Gail Gardner

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since Jul 08, 2014
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Freelance writer, small business marketing strategist offering social media promotion services. Live and help out on an organic farm; work totally online; late 50s. Interested in buying more locally raised grass fed meat and poultry and organic fruits and veggies. (Must take PayPal.) I also buy food shipped to me from non-local organic and grass fed farms. Planning to plant fruit trees and eventually a permaculture food forest. Admirer of homesteaders who can do a bit of everything needed from building and growing to keeping things repaired.
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Recent posts by Gail Gardner

There are so many types of wood burning stoves and cooking on any of them takes practice. One great tip I gleaned from a vintage wood cook stove book was the use of what the author referred to as "kitchen wood".

Kitchen wood is simply pieces of branches roughly the same diameter and length. By adding one at a time you can keep a steady temperature for your oven. As mentioned in a comment above, first get the stove hot and then start cooking as it stabilizes / cools.

On a modern wood cook stove with a stainless steel top, although there are rings you can remove I haven't found that necessary. I simply cook with them in place. Stoves are hottest over the firebox and cooler the further you move away from them.

We have an advantage our ancestors didn't have: handheld infrared thermometers. You can use one to check the actual temperature anywhere on the stove top and in various locations in the oven.

What you don't want to do when using the oven is to get impatient about how long it is taking to get warm and add too much wood. Then you'll end up with your oven too hot -- and better be watching what you're baking so you don't burn it!

There are many advantages of a modern wood cook stove. They can be more airtight, fuel efficient, and burn for 12+ hours so it is still warm when you wake up even if you sleep in.

Features like a summer grate allow you to cook on the stove top without getting the stove very hot for very long. And optional water reservoirs are a great heat sink for retaining water when you're asleep or not adding firewood.

You can also get a glass oven door, a thermostat (not accurate, but a good guide) with airflow adjustment to control oven temperature, and even a coil for heating water for your sink and bath.

Many stoves offer a glass firebox door, a feature I wish I had but couldn't get in the stove I wanted. I feel in love with the Kitchen Queen Grand Comfort because of the two glass doors, but it is way too big for my square footage.

Kitchen Queen Grand Comfort



Kitchen Queen Hearth Master (for smaller spaces)

3 months ago

Kate Downham wrote:\Getting a pressure canner seems like it might help to save the meat out of the freezer, and would be handy for other things too, but I am wondering how it would fare on a wood cooking stove?



Great questions. I've wondered most of those myself. What we need is people with experience actually doing pressure canning on wood stoves.

Many have a propane burner set-up for this situation. It needs to be fairly high-powered. (Some are not powerful enough for this purpose.)

But then, what if you couldn't get propane? Then we're back to how to can on a wood stove. I'd like to add one additional question: have you considered what if you want to can in the summer?

I've read that many had an outdoor kitchen. And I suspect that is because it would get awfully hot indoors if you tried to do pressure canning when it is hot. (And in SE Oklahoma, September is still in the 90F temps.)

Here are some videos about canning on wood stoves:





A rocket stove located outside is an option:





Doug and Stacy (YouTube channel) have an outdoor kitchen:



2 years ago

Alex Moffitt wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AadLCOqalFk

It seams like a great learning experiment in soft engineering!

I will keep watching, Your journey!

Regards,
Alex



Great video! I found it on YouTube and came to Permies to see if there was a discussion about it here.
2 years ago

Rl Marler wrote:Thanks, I will check those out.



I have a question. If you both telecommute, why would you want to move near a big city? Land is way less expensive the further you get AWAY from a big city.

I live in Seminole County and am looking at land in the next county south of here. I may be able to point you in the right direction or answer questions you may have.

I lived about four years in Hughes County and now over four years in Seminole County. Looking in Pontotoc County because everywhere seems to be sub-dividing land into small pieces now.
2 years ago

ian andrus wrote:See if this photo helps. Those two plants are  very similar. I think patience dock is larger more robust plant and will have no red spots anywhere on the leaves or petioles also the flavor is more mild not as sour as curly dock.



What is pictured here grows wild where I live (SE Oklahoma). I throw some to the ducks periodically. The horses might eat a little of it, but it is all over the place.
2 years ago

Bill Ramsey wrote:Wild lettuce is my favorite these days. I do nibble on it but I also let it grow around my trees to attract browsing deer as they walk through.



Now is the best time to eat wild lettuce if you can recognize it. It isn't as bitter when it is little. I've been throwing it to my ducks daily as they love it more than I do. I eat some of it, though.
2 years ago

Cara Campbell wrote:Purslane!



Yes, may absolute favorite weed to eat is purslane. Sadly, I keep living where it doesn't thrive. :-(

I also eat dandelions, lambs quarters (tons of those here), wood sorrel, spring beauty flowers, day lily flowers, the tips of greenbriars, clovers, wild mushrooms...lots of things.
2 years ago

Heather Staas wrote:I need to look at window drafts,  I used those insulating films my first winter here but didn't think it made much difference so didn't repeat it.  But now I have winter numbers without them to compare to.  I bet they helped more than I realized.   Going to implement and explore several of these ideas!!  



You probably lose the most heat through the windows. Besides insulating films using heavy drapes can make a huge difference. Some people go low-cost and put bubble wrap over the windows.

In my bedroom I taped insulated foil bubble wrap packaging that cold-sensitive food items came in over the window that faces north. It normally has a window a/c in it so I don't ever look out that window anyway.

So that north-facing window is totally sealed off with insulation and tape. It makes all the difference in keeping that room warm. I also cover the west-facing window in that room as it is only used for sleeping.

This may sound crazy, but if you want a warm place to sleep without heating the entire bedroom, you can put your bed in a tent. I sleep on an air mattress that is inside a cheap (about $30) mosquito tent.

I covered that tent with multiple space blankets. It was built because the neighbor's smart meter transmissions were waking me up in the middle of the night.

But it also makes a warm, toasty place to sleep even if I turn the power off or don't use the heat in that room. If we have a power outage, I'll move all that in front of the fireplace.

Then I'll open the front up to use fireplace heat and then close it up if I want to let the fire burn down to retain that heat. NOTE: it gets REALLY HOT in there in the heat of the summer so I have to open up the front of it.

Look first at all north-facing windows and doors. Add insulation around them if they are letting cold air in. Then check all other windows and doors.

Before good insulation was common, everyone had heavy drapes over windows. And most people also had exterior shutters they closed during storms.

RE: Flushing. IF you have a place to bury or compost what is left, a luggable loo saves water. In a pinch, a 5 gallon bucket, a kitchen trash bag, and a bag of shavings (available at pet stores or feed stores) = power outage toilet.

In the country, many people have composting toilets. The commercial version is super expensive. But many just make their own by putting a seat and sometimes a box around a 5 gallon bucket.

Do your business, cover with shavings (or dried leaves, wood chips, peat pellets, etc.). When the bucket is full, empty it and start again. People who are off-grid or compost a lot may have separate wet and solid containers.

After composting a year, humanure is safe for plants. The squeemish only use it on trees, bushes, etc., - not food plants. Keep in mind that the cleaner your food, the better this compost will be.

And also be aware that if you take prescription anything, residue ends up in either the sewer, septic or compost. (And if you use city water, probably in what you drink and bathe in, too!)
2 years ago

Anne Miller wrote:I know nothing about the Pioneer Princess.



Thanks for the response, Anne. I was hoping there would be a commercial version or at least plans for a rocket stove version of a cook stove with an oven.

The Walker Stove is interesting and I had watched that video before. But it is so huge that I don't know what it would work in what I'm planning to build.

I want to convert one or more reefer trailers into a tiny home. Those are typically 8' x 48' - 53'. You would think every wood stove would come with an insulation option to put it against a wall.

This is an interesting video comparison between a rocket stove with multiple heat sinks and wood cook stoves.


I like a couple of wood cook stoves I've seen, but one was UK and another was AU. And I doubt they sell them in the U.S. Also, they probably have the same issues mentioned in the video I shared just above.
2 years ago