Getting good tools in developing countries is challenging since the market is flooded with very low quality products. Often the tools are worthless within minutes or a few hours of use. Sometimes they never work. For instance, I bought a screwdriver a few weeks ago that stripped out on the first screw. This is not unusual. It’s actually very common in poor countries.
Owen Geiger
Homestead Outlaws
“When we looked around at all the things we do on a regular basis, we realize that many things are illegal in other places around the country. Living an Off Grid life in America can get you in hot water with legal authorities if you’re not careful. Here is a list of things we do that may make you an Outlaw.”
Sewing Gusseted Earthbags
Touring earthbag building projects in Nepal has allowed us to gather hundreds of photos, dozens of hours of video footage, and discover lots of interesting new earthbag techniques and developments. I now have fresh content for lots of future blog posts. The volunteers and workers here are very good and so there’s quite a bit of innovation taking place. The photo above is one example of how earthbag builders in Nepal are improving the building process by sewing perfect corners on earthbags.
Live from Nepal: Tour Update #1
As most readers have already heard, I am touring earthbag projects near Kathmandu in collaboration with Good Earth Nepal.org (winner of NEA design award). Every day is exciting, informative and productive even though there are many challenges traveling in rural areas on heavily damaged mountain roads. For instance, the “main road” to China, which one would think is a major trade route, in some places looks like a bulldozer simply cleared aside a crude path on top of millions of tons of rocks. And that is in fact what it is!
Curtis Stone: Passive Solar Greenhouse
Curtis Stone, The Urban Farmer, explains how he built his cold climate greenhouse in Canada. As usual for The Urban Farmer, the video is packed with interesting details. Note his comments on how he saved $10,000 by avoiding the common trap of overengineering. Curtis Stone’s videos and book explain how to make $100,000 farming ½ acre you don’t own.
Hempcrete
I’ve been aware of the value of what is called “hempcrete,” a mixture of lime and hemp hurds (an agricultural byproduct), for several years. But I’ve never learned much about how to prepare it, partly because industrial hemp cultivation has been illegal in the United States for the last eight decades, since it is related … Read more