Judith Pi

Thanks for the book. Looks a great resource.

On that topic, there is also another way of consuming the protein of any leaves and grasses, as long as they are not toxic. That said, some sources say, with this method you can even eat the extract from toxic leaves, though I would not chance it. You make leafu, aka leaf curd, leaf protein or leaf concentrate. Extract the protein through juicing the leaves and then coagulating the protein part through dribbling the juice into either hot or acidic water where the protein will flocculate and can be filtered out with a fine mesh. A bit laborious, requires equipment and  a fairly large volume of leaves for a small amount of protein, but the raw material is plentiful, and the nutrient concentrated. You could consume the filtered mass as is, fresh, or press like cheese or tofu (hence "leafu"), maybe even dehydrate to keep longer. To give you an idea of output, I made some from about a laundry basket full of nettles (particularly high in protein) and got about a 1/2 to 1 cup of sloppy curd before pressing. It tasted very similar to cooked nettles, but with a less gritty texture. The flavor did make me think that more than just protein got into the mass, and it was still green, thus it convinced me to avoid toxic leaves. Not tried it on anything else to compare and evaluate. But with brambles exploding presently and in need of reducing, I might give it a go. Eat your problem.

Here is a free downloadable manual (first link on page) on how to make it in volume, but you could use a masticating juicer for smaller quantities as well, plus related links.

https://www.leafforlife.org/gen/download-docs.html

r ranson wrote:There are lots of other ways to have a low-water clean.  I think the Romans use to use olive oil and a scrappy stick.  Other cultures enjoy a sauna style.  Some scrub with rough towel and others sand.

I read the book "Walkabout", supposedly a true story, about a woman going walkabout in the Australian outback with aboriginals, very minimally clad. They came across a swarm of a certain type of fly and she was told to stand still for a cleaning. The swarm alighted on their bodies and ate all the dead skin, oils etc. The most bizarre cleaning I've ever come across. Not for the fainthearted, and you need the outback.

Nooooooooooooooo! Me falling down the rabbit hole...

I've come across a novel way to mow the lawn with guinea pigs. A smallholding near me is doing that with a paddock and movable runs similar to a chicken tractor. Can't remember their reason for it, but it could be done to keep the grass down. It might not work too well where there are guinea pig eating snakes, but worth a look. Maybe use extra mesh with small holes the snakes can't get through.

I love that sunflower fabric. Looks like a 1950s pattern. Talking of 1950s, the photo below shows what the top "pinking shears" would be used for. I suspect the bottom ones are for a similar edge decorating purpose. Very popular with scrapbooking.

Jojoba seems an appropriate ingredient to give the cloth a little more flexibility. Technically, jojoba is not an oil but a wax with a low melting point. Brilliant stuff and useful for many things. It has great lubricating qualities but doesn't go sticky like vegetable oils, and is useful for lubricating anything in contact with food, even skewers. But I also use it successfully on squeaky and/or stiff hinges. What I haven't tried yet, but think it will be successful, is using it as a substitute for things like almond oil in lip balms mixed with the beeswax, as it probably won't go rancid like oil does.

r ranson wrote:  Apparently, it was trying to prove that people who grew up with headphones, especially ear buds, had increased untangling abilities over previous generations.

Ha, headphones, a couple feet of stiffish cord. No match for people who grew up with cassette tapes.

Steve Holder wrote:
Obviously heat is required for the gas monkeys to brew.  Is below ground better. Could a heat belt like you use for beer/wine brewing be used.

There is a backyard biogas digester made by an Israeli company who sell world-wide. The website has some useful information, though the site is not easy to navigate. One link of interest I found in round-about ways is the "Booster" tent for cooler climates. One could make some kind of little greenhouse, well insulated at back, sides and bottom.

https://landing.homebiogas.com/booster/

The toilet they sell, btw, is a standard ship toilet you can get in the UK for about £90.

This video "True review: Homebiogas with bio toilet" has some useful general info in the comments.
https://youtu.be/tdkmqxy-Tno?si=5tIYTvryDYHKtQdf

A bidet would be good way to deal with the paper issue as Nancy said. As you need water to flush waste into the tank, you may as well use that black water for the flush.

Another useful bit of info that came from a video where the HomeBiogas guy said that you can easily convert any LPG or natural gas cooker to run on the low pressure bio gas by simply removing the nozzle of the burner which constricts the flow. It's the second segment of the video.

https://youtu.be/d3o_elkOgUQ?si=eI93Ej3CIakDHqgj

Suzanne Jabs wrote: I found that the rubber rings have lasted me through 5 years or so for the most part.  

Thanks, that is good to know. I've only had Wecks for about 2-3 years. When not in use, I try to store the rings in an airtight container, flat and dark. I think that would help prolong life. But whatever composition their natural rubber is, it is a lot better than Kilner's.

Bess Saunders wrote: I also found these jars in my recent search for Kilner replacements:
https://www.pearljars.com/en/products/canning-starter-kit?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=976974733&pr_rec_pid=8586653663567&pr_ref_pid=9473972142415&pr_seq=uniform

Wow, those are fabulous! Thanks! The classic Mason jar without the downsides, the jar I had dreamed of with everlasting neutral lid and band and long-lasting neutral rings. A pity about the distance, price and limited range (the range may still improve with some customer feedback). Also the inability to buy certain jars outside of a set. For example, the fermenting set includes one perfect jar with straight sides. Alas, you can't buy that shape separately at all. The shouldered jar is no good for keeping down floaters. And what if you want to ferment a bunch of things? End up with half a dozen pounders?

One other little criticism is the lack of certain information. If anyone is thinking of getting those jars, here are a couple bits of information hard to come by on the website, or is not obvious. The only reference I found on mouth size was on the canning starter set page: 70mm OD. The dimensions given for Mariposa jars are "diameter = 81/97mm". I assume the 81mm is the mouth? It is also not expressly stated that the "Storage" range has solid screw lids, whereas the "Luna Preserve" has the typical Mason type lid with band. The former is not suitable for vacuum sealing. At first glance photos of the screw lid could be of a band with the disk still inside. Last, but not least, they bury an amazing feature of the "Luna Preserve" in a blog post. Unlike the typical flat edged Mason lid, the Luna lid has a rim to go around the sealing ring with a gap for pushing against the ring to release the vacuum with minimal effort or distortion of the ring. That rim also makes the lid more rigid. Releasing a vacuum on a Mason lid can easily deform the lid, and is quite awkward from what I've seen.

The one thing for which I still use twist off lid jars is frequent access foods. The clipped Weck lid is too awkward, and the various push on lids are not air-tight enough. Those lids mean spoilage of dry goods in our damp climate. That is where the Mason type jar would be ideal.

I'd say this jar is one for TEOTWAWKI.

An unusual situation to start with. What is the actual allergy situation? With the up to 20 people living there, is it a sanctuary/community for people with allergies? I've heard of similar where people want to live perfume free. Or is it extended family with a genetic allergy? Can you tackle the allergy side of things? What makes you all allergic? The culprit may not be what triggers reactions but some underlying problem. How many of those people living there actually have allergies? If only a few, can you reduce the amount of laundry requiring those conditions, i.e. do it separately in a smaller, more easily run system? Tackling another root problem; would you be better off moving to a more suitable climate? It requiring the most extreme approach, but barring any permanent cure,  also offers the most permanent solution.

I also agree with Jay that modern attitudes to cleanliness can be an issue. What applies to germs may apply to allergen exposure in making you more susceptible when limiting exposure.

A few more ideas about the laundry setups suggested, and tackling humidity.

The rocket mass heater assisted dehydrator is an excellent idea. It's somewhat similar to a chamber behind a Tromb wall. It could be situated down-wind from the prevailing wind and have an extended chimney to remove any smoke away from the dwelling. If it goes onto skids or wheels, it could be moved if the wind occasionally blows in the opposite direction.

My mother had a regular front-load washing machine but used a separate spinner after the washer spin cycle. It would still extract more water. They are certainly more powerful in removing water.

I have an off-grid no-electric laundry setup using a mangle. It also does a very good job, but I would suggest that some items that are slower drying (typically cotton jersey, or bulky fabrics) are put through twice. I tend to let things with zippers and bulky buttons like jeans drip dry. I only wash them on sunny, breezy days, as they would take too long to dry. My climate here in west Wales, by the way, is similar to the PNW.

Lastly, an amusing thing I saw in an advert for double glazing for cold climates or periods. It showed a single-glazed window with condensation and the window sill was fashioned into a mini sink with drain. It was meant to be disparaging, but my permy/Heath Robinson/Rube Goldberg brain saw a brilliantly simple dehumidifier. It could be a small window or even a metal plate high on an external wall where warm, moist air rises to. The bottom would simply be fitted into a channel with a tube moving the water outside. You could place some insulated panel in front to reduce some heat loss as well as prevent warming of the panel by radiant heat, but allowing the air to go behind it around the edges.