What’s the Best Solar Food Dryer?

...oil before enough moisture is removed. That’s why you should build a solar food dryer. Brace Direct Food Dryer. Image: FAO. There are two basic designs for solar food dryers: direct and indirect. Direct dryers are just a box with a piece of glass on the top. Indirect dryers use a box to collect the heat of the sun and then, thanks to the fact that hot air rises, take that heat up into an enclosed box that contains the food you want to dry. The Poi...

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The Urban Homestead

...and your local indie bookstore This celebrated, essential handbook for the urban homesteading movement shows how to grow and preserve your own food, clean your house without toxins, raise chickens, gain energy independence, and more. Step-by-step projects, tips, and anecdotes will help get you started homesteading immediately. The Urban Homestead is also a guidebook to the larger movement and will point you to the best books and internet resources...

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New Health Food Trends at the Natural Products Food Expo West

...hundreds of booths I went past, most were peddling heavily processed junk foods with a “natural” label. And we wonder why the U.S. has an obesity epidemic? The Ugly The bizarre booth spectacle award goes to the weight lifting supplement producer that had a scantily clad nurse, an examination table and a ultrasound machine. Retail reps with pot bellies could have themselves oiled up and examined to find their “hidden abs” that would, presumably, b...

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Non-Toxic Cleaning for the Home

...s a pound of poison! Use window screens. Keep counters and floors clear of food, put away pet food after feeding time. Don’t let garbage sit. Insect sprays and bombs are toxic and unnecessary—literally overkill. If you are bothered by ants, for instance, no need to spray with a poison like Raid. A spritz of vinegar or rubbing alcohol will kill them quickly, as will hot soapy water. Ants follow scent trails laid down by scouts. Wipe down their trav...

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Waxed Cloth Food Wrap (Made in a solar oven for bonus self-righteousness points)

...t these novelty hankies, made out of cheap printed cotton, are perfect for food wraps. The cloth covering the bowl in the photos is one of those. These hankies are particularly nice because they have a finished edge, but this project is also perfect for making use of other textiles you might feel wasteful for throwing out, like old top sheets or a dress shirt with one unfortunate stain or fabric scraps from sewing projects. Solar Oven Specifics Be...

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