I found this ad on the back of a 1981 Mother Earth News. Having two old diesels myself, the big print caught my eye. The small print, however, illustrates why I'm not all that excited about new advances in fuel economy. This 1982 Datsun pickup got 33mpg city and 39mpg highway. By way of comparison, none of the three 2007 hybrid trucks got over 21mpg (according to fueleconomy.gov). Granted, the Datsun was a much smaller truck, but I think my point still stands. A small diesel engine can do just about as well as a hybrid and has no the big nasty (hard to dispose of) battery. I guess it's about time I fix my 82 diesel Audi.
Showing posts with label environmentalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environmentalism. Show all posts
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Hybrid Schmybrid
I found this ad on the back of a 1981 Mother Earth News. Having two old diesels myself, the big print caught my eye. The small print, however, illustrates why I'm not all that excited about new advances in fuel economy. This 1982 Datsun pickup got 33mpg city and 39mpg highway. By way of comparison, none of the three 2007 hybrid trucks got over 21mpg (according to fueleconomy.gov). Granted, the Datsun was a much smaller truck, but I think my point still stands. A small diesel engine can do just about as well as a hybrid and has no the big nasty (hard to dispose of) battery. I guess it's about time I fix my 82 diesel Audi.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sustainable Communities!
I heard about a conference on sustainable communities, here in St. Paul, and I am just so excited about it!
The conferences topic tracks include:
I am especially interested in Gardening, Greening, and Urban Forestry. I've got our little food and flower garden in our neighbors' yard, but have been hoping and waiting and praying for more opportunities to work on this kind of stuff in our larger community, with other people, both more and less experienced than me!
Is anyone interested in going with me to this conference? It's March 8th, at Augsburg College, here in the Twin Cities, and it's free.
***I've fixed the link above for the conference; sorry it didn't work before***
The conferences topic tracks include:
- School, congregational and neighborhood organizing
- Watershed Education / Restoration
- Gardening / Greening / Urban Forestry
- Transportation—Walking / Biking / Transit Use / Active Living by Design
- Energy Conservation / Green Buildings / Renewable Energy
- Local & Sustainable Food Systems
- Zero Waste Initiatives, Greening Your Business, Green Careers
- Developing a Community-wide Sustainability Plan
I am especially interested in Gardening, Greening, and Urban Forestry. I've got our little food and flower garden in our neighbors' yard, but have been hoping and waiting and praying for more opportunities to work on this kind of stuff in our larger community, with other people, both more and less experienced than me!
Is anyone interested in going with me to this conference? It's March 8th, at Augsburg College, here in the Twin Cities, and it's free.
***I've fixed the link above for the conference; sorry it didn't work before***
Friday, February 8, 2008
Wild Rice Soup for a Minnesota Winter: a Tangential Recipe
Winter Wild Rice Soup
The key to wild rice is letting it blossom. I put several handfuls of wild rice (this is real wild-grown stuff, hand harvested by Ojibwe people on Mille Lacs Reservation! Just another local treat from the co-op!) into my lit
tle sauce pan, and a kettle of water on the hob. When the kettle whistles boiling, I pour the hot water over the rice, cover it and leave it. This can be done the day before, or hours in advance of the meal. Before cooking with it, I rinse the rice a couple of times. Then all the rice is softened and each grain opens up. Wild rice seems expensive, but expands a lot more than white rice, so it's not really more pricey. If I don't let it blossom, all the other veggies get mushy while I wait for my rice to soften. You then end up cooking the soup for four hours into flavorlessness, or having chewy wild rice soup.
Heat a jar of broth or stock in the bottom of a nice deep pot. I make stock from leftovers of all kinds. Lacking this, just use water.
Put into the pot chopped carrots, wild rice, chopped potatoes, or other firm winter veggies.*
In a saucepan or frying pan, saute in a few glugs of olive oil:
chopped onion, garlic, parsnips**
Have I yet mentioned my new love of parsnips? You can dig them out of the garden all winter (theoretically. this might take advance planning if you live in the frozen north, but if they can be extracted from that hard ground, they will be sure to please!) I love their tart sweetness. Roasted, they carmelize and become a snacky pleasure food. cooked, they are sweet, soft, and tangy.
So, saute this high-flavor matter till it becomes fragrant. I let it brown a bit, and toss in a splash of water. For some reason, this makes it all the sweeter. Transfer to the soup pot. Here I also added a fistful of sweet farmer's market corn frozen from the summer bounty. Slosh in some white wine, if you've got it.
Saute some chopped fresh mushrooms and put in soup.
When the veggies are almost all cooked, add a chopped stalk of celery or two.
I don't bother to wash the saucepan before making the roux. This is to be a cream soup. The flavors from the carmelized parsnip and onions are so good I don't want to wash any away. To make the roux, I put two spatches of butter in the pan until melted. Turn off the heat and sprinkle in an equal amount of white flour. This is not the time to use whole wheat flour for this one! Stir with a fork or wooden spoon till smooth. Then I slowly mix in a cup of real (whole) milk, little by little so as not to get doughy lumps of buttery flour. Stir this white sauce into the soup and season to taste: salt, pepper, parsley***, maybe basil or thyme, as your fancy ta
kes you.
*Winter Veggies
I'm thinking about what people who didn't have supermarkets, cheap gas, and cheap refrigeration would eat, here in Minnesota all year long? Think pioneer suppers, think long Lakota winters. It just doesn't make sense to eat food shipped from South America, Fuji, or California for so much of the year that we don't have a fresh harvest here. Oranges at Christmas are one thing, we don't need this kind of expense and consumption to get good food here. (Joan Gussow articulates the concept of local eating quite well in her read
able book, This Organic Life: confessions of a suburban Homesteader. I recommend the book as an intro to the local, seasonal table)
There is so much we can grow when it's warm and keep through the winter right here in Minnesota! I'm hoping do do more and more food preservation myself in the coming years, but for now we're just enjoying the few foods we have put by in the last year, and trying to buy foods that come from good, small, concientious farms as close to us as possible. Shopping at the co-op makes this easier, as they label where each offering hails from. Paul does most of the shopping, so I just ask him to look for the closest state possible. I know he also considers cost. Who wants to pay for shipping refrigerated, gassed spinach and tomatoes from California when parsnips are dirt-cheap?
Another factor is food durability. As in, beets are more durable than spinach. Foods that have to be eaten within weeks of harvest, that bruise easily, or need refrigeration or chemical treatment to survive until they hit the store shelf, we just avoid in the winter. We can eat green salads April through November, right out of our backyards. We're not super strict about this--we're in no danger of scurvvy, but as I lear
n about the whole history of the foods we eat and its implications for us, our neighbors, farmers, and children, I find it very satisfying to plan our meals around real keeping crops. Not to mention, I don't know anyone who actually enjoys grocery store tomatoes in February. As our friend Liz Fleming says, they should have a different name from the tomatoes one grows and picks in the garden, as they are an entirely different and vastly less enjoyable vegetable.
This really isn't as limiting as it might sound:
Parsnips, carrots, turnips, beets, potatoes, winter squash, cabbage, kale. (I found a variety though Seed Savers that is hardy to ten below, Farenheit and then when picked keep forever in the fridge,)
Grains: Barley, oats, rice, wild rice, cornmeal, quinoa, amaranth, pastas, etc.
Legumes, dried
And for fresh foods: Sprouts! Alfalfa! Mung bean, wheat, fenugreek, etc. Mary Jane Butters has a fun section on growing sprouts in her Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook.
Mushrooms
Dried fruits: apples, cranberries, currants, raisins, etc.
Wine, hard ciders, vinegars
Dried Herbs, spices
Meat and Dairy: cheeses, cream, milk, puddings, broth, eggs, etc.
All that stuff can either be produced and sold right here all winter long, or stored from
earlier production here.
I don't have qualms about getting spices, coffee, tea, etc from distant ports as they don't require refrigeration during shipping and aren't fresh; these are dried products, relatively lightweight, ship quite efficiently as compared to fresh, canned, or frozen fruit.
There is also a beauty in seasonality. Roasted root vegetables, thick soups, fresh bread, puddings, and stews feel good these cold months. Rather than feeling limited, I almost wish I had more time before spring to try all the recipes in my head for these foods. There will be plenty of time when it's too hot to even think about the oven. Luckily, in those months, fresh salads and fruits abundant will grow wild just outside
our door!
**Cabbage would also be good
***I would like fresh parsley. If we had a good south-facing window for it, I would try growing more windowsill herbs through the winter. Some things take dried herbs better than others. In this soup, I felt the flavors of the veggies, especially the parsley, corn, and wild rice, along with the creaminess of the roux gave a full, rich taste that didn't need extra herbs. No sense in making bright flavors dusty with last summer's dried herbs. I don't go in much for buying them at the market. At ours, they come in plastic cases and are expensive. You get this paltry bit of greenery, more plastic case than herbage. I say, skip that!
The key to wild rice is letting it blossom. I put several handfuls of wild rice (this is real wild-grown stuff, hand harvested by Ojibwe people on Mille Lacs Reservation! Just another local treat from the co-op!) into my lit
tle sauce pan, and a kettle of water on the hob. When the kettle whistles boiling, I pour the hot water over the rice, cover it and leave it. This can be done the day before, or hours in advance of the meal. Before cooking with it, I rinse the rice a couple of times. Then all the rice is softened and each grain opens up. Wild rice seems expensive, but expands a lot more than white rice, so it's not really more pricey. If I don't let it blossom, all the other veggies get mushy while I wait for my rice to soften. You then end up cooking the soup for four hours into flavorlessness, or having chewy wild rice soup.Heat a jar of broth or stock in the bottom of a nice deep pot. I make stock from leftovers of all kinds. Lacking this, just use water.
Put into the pot chopped carrots, wild rice, chopped potatoes, or other firm winter veggies.*
In a saucepan or frying pan, saute in a few glugs of olive oil:
chopped onion, garlic, parsnips**
Have I yet mentioned my new love of parsnips? You can dig them out of the garden all winter (theoretically. this might take advance planning if you live in the frozen north, but if they can be extracted from that hard ground, they will be sure to please!) I love their tart sweetness. Roasted, they carmelize and become a snacky pleasure food. cooked, they are sweet, soft, and tangy.
So, saute this high-flavor matter till it becomes fragrant. I let it brown a bit, and toss in a splash of water. For some reason, this makes it all the sweeter. Transfer to the soup pot. Here I also added a fistful of sweet farmer's market corn frozen from the summer bounty. Slosh in some white wine, if you've got it.Saute some chopped fresh mushrooms and put in soup.
When the veggies are almost all cooked, add a chopped stalk of celery or two.
I don't bother to wash the saucepan before making the roux. This is to be a cream soup. The flavors from the carmelized parsnip and onions are so good I don't want to wash any away. To make the roux, I put two spatches of butter in the pan until melted. Turn off the heat and sprinkle in an equal amount of white flour. This is not the time to use whole wheat flour for this one! Stir with a fork or wooden spoon till smooth. Then I slowly mix in a cup of real (whole) milk, little by little so as not to get doughy lumps of buttery flour. Stir this white sauce into the soup and season to taste: salt, pepper, parsley***, maybe basil or thyme, as your fancy ta
kes you.*Winter Veggies
I'm thinking about what people who didn't have supermarkets, cheap gas, and cheap refrigeration would eat, here in Minnesota all year long? Think pioneer suppers, think long Lakota winters. It just doesn't make sense to eat food shipped from South America, Fuji, or California for so much of the year that we don't have a fresh harvest here. Oranges at Christmas are one thing, we don't need this kind of expense and consumption to get good food here. (Joan Gussow articulates the concept of local eating quite well in her read
able book, This Organic Life: confessions of a suburban Homesteader. I recommend the book as an intro to the local, seasonal table)There is so much we can grow when it's warm and keep through the winter right here in Minnesota! I'm hoping do do more and more food preservation myself in the coming years, but for now we're just enjoying the few foods we have put by in the last year, and trying to buy foods that come from good, small, concientious farms as close to us as possible. Shopping at the co-op makes this easier, as they label where each offering hails from. Paul does most of the shopping, so I just ask him to look for the closest state possible. I know he also considers cost. Who wants to pay for shipping refrigerated, gassed spinach and tomatoes from California when parsnips are dirt-cheap?
Another factor is food durability. As in, beets are more durable than spinach. Foods that have to be eaten within weeks of harvest, that bruise easily, or need refrigeration or chemical treatment to survive until they hit the store shelf, we just avoid in the winter. We can eat green salads April through November, right out of our backyards. We're not super strict about this--we're in no danger of scurvvy, but as I lear
n about the whole history of the foods we eat and its implications for us, our neighbors, farmers, and children, I find it very satisfying to plan our meals around real keeping crops. Not to mention, I don't know anyone who actually enjoys grocery store tomatoes in February. As our friend Liz Fleming says, they should have a different name from the tomatoes one grows and picks in the garden, as they are an entirely different and vastly less enjoyable vegetable.This really isn't as limiting as it might sound:
Parsnips, carrots, turnips, beets, potatoes, winter squash, cabbage, kale. (I found a variety though Seed Savers that is hardy to ten below, Farenheit and then when picked keep forever in the fridge,)
Grains: Barley, oats, rice, wild rice, cornmeal, quinoa, amaranth, pastas, etc.
Legumes, dried
And for fresh foods: Sprouts! Alfalfa! Mung bean, wheat, fenugreek, etc. Mary Jane Butters has a fun section on growing sprouts in her Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook.
Mushrooms
Dried fruits: apples, cranberries, currants, raisins, etc.
Wine, hard ciders, vinegars
Dried Herbs, spices
Meat and Dairy: cheeses, cream, milk, puddings, broth, eggs, etc.
All that stuff can either be produced and sold right here all winter long, or stored from
earlier production here.I don't have qualms about getting spices, coffee, tea, etc from distant ports as they don't require refrigeration during shipping and aren't fresh; these are dried products, relatively lightweight, ship quite efficiently as compared to fresh, canned, or frozen fruit.
There is also a beauty in seasonality. Roasted root vegetables, thick soups, fresh bread, puddings, and stews feel good these cold months. Rather than feeling limited, I almost wish I had more time before spring to try all the recipes in my head for these foods. There will be plenty of time when it's too hot to even think about the oven. Luckily, in those months, fresh salads and fruits abundant will grow wild just outside
our door!**Cabbage would also be good
***I would like fresh parsley. If we had a good south-facing window for it, I would try growing more windowsill herbs through the winter. Some things take dried herbs better than others. In this soup, I felt the flavors of the veggies, especially the parsley, corn, and wild rice, along with the creaminess of the roux gave a full, rich taste that didn't need extra herbs. No sense in making bright flavors dusty with last summer's dried herbs. I don't go in much for buying them at the market. At ours, they come in plastic cases and are expensive. You get this paltry bit of greenery, more plastic case than herbage. I say, skip that!
Will Bike for Food
Did I ever say that I love to bike? Probably.Recently I got some nifty bags for my bike that allow me to carry a lot of groceries. Pictured here is one of those black bags made by Trek. The other one is an old Blackburn brand bag that has largely replaced my backpack for daily use. The bike, rack, and older bag are courtesy of our Liz who moved to Argentina. One side benefit of having a lot of missionary friends is that at some time or another they tend to get rid of most of their worldly goods. (We really do miss you though, Liz.. and Kimber & Andy... *sigh*)
It's exciting for me to go to work in the morning by my own foot-peddling power, make some money, stop at the Co-op and get some good organic food, and pedal it home to my family.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Conserving at the AmericInn
A while ago we spent a rare treat of a night in a hotel. Gibbie loves hotels, by the way. You know: the pools, ice machines, movie stars; all that glamour. Anyway, at the prestigious AmericInn in Mennomonie, Wisconsin, (Mana-mana.) I found there has been a change in the graphic design of the complimentary products.I don't know how legible these are in the photo, but they read,
I like a few things about these. They're cute. It's nice when even not-luxury places at least try to make it seem like they care that you have a nice time. I like the stars.
They came along with a new Do Not Disturb sign, the back of which mentioned that AmericInn tries to conserve energy and resources and encouraged us to do the same. They have a policy that on extended stays, they only do the laundry every three days.
My first thought was that if they really wanted to conserve, they wouldn't give away all these plastic disposable containers, but would install refillable dispensers of these products. And use real mugs, or at least paper cups instead of styrofoam ones. And about a hundred other things.
My second thought was that this is one of the only evidences I have seen of any business in that town trying, or even claiming to try, to conserve resources. Even if they're only being cheap, conservation is a great way to be cheap!
Soap up and sink into soothing suds.
Energize with a lively conditioning shampoo.
A lotion to unwind your body and mind.
and, Rinse away the travel day with this facial bar.
Energize with a lively conditioning shampoo.
A lotion to unwind your body and mind.
and, Rinse away the travel day with this facial bar.
I like a few things about these. They're cute. It's nice when even not-luxury places at least try to make it seem like they care that you have a nice time. I like the stars.
They came along with a new Do Not Disturb sign, the back of which mentioned that AmericInn tries to conserve energy and resources and encouraged us to do the same. They have a policy that on extended stays, they only do the laundry every three days.
My first thought was that if they really wanted to conserve, they wouldn't give away all these plastic disposable containers, but would install refillable dispensers of these products. And use real mugs, or at least paper cups instead of styrofoam ones. And about a hundred other things.
My second thought was that this is one of the only evidences I have seen of any business in that town trying, or even claiming to try, to conserve resources. Even if they're only being cheap, conservation is a great way to be cheap!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Do It Yourself love
On thrift and Doing It Yourself:Fast is expensive in a way that slow is not. Efficient is expensive in a way that inefficiency is not. Oddly, most people love to tell us we are "idealistic" when we are really just being cheap. We don't want to pay so much for the services we don't need. We want to save money for what we do need-- and for the occasional great food from far away. Those of us who remember the annual orange in the stocking are not so much worried about losing freedom and fossil-fueled abundance of options. What we worry about is being able to afford the good things, like air and water and time and balance.
This is Donna Schaper, writing in Grass Roots Gardening; rituals for sustaining activism. It's an odd little book, but I loved her expression of the above idea. We often forget the real costs of the conveniences that seem normal to us. This is part of why I bake bread, and sew clothes.
Speaking of inefficiency, we have some catch-up blogging to do, now that we can post pictures of many special gifts that have been recently all given away. The above bit of inefficient homemade-lovin' is a little zippered bag I made for my dear friend Liz, leaving us for wonderful work in South America. You can find out all about her exciting work with this really amazing organization, LifeWind, on her blog, where you can also find pictures of us singing Elvis Christmas and The Doors numbers with her great family, with Paul at the piano, among other things.
We will miss her so much, and yet we are so glad she is going! Like for my friend who will be receiving the socks, I wanted to make her a present she could use lots, and feel loved every time. This pouch is made mostly out of recycled fabrics. The print is a fabric my mom used on so many things when I was very little; an apron, a teapot cozy, a quilt, maybe matching dresses for us? It is very evocative for me. I just have a small piece of it left, and this gift is worth it. It's funny; I told Liz about the special fabric and when my mom saw the bag, she saw the fabric and spontaneously said almost the same things!
I made the pouch following the directions in Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. It's the second zipper I've ever sewn and the first that didn't make me cry. It's a little stiff, but will have to do. The pouch is lined with flannel, and I added a simple pocket on the inside, as well as a bit of hand worked embroidery on the inside and out. For extra love.
Love you so much, Liz!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Four Wheels, or Two?
The dreaded scenario happened: two old immobile diesels.
Last week the Mercedes sprung a leak near the injector pump. Since fixing the Audi has been on the back burner, I was left with no drivable vehicles and a lot of work to do.
We've been without a working car many times before and it's generally not a big deal. I hardly ever drive to work anyway. Getting the family to church on Sunday morning is about the only time we need a ride.
What's worse than the dreaded scenario? My bike broke halfway through the week. Man, was that hard. I was left with walking or busing to work. I chose to walk. Getting groceries became painful, literally. (and it bugs the heck out of me when people say "literally" and it isn't literal. My hand actually hurt after carrying the heavy bag of food back from the Co-op.) Life without a car was manageable, but life without a bike felt like a real hardship.
On a recommendation from a coworker, I took my good bike to Express Bike Shop. I always modify my bikes to use just a single speed by taking off all the derailleurs, cables, and whatnot, and shortening the chain to accommodate two gears I find to be a useful ratio. Since I'm an urban year-round biker I don't need a lot of gears and having just one means there's far less stuff to go wrong. I had the folks at Express do it the "right" way and actually remove the extraneous cogs and add a special tensioner to the chain (see photo). Since it was the Fourth of July week, I had to wait extra long for it to be done.
All of the walking, besides being good for my prayer life, gave me time to realize what my main vehicle really is. I'd been feeling for a while like I should maybe break down and get a "normal" car like a Camry or something that would be completely boring and dependable (as well as expensive bloody gas consuming). Some might call this responsible, while others would consider it "selling out." It feels more like the latter to me. In any case, realizing that the bike is my main vehicle and cars are only secondary/occasional transportation put a lot of things in perspective. I once told an old bike-guy-friend-coworker from Amore, "I want to have an old car I can work on and basically never drive." I don't think he had any idea what I was talking about, but maybe you do after reading a bit of this post. I love working on cars, but I'm not so big on driving them every day.
Oh, I think I did fix the leak on the Mercedes too. It was a neat little thing by the injector pump that lets you prime the system by hand! (what a cool idea.) It had a worn out rubber seal. I got something from the hardware store that seems to work. I also have a replacement for the little unit if that doesn't do it. The reason why I only "think" I fixed it is I haven't really driven it anywhere since I worked on it, just idled it and looked for dripping. I've been too busy biking to drive it anywhere.
Last week the Mercedes sprung a leak near the injector pump. Since fixing the Audi has been on the back burner, I was left with no drivable vehicles and a lot of work to do.
We've been without a working car many times before and it's generally not a big deal. I hardly ever drive to work anyway. Getting the family to church on Sunday morning is about the only time we need a ride.
What's worse than the dreaded scenario? My bike broke halfway through the week. Man, was that hard. I was left with walking or busing to work. I chose to walk. Getting groceries became painful, literally. (and it bugs the heck out of me when people say "literally" and it isn't literal. My hand actually hurt after carrying the heavy bag of food back from the Co-op.) Life without a car was manageable, but life without a bike felt like a real hardship.
On a recommendation from a coworker, I took my good bike to Express Bike Shop. I always modify my bikes to use just a single speed by taking off all the derailleurs, cables, and whatnot, and shortening the chain to accommodate two gears I find to be a useful ratio. Since I'm an urban year-round biker I don't need a lot of gears and having just one means there's far less stuff to go wrong. I had the folks at Express do it the "right" way and actually remove the extraneous cogs and add a special tensioner to the chain (see photo). Since it was the Fourth of July week, I had to wait extra long for it to be done.
All of the walking, besides being good for my prayer life, gave me time to realize what my main vehicle really is. I'd been feeling for a while like I should maybe break down and get a "normal" car like a Camry or something that would be completely boring and dependable (as well as expensive bloody gas consuming). Some might call this responsible, while others would consider it "selling out." It feels more like the latter to me. In any case, realizing that the bike is my main vehicle and cars are only secondary/occasional transportation put a lot of things in perspective. I once told an old bike-guy-friend-coworker from Amore, "I want to have an old car I can work on and basically never drive." I don't think he had any idea what I was talking about, but maybe you do after reading a bit of this post. I love working on cars, but I'm not so big on driving them every day.Oh, I think I did fix the leak on the Mercedes too. It was a neat little thing by the injector pump that lets you prime the system by hand! (what a cool idea.) It had a worn out rubber seal. I got something from the hardware store that seems to work. I also have a replacement for the little unit if that doesn't do it. The reason why I only "think" I fixed it is I haven't really driven it anywhere since I worked on it, just idled it and looked for dripping. I've been too busy biking to drive it anywhere.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Midwest Renewable Energy Fair
A week after we went to the cabin we took a trip with Willington to the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair near Stephen's Point, Wisconsin. We were tipped-off to this event by our friends at the Solar Oven Society. They've had a booth at the fair for several years running and highly recommended we go. Willington was most exited about the chance to learn about renewable technology that would be useful in his Ugandan homeland. Traveling with him was pretty fun, too, because he'd never seen American farmland before. He was really into all the cows and large farms and marveled that all of the rural places we passed by had electricity and running water.
Although the main purpose of our trip was to learn more about technologies that would be appropriate to Uganda, I also got a chance to visit the alternative energy car show. Pictured above is a whole row of vegetable oil burning diesels. A wide range of conversion systems were represented, ranging from the $350 do-it-yourself (which seemed to involve a generous amount of duct tape) to the fancy single tank Elsbett system.
Since I already have a converted car, what I mostly wanted to know about was waste vegetable oil filtration. I've read a lot of somewhat conflicting information on the Internet about what works and doesn't work. I thought that maybe talking to some real people would help me figure things out.
What I came up with wasn't necessarily the technical information I had hoped for, though I got some good ideas. My main realization was that there is a wide spectrum of opinion and practice when it comes to collecting and filtering WVO for vehicles. What one person considers normal would be completely unacceptable to another. For example, one man I talked to said of the professional Greasecar certified mechanic that installed his system, "well, he's not so careful about what he puts in his tank."
I think this perspective on WVO opinions is more valuable than a few technical tips. On the spectrum of WVO filtering I think I want to be a little more careful than center. I don't exactly know what that works out to yet, but at least I have a better framework for listening to what others have to say about it.
Although the main purpose of our trip was to learn more about technologies that would be appropriate to Uganda, I also got a chance to visit the alternative energy car show. Pictured above is a whole row of vegetable oil burning diesels. A wide range of conversion systems were represented, ranging from the $350 do-it-yourself (which seemed to involve a generous amount of duct tape) to the fancy single tank Elsbett system.
Since I already have a converted car, what I mostly wanted to know about was waste vegetable oil filtration. I've read a lot of somewhat conflicting information on the Internet about what works and doesn't work. I thought that maybe talking to some real people would help me figure things out.
What I came up with wasn't necessarily the technical information I had hoped for, though I got some good ideas. My main realization was that there is a wide spectrum of opinion and practice when it comes to collecting and filtering WVO for vehicles. What one person considers normal would be completely unacceptable to another. For example, one man I talked to said of the professional Greasecar certified mechanic that installed his system, "well, he's not so careful about what he puts in his tank."
I think this perspective on WVO opinions is more valuable than a few technical tips. On the spectrum of WVO filtering I think I want to be a little more careful than center. I don't exactly know what that works out to yet, but at least I have a better framework for listening to what others have to say about it.
Monday, May 14, 2007
It's a Wendellberry Day!
Although I haven't found any time to paint or draw since the lovelings were born, my creative hungers have not slaked a bit. In fact, when pregnant with Ezra, I experienced one of the richest creative times in my life. I was consumed by a great thirst for beauty. It has continued since. Yes, I do miss serious drawing, painting, illustrating, printmaking, and ceramics, but my life has truly been no less rich for their scarcity in recent years. I have filled the barren spaces with cooking, fiber arts (aka, sewing) gardening, and other sources of creative life and beauty which also contribute to the running of our daily lives.
From a feminist standpoint, we must honor the work women have given themselves to over the ages. My own experience with little ones thus far, (in role that is quite traditional and old-fashioned for a woman and mother; I do do a lot of cooking and cleaning!) has shown me that this work is not mindless, it is not drudgery, and it is not easy! I am not saying anything about what any other woman or man's role should be. For myself I want to thank my mother and grandmothers, my mother-in-law, and all the beautiful women before me; thank you for your great hard and good work.
Part of a healthy domestic life, especially for the woman working from or in her home, is a thriving life of the mind. My literary life is thriving as I've entered motherhood. I read for ideas and resources in my work. I read for beauty. I read for sanity. I read for my daily bread.
How do I find the time? I read whenever I nurse. I have stashes of library books by each couch, in the bathroom, by the bed, in my garden basket--you get the idea.
In that light, I want to share a favorite author with you all. In honor of all our mothers, and in honor of my aunt who came to visit this morning and brought her wonderful friend who just happens to be a master gardener and looked over my garden, advising me; may I share this favorite poem.
MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT
By Wendell Berry
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees every
thousand years.
Listen to carrion--put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself; Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark a false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Wendell Berry is one of the writers who has been getting me through. He also writes essays, and fiction. The above poem is the first of his work I encountered, and I keep coming back to it. His writing is one of the reasons I am planting a garden, using the solar oven, making our own clothes. He didn't say to do those things, but I have encountered many things in his words that have sent me looking for more in other places. I have found biblical themes played out in concrete ways I had not been able to put together in some of his stories and essays. Other times, my own ideas I have seen reflected back from new angles.
Paul and I are currently reading: Fidelity, a collection of short stories.
and I recently enjoyed: Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays. He talks about the great beauty of culture when we know our food and land. He is stridently American. Not conservative, nor liberal in the common senses, but for the Land, for health, for thought and beauty and hard work.
I do not agree with everything he writes, even with everything in the above poem. (or at least with every way each thing could be taken) I do very much admire and respect this author, farmer, and philosopher. He has sowed good seeds in my life.
For more on domesticity and feminism, try: To Hell with All That; Loving and Loathing our Inner Housewife by Caitlin Flanagan. The Saint Paul Public Library has it!
From a feminist standpoint, we must honor the work women have given themselves to over the ages. My own experience with little ones thus far, (in role that is quite traditional and old-fashioned for a woman and mother; I do do a lot of cooking and cleaning!) has shown me that this work is not mindless, it is not drudgery, and it is not easy! I am not saying anything about what any other woman or man's role should be. For myself I want to thank my mother and grandmothers, my mother-in-law, and all the beautiful women before me; thank you for your great hard and good work.
Part of a healthy domestic life, especially for the woman working from or in her home, is a thriving life of the mind. My literary life is thriving as I've entered motherhood. I read for ideas and resources in my work. I read for beauty. I read for sanity. I read for my daily bread.
How do I find the time? I read whenever I nurse. I have stashes of library books by each couch, in the bathroom, by the bed, in my garden basket--you get the idea.
In that light, I want to share a favorite author with you all. In honor of all our mothers, and in honor of my aunt who came to visit this morning and brought her wonderful friend who just happens to be a master gardener and looked over my garden, advising me; may I share this favorite poem.
MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT
By Wendell Berry
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees every
thousand years.
Listen to carrion--put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself; Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark a false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Wendell Berry is one of the writers who has been getting me through. He also writes essays, and fiction. The above poem is the first of his work I encountered, and I keep coming back to it. His writing is one of the reasons I am planting a garden, using the solar oven, making our own clothes. He didn't say to do those things, but I have encountered many things in his words that have sent me looking for more in other places. I have found biblical themes played out in concrete ways I had not been able to put together in some of his stories and essays. Other times, my own ideas I have seen reflected back from new angles.
Paul and I are currently reading: Fidelity, a collection of short stories.
and I recently enjoyed: Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays. He talks about the great beauty of culture when we know our food and land. He is stridently American. Not conservative, nor liberal in the common senses, but for the Land, for health, for thought and beauty and hard work.
I do not agree with everything he writes, even with everything in the above poem. (or at least with every way each thing could be taken) I do very much admire and respect this author, farmer, and philosopher. He has sowed good seeds in my life.
For more on domesticity and feminism, try: To Hell with All That; Loving and Loathing our Inner Housewife by Caitlin Flanagan. The Saint Paul Public Library has it!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Solar Oven Love
So this morning Gibbie helped me cook dinner.
We toured the Solar Oven Society where the oven was made. (it's in Mpls on Hennepin!) All of its simple, carefully engineered parts can be cut, folded, and assembled using hand-operated jigs. No electricity is used. They are a pretty great organization. Half the price of our oven goes towards making these affordably available in third world countries where this kind of technology makes so much sense, for the same reasons I want to cook solar here in Minnesota though the needs in other communities may be more accutely felt.We lugged a bag of carrots and a lil sack of potatoes out the back door.
I peeled carrots while the kids played in the grass. We washed the potatoes together. (Gibbie also helped by fetching rags to scrub with, putting the lids on, and he and Ezra gnawed on carrots. They love helping with real work) We put everything in our black enamel pots along with half a dozen whole raw eggs. The pots went in this black box, then a big clear lid and a collapsible reflector. We turned it to face the sun and played all day in the yard. Twice in the afternoon I turned the oven a bit more as our northern sun arced across the sky.
By our 5:00 dinnertime we brought out bowls and drinks, served up piping hot food and had a dandy little picnic. A simple meal, quite good. We are looking forward to using this new oven lots and lots.
The next day we got a little more adventurous. I adapted this recipe from The Sephardic Table,
a lovely Middle Eastern cookbook.
I peeled carrots while the kids played in the grass. We washed the potatoes together. (Gibbie also helped by fetching rags to scrub with, putting the lids on, and he and Ezra gnawed on carrots. They love helping with real work) We put everything in our black enamel pots along with half a dozen whole raw eggs. The pots went in this black box, then a big clear lid and a collapsible reflector. We turned it to face the sun and played all day in the yard. Twice in the afternoon I turned the oven a bit more as our northern sun arced across the sky.By our 5:00 dinnertime we brought out bowls and drinks, served up piping hot food and had a dandy little picnic. A simple meal, quite good. We are looking forward to using this new oven lots and lots.
The next day we got a little more adventurous. I adapted this recipe from The Sephardic Table,a lovely Middle Eastern cookbook.
Solar Oven Lamb Stew
This is one for the recipe box. It was easy and delicious. It makes its own gravy.
This is one for the recipe box. It was easy and delicious. It makes its own gravy.
1/2 onion, chopped
6 md. yellow potatoes
12 carrots, peeled and broken into finger lengths
1 lb. pieces of lamb stew meat (so worth it to get organic, pastured meats!)
1 tsp. fresh ground coriander (let me rave about my mortar and pestle sometime!)
2-3 bay leaves
1-2 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
handful of raisins
a glug or two of apple cider vinegar
I've given measured amounts here for the spices, but I honestly just do dashes and handfuls and pinches myself. These things are flexible.
Put all ingredients, in a black covered pot, into the solar oven. We cooked them 5-6 hours. The oven temp never exceeded 250F; these low temps make for tender, juicy meals and apparently more of the vitamins stay intact than when cooking conventionally.
6 md. yellow potatoes
12 carrots, peeled and broken into finger lengths
1 lb. pieces of lamb stew meat (so worth it to get organic, pastured meats!)
1 tsp. fresh ground coriander (let me rave about my mortar and pestle sometime!)
2-3 bay leaves
1-2 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
handful of raisins
a glug or two of apple cider vinegar
I've given measured amounts here for the spices, but I honestly just do dashes and handfuls and pinches myself. These things are flexible.
Put all ingredients, in a black covered pot, into the solar oven. We cooked them 5-6 hours. The oven temp never exceeded 250F; these low temps make for tender, juicy meals and apparently more of the vitamins stay intact than when cooking conventionally.
Solar cooking doesn't:
-consume natural resources
-cost anything
-degrade our air or water
Our friend Willington, a Ugandan priest who attends our church while working towards a PhD, said of solar cooking, "The one thing we have so much of in our country is sunshine! And all it does it seems is to make it too hot, to make the groung too dry. But this-- this is a way to catch it-- and use it, for something good!" You really have to see his face and hands while he talks-- he was quite excited. He wants one for his mother.
Many people in Uganda (and countless other countries) cook daily over open wood fires. Now, I love a good campfire, but a little reading has opened my eyes about the implications of cooking with fire everyday. The byproducts of cooking with wood are deforestation; (fully on half of the wood consumed today is used for fires--more than that for paper or lumber!) lung problems, especially for women and children; and lots of time spent gathering wood as local supplies dimi
nish.Now, while we don't typically cook with wood,
for us, solar cooking means:
-Gibbie's increased participation in cooking (safer for him to be near than the stove)
-decreased use of non-renewable resources
-not heating up the house in summer! We try not to use A/C and I missed cooking so much last summer. Bread, vegetables, meats, eggs, cake, cookies can all be made in the oven.
-the simplicity of consuming less
-the pleasure of being outside more
-a lower energy bill (I said above we don't cook with wood, but we use it indirectly; our power comes from a grid of nuclear, wood, and coal power plants, each of which create their own types of disastrous waste. We try to use as little as we can.)
I think this oven is a do-able choice for anyone with access to sunlight. This is Minnesota in April! It doesn't need to be hot to cook; just sunny. It was also less expensive than I thought it would be, and very easy to use.
Thanks to our neighbor and friend T.J., who swang, slid, and rolled on the ground entertaining Gibbie and Ezra while I wrote this post!
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