch of worms. We can send you 1 lb. of worms, 1 bale of coconut fiber, and a manual on worm composting for $99, delivered. You supply a $8 plastic tote (12 - 15 gallon) and you are in the indoor worm composting business. Just drop us a line at sspence@green-trust.org.

The Homebrew Power CD

2008-01-19T13:43:00.000-05:00

After the huge Server Upgrades here at HomeBrewPower we have finally got around to recompiling our CD Rom that was previously available only in hard copy for $20.00 + P&P.

The Entire contents have been recompiled, tweaked and buffered and made available for download for what we think is a VERY fair price of $5.00.

To purchase the package just visit our homepage http://www.homebrewpower.co.uk and click on the purchase link. Your personal download link will be emailed to you soon as funds have landed. (Usually within 10 minutes!)

I know there were quite a few wanting the CD Rom in the past, well now I think you can finally have one.

Kind regards

Andy Mahoney

Home Brew Power

(Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)

www.homebrewpower.co.uk

The Worms Arrive

2008-01-16T14:48:00.000-05:00

Our vermiposting red worms arrived today. Now our composting project kicks into high gear. The beds are ready, kitchen craps have been collected, and compost will be ready for spring. Read more at http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/.

Our veggie oil burner also arrived, so the used fryer oil to hot water project begins. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/.

The parts for our home made generator / battery charger arrived today as well. You can read more about that at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/diy_generator/

Heart Breaking Story on eWaste

2008-01-14T15:59:00.000-05:00

June is the wet season in Ghana, but here in Accra, the capital, the morning rain has ceased. As the sun heats the humid air, pillars of black smoke begin to rise above the vast Agbogbloshie Market. I follow one plume toward its source, past lettuce and plantain vendors, past stalls of used tires, and through a clanging scrap market where hunched men bash on old alternators and engine blocks. Soon the muddy track is flanked by piles of old TVs, gutted computer cases, and smashed monitors heaped ten feet (three meters) high. Beyond lies a field of fine ash speckled with glints of amber and green—the sharp broken bits of circuit boards. I can see now that the smoke issues not from one fire, but from many small blazes. Dozens of indistinct figures move among the acrid haze, some stirring flames with sticks, others carrying armfuls of brightly colored computer wire. Most are children.

Read the whole article at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2008-01/high-tech-trash/carroll-text.html.

DIY Generator Project

2008-01-12T15:09:00.000-05:00

Our generator project is progressing. We have a 10hp B&S OHV engine, a GM 108 amp alternator, and are awaiting a bracket and pulley to be delivered. We are constructing a 3 stage charger to maintain our deep cycle battery bank, with appropriate instrumentation.

More info at http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/.

Composting Toilet and Recycling System, Ready to Go!

2008-01-05T11:28:00.001-05:00

We have developed a complete composting Kitchen and Toilet system for anyone wanting to reduce their water requirements, eliminate sewage, and build soil quality for gardening. Consisting of a manual on worm composting, a collection device (toilet), cover & bedding material (coconut fiber), a worm bin and worms, This system sells for $100 + Shipping, and includes everything you need. See pictures of the components at

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/simplyoffgrid/photos/browse/9dd6?c=

( http://tinyurl.com/2l9osf )

Build your own from the descriptions and parts list, or drop us a line at sspence@green-trust.org for a complete kit delivered to you.

Also recommended:

The Humanure Handbook - http://tinyurl.com/2to3wm

Worms Eat My Garbage (included in kit) - http://tinyurl.com/2p2ze6

Florida's Diesel Electric Hybrid Buses

2008-01-05T08:25:00.000-05:00

A buddy of mine, Ron Morrison, grabbed a shot of this Diesel Electric Hybrid bus.

Farther away from the beach I saw this city bus. Hybrid diesel-electric. It was really quiet zooming away from a stoplight & was hitting 40 mph. I had to wait till both of us caught a stoplight for me to hop out of my car to take this picture.

More info can be found at http://www.scgov.net/PublicCommunications/MediaRelations/documents/HybridBusFactSheet8-06.pdf.

Composting Toilets, Homebuilt Generators, and more

2008-01-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

We are working on a number of projects today. It's -25F outside, so it's a good day to stay indoors near the wood stoves. Even the generator wouldn't turn over, even with the recoil start. Brought it in next to the wood stove to thaw out. The worm beds are under construction, and we ordered a inexpensive bucket toilet with lid as one of the food sources for the worms. Many folks use sawdust or peat, but we use recycled Coconut fiber. For info on how it works, read about it at http://weblife.org/humanure/default.html

The other project is a rebuild of our propane converted B&S 10hp Generator. We smoked the coils on the alternator, and have decided to rebuild it as a DC battery Bank Charger. We bought a 108 amp GM alternator, and are belt driving it from the 10hp B&S propane powered engine. More pics to come on that project.

Multi Fuel Burner - Heat / Cook with Veggie Oil

2008-01-01T22:12:00.000-05:00

We have a bunch of used but good condition 45k btu heaters (Military Surplus M1941) coming in that will burn a multitude of liquid fuels, like kerosene, diesel, used fryer oil, etc. This is a DIY Tinker type item, not a ready to run appliance. Can be installed in an existing wood stove or drum (We have the original wood/coal stove for these oil kit inserts available for $115). These sell for $50 delivered in the USA (lower 48), and we are working out a quantity drop ship to the UK for local delivery. For USA customers, send steve@green-trust.org an email, for EU customers, send a email to andy@homebrewpower.co.uk

We have a digitized manual available at http://www.green-trust.org/Alaskan%20Oil%20Heater/ and a discussion group for this device at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/

Why Compost With Worms?

2007-12-31T07:07:00.000-05:00

As we progress on our worm composting project, many folks have asked us why we are doing this. We really thought the questions would be how, so we pause to give a few reasons why this should be done, then you can have fun with the how.

We need a high quality fertilized soil for growing our food.
Food scraps are too valuable to throw out in the trash.
It's too cold out in our winters to compost outdoors.
It's educational for the kids to learn how our world works.

Up to 50% of our waste stream is organics that can be composted. Composting alleviates the strain on the public waste system, and provides soil enhancers that go far beyond the capability of chemical fertilizers.

Read what others have to say about this inexpensive and fun hobby, and visit http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/ to participate in our project:

Many homeowners have some kind of home composting system in operation. However, people living in condominiums, apartments and other residences don’t have a suitable place to start a compost pile. These people feel left out on a worthwhile cause, and need alternative ways to be part of the composting program.

There is a solution! Kitchen wastes can be converted to a rich humus with the help of redworms. Children find worms fascinating. They are very well behaved "pets," and also help with household chores!

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Redwormsedit.htm

Worm composting is using worms to recycle food scraps and other organic material into a valuable soil amendment called vermicompost, or worm compost. Worms eat food scraps, which become compost as they pass through the worm's body. Compost exits the worm through its' tail end. This compost can then be used to grow plants. To understand why vermicompost is good for plants, remember that the worms are eating nutrient-rich fruit and vegetable scraps, and turning them into nutrient-rich compost.

http://www.css.cornell.edu/compost/worms/basics.html

Let worms eat your organic waste! They will happily turn it into some of the best fertilizer on earth - worm compost, otherwise known as worm castings or vermicompost. This is a fascinating, fun, and easy way to recycle your organic kitchen wastes. Worm composting, or vermiculture, requires very little work, produces no offensive odors, and helps plants thrive. Only a few things are needed to make good worm compost: a bin, bedding, worms, and worm food. By following the steps listed below, you will learn to make, take care of, and use your own worm compost.

http://earth911.org/blog/2007/04/02/composting-with-worms/

It's simple. The worms are kept in a bin with shredded paper or other biodegradable bedding. You feed them food waste. They digest the waste and bedding then excrete nutrient-rich castings. After a few months, the castings combined with the well-decomposed bedding, become vermicompost -- one of the richest soil improvements around. It will do wonders for plants, flowers, fruit trees and garden vegetables. And, anglers will appreciate having a steady supply of worms on hand.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/compost2.htm

Vermiposting (Worm Compost) Project Underway

2007-12-28T08:09:00.000-05:00

A Coleman Cooler with a drain at the bottom, a bale of Coconut Coir, kitchen scraps, and a quart of fishing worms, and the project is under way. The indoor garden beds still need to be constructed, and the fluorescent grow lights installed, but we expect to have those done mid January. To participate in this project, please visit
http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/. If you would like to order a kit, drop us a line at sspence@green-trust.org. All the worm bed materials will come packaged in the cooler, just add kitchen scraps. Worm Compost makes the best fertilizer and potting soil.

Science Channel Rerun of Wind Turbine build Tonight

2007-12-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

The Science Channel is having a rerun night, with the first few episodes being reshown, including our wind turbine episode at 10:30pm. Don't miss the other episodes, as there are many cool green tech things happening. See new episodes every Monday night.

http://science.discovery.com/fansites/invention-nation/invention-nation.html

Indoor Winter Garden - Fresh Organic Food All Year Round

2007-12-23T19:57:00.001-05:00

We are developing indoor winter gardening solutions, so that everyone can enjoy fresh organic food all year round, regardless of outdoor weather. We are installing worm beds, using recycled coconut fiber instead of unsustainable peat moss, and using energy efficient grow lights. If you would like to help out with this project, we will give you access to our working group, send you our upcoming ebook which will document the process, as well as send you a bag of organic worm compost potting soil in appreciation for helping fund this project. For more info, go to http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks.

Green-Trust.org and Woodhenge.org on Discovery's Science Channel

2007-12-16T22:38:00.000-05:00

Our air-date has been moved up to tomorrow night, December 17th, at 10pm Eastern time. The Science Channel is found on both cable and satellite TV. Check out http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/invention_nation.php. You will see show hosts Chris, Nobu, and Micah learning to build a 1000 watt wind turbine from scratch, which helps power our off-grid home. More information on our wind turbines can be found at http://www.green-trust.org, http://www.woodhenge.org and http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/axialflux/.

Get the Wind Power Workshop, by Hugh Piggott, to learn how to build your own wind turbine as seen on our Science Channel episode.

Back Home Magazine is giving away a free set of wind turbine plans when you subscribe for a year. This is a great deal, and I highly recommend it!

Renewable Energy for Communications

2007-12-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

All amateur radio operators interested in using renewable energy to power their shacks or for EmComm use are invited to join . . .

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AE_Hams

We're up to 27 of us. Come join us.

73,
ldb
--
Larry D. Barr, K5WLF
ARRL NTX District 3 PIO
Rebel Wolf Energy Systems
http://www.rebelwolf.com/

The Story of Stuff

2007-12-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

The Story of Stuff (www.storyofstuff.com) will take you on a provocative tour of our consumer-driven culture — from resource extraction to iPod incineration — exposing the real costs of our use-it and lose-it approach to stuff.

This teaser is just the beginning of the story. Watch it, learn more and get involved here: www.StoryofStuff.com

A Convenient Truth - A film about the world getting better

2007-11-15T19:32:00.000-05:00

It's not about how bad it is, it's all about what we can do to makes things better!

http://www.climatefilm.com

Safety First!

2007-11-13T11:14:00.000-05:00

Working with powertools makes the work go faster, and easier, but increases the possibility of injury. Whether an axe, chainsaw, or hydraulic log splitter, you need to be aware, and be safe. This was brought to Steve's attention, painfully, when a piece of wood on the wood splitter twisted, caught his glove, and pulled it into the splitting path. He has a broken finger, an open fracture, of the distal aspect of the middle phelanges, a swollen hand, heavily bruised, and will be splinted for the next 4 weeks or so.

Well On Hold, Lets Go Roofwater Harvesting

2007-11-02T09:23:00.000-04:00

Nathaniel has headed back to Texas, and will spend some time redeveloping his drilling apparatus, based on the rock samples he took here. In the meantime, our focus will shift to Roofwater Harvesting. We have built quite a collection of books and materials on the subject, and are confident this is a project we can handle ourselves. As are most projects at Green-Trust, this one is DIY in nature, and our goal is to provide enough information that the reader can duplicate our successes, and avoid our disappointments.

We have uploaded a free PDF document called Roofwater Harvesting at http://www.freeiq.com/stevespence/WaterHarvesting that is a very good resource. Although written for the humid tropics, our rainfall here in NY is similar in quantity and distribution.

The steps we need to take are:

Rebuild the damaged rain gutters and add new ones where missing.
Connect distribution pipes from the gutters to the filter and cistern.
Connect our existing 12vdc piston pump to the cistern.

Since we live in a cold climate where winter temperatures hit -40 degrees, above ground tanks are out of the question. We will be installing a 1000 gallon precast concrete tank available locally for $600 delivered into our hole.

Rainy Days at Green-Trust

2007-10-27T15:35:00.000-04:00

Fortunately we are getting rain today. I say fortunately, becuase it means our existing well is getting recharged. It does mean we are taking a break from drilling the new well. We have been running into issues as our sandy soil is filled with glacial till, which causes the drill to move back and forth as it hits these small round rocks, and we end up with a uneven drill hole. Solid rock would be easier to drill through.

I did get the new Outback MX-60 MPPT Charge Controller installed this morning, as well as 550 watts of PV, connected serialy for a 100vdc input. The MPPT controller matches this to our 12vdc battery bank.

The MX60 also features Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), which seeks out the maximum power available from a solar array and uses it to recharge the batteries. Without this feature, the solar array does not operate at the ideal operating voltage and can only recharge at the level of the battery voltage itself. The MX60 “sweeps” the array’s operating voltage at user-determined sweep intervals to track the Maximum Power Point (MPP) of the PV array.

I also set up two web based ip camera systems for a friend to keep track of deer and security at his camp in the woods while in Florida for the winter.

The rest of the day is dedicated to lectures and assignments in my online Bachelors (Network Management) program from Westwood College.

New reading material on the environment and security of energy supplies

2007-10-17T15:43:00.000-04:00

We recently read two new books, one on the health of our planet, and one on what we must do as a nation to secure our energy supply. We recommend both of them, and encourage you to read the reviews at http://tips.green-trust.org

1. WHERE WE STAND: A Surprising Look at the Real State of Our Planet by Seymour Garte, Ph.D.

2. Freedom from Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States' Oil Addiction by David Sandalow, Brookings Institution scholar

Steve Spence
http://www.green-trust.org

DIY Well Drilling at Green Trust, Oct. 25th. (updated date)

2007-10-14T17:50:00.000-04:00

Come stop by Green Trust, and learn how to drill a well, yourself. Nathaniel Burson, from http://www.howtodrillawell.com is coming to give a class. You will learn how to make the drill, drill for water, and pump it to the surface. It's easy, and a whole lot cheaper than the big guys. Be in control of your water! Make money drilling for others. Admission will be $60 and will include a free set of plans and DVD and a $40 coupon off kits from http://www.howtodrillawell.com. Classes will be held Thursday (the 25th) afternoon/evening, and then all day Sunday and on Monday night if the well isn't finished Sunday. The class will feature a complete well drilled from start to finish using our new affordable system. All attendees will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience drilling their own well. We will have info available on DIY pumps designed by Jim Juczak from http://www.woodhenge.org. Boondocking is available. You can contact Steve at 315-328-5726 or Nathaniel at 903-576-6800.

93 Sheldon Rd.
Winthrop, NY 13697

Map and Directions:
http://tinyurl.com/yhgzfd

Water Shortages

2007-09-29T14:12:00.000-04:00

It's been a mighty dry month or so. The well has been intermittent at best, and the water quality is substandard. We have been drinking bottled water ($0.25 / gallon in 5 gallon jugs), and limiting our water usage, but it's time to put in the cistern we have been delaying. I dug up a couple of Amazon gift certificates, and ordered the best books I could find on rain water harvesting and storage. We will be drilling a DIY well on Oct. 25th, so take a look at http://www.green-trust.org/2007/10/diy-well-drilling-at-green-trust-oct.html. A local concrete company will deliver into our hole, a 1000 gallon precast concrete cistern for $600. The last item we will need is a Aermotor Wind Pump to top the new well, and fill the cistern, which will also be fed from the roof gutters. Next years Green House will take the outflow of our greywater and use subsurface irrigation for our vegetables. This will require biofriendly cleaners, no chemicals, and careful analysis of what goes down our drains.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands (Vol. 1): Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain into Your Life And Landscape - Update: One of the best I've ever read. Highly Recommended. Very readable, understandable, and applicable.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands (Vol. 2): Water-harvesting Earthworks - Update: Won't be available until January 2008. Volume 3 on cisterns and tanks is even further out. If they are as good as Volume 1, they will be awesome. See http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use--Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks - Update: Fantastic reference, also a good read, and yet easily implemented.

Rainwater Catchment Systems for Domestic Supply: Design, Construction and Implementation - Update: Another required reference. Lots of background material.

New Addition:

The New Create an Oasis With Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systms - Includes Branched Drains - Art has a way of relating of relaying knowledge to the reader/implementer that is never "Dry", and easily understandable.

We will be discussing the details of this project as we progress at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rainwater/, and keeping folks up to date here at http://www.green-trust.org as well.

Also see Dew harvesting and Rain Barrels.

Refrigeration: Out with the propane, in with the electric

2007-09-27T08:17:00.000-04:00

After 4 years off-grid with propane refrigeration, we have our power system built to the point where we can afford the electric to power a fridge. OK, it's not all us, refrigeration technology is advancing, efficiency is increasing, and the prices are dropping. For less than half the price of the propane fridge, we picked up a Kenmore 9.5 cu. ft. (Model 62912 - $350) that uses less electricity than a 100 watt light bulb, 75 watts running to be exact (750w startup surge, as reported by our Kill-A-Watt kWh Meter, for a total of .7 kWh / day with interior temps of 75F - 85F)*. Propane is common in off-grid homes because the power systems tend to be small, and some devices, like refrigeration, cooking, water heating, and drying, are not appropriate to be driven from a limited power source. Propane is the necessary evil. Now that we have moved to a energy efficient electric unit that's within our generation capacity, our propane usage will drop, as well as the additional (but minor) maintenance that the propane units require. This is a big plus for us, as the electronic control module on our Norcold unit has died twice, and although a warranty repair, no local Norcold dealer will make a house call, the warranty is a depot repair only (parts & labor), and even though we have offered to pay for the house call, Neither Norcold nor the local dealers will oblige. We are done with Norcold.

* See the new P4460 Kill-A-Watt with builtin battery backup so memory is not lost during power outages or moving the meter. It also allows you to enter your "per kWh charge" to track usage costs.

Science Channel Visits Green-Trust / Woodhenge

2007-09-24T06:10:00.000-04:00

This was a very busy weekend for the Green-Trust and Woodhenge teams, as The Science / Discovery Channel film team arrived to do a photo shoot on Wind Turbine construction as well as our other many renewable energy projects. We spent the day Saturday preparing for their arrival, cleaning up, setting up parts and supplies, and preparing blades and other sub assemblies. Saturday night, 5 of the crew showed up and went out to dinner with Jim and Krista Juczak, Sunday morning the rest of the crew showed up with the veggie powered bus and the cameras. The three hosts, Micah Donovan, Christopher Martin and Nobu Adilman, were a blast to work with. Some of their work can be seen at Peacepoint TV. More pictures will be uploaded shortly.

Steve and Jim showing the show hosts how to construct the wind turbine.

Veggie Bus with mini greenhouse and 120 watt solar panel on roof.

Film crew setting up the shot.

Hatz Diesel Veggie Conversion

2007-09-20T12:55:00.000-04:00

Because this is an air-cooled unit, we needed a special way to heat the filter and tank. The coolant heater was ordered for the conversion. It's a 1500 watt unit by Kats, as seen here, and typically costs less than $40. This will circulate coolant through the heated fuel filter and the heat exchanger in the 55 gallon veggie drum. The heat exchanger in the drum is a standard under dash heater core (about $30), and the filter is a Frybrid item, that sells for about $165.

Veggie Hatz Generator

2007-09-19T18:43:00.000-04:00

We are in the process of converting the Hatz Generator to run veggie oil. On warm days like today (71F), the Hatz will burn veggie with no conversion. As the temps cool below 55F, the oil gets too thick to flow through the stock filter. What is needed initially is a electrically heated filter, as this is a air cooled engine. Our vehicle conversions use coolant heated filters. The next step is a heater for the fuel tank. We are using a 55 gallon drum for the veggie oil, and a stick on heating pad that runs on 120vac. This power comes from the generator itself, which is started on diesel first. We will post pictures and more documentation as the project goes forward. We are on day three of Hatz Veggie Power.

Weekend at Woodhenge

2007-09-17T08:25:00.001-04:00

We spent the weekend working at Woodhenge. There was a new building site that needed preparation. We cut down a few trees, brush hogged the area, did some leveling, danced a jig when we mowed over a ground based yellow jacket nest, and other manual labor with a shovel and wheelbarrow. The well was extended an additional 100 feet, as it's been dry, and so was the well. There was a clay/rock mixture that needed to be cleaned up after that procedure. We went to Pulaski and picked up a virtually new solar power system to be set up next weekend. The system consisted of 550 watts of solar panels, a outback charge controller and inverter, and a 24v, 800 amp hour L16 battery pack. We also obtained a 5500 watt Hatz diesel powered Winco generator (12 hours on the hour meter), and picked a bushel or two of veggies from the organic garden. It's canning time at Woodhenge.

Chateuagay Wind Park

2007-09-04T09:58:00.001-04:00

This weekend, we helped our daughter move back to Champlain College, in Burlington VT. It's her Senior year. We passed the Chateaugay Wind Park that is under construction. Smaller than the Tug Hill project, but much needed and appreciated here in the North Country. They are very cool looking turbines, and I can't wait to see them in operation.

Drill your own well, save thousands!

2007-09-02T13:16:00.000-04:00

A friend of ours has developed a new method of DIY well drilling. Inexpensive, easy, and a good match for the homebuilt pvc deep well pump Jim Juczak of woodhenge.org has developed. Check out Nathan's compressed air drilling outfit he developed at http://www.howtodrillawell.com/ using a compressed air drill, a lethal looking bit for sand, clay or rock, and water.

Green-Trust needs your help!

2007-08-19T14:10:00.000-04:00

Once again, it's website renewal time. Due to the popularity of this site, and the huge amount of traffic it generates, it takes a bit to keep it live. We need your help with the hosting fees. If this site has been helpful to you, could you donate a bit of change to keep this free resource available?

The Fourth U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions

2007-08-07T07:10:00.000-04:00

Planning for Hard Times

Transportation - Learn how to live well using far less oil

Food - Hear about tactics for helping your community make the transition

Housing - Discover strategies for reducing your energy use

Friday, October 26 - Sunday, October 28th, 2007, Yellow Springs, Ohio

Keynotes:

David Korten, author of The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community and When Corporations Rule the World; Dr. Thomas Princen, author of The Logic of Sufficiency; Richard Heiinberg, author of The Party's Over and Powerdown (You can find these books in our bookstore).

Other Speakers:

Linda Wigington founder, Affordable Comfort Institute; Judy Wicks, co-founder and chair, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE); Sharon Astyk, author, Depletion and Abundance: The New Home Front, Families and the Coming Ecological Crises; Pat Murphy & Megan Quinn, Community Service, Inc.

For more information, call 937-767-2161 or register online at www.communitysolution.org

The Off-Grid Caribbean Cabin

2007-07-25T17:44:00.000-04:00

What does a off-grid energy system look like for a beach side cabin in the Caribbean? Francoise has simple needs. A couple of ceiling fans, a couple of compact fluorescent lights, a boombox, a portable dvd player and 12 volt pump connected to a rain fed cistern. The twist? Hurricanes and salt laden moisture require a portable system with weather proof quick disconnects, and rust proof hardware. So here is the system we designed for her:

1 Kyocera 130 watt PV Panel
1 set of single panel mounts with hardware.
1 Xantrex C-12 Charge Controller
1 30 amp fuse holder with 2 fuses.
15 feet of hookup wire.
1 Morningstar Suresine 300 watt inverter
1 2 gauge inverter cable set
1 100 amp fuse holder with fuse
1 Concorde 89 AH, 12vdc AGM Battery
1 Trimetric AH Meter with connector kit
2 battery lugs with allen wrench
30 Feet of UV shielded, PV cable with weatherproof connectors.
1 Weatherproof fitting for PV box
1 Xantrex temperature sensor
Wiring diagram and full tech support
Everything needed for all mounts and hookups.

Total bill came to $1847 delivered in the lower 48 states. Want us to design a system for you? List the devices you want to power, and the amount of time each day you want to run them, and we can put together a package that will meet your needs.

Pig Pens, Visitors, and Solar Design

2007-07-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

The last few weeks have been very busy. We have had several visitors.

Eric and Janet, and their children were here for a couple of weeks. They learned about renewable energy, veggie diesels, and living off-grid, we learned about the different intentional communities they have stayed at. Originally from Texas, they travel the US in a camping trailer, which we showed them how to charge with solar, and convert to 120vac with a inverter. We took them to Upper Canada Village, a 1800's working village with lots of ideas for living simply.

Francoise was here from Anguilla, spec'ing out a PV system for her island Yoga center, and learning about electricity. She will be getting a 130 watt pv panel, a 12v, 80ah AGM battery, and a 300 watt sinewave inverter. From her we learned about cooking healthy with organic veggies from The Martin's roadside stand and greenhouses.

Dan was back again this weekend, building a fenced in area (20'x20') for our three pigs. He reused some old fence wire that was still in good shape, and cut fence posts from our young maples that our woods is full of. No power tools were used in it's construction.

Melvin is working on mounting brackets for the alternator that will be installed on the Veggie Lister Cogen system. I planted pinto and kidney beans, parsley, and hot peppers.

And finally, we are preparing for a whitewater rafting trip in Watertown next weekend, on the Black River.

A Slice of Organic Life

2007-07-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

Interview with Sheherazade Goldsmith, Editor of “A Slice of Organic Life”

Steve: What was the thought process behind the “A Slice of Organic Life”?

Sheherazade: I think there is a huge misconception that living an eco friendly life usually means being self sufficient therefore living in the countryside. I wanted to prove that this is not the case. That you can live anywhere and still make a contribution to the environment without actually making any sacrifices. The books projects are divided into sections that reflect the type of homes people have and what things they might be able to do.

Steve: I guess we are part of that misconception, since we do live in a very rural area, are off-grid, and pretty self sufficient. But I found very good ideas on becoming even more so. one person can't begin to know everything.
This book was a group project, wasn't it. articles submitted by a variety of writers, collated and managed by you?

Sheherazade: Yes. I was very fortunate that through my husband's magazine 'The Ecologist' I had access to some amazing writers such as Pat Thomas and Matilda Lee. The book is a reflection of the changes I have made to my own lifestyle. The projects are all things I have tried out myself and have found not only enjoyable but also very easy. As you said previously this is a journey in sense and how nice to discover something new everyday

Steve: two of my extended family members have read the book, my dad is reading it now, and some of our community members are buying their own copy. My Dad is the one who raised me with a yearning for a closer tie to the earth, and a simpler lifestyle. I'm 42 now, he's retired and now lives in town, and has started to implement some of your ideas.

Sheherazade: It's so wonderful to hear things like that. Very flattering. I hoped that the book would inspire people to make as little as 2 or 3 changes to their lives. As we know collectively these small changes such as using energy efficient light bulbs or buying local can make an enormous difference. I also found that once you start considering what effect you have on the environment you can't stop. It's like a domino effect.

Steve: this was our first year that we switched from row gardening to the square foot method. Much less labor intensive, and makes gardening more fun. I find that if things are broken down into small, easy steps, folks will tend to try it sooner, and stick with it.

Sheherazade: Again, there is a huge misconception that being green is more labour intensive, more expensive and means giving up all your creature comforts. As you have discovered through your gardening this is not actually true. More often than not you are improving your lifestyle be it through eating food that has a better taste because it is seasonal and grown without all the usual highly toxic chemicals or using chemical free cleaning products in the house. There is nothing more satisfying than cooking with home grown produce.

Steve: has living simply and healthy been a lifetime goal of yours, or something more recent?

Sheherazade: No certainly not a lifetime goal. In my twenties I couldn't have cared less. But when I became pregnant I started to consider what sort of future I wanted for my children and the value of good nutrition.

Steve: I totally agree. I sometimes give away a cheap compost bin kit that I get from a company called Harbor Freight to folks. Get people used to composting organics instead of tossing them away as waste. This then leads them to want to do something with that compost, typically a garden. Baby steps….

I was raised on my Dad's knee, reading Mother Earth News, and other sustainability and renewable related materials. It's been a life time thing for me.

Sheherazade: Having been a city girl I am know raising my children in a rural environment and they absolutely love it. In a sense I am learning about these issues with them and together we have great fun tending to our animals, growing strawberries and making jams.

Steve: my youngest is 16, and he and his brother (18) are heavy into cars and trucks. so I have taught them about running veggie oil, biodiesel, and ethanol, instead of preaching "automobiles are bad". This works with their innate love of mechanical things. The gardening they are not interested in, but the homemade wind turbines that we build, and the lister veggie generator does grab their attention.

Steve: I want to thank you for your time today, and for producing such a wonderful reference. I'm sure it will kick start a lot of people into positive action. If you have any thought you’d like to share with our readers in the future, please send them to me, and I'll make sure they get published. Thank you again for being patient through the technical issues.
For those who would like to experience this reference, full of useful, and easy to implement steps in efficiency and healthy living, you can find it at http://www.green-trust.org/bookshop/

Good Food, Good Business

2007-07-10T12:37:00.000-04:00

"Good Food, Good Business" is a collection of insights from growers, a grocer, a restauranteur and experts on the innovative connections being used to open new markets and increase profits.

The owner and staff of an urban organic farm build ties with families through a successful community supported agriculture business (CSA) and mutually beneficial relationships with top local restaurants.

Owners of a mid-size organic farm focus on opportunities to listen to commercial customers and consumers so they align with trends, manage growth and remain good stewards of their land.

A restaurant owner-chef relies on relationships with local growers to help them flourish and allow him to serve the fresh, top quality food that has garnered national awards and the highest industry ratings.

The owner of a nationally recognized chain of grocery stores embraces the idea of connecting regional farmers and customers to create a sense of community within the food supply chain.

Also, national experts, businesspeople and organization leaders offer their thoughts about the links between the food industry and consumers, as well as opportunities in the expanding local and organic food markets.

Interviews include: Brian Rohter (New Seasons Markets), Shari Raider (Sauvie Island Organics), Bill and Karla Chambers (Stahlbush Island Farms), Cory Schreiber (Wildwood Restaurant & Bar), Martin Goebel (Sustainable Northwest), Dave Williams (ShoreBank Pacific), Bob Willard (author and corporate trainer on sustainability) and Anthony Cortese (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education).

"Good Food, Good Business" is designed for the following audiences: higher education agriculture programs, CSAs, organizations supporting local and organic food production, food marketing leaders, chefs, culinary schools, government agencies linked to food production, grocers, and business leaders in the food industry.

Trailer

http://www.arnoldcreekproductions.com/Sustainability.htm

New Books and Gear Shop

2007-07-08T08:22:00.001-04:00

Green Trust has rolled out the new Renewable Energy Books & Gear Shop, which provides books, movies, and renewable energy hardware in conjunction with Amazon. Items we have personally tested are listed on "Our Recommended Picks", and all categories are topical to the goals of the offgrid or sustainably minded individual. Learn about Solar, Wind, Methane, Permaculture, Organic Gardening and more. Check it out at http://www.green-trust.org/bookshop/

Water Harvesting, Water Recycling

2007-07-02T19:39:00.000-04:00

One of the projects that has been on our back burner is a total sustainable water solution. Harvesting rain water, filtering it, storing it, and using it efficiently is the first part. The second part is what to do with it once it's used. By switching out the flush toilets to composting toilets, we have eliminated blackwater, which leaves us with graywater, a recyclable resource. We will be using the gray water for irrigation until we can get our biological filtration system up and running. This summer this project is being moved to the front burner, and we will document our progress.

Resources:

The New Create an Oasis With Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systms - Includes Branched Drains (Paperback)

Builder's Greywater Guide: Installation of Greywater Systems in New Construction & Remodeling; A Supplement to the Book "Create an Oasis With Greywater"

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands (Vol. 1): Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain into Your Life And Landscape

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands (Vol. 2): Water-harvesting Earthworks

Ecomachine - Biological Filtration, Ocean Arks International.

Cleaning oil with a centrifuge

2007-06-28T08:18:00.000-04:00

Melvin Martin discusses the process and results of cleaning vegetable oil for fuel using a cream separator as a centrifuge. He's busy on a multi stage custom unit to be able to clean the oil in one pass after boiling to dewater.

I am very pleased with how clean it makes the oil. The finest dirt it takes out is so fine it’s like grease. I probably could fool you into thinking it was dirty wheel bearing grease. I ran 750 gallons of centrifuged oil through a 0.5 micron Greasel (Golden Fuels) filter bag. It didn’t so much as discolor the filter.

Cleaning Vegetable Oil with a Centrifuge

Gardening and Energy Improvements

2007-06-24T08:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Dan and I planted cucumbers, corn, a lettuce medley, carrots, and squash. The potatoes and tomatoes are doing very well in the manure filled Square Foot raised garden beds.

We also poured more concrete for the Listeroid Veggie CoGen project, and mounted the solar hot water panel on the house. We had pressure tested the panel, and while we were mounting it, steam started jetting out the fittings as the sun hit the panel.

For those who have not been following our adventures, The Listeroid is a 6hp, 650 rpm diesel that runs on used fryer oil. We will be heating our hot water for our house from the engine coolant, as well as keeping the battery bank charged that runs our house power, though our Xantrex Prosine 3kw SW Inverter.

We watched a video on MIT's 2006 Alternative Fueled Vehicles Design Summit, and have been reading an excellent book called "Slice of Organic Life", which is a great idea starter for small things you can do to be more ecologically and self sufficiency minded. Many of the mini-articles do not give a lot of detail, but it's a starting point for doing your own research.

We spent a few hours on the trampoline, both exercising, and pontificating on projects, resources, and justification.

Converting "Waste" into Nutrients - Treating Household Organic Waste

2007-06-14T17:26:00.000-04:00

We are making plans for moving into our new digs this fall, a 1000 sq. ft. highly insulated log faced home. We have decided to forgo a "sewage" system by not producing sewage. Instead, we will produce Humanure and Graywater. We read a wonderful review of various composting toilets that are on the market:

This report looks at how to best handle human biological waste, graywater, and food waste. The premise is that the current systems in predominant usage are both causing pollution and squandering potential nutrients. The focus is on composting toilets as a solution which is applicable at scales ranging from single family residential to cohousing developments to medium size commercial/institutional buildings. Sources for information presented include: Sherwood Reed, PE, a designer of constructed wetlands, and an expert on on-site disposal systems; vendors Tad Montgomery, David Del Porto, Bill Wall, Don Mills, Glenn Nelson, Allen White, Fraser Sneddon; Environmental Building News; writer Carol Steinfeld; Gap Mountain Permaculture Mouldering Privy Technical Bulletin; The Humanure Handbook, by J. C. Jenkins; various references and users. The report was commissioned by South Mountain Co., Inc. and Island Cohousing.. Its purpose is to assess the various manufacturers of composting toilets and decide which would be appropriate as potential suppliers for the 16 homes and Common House at Island Cohousing.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/features/mr/waste.cfm

Given our experiences with a variety of composting toilets, we have decided to use the Joe Jenkins Humanure system for our new home.

Small diesel Battery Charging

2007-06-02T06:55:00.000-04:00

A number of folks have asked me recently, what's available in a small diesel for charging batteries. We have come up with a solution we think will work very well. In an off-grid home, camp, rv, boat, or whatever, a good quality inverter will run appliances much better than a engine generator, due to superior frequency and voltage regulation, and the ability to handle startup surges on equipment without browning out. What we recommend is you let your battery / inverter system handle the loads, and you use the gen to specifically charge the batteries. John Ferguson at http://www.woodnstuff.ca has a 3hp (1.5kw) Lister Petter diesel that is perfect for this job. Combined with a special purpose alternator and charge controller, this will keep your batteries charged with minimal fuel usage, a long life engine, and minimal fuss. Add some solar or wind to the mix, and you may not have to run the gen that often either.

New Listeroid veggie diesel being picked up today

2007-05-26T06:54:00.000-04:00

It's a beautiful 53F sunny morning at 6am. The birds are chirping, the brain dead woodpecker is tapping away on the metal roof on schedule, and the dog (Rascal, part Border Collie) wants to play fetch with what I consider small logs. Today is the day that Jim Juczak (Woodhenge.org) and Dave Heap arrive for our trip to Belleghuan, to pick up the listeroid that DJ MacIntyre (Leboise.com) donated to us. This engine is the heart of our veggie oil powered generator, 2nd Edition, replacing the old Detroit Veggie Gen. While I was waiting for the troops to arrive with heavy truck, ramps, and rollers (the engine weighs 1000 lbs), I decided to do some more work in the garden. All 8 cedar raised beds are finished (Dan bolted the rest together last night before the whole family went out to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3), and filled with peat moss and horse/calf bedding (manure and hay), and the potatoes and tomatoes are planted. Next week the lettuce, beans, peas, carrots, and cucumbers get planted (I'm on vacation). The pigs and turkeys have not yet arrived, but we expect them soon. We plan to eat well this summer.

Square Foot Garden Built

2007-05-19T16:49:00.000-04:00

Today, Dan (our summer intern), my sons and I cut up the cedar logs for the raised bed gardens. We cut the ends so the logs would overlap, and sunk a single lag bolt in each corner to hold them together. We have enough cut and notched logs for a total of eight 3' x 3' beds. We then mixed up the peat moss and the bedding from the horse and calf pens, which is half manure, half hay, and filled the beds. We had frost this morning, so planting will have to wait until next week.

The versatility of the Beech Tree

2007-05-06T08:48:00.000-04:00

The other day when we were looking for a Beech Tree for our Shitake plugs, I did some research on the Beech Tree. I discovered that folks have been using the beechnut as a substitute for coffee, flour, and even pressed for oil. As our property is inundated with Beech Tree's, expect future articles from us as we grind our own flour, roast our own nuts for coffee, and try pressing the nut oil for fuel, and cooking.

One article shows us how to harvest the nuts.

Just spread the blanket/tarp on the forest floor under the tree. Scoop leaves onto the blanket, gather the four corners and shake the blanket well. This will allow the nuts to fall to the surface of the blanket. The leaves can then be removed and the nuts separated from the other chaff of the forest floor. The nuts may also be gleaned by sifting through leaves on the forest floor with the fingers.

Although it is easier to extract the tiny kernels before the nuts lose all of their moisture, the meats of well-dried nuts are more crisp (and perhaps more tasty). Roasting the nuts in an oven or on the top of a wood-burning stove also produces good results.

According to this article on making bread,

Beech nuts should be heated gently until they open, usually after just a few minutes, then the three nuts removed and taken out of the brown casing before being ready to eat.

This article explains,

Roasted then ground, beechnuts can be used as a coffee substitute. Or the roasted nut can be grated as a sprinkle over hot drinks or pies, making a good substitute for fresh-ground nutmeg.

Tree Planting at Green Trust

2007-05-02T16:26:00.000-04:00

We were given 250 white pine seedlings. My son Matt and I planted 30 of them yesterday, and gave the rest to Jim Juczak at Woodhenge. We may plant some more. We will see. Luke Martin gave us a bag of Shitake mushroom spore plugs, so this week I'll be drilling a log and inserting the plugs. We have a college student intern coming for the summer, to help out with the turkey's, the garden, and the methane digester project. This past weekend Jim and I gave seminars and workshops at the Renewable Energy Fair in Canton, NY. We built pedal powered generators, food dehydrators, and talked about the $20k home, off-grid living, and cabin sized solar power systems.

Gasoline to Propane to Bio-Methane

2007-04-23T18:05:00.000-04:00

The journey to homemade fuels is ever progressing at Green Trust. This weekend we installed the tri-fuel conversion on our backup generator. We so rarely use this engine that storing gasoline wasn't practical. Since we use propane for other uses on our homestead, it made sense to convert this engine, looking forward to this summer when we switch from propane to methane from our digester. Today the propane guy came and made the final connections. With a little experimentation of the load block, and a call to tech support, it finally sprang to life on propane. We still have the gasoline option, and plan on trying ethanol in this unit sometime soon. We ran for 6 hours today on propane, just to see how it runs, and declare the conversion a success. Now we need to put our energy into getting the compost bin built, the new raised garden beds/cold frames, and soon the new digester.

Strawberries, Veggie Oil, and Generator Conversions

2007-04-21T16:41:00.000-04:00

Early this morning my son Matt and I headed over to the Martins. We collected 3 or so drums of veggie oil from the local college and an Italian restaurant, then headed back to the Martins to pump it into the boiler for dewatering. We also raked a few hundred feet of strawberries, removing last years mulch cover, then went back to my place to work on their website, and convert my gasoline generator to tri-fuel usage. Melvin Martin is in the process of re-assembling the oil press for the upcoming Energy Fair. Melvin checked out my work on the new 12vdc piston pump, which replaced our 120 vac jet pump. This is much more efficient at pumping water from our well, cutting our power consumption by more than half.

Weekend with Woodhenge

2007-04-15T17:25:00.000-04:00

Jim Juczak of Woodhenge and I spent the weekend discussing upcoming projects and events, like our pedal generators and the Canton Energy Fair, plus we demonstrated our home built wind turbines at Paul Smith's College. Then it was back to Green Trust to install the new Conergy Solar Force water pump that Back Woods Solar sent us. We finished putting together the Al Rutan Methane Digestion series on DVD. This contains his 3 video series on The How and Why of Methane Digestion, as well as a cd with all of his ESSN articles on methane. This dvd/cd combo is available for $35 by clicking below, or dropping us an email at sspence@green-trust.org

Farewell Johnny, till we meet again.

2007-03-31T20:51:00.000-04:00

You were taken too soon. You barely began to live, but you left an impact on those of us left behind. We will keep you in our memories until we see you again in heaven. We have heavy hearts, but you are in the presence of our Lord. You are the lucky one.

Johnny Martin, 1991-2007

Hit and killed by a drunk driver (repeat offender), 7pm March 30th, 2007

Calling hours (Parishville Fireman's Hall, Parishville NY):

6pm - 9pm, Tuesday, April 3rd.
8am - 10am, Wednesday, April 4th.

Funeral (Parishville Fireman's Hall, Parishville NY):

10am, Wednesday, April 4th.

Burial to follow at Daniel Martin's Farm.

Everyone Welcome!

Obituary

WWNY Report: The man who allegedly drove drunk and killed a teen Friday night reportedly had a previous conviction for driving while intoxicated.

Richard Hayes, 39, of Potsdam, was charged Friday night with vehicular manslaughter, aggravated driving while intoxicated and felony driving while intoxicated.

Police said the vehicle Hayes was driving struck and killed Jonathan Martin, 15, of Parishville, on county route 47 just before 8 pm Friday.

Hayes had a blood alcohol level in excess of .18, officials told 7 News.

Hayes was convicted of DWI in Massena in 2001, the Watertown Times reported Sunday.

Hayes was ordered held on $50,000 bail.

Martin was driving a golf cart, police said, and was struck by a van operated by Hayes.

The Boy's Bugle, by the Martin Family

North Country Peak Oil Study/Action Group

2007-03-24T20:49:00.000-04:00

North Country Peak Oil Study/Action Group

The North Country Peak Oil Study/Action Group informs and educates on the impacts of dwindling oil resources and increased energy costs. It works to smooth the transition to a locally-based, self-reliant and sustainable way of living through conservation and cooperation.

We are a group of about 15-20 active people, mostly from the Canton/Potsdam area (one from around Watertown),with a much larger community of interested folks who come to our showings and would work on specific projects. Many of us were lucky enough to attend a month long class on Peak Oil last June at SUNY Potsdam given by Richard Heinberg for professors and other interested community people. We decided to organize a powerpoint talk by him and out of the hundred or so who attended was born the idea of starting an action group.

Our group had its first meeting in September and has met monthly or more often since. We had a breakfast meeting this morning at the Potsdam Village Diner. Steve attempted the Flapjack Challenge, but only managed to eat half of it. If you're interested in attending these get-to-gethers, contact patricia@ncenergy.org or 315-379-9466. At the last meeting we viewed Guy Dauncey's The Great Energy Revolution, and afterwards discussed it and planned various actions.

FILM SERIES
We have had public showings of The Power of Community (a film on how Cuba met their own peak oil crisis in the 90's after the Soviet Union fell) and The End of Suburbia.

ACTION GROUPS
Some of our members are breaking down into action groups in the areas of teaching self-sufficiency skills, getting a local ride board going, exploring the possibility of starting a community garden, creating a display for our annual Sustainable Energy Fair April 27-29 at SUNY Canton and other things.

NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING
We have started a project called THE ARK COMMUNITY, which now has monthly potluck get-togethers where we get to know each other, share self-sufficiency ideas, discuss our situation in the North Country and have work days helping each other. One person is planning to go door to door in their neighborhood with a questionaire and we are looking for other ways to organize and create a feeling of commuity.

We are trying to be positive, not gloom and doom, and relate the larger picture of peak oil to our local situation here in the North Country from Watertown to Plattsburg, NY. Although we have four universities here in the Canton/Potsdam area at the center of our region, we are a very rural area of upstate NY with our agricultural base still pretty much in tact or revivable. We have good forest resources, a soybean oil plant and developing biodiesel and pelleting industries, lots of homesteading people, cheap land and a strong independent tradition that will stand us in good stead during this transition. We hope to form alliances by hooking up with other active groups in our area promoting local agriculture,local currency, reviving trains, using draft horses, etc.

We welcome new members and people who want to be on our mailing list for events.
For more information about this Local Group, please contact Patricia Greene.

Location Canton, NY United States

Local food vs. global food?

2007-03-18T08:52:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here at the table this morning, eating breakfast. I'm having locally baked bread, locally produced jam, and locally produced butter. I'm being warmed from the heat from the woodstove with wood cut on my own property and I look over at the apple juice container and it says "Concentrate from New Zealand/China" ....

I live in New York State. We are well known for apple production, and my apple juice (Food Club / Topco) has to be brought from the other side of the world? Something is very wrong.

Why Buy Local?

Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. And this is when taking into account only US grown products! Those distances are substantially longer when we take into consideration produce imported from Mexico, Asia, Canada, South America, and other places.

We can only afford to do this now because of the artificially low energy prices that we currently enjoy, and by externalizing the environmental costs of such a wasteful food system. We do this also to the detriment of small farmers by subsidizing large scale, agribusiness-oriented agriculture with government handouts and artificially cheap energy.

Cheap oil will not last forever though. World oil production has already peaked, according to some estimates, and while demand for energy continues to grow, supply will soon start dwindling, sending the price of energy through the roof. We'll be forced then to reevaluate our food systems and place more emphasis on energy efficient agricultural methods, like smaller-scale organic agriculture, and on local production wherever possible.

Cheap energy and agricultural subsidies facilitate a type of agriculture that is destroying and polluting our soils and water, weakening our communities, and concentrating wealth and power into a few hands. It is also threatening the security of our food systems, as demonstrated by the continued e-Coli, GMO-contamination, and other health scares that are often seen nowadays on the news.

These large-scale, agribusiness-oriented food systems are bound to fail on the long term, sunk by their own unsustainability. But why wait until we're forced by circumstance to abandon our destructive patterns of consumption? We can start now by buying locally grown food whenever possible. By doing so you'll be helping preserve the environment, and you'll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home. Only 18 cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, go to the grower. 82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen. Cut them out of the picture and buy your food directly from your local farmer. - http://www.localharvest.org/buylocal.jsp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food

http://www.foodroutes.org/

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3938

http://www.localfoodworks.org/

http://www.farmandfood.org/

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/localfood_dir.php

State makes big fuss over local couple's vegetable oil car fuel

2007-03-03T08:20:00.000-05:00

By HUEY FREEMAN - H&R Staff Writer
http://www.herald-review.com/

DECATUR - David and Eileen Wetzel don't get going in the morning quite as early as they used to.

So David Wetzel, 79, was surprised to hear a knock on the door at their eastside home while he was still getting dressed.

Two men in suits were standing on his porch.

"They showed me their badges and said they were from the Illinois Department of Revenue," Wetzel said. "I said, 'Come in.' Maybe I shouldn't have."

Gary May introduced himself as a special agent. The other man, John Egan, was introduced as his colleague. May gave the Wetzels his card, stating that he is the senior agent in the bureau of criminal investigations.

"I was afraid," Eileen Wetzel said. "I came out of the bathroom. I thought: Good God, we paid our taxes. The check didn't bounce."

The agents informed the Wetzels that they were interested in their car, a 1986 Volkswagen Golf, that David Wetzel converted to run primarily from vegetable oil but also partly on diesel.

Wetzel uses recycled vegetable oil, which he picks up weekly from an organization that uses it for frying food at its dining facility.

"They told me I am required to have a license and am obligated to pay a motor fuel tax," David Wetzel recalled. "Mr. May also told me the tax would be retroactive."

Since the initial visit by the agents on Jan. 4, the Wetzels have been involved in a struggle with the Illinois Department of Revenue. The couple, who live on a fixed budget, have been asked to post a $2,500 bond and threatened with felony charges.

State legislators have rallied to help the Wetzels.

State Sen. Frank Watson, R-Greenville, introduced Senate Bill 267, which would curtail government interference regarding alternative fuels, such as vegetable oil. A public hearing on the bill will be at 1 p.m. today in Room 400 of the state Capitol.

"I would agree that the bond is not acceptable, $2,500 bond," Watson said, adding that David Wetzel should be commended for his innovative efforts. "(His car) gets 46 miles per gallon running on vegetable oil. We all should be thinking about doing without gasoline if we're trying to end foreign dependency.

"I think it's inappropriate of state dollars to send two people to Mr. Wetzel's home to do this. They could have done with a more friendly approach. It could have been done on the phone. To use an intimidation factor on this - who is he harming? Two revenue agents. You'd think there's a better use of their time," Watson said.

The Wetzels, who plan to speak at a Senate hearing in Springfield today, recalled how their struggle with the revenue department unfolded.

According to the Wetzels, May told them during his Jan. 4 visit that they would have to pay taxes at either the gasoline rate of 19Â½ cents per gallon or the diesel rate of 21Â½ cents per gallon.

A retired research chemist and food plant manager, Wetzel produced records showing he has used 1,134.6 gallons of vegetable oil from 2002 to 2006. At the higher rate, the tax bill would come to $244.24.

"That averages out to $4.07 a month," Wetzel noted, adding he is willing to pay that bill.

But the Wetzels would discover that the state had more complicated and costly requirements for them to continue to use their "veggie mobile."

David Wetzel was told to contact a revenue official and apply for a license as a "special fuel supplier" and "receiver." After completing a complicated application form designed for businesses, David Wetzel was sent a letter directing him to send in a $2,500 bond.

Eileen Wetzel, a former teaching assistant, calculated that the bond, designed to ensure that their "business" pays its taxes, would cover the next 51 years at their present usage rate.

A couple of weeks later, David Wetzel received another letter from the revenue department, stating that he "must immediately stop operating as a special fuel supplier and receiver until you receive special fuel supplier and receiver licenses."

This threatening letter stated that acting as a supplier and receiver without a license is a Class 3 felony. This class of felonies carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

On the department of revenue's Web site, David Wetzel discovered that the definition of special fuel supplier includes someone who operates a plant with an "active bulk storage capacity of not less than 30,000 gallons." Wetzel also did not fit the definition of a receiver, described as a person who produces, distributes or transports fuel into the state. So Wetzel withdrew his application to become a supplier and receiver.

Mike Klemens, spokesman for the department of revenue, explained that Wetzel has to register as a supplier because the law states that is the only way he can pay motor fuel tax.

But what if he is not, in fact, a supplier? Then would he instead be exempt from paying the tax?

"We are in the process of creating a way to simplify the registration process and self-assess the tax," Klemens said, adding that a rule change may be in place by spring.

David Wetzel wonders why hybrid cars, which rely on electricity and gasoline, are not taxed for the portion of travel when they are running on electrical power. He said he wants to be treated equally by the law.

David Wetzel, who has been exhibiting his car at energy fairs and universities, views state policies as contradicting stated government aims.

"You hear the president saying we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Wetzel said. "You hear the governor saying that."

State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, also plans to support legislation favoring alternative fuels.

"I'm disappointed that the Illinois Department of Revenue would go after Mr. Wetzel," Flider said. "I don't think it is a situation that merits him being licensed and paying fees.

"The people at the department of revenue apparently feel they need to regulate him in some way. We want to make sure that he is as free as he can be to use vegetable oil. He's an example of ingenuity. Instead of being whacked on the head, he should be encouraged."

Huey Freeman can be reached at hfreeman@herald-review.com or 217-421-6985.

Want to charge your cell phone with solar energy?

2007-02-15T11:32:00.000-05:00

Popular Science had an article on building a solar bag charger for cell phones and iPods. We believe the basics of that article can be expanded into many other similar projects. Check it out in our knowledgebase and participate in developing new applications and improvements. Larger pv panel, in-bag battery storage, power source for lighting, pumping etc. Great hiking or camping tool. The possibilities are endless.

Preparing the "Barn" for the new animals

2007-02-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

We just got word that we have piglets arriving in April/May, and baby turkeys as well, so it's time to get the "barn" ready. We will be using a section of our Geodesic Quonset, siding it with slabwood like we did our woodshed and generator shed, and configuring sections for the different animals. We may be adding two milking goats to our little farmstead as well.

Thoughts of Spring

2007-02-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

Our thoughts and attention are directed towards spring, even though there is over a foot of snow on the ground, and temperatures near zero degrees Fahrenheit. It's time to pull out our old favorite, the Square Foot Gardening book, and make plans for feeding our family in the upcoming year. The compost has been cooking for over a year, and I have a couple of big bags of vermiculite to mix in.

E.U.’s EuP (energy using product) Initiative

2007-02-02T06:14:00.000-05:00

The E.U., a bureaucracy that perhaps even overshadows our own, set a date of July 6, 2007, to put the directive in place. Its goal is “establishing a framework for the setting of eco-design requirements for energy-using products [EuP].”

EuP will require manufacturers to calculate the energy used to produce, transport, sell, use, and dispose of almost every one of its products. It will require that the manufacturer go all the way back to the energy used when extracting the raw materials to make its product, including all subassemblies and components. And in time, it will set limits on a product-by-product basis of how much energy can be used in a product’s entire lifecycle.

http://www.infoworld.com/4671

Part 2

This will actually be a cool thing, if there is a rating on each item, so that you could compare two washing machines, and see the total lifecycle "cost" (an item with a 400 has more impact than a similar item with a 350?). The cost (manpower, etc.) of implementing such a process could be horrendous.

The Physics of Everyday Life

2007-01-30T16:44:00.000-05:00

Because we live off-grid, and build our own energy systems, there is a need for a good understanding of physics. Most physics texts are heavy on theory, and dry as a piece of straw. We have found an exception. Written in an easy to comprehend style, and filled with everyday examples and explanations, How Things Work by Louis A. Bloomfield is a reference that should be in your personal library if you are in the least bit curious about how the things around you work, and it's a necessity if you are designing your own energy systems.

The New Grit

2007-01-28T15:56:00.000-05:00

We rediscovered an old friend. I remember reading the rural newspaper GRIT as a kid, and recently, they moved to a new format that really works. Now a glossy magazine, the articles are more relevant than ever to living a more sustainable, self sufficient rural lifestyle. With great articles on the USDA's plan to register and tag all livestock (This is bad), to promoting the rural craftsman (This is good), to fencing in and caring for livestock (This is very good), this is a resource you won't want to miss! Advertising? Yes. But it's topical and contextual. Woodsplitters, small tractors, woodstoves, and generators, not cigarettes and alcohol, and the male enhancement ad is in the classifieds section in the back, thankfully (come on Grit, did you really need to allow that one?). Rediscover an old friend .....

Pressing your own fuel from crops

2007-01-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

Our friends and neighbors the Martin's have their oil press up and running. They are pressing oil from oil seed crops, and experimenting with a variety of crop types to determine the best crops for our climate and geography. Pictures can be found in our photo album, and movies can be found at:

Movie 1, 3.2M
Movie 2, 61.8M
Movie 3, 49.2M
Movie 4, 12.1M
Movie 5, 9.3M

Additionally, Melvin and Luray are working with some new >1 watt LED's. Melvin had this to say:

We got some new LEDs to replace the old ones we installed last winter. The old ones were not right from the day we got them, and since, they have lost their light output. The new ones act like they are supposed to, they are many times brighter, they have a much wider viewing angle, cheaper per amount of light output, more efficient, and give a nice white light. As you can see in the picture, these new LEDs need to have a big heat sink. So far we really like them.

Staying warm when it's cold

2007-01-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

It was -20F this am. I have both woodstoves going, and it's a balmy 85 inside. The generator wouldn't even turn over this morning, but there was enough juice in the batteries to keep us going all last night and today. Finally got the generator fired up about 9pm so Linda could get the laundry done. I'm on call for the Hospital, but I'm hoping it's a quiet night. We have about 6" of new snow in the last few days. Not enough to make life difficult.

Peak Oil Action Group

2007-01-07T21:36:00.000-05:00

This past weekend our local Peak Oil Action Group got together at Patricia Greene's home for a potluck dinner, a movie on sustainable agriculture, and discussion. Someone brought a delicious squash soup, we saw "The Power of Community – How Cuba Survived Peak Oil", and had some wonderful discussion. Jim Juczak of Woodhenge had this to say:

There were some major topics and minor topics discussed. Major ones included the fact that there are other groups that are overlapping some of our efforts and it would be good to combine forces to reinforce and take advantage of our mutual interests. Cooperative extension was one example, the historical societies and hands on museums were another. Minor ones included a sign up sheet at Richard and Aimee's Arc neighborhood party later this month. The list would include topics people would feel comfortable teaching to small groups and topics that you wanted to learn about. Patricia also wanted to get a women's skill study group started that would cover topics such as woodworking, home repair, home wiring, plumbing and welding. I offered to teach them with her.

At Church this morning, Pastor Ken was talking about watching out for our fellow man, instead of being centered on ourselves, in a sermon called "Live and Let Live", part of his “Ten Cultural Myths that Drive America” series. This section was called "COMMUNITY TRUMPS INDIVIDUALITY", and I saw a lot of parallels between the religious and the secular concepts we try to promote in our sustainable circles.

Veggie Oil Press, Filtering, and Ice Houses

2007-01-06T12:30:00.000-05:00

Melvin was over today for some help on his website, and to tell me about their new oil press. It's a Chinese unit with a Changfa engine. His brother also picked up 3 new Hatz diesel engines. He related some stories about their veggie oil filtering experiences, and their ice house. I helped them cut ice from the pond last winter and it was a fun experience. Read about their experiences in their quarterly newsletter, The Boys Bugle.

Email Newsletter Re-Instated

2007-01-01T09:26:00.000-05:00

At the suggestion of our readers, we are re-instating our outgoing newsletter for those who do not want to participate in the discussion forums. This means you will get email from Green-trust without the additional commentary from our readers. You can manage your subscriptions to our newsletter at http://www.green-trust.org/newsletter/.

Today we are getting together with family to celebrate the new year. Last night we had friends over for snacks, games and fellowship. We discussed building community, sustainability, and our different ethnic backgrounds, tried new foods, and had a wonderful time.

Preparing for the New Year

2006-12-29T07:31:00.000-05:00

Now that Christmas is behind us, and the new year is dawning, it's time to get back on track with projects. There's the split level "L" shaped "bunk beds" to build in the boy's bedroom, but first I'm going to insulate and panel the room, since it's 2F outdoors and they are a bit chilly. We also need to acquire and install a Solar Force Piston Pump from Conergy, a 6hp Listeroid veggie/biodiesel battery charger from Belleghuan Ltd., and a MPPT Charge controller for the solar panels. Ambitious projects with funding still tenuous. The wind tower will be raised once the weather warms up, so we will have up to 1000 watts of juice flowing into the battery bank when the wind is favorable. Our goal for this year is 80% home grown food, and to can extra for the future. We will keep you posted on our progress.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2006-12-24T18:53:00.000-05:00

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, we want to take a moment and wish you a very merry Christmas, a happy new year, and share with you a blast from the past that is especially dear to us (thank you Ron, for the reminder). Nothing like family, a wood fire, and home cooked, home raised food to bring cheer when there is so much uncertainty in the world. Nothing, except having Jesus in our heart. In his words in Matthew 25:40,

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

So share the holiday season with someone, for everyone is our brother.

Dharam's Veggie-Bus is done!

2006-12-10T22:43:00.000-05:00

He had an uneventful trip home, by way of Woodhenge, unless you count the fact that his rebuilt alternator wasn't charging. Pulled in at 10vdc on the battery bank. Long term results will be posted here. He dropped off a propane stove and a recumbent exercycle for us at Woodhenge (future projects), and picked up batteries and cables for the house battery bank for his bus.

Dharam's Veggie-Bus Conversion - Continues

2006-12-05T18:24:00.000-05:00

Dharam has returned, and the conversion picks up where it left off. A new connection plate was created for the heat exchanger, with 90 degree elbows, since there was not room for the old one which was straight up. The pipes would have kinked in the space above the tank. It's in the 20's (F), and with snow on the ground, makes life interesting for an outdoor conversion.

Solar Powered Lighting

2006-12-04T17:54:00.000-05:00

We recently blogged about a LED headlamp on our Eco Tips page , but since we are so enamored with this item, I felt it should be mentioned here as well. With 6 brightness levels, and two strobe levels, it gives a very flexible compromise between battery life and brightness. The LED's are constant brightness units, so no dimming with battery discharge. I've used it for walking, reading, and computing (on my solar charged laptop) in the dark. My batteries are rechargeable NiMH AA's, and with over 100 hours of light per charge, it will be a long time before I need another set. I've decided to bundle the headlamp, 4 NiMH AA's, and the solar charger, and make it available to our readers for a few dollars more than it cost me for the individual components, as a service to you. The total comes to $99 including S&H in the USA. The little money we make on this will be used to keep projects and info coming your way.

Getting together with Renewable Energy Friends

2006-11-29T07:59:00.000-05:00

We are making some plans for some projects, and going over other projects with some friends. DJ MacIntyre of Le Boisé Alternatives and I are planning a trip to John Ferguson of Belleghuan Ltd., to convert his diesel truck to run on vegetable oil. DJ runs a Renewable Energy business in Ontario Canada, John sells listeroid diesel engines, among other things, also in Ontario, less than 2 hours north of us. Both are interesting folks to know. Larry Barr of Rebelwolf/ESSN fame has started some new RE projects, including a solar power mobile (HAM) radio shack, and a new RE Blog, which you can read about at http://offgrid.green-trust.org/. The guy piling holes are filled with concrete and dirt for the new wind tower, so Jim Juczak from Woodhenge and I will be raising the wind machine shortly. Dharam had a death in his extended family, so he will be cutting short his stay here to be with his people, and we will finish his veggie bus when he returns. Combined with a stomach bug that flowed through here and hit a few folks, it's been a busy week.

Painting Green-Trust Green

2006-11-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

Dharam just finished spraying and rolling out the new paint job on our main buildings (the house, garage, and screened classroom). It's pale green with pale lemon trim. We developed a leak in the connections on our well pump in the past few days, and ended up with a lot of water on the floor of our first floor. Dharam and I replumbed the water system, relocated the pump to a more convenient area, and I repaired one of the capacitor wires that had broken off, and was causing the motor to smoke. We are wrapping Dharam's veggie tank with Reflectix to help contain the vegetable oil's heat in his skoolie tank. See more at http://offgrid.green-trust.org

Eco Tips for Everyone

2006-11-20T21:34:00.000-05:00

Over the years we have found many ways to live more economically, and ecologically. We have started a frugal and sustainable tips and products site where we will share with you what we have learned, and share some of the products we use that make it easier to live more sustainably. See Tips & Products ....

Dharam's Veggie-Bus Conversion

2006-11-19T14:52:00.000-05:00

Follow along at Green-Trust Offgrid as we convert Dharam's Schoolbus to Veggie Fueled RV. Today we are building the heat exchanger for the fuel tank, and splicing into the coolant lines for heat.

[Green-Trust Off Grid] Making Applesauce at Green-Trust

2006-11-04T16:40:00.000-05:00

Linda and I are busy today cutting up apples and cooking them down on the wood fired cook-stove. We are only doing a half bushel this time around, Ida Red's make great applesauce. It's 35F outside, and 78F inside, so cooking on the stove is a great comfort.

We are also making apple butter and apple crisp today.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green-Trust Off Grid at 11/04/2006 04:39:00 PM

[Green Trust Fun] GardenShare Potluck

2006-11-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful potluck dinner Thursday night, produced by Gardenshare . This is an annual Local Harvest Dinner with the focus on local food production and community supported agriculture. We brought a Chicken and vegetable stew made with 100% local food. The main speaker was Bill McKibben, a very entertaining and knowledgeable speaker. He spoke on "Think Globally, Act Neighborly".

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green Trust Fun at 11/04/2006 06:58:00 AM

[Self Reliance in Troubled Times] Al Rutan - The Methane Man: Materials available once again!

2006-11-04T07:26:00.000-05:00

We received plans and descriptions of Al's methane digesters and the process of anaerobic digestion from Al's family. Video's are also coming soon. articles will be posted shortly at http://discuss.green-trust.org and the video's and documentation will be available on CD for a nominal fee, the proceeds going to building Al's methane digesters for off-grid communities. Woodhenge will be one of the first recipients of a Al Rutan digester. More info will be posted once the video tapes are converted to cd, and the documents scanned, ocr'd, and regenerated as PDF's.

The following articles will be published to our websites this weekend, time permitting:

The History of Anaerobic Digestion
Guidelines for the Process
Building a Methane Digester
Specifications of a Methane Digester

Additional info can be found in the back issues of ESSN Magazine, Homepower Magazine, and Alternative Sources of Energy Magazine.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Self Reliance in Troubled Times at 11/04/2006 07:13:00 AM

[Green-Trust Off Grid] We are cooking with wood, not gas.

2006-11-02T07:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we finally got the chimney installed on the new Todd wood fired cook stove. It was the first nice day weather wise in weeks, and probably the last. We picked up the insulated chimney section from Evans & White in the afternoon, and Luray Martin came over and we went to work. 2 hours later the chimney was done. Then we went to Church (both my wife and I have kids groups, I teach the 5th & 6th grade boys, she has the 4 & 5 year olds), and when we returned around 8pm, we started our first fire. It was a bit smoky at first as it burned off the oils and coatings used in manufacturing and shipping, but it heated right up. The oven came up to 350F with no problem, the water reservoir warmed up, and it brought the upstairs of the house up from 68 to 74 in no time. This weekend I'm making chili and stew. More photo's can be found in our photo album.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green-Trust Off Grid at 11/02/2006 06:13:00 AM

[Self Reliance in Troubled Times] More gardening titles

2006-10-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

In addition to the Square Foot Gardening title we are re-reading, we picked up a copy of Ruth Stout's "No-Work Garden Book" from the local library book sale for $1. A fascinating title that claims that you can garden with little effort, we have come to believe and agree, although her ideas on composting in place have not taken hold here, as we enjoy our composting bins and the dark earth that results, and use the end product where it's needed. Much like Gus Portokalos from My big Fat Greek Wedding's use of windex on everthing and anything, Ruth's answer to every gardening ill was mulch, to great success. A wonderful review of this great lady and her ideas can be found at Homestead.Org

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Posted by Steve Spence to Self Reliance in Troubled Times at 10/29/2006 04:24:00 PM

[Self Reliance in Troubled Times] Square Foot Gardening - maximizing space & effort

2006-10-29T07:15:00.000-05:00

We are re-reading one of our favorite books, Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening, and are intrigued by a question he raises in his introduction; "Does anyone know the real reason people garden?". For us, the answer is easy. We want a sure supply of affordable healthy food. We want to be sure that our food is chemical free, available when we need it, and won't break our budget keeping us fed. Mel shows how in a single 4' x 4' square, you can grow in two months the following supplies:

32 carrots
12 bunches of leaf lettuce
18 bunches of spinach
16 radishes
16 scallions
16 beets
9 Japanese turnips
5 pounds of peas
1 head of cabbage
4 heads of romaine lettuce
1 head of cauliflower
1 head of broccoli

If you need more, grow another square, and many more vegetable types are explained in his book. His method almost eliminates the hours typically spent maintaining a garden in a healthy weedless state. Well worth the read.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Self Reliance in Troubled Times at 10/29/2006 06:55:00 AM

[Green-Trust Off Grid] Permaculture Readings

2006-10-24T17:55:00.000-04:00

Our latest read is a book I borrowed from Jim Juczak at Woodhenge. It's called Permaculture - Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability. It's a comprehensive journey into the logic behind living sustainably, and opens up new thought processes for us, leading us in many new directions. It's written by the co-founder of the permaculture movement, David Holmgren.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green-Trust Off Grid at 10/24/2006 05:45:00 PM

Shane & Maria's Eco-Tour

2006-10-24T17:39:00.001-04:00

Our new friends, Shane and Maria are visiting for a few days. They are on a tour of intentional communities and organic farms, and have visited interesting places including The Farm, Twin Oaks, and Earth Haven. You can read about their travels in their veggie fueled camper at Eco Tour of North America. In Shane's words:

The reason for the trips is to explore ecologically-oriented community projects (sometimes called "eco-villages") and learn about how people are attempting to live in greater harmony with each other and with Nature. Follow along on the journey. Write and ask questions. The sharing of this information can and will create change in our world. Thanks for your support! Shane

[Self Reliance in Troubled Times] Todd wood-fired cook stove arrived

2006-10-24T17:39:00.000-04:00

Our new Todd wood-fired cook stove has arrived, and is being assembled. The chimney pipe is back-ordered, but should be here soon. We look forward to cooking Thanksgiving dinner with it, and hope to learn how to use it before that day arrives.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Self Reliance in Troubled Times at 10/24/2006 05:32:00 PM

[Green Trust Fun] New Reading Material

2006-10-16T17:53:00.000-04:00

I picked up two "new to me" magazines this weekend on the way home from Woodhenge, The Backwoodsman and Permaculture Magazine. The Backwoodsman had two great articles on reusing old drums, one for a wood fueled cookstove and the other for a small kayak type boat with outriggers. Permculture also had a article on reusing old drums, a bit whimsical claims the author, but intriguing none the less. Permaculture also had a good article on building compost bins out of old pallets, similar to the Joe Jenkins design.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green Trust Fun at 10/16/2006 02:40:00 PM

[Green-Trust Off Grid] Building the Wind Tower Components

2006-10-16T17:15:00.000-04:00

Jim & I were busy this weekend, cutting, grinding, drilling, and welding the steel pieces for the wind tower. We made the base assembly, and the guy wire couplers for the tower sections. The wind was plentiful this weekend, and jim's wind turbines were actively pumping amps into the Woodhenge battery pack. See the pics in our photo album.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green-Trust Off Grid at 10/16/2006 05:05:00 PM

[Self Reliance in Troubled Times] Canning Time

2006-10-16T17:05:00.000-04:00

This weekend while Jim and I were building the components of the wind tower, Linda was making applesauce for water bath canning, and preparing carrots for pressure canning. She also found time to make a delicious apple pie. Jim put up apple cider in carboys for future consumption.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Self Reliance in Troubled Times at 10/16/2006 04:58:00 PM

[Green-Trust Off Grid] Wind Tower Delay

2006-10-12T07:57:00.000-04:00

Due to weather and parts availability, we have to delay raising the tower. The sonotubes have not arrived, and we need a tamper to pack the ground around the tubes after the they have been filled with concrete and backfilled. Instead, we will be heading to Woodhenge this weekend to work on the tower assembly, and help out there with some of their projects. The Todd Cookstove is being delivered soon as well, so there will be a chimney installation project to handle.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green-Trust Off Grid at 10/12/2006 06:21:00 AM

[Green Trust Fun] Hiking the deep woods

2006-10-10T19:17:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon a group from our church went for a nice hike near Colton NY. The woods were ablaze in fall colors, and the waterfalls and boiling rapids provided a symphony of sounds to complement the gorgeous views. Part way through the hike, Steve twisted his ankle, and had to soak it in the river for a while till he could limp back to the trail head.

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Posted by Steve Spence to Green Trust Fun at 10/10/2006 04:05:00 PM