Richard Henry

When I first read this, it came to mind that this might be a subject common among preppers rather than permies.  When I did a quick search, bingo, there were a ton of potential recipies.  Here is a list from one site.
1. Chai Tea
2. Fruit & Spice Tea
3. Mulling Spices Mix
4. Russian Tea
5. Tropical Tea
6. Beef Vegetable Barley Soup Mix
7. Confetti Bean Soup
8. Hearty Bean Soup
9. Meat & Potatoes Casserole in a Jar
10. Onion Soup Mix
11. Palouse Soup Mix
12. Pasta Shell Soup
13. Scalloped Potatoes in a Jar
14. Split Pea Soup Mix
15. Beef Gravy Mix
16. Curried Rice Mix
17. Homemade Chicken Gravy
18. Sloppy Joe Mix
19. Taco Seasoning
20. Enchilada Sauce Mix
21. French Dressing
22. Italian Dressing
23. Buttermilk Pancake Mix
24. Carrot Raisin Bread in a Jar
25. Cinnamon Pancake Mix
26. Flaky Pie Crust Mix
27. Granola Mix
28. Instant Oatmeal (3 Kinds!)
29. Moist Pie Crust Mix
30. Pizza Crust Mix
31. Applesauce Cookie Mix
32. Candy Cookies in a jar
33. Caramel Nut Cake in a Jar
34. Carrot Cake Mix
35. Chocolate Cake in a Jar
36. Chocolate Covered Raisin Cookie Mix
37. Cocoa Peanut Butter Cookie Mix
38. Coconut Cream Pudding Mix
39. Coffee Mug Cakes (5 Kinds!)
40. Cornflake Cookie Mix
41. Cowboy Cookies
42. Cranberry HootyCreeks
43. Crazy Cake in a Jar
44. Dreamsicle Cookie Mix
45. Hawaiian Cookie Mix
46. M&M Oatmeal Bar Mix
47. Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Mix
48. Oatmeal Scotchies
49. Orange Slice Cookie Mix
50. Pina Colada Cake in a Jar
51. Pumpkin Cake in a Jar
52. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Mix
53. Sandart Brownies
54. Sugar Cookies in a jar
55. Trail Mix Cookie Mix
56. Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
57. Vanilla Pudding Mix
58. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Mix
59. White Fruit Cake in a Jar
60. Zucchini Bread in a Jar

The URL to download a PDF of all 60 recipies is:https://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/60giftmixesjarrecipes.pdf

If other recipies are wanted, happy hunting in the prepper aisle.

A quick glance at the roof indicates it is far newer than the original one.  I wonder if the original roof was, perhaps sod?  That would allow for cooler inside temperatures than this chipboard and shingle one.  I would be careful and regularly test any water seeping in as this is shallow enough to allow seepage of surface water.  Any animals around the lawn could be providing bacteria that would not be helpful.  Placing closed cell foam on the outside of the walls would be much less picturesque, but good to keep out surface seepage with associated fungi, bacteria, etc. and maintaining temperatures more in a continuous range. The zone indicates much of NC and the upland region of SC, North Georgia (outside taller mountainous areas) and much of north Alabama.  Current soil temps at 8" down are showing temps in the mid-to upper 70's.  I would not suggest this would work as a decent tornado shelter. That roof is not likely structurally attached to the walls and even then, the cement on what appears to be limestone looks quite old and showing its age.  Does the home have a basement?  I would guess not or it would be wetter than this. In the areas most commonly identified as zone 8a, tornadoes have a bad habit of hiding until they pounce.  It is not a good idea to have a shelter outside the home in such areas, too much exposed travel in potentially deadly conditions.

The vegetation beyond the springhouse in the first picture with the home appears to be heading down into a channel.  That would indicate potential for flooding and if so, the remnants of a flood in a building like this are less than desirable.

It definately looks cool and I really wish it could be easily modified to be worth the upkeep.  Perhaps there are other homes with such structures in the area?  If so, ask the owners if they know what they were used for.  On meditating on the photo of the interior, what if the roof was modified to a greenhouse and then used for starting plants in the spring.  I could really see that as a use since drought would be past the plant starting portion of the season, but the chances of frost past February inside would be minimal.  Any open water on the floor would help to maintain a frost-free growing area with favorable humidity.  Just a wild thought.

This is a great deal of experience in one place.  I do have a question regarding areas subject to high wind in conjunction with heavy rain.  I worked in codes and building science for some time and remember in Florida, 2004, that multiple hurricane events overlapping the same areas proved too much even for concrete walls.  Modern homes constructed in the U.S.have an internal vulnerability.  High winds can develop very strong pressure gradients between the outside and the interior of the home.  What we saw in 2004 in Florida was the fact that concrete blocks subjected to multiple high wind events with heavy rain saturated the interior of the blocks.  That water began to seep through the walls after the storms.  My proposal would provide a nod to rainscreen techologies.  If a wall's exterior is coated or covered by a water resistant material such as plaster or cob, then wooden slats could be anchored to the bales and siding placed over the slats.  There should be weeps on each piece of siding's lower limit and infiltration areas on the top of each piece,  That provides an equalization chamber that allows wind pressure (which can force water at least 8 inches vertically) to reduce such that any water than enters flows down the back of the siding and is not driven into the main body of the wall.  The slats must be limited to smaller blocks by being broken up both vertically and horizontally.  This reduces wind pressure buildup between the outside and inside of the structure.

A note on secondary foundations if attempting to place straw bales on the outside of a wood wall.  One should construct the outer foundation to be at least an inch lower than the original foundation.  This helps any moisture that might seem from the inner wall or a void along the top plate to flow down and out of the home.  If level or above the interior foundation wall, the opposite can occur and that would be challenging.

For Matthew in Clemson, I understand mice may not make nests in straw bales, but what about insects such as fire ants?  Just curious.

Most nesting bees and wasps use pheromones to locate their nest Decoys work because they often predate other species nests or larvae.
Number one, always clean or remove in the dark. That protects you and allows you to work. Next, use something that replaces the “home” smell. Several essential oils fit the bill. Peppermint, clove and lemongrass are strong and bees dislike them. Get a spray bottle and add 1/2 cup of water with 10 drops of peppermint essential oil, possibly with clove oil and some liquid dish soap. The soap acts as a surfactant (breaks down the surface tension of the water) to allow mixing. I would suggest spraying down the entire mailbox, both inside and out to completely eliminate the pheromones and blind the wasps’ ability to recognize the site as home.

While wasps and bees are vital in the garden, they have plenty of safe spaces to use for nests. If you feel bad about eviction, it’s possible to provide dry, sheltered spaces for them away from your travel paths.

Remember, the dark is your friend.  

Connie:  I would counsel prudence in all things.  Pumping a septic tank can cut both ways.  Once a tank is empty of the sludge and water, the tank becomes quite buoyant.  My father strongly counseled all customers who had gotten a new tank to provide a couple of hundred gallons of water ASAP to prevent the tank from popping out of the ground.  And, they can, especially if the soil is not fully packed around the tank.  Once the tank has been in the ground for a year or two, the tank is less likely to lift, but I remember a nearby gas station where they decommissioned an underground fuel tank and built a new structure over it.  That tank had been in the ground for decades and it still rose during a high ground water period and lifted the entire corner of the building.  So...even when a tank has been down there for a long time, high groundwater around it after a pumping event might be quite spectacular.  I suppose it would be one way to find a missing tank in its entirety instead of just the clean out.

Kathleen:  I agree septic lines have to have some grade, but ensure that the grade is not too much.  Building codes set the minimum slope for sewer lines. These standards prevent common drainage failures. For 2 to 3 inch pipes: 1/4 inch per foot minimum. For 4 inch pipes or larger: 1/8 inch per foot minimum - International Plumbing Code (IPC) accepts these standards. A septic line is part of a floating carrier system.  If the grade is too steep, the water floating the solids down to the tank will outrun the solids.  This will let the semi-solids slide along the pipe.  What happens over time is that the residue on the pipe wall will build up, looking almost like rings on a tree. The pipe will pass less and less material and finally plug completely.  We dug up plugged lines often and saw that exact issue.

While a properly working septic tank is as efficient as anything, far too many systems are plumbed into most, if not all gray water and laundry.  Note, in my previous comments, I noted that our laundry was plumbed into a completely separate cesspool.  Laundry wash water is very hard on a working septic system because it overloads the tank, often diluting the bacterial colony that is trying to make a living on the carbon in the system.  Heavy dilution can shut a system down significantly if not entirely.  Use of specific materials can reintroduce bacteria into a system in crisis.  It does not matter what that material is so long as it produces a strong anaerobic bacterial colony.  My father's suggestion for using ground meat that is beginning to decay works because it is a good source of anaerobic bacteria.  Yogurt or fermented matter may also work, but I like rotten meat better.  (It also helps remove a potential source of difficult odor.)

The grease that remains after digestion will flow out of the outflow and will clog soil in either drywell or leach field.  That grease is insoluble and is the product of digestion in the septic tank.  No matter what you do, unless you use a special oxygen charge system in the secondary tank to convert the grease, it will get out there.

Nicholas - I hope that your tank was concrete and not metal or even fiberglass.  Placing a concrete manhole is a good idea unless it might overload the top and cave it in.  Ensure there is some preventive barrier around the top to keep heavy equipment off it.  Any heavy vehicle or machinery driving over the top can punch the riser straight into the tank and create a very expensive repair.

Glad to see you have some potential answers.  I was troubled when I read that the system "always tripped just before hitting 60 psi".  Physics would tend to show that as the pump reached its limits, it would be working harder, read that as using more power.  I expected the pump system to be running on the edge with only a 15 amp breaker.  Yes, a 15 amp breaker might work in a perfect setup, but the pump you describe has been in place for some time and probably was the minimum the previous owner could get by with.  Given time and environmental stress, a larger system with some method of filtering silt/biofilm would be in order.  That appears to be what resulted.  Good luck.

OK, back with more wisdom from my father.  One favor he did for any customer was to measure and get a heading from the sewer pipe exit from the house to the tank and thence to the drywell or leach field.  He then wrote that on material that would not degrade and hung it next to the clean out plug on the line.

Next.  Wisdom from an environmental hydrologist.  Knowing where your septic system is located and drains to is vital if you are not on city water.  Any well creates a cone of depression that can allow septic outflow from the system to slide down and into your well.  I stayed at a farm where they complained about a seasonal stomach issue.  I found both the well and the septic and then had them rent a backhoe and provide pipe.  I rerouted the sewer outflow well away (about 250 feet, if I remember correctly) from the water well and the problem never again bothered them.

It is also extremely important to know where any dumps were located back in the day.  Nasty chemicals leach from such holes and no one wants their own version of Love Canal.

We also used digging bars to locate old septic tanks, but I see that several people used that trick.  

This was interesting.  I especially liked the comments on using fermented foods after they have aged out.  I grew up with a father who started his own excavation business.  Quite a bit of our work was related to septic systems.  By the time I was 12, I was catching the concrete blocks he dropped into the hole to construct dry wells and cesspools.  My father was a proponent of flushing small handsful of spoiled hamburger into the system on a regular basis.  When he passed and I returned with my family to the farm, I found that he had not exchanged the temporary 500 gallon steel septic tank.  Some visitors apparently flushed most of a toilet paper roll in one flush and it clogged the inlet to the tank.  Being saturated, the snake was unable to tear it apart.  So...I decided to enhance the system as a whole.  I had a plumber route all grey water to the kitchen cesspool (yep, caught and placed every one of those concrete blocks).  That avoided any water except through the stools.  Laundry was sent already into the drainage for the basement into another cesspool I had built.  Now, we have a 1,000 gallon concrete septic tank and non-degradable line which has not burbled in over 12 years.  BTW, due to careful use, the 500 gallon tank had lasted from 1957 until around 2011.  We did have a large piece of concrete on the top of it to prevent sudden surprises to anyone driving over it.

I can say with confidence, that proper use and maintenance along with ensuring the water can flow away can perform wonders in the waste disposal category.  

One caveat.  If the septic tank flows into a drywell, the drywell may plug as the grease particles exit the tank into the well.  That grease will plug most soil types after a while and does not degrade easily in the ground.  We installed a ditch filled with stone that allows the flow to move at least 160 feet into the road ditch, by which time the flow has been cleansed quite well.  Old time engineering claimed 50 foot of sand filter could make septic outflow drinkable (not wanting to check that claim), but water flowing over stone can be a wonderful natural filter.