“This is a photo video of my life on a self sufficient farm in northern Kentucky. We cook on a wood cookstove, and live without most of the modern “toys” that almost everybody has.”
DIY
Cottage Industry Appropriate Technology
This blog post lists numerous low cost appropriate tech devices that can be made at the cottage industry scale and sold for profit. As the economy continues to erode, a lot of readers are looking for ways to make extra money. The following list has some ideas to get you thinking. There are many appropriate technology devices, and many different ways to make them. A complete list would fill a book (see Field Guide to Appropriate Technology), so use this blog post as a springboard to discover additional items. Search YouTube for instructional videos.
Straw Bale Roundhouses Built in One Day
A kindred spirit sent me a memorable letter about 10 years ago. They had read about the strawbale roundhouse I helped build with the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota. (I recently found out the roundhouse later got destroyed in a flood.)
Earthbag Building in Vanautu
From Liz: “The Ernas Women’s Centre is a group of 66 displaced women from all over Vanuatu who have settled in the Erakor peninsula. They have no jobs to pay their children’s school fees so they sell food by the road side. They have a business co op that supports them in earning, saving and getting micro finance loans.
Emergency Earthbag Shelter with Reciprocal Roof
Our blog has quite a few free emergency shelters for various purposes. All designs can be found on this blog using the built-in the search engine. Free detailed plans for these shelters are on our Free House Plans page. I’ll add this latest design there if it proves popular. Leave a comment below if you’re interested in building this earthbag shelter.
Hardwood Kitchen Island on Wheels
Here’s a brief description of a project I built years ago, back when I made custom woodworking projects.