Drew | Being prepared today

December 27, 2021December 27, 2021

Your home made composter

Not a lot of people make their own soil anymore. It seems to be a lost art becoming more scarce in these the days of technology and convenience. Your home made composter will help you to bring that lost art to your backyard.

To make a composter at home you must figure out a few things so to incorporate them into the design. First, figure out in what quantities you will need or want to make compost in and factor the size into your design. Second, whether you want to have a spinner, standing composter or open pile based on what would be easier for you or what you think will work best. Third is location: where you will station your composter for the process.

Needed materials for Your home made composter

The material you will be using will depend on how strong you want to make it and what capacity is desired. Take into consideration where it will be located because of oxidation of metals or deterioration and breakdown of wood and other materials.

For a spinning chamber, something like a round bar or wood/ metal pole would be ideal. Most people would use blue plastic drums for their spinning chamber but it’s totally up to you. A metal drum with a thick plastic liner would be sufficient for the purpose. Some people use cinder blocks and do an open pit. Do thorough consideration of all parts you will need and make a list if needed.

Objective of Your home made composter

The objective of your home composter is to be able create good, healthy soil on your own, seasonally. Add it to your garden on a yearly or seasonal basis to support the health of your garden. By using household scraps you are not only cutting back on waste but now you are on your way to true sustainability and self-sufficiency! Be aware though, that there are certain things that do not belong in a compost mixture.

Your composter can help you cut back on waste and produce good soil for lawn, garden, potting and more! It is also a good skill to have should you ever need it.

My how-to composting guide will help you to understand the composting process and get the best results from your home made composter.

My Guide

This, being a general guide to building a home composter, will give guidelines to use while building with your own design. Your chosen location or specific need of space will help determine your design.

Accessibility for turning is a major consideration because you will need to mix(turn) the compost mixture often. I personally have built a spinning composter with two compartments that are blue barrels. I put them on their side, cut hatch doors into them and made a handle on one end for easy spinning. It mixes itself as I spin them.

Back in ‘the old days’ compost was mixed with a pitchfork and everyone was doing it. Back in those days everyone grew their own food and stored it for consumption later in the winter. It was quite important to have good soil and have a plentiful harvest so they could survive the winter.

Build it with consideration for aeration or air flow. Air flow is necessary for the bacterial breakdown of the material into soil, Also ,build it in a way that it will withstand the elements and not oxidize and breakdown. If you’re making it of metal you can get a gloss paint or gloss spray to coat and protect your equipment. You can try to keep it covered but its not always a guarantee.

Open pit compost piles should be pretty self-explanitory as it is quite literally

open to the atmosphere. Using cinder blocks should be sufficient but you can also use rock, wood or just about anything similar to contain it. Be sure to turn or mix it once or twice a week!

Have fun with composting

Nowadays it is not such a necessity to compost your own soil to support a garden or healthy harvest, so its easier to have fun with it. Experiment a little because various climates make the composting process vary.

Most of all I think we should be proud of composting because of the reduction of waste and self-sufficiency we are creating for ourselves. It truly is a great craft and skill to have.

Thank you for reading! I hope you found this article helpful, interesting or informative and please share it! If you have any questions, comments or input please feel free to do so in the box below.

September 11, 2021September 26, 2021

How to be water independent by rainwater harvesting

Water is the most abundant resource on this planet but only a small percentage is actually drinkable. What’s more frustrating to most is that municipalities will charge you for this precious resource. What a lot of people don’t understand is what goes on behind the scenes: where that water comes from and what has to be done to it to make it usable or drinkable. It goes through chemical treatments and a couple different filtration processes and that’s what you’re really paying for. Not the water itself. Fortunately, there are a couple different ways to make yourself water independent and a big one is a technique called rainwater harvesting.

Here are some ideas to pull from to collect as much water as you can .

Roof runoff rainwater harvesting

Probably the best and most efficient way to collect rainwater is from the runoff from your roof. When it rains it will run off your roof into your rain gutters and down the spout. By directing your downspout to a barrel/barrels or even a tank that has a large enough opening, you could fill a 250 gallon tank or larger depending on location and climate.

It is efficient in the way it covers such a large area for rainfall and requires very little effort on your part besides redirecting your rain gutters and keeping algae or mosquitoes from growing. Piping the water system to your home or desired use is completely up to you just be sure of permitting and local laws concerning this subject.

rainwater harvesting with rain barrel funnels

The rain barrel funnel method, as I call it, is a technique that requires food grade barrels and a tarp or other high coverage, rain collecting surface. Using rope or string you can tie the corners of the tarp to a structure or build supports for your high coverage idea. Now you can funnel the water into the barrel using the tarp or other high coverage surface of your choice.

It’s a pretty simple concept but requires quite a bit of space and some ingenuity so try to be inventive.

Storing rainwater in the ground

By understanding how rainwater acts and moves you will be able to redirect water for the convenient use of you and your family. Obviously water flows downhill because of gravity so building the appropriate channels, guides or gutters will accomplish this. A cistern is an underground water storage that can be made of concrete, metal or even plastic. But, again this is also subject to permitting and local laws.

Trees help keep water in the ground by the shade they provide and in their root systems. By the shade they provide it prevents the moisture from being evaporated in to the air. Gardening near trees will provide extra moisture for your garden and conserve your collected water usage.

Well water

In the old days a well would be dug by hand where groundwater would pool up in the bottom of the hole. Sometimes these holes would be dug to depths of twenty feet or more and a rope would be needed to pull the digger out. A pulley structure would be built over top of the hole to lower a bucket to collect water.

In present times a well is drilled by machinery to depths of around 100 or more feet to collect water from aquifers which are basically underground reserves of water and occasionally an underground river. Electric or motor driven pumps will pull the water up to surface level and store it in a tank for use.

Purifying for potable water

There are several ways to purify water and it is my belief that only two of them are really that efficient and cost effective. One way is to boil water and the other is through a gravity filtration device. There is also the potential to send your rainwater directly into filtration devices or even to direct greywater (water from sinks, showers and laundry) into garden systems to effectively deal with and distribute the water.

Here is an article on water purification methods and efficiencies,

Here is a link to a PDF of a Plan of Action for water purification for you to check out!

Start collecting

However you go about being water conscious and self-sufficient be sure to keep you and your family safe and healthy by reading into water purification and hazards. Collecting rainwater could save you quite a bit of money on municipal or even help you on your journey to becoming a great gardener. Whatever your path is, start collecting and good luck!

I hope this article was helpful and informative. If you have any questions comments or input please feel free to do it in the comments box below.

Thanks

Resources used:

Ready.gov

Theprovidentprepper.org

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021

Ways to avoid exposure to the elements

Have you ever been so cold that it stops hurting? How about a heat stroke? Have you ever been in a flood or even a hurricane or windstorm? Hot or cold. Soaked or dehydrated. Wind or altitude. Insects or disease. After a flood comes the bugs and bacterial diseases. Believe it or not, wind can make you chapped and dehydrated but can also cut through your clothes leaving you frozen. These are obviously the worst case scenarios but on this semi-unforgiving planet, ignorance and complacency can catch you off guard and you would be wise to learn to avoid exposure.

Wind and Altitude

Wind can vary from a light breeze to a hurricane. A light breeze at even 40 degrees Fahrenheit can be bitter cold and cause hypothermia if exposed for a long period. Obviously, extra clothing can help insulate you from the cold and keep body heat in. Hot, dry winds can dry your skin and cause chapping, even dehydrate you. Other than a windbreaker or other clothing that has wind protection technology, finding stable shelter or going indoors is the only other option.

Building a shelter in the wilderness is a handy skill to have. If you would like more info on that subject head on over to these links:

Wilderness survival skills

Building suitable shelter

AMS is the acronym for Acute Mountain Syndrome. AMS can happen to anyone and it’s not really known exactly what causes it. People who have climbed or hiked for years at high altitudes can suddenly experience it without warning. Early warning signs of AMS can include nausea, headaches, feelings of fatigue, dizziness and disorientation. If not addressed, they can get worse and effect your motor skills and even walking. The only surefire way to address AMS is to descend to lower altitudes as quickly as possible.

Heat and Cold

Frigid temperatures are quite uncomfortable to most people and if not properly prepared for are quite dangerous. Proper, warm clothing is your best bet for staying warm. However, constant movement of body and limbs causes friction which creates heat. Try to keep moving, even pacing in place or flexing your fingers when needed, it will keep the blood circulating and the heat flowing. A small fire can warm the extremities and keep frostbite at bay.

The Heat is just as dangerous. Exposure to the sun can cause dehydration or sunburn and with physical exertion can cause heat exhaustion and even heat stroke. Drink plenty of water with electrolytes. When the body sweats, you lose precious sodium and other hydrating minerals that must be replenished. The body needs them for proper muscle function, blood circulation and brain function as well. However, finding a nice shady spot to beat the heat, like under a tree, can be the simplest yet best idea.

Precipitation and Dehydration

A fair amount of people believe that getting caught in the rain can lead to the common cold. The combination of wetness and cold temperatures can indeed make you sick. Snow included. Rain jackets, poncho or even a large trash bag if your in a pinch, will keep you dry and slick away the moisture. Avoid letting your feet get wet or if they do, dry them as soon as you can to ward off Trench Foot. It is a rotting of the flesh cause by being cold and absorbing too much moisture. The body stops flow of blood to the cold, wet limbs in an attempt to conserve energy and it’s quite nasty, possibly leading to amputation.

On the opposite side of that storm is dehydration. Not drinking enough water or simply not having the electrolytes needed to maintain proper physical and mental operation can be deadly. First you will start to chap up or ‘parch’ as some people call it. You may seem very thirsty and that’s because you are and it may be accompanied by delirium or hallucinations. Next you will lose consciousness then organ damage followed by death. Keeping an amount of salt will keep up on the electrolytes and sodium that your body needs. If you don’t have any water with you, find shade immediately if you start to feel overheated or extra thirsty. Sometimes it is possible to dig down into the earth a couple feet and find ground water.

Insects and Disease

Flying and biting insects of the wild, especially mosquitoes, carry diseases like malaria (in some countries), Dengue, Yellow fever, blood borne pathogens and now even West Nile virus. Precautions like a bug spray or even essential oils that are effective at repelling pesky biting bugs are highly suggested. If you get caught in the wild without repellent of any sort then rubbing mud on your exposed skin will help protect you from biting insects. While it doesn’t deter them from trying they cannot bite through the mud. It is a method of protection the Native American Indians have used for centuries.

Staying safe and healthy

Take proper precautions to stay safe while on a hike, out in the wilderness camping or for any reason you might be at risk of exposure. Exercise, vitamins and eating healthy can help mitigate some of the more severe symptoms of certain exposures. The tips and suggestions in this article will also keep you from extreme exposure to the elements. This world can be harsh and Humans have evolved to a point where we have the luxuries of air conditioning, solid shelters we call houses and vehicles that can travel 10 times faster than any horse or covered wagon. So, next time you’re out and about you will now have the knowledge to keep yourself safe from the extremes.

I hope you found this article informative and if you have any questions, comments or input please feel free to do so in the comments box below.