DIY -Greenhouse

It's been a while since I last posted, but spring is the busy time around here.

I just finished my greenhouse to get my seeds and starter plants going. Anyone can build this greenhouse with minimal experience and very basic materials. I built this greenhouse for under $70.

It measures 8x10 but could be expanded if needed. This is going to make a nice addition to my growing season.

Materials List
9 - 2x4x8 Pressure treated lumber
2 - 2x4x10 Pressure treated lumber
11 - 1/2"x10' PVC
3 - 1/2" PVC X pieces
2 - 1/2" PVC T pieces
1 - Box 10D Nails
20 - 3/4" Galvanized C channel brackets
1 - 10' x 50' 4mil painters tarp plastic (You can use 6 mil or even go to a clear plastic
1 - Box 1/2" staples
2 - 2x2x10 pine
1 - 4x4x8

The pictures should be self explanatory, but if anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me.

A construction photo.

I chose the milked plastic because the sun gets pretty severe in about a month here. I am also thinking of adding a window in the back for some cross ventilation when it gets really hot.

Reading Material

One of the most important aspects of shifting to a self reliant lifestyle is arming yourself with information. While the internet can be an invaluable source of information, sometimes it has to be taken with a grain of salt.

A couple months ago I picked up a copy of The Big Book of Self-Reliant Living. It is mainly a collection of public works brochures and pamplets from the past 50 years. It includes items such as how to build a log cabin, typical hand tools and their uses, energy efficient housing desgn, gardening, raising livestock, even things like running a trout farm or building a permanent cabin tent. A lot of information is packed into this book.

If you are considering self reliant living, this book will serve as a good starting point for your library, as well as providing great bedtime reading for those people dreaming of a simpler life.

I would highly recommend it.

- Wes

Batch Hot Water Heater - Part 1

I decided it was time to start on a project I have been researching for a while. A solar batch water heater is exactly as the name suggests, a batch (or single tank) of water being heated by the power of the sun.

I started doing some research and found some really good reference material. A wonderful book on all kinds of solar water heaters is The Integral Passive Solar Water Heater Book (9.13MB PDF) by David A. Bainbridge. Mr. Bainbridge has graciously made this text available for free.

I also found a video on YouTube that showed exactly what I was trying to accomplish.

With this information and a pretty clear understanding of what I was trying to achieve I began collecting parts (junk as my wife refers to it). One of the amazing things I have discovered, during this shift, is just how many things you can get free by just asking.

I went on craigslist and put a wanted add for a used water heater. I gave some of the specifications that I wanted (tall, skinny, and free). 20 minutes later I was headed 3 miles down the road to pickup my water heater.



Once I got the heater home I started preparing it to be used in my batch heater. The first step was to take the top, bottom, and outside covering off. Since the outside sheel was thin aluminum I was able to cut it end to end in about 10 minutes with my Dremel tool. Not the easiest way, but it worked.

After you get the outside covering off it is necessary to chip off all the old foam insulation. This was easy enough with the use of a wide putty knife and a hammer.



After all the insulation was removed, I stood the tank up and started to fill it so I could check for leaks.



Still a lot of sanding and cleanup work to do, but it appears that I have a solid tank. I am going to let the water sit overnight and check the outside in the morning for any signs of leakage.

Check in with part 2 coming soon.....

- Wes

Our Introduction

Hello and welcome. Our goal with this blog is to show everyone some of the steps our family is taking towards a more self reliant lifestyle. Our family consists of Me (Wesley), Erin, Mollie, Trinity (4), Tommy (3), and Violet (2).

I run a small computer support/repair company. Erin is a dental assistant for a local endodontist, and Mollie takes care of our 3 wonderful children. I am an amateur tinkerer, Erin enjoys sewing as a hobby and Mollie like doing anything that starts with the word "homemade".

Like a lot of Americans we have lived the life of car payments, credit cards, mortgages, longer hours to pay them, more money, then ultimately more credit and more bills. After attempting to keep up with the "American dream" for years now we have started a shift towards a much more self reliant lifestyle. We are still very much in the beginning stages, but are having a great time learning and enjoying the real fruits of our labor.

Through this blog we hope to share our experiences with people that are doing the same thing, and hopefully learn some things from others living similar lifestyles.

Whether the rising cost of oil, government incompetence, increasing cost of food, chemical additives, genetic engineering, or just the everyday stress that the 21st century has afforded us that drives you towards a self reliant living, it will definately increase your "quality of life".

We are starting off slow, but have great visions of our future. We hope to chronicle as much of our shift as possible and meet some great people along the way.

-Wesley