thirteen in 13 challange - Alternative Energy

I've been learning about batteries, and after planning on getting some Costco golf cart batteries I decided I would try fixing some free batteries that I already have. First I'm going to get a new computer controlled battery charger and try charging up the batteries. If they won't hold a charge then ill attempt desulphating. Its 1/3/13 and I just picked up my new battery charger. I opted to go with the schumacher 150a microprocessor controlled unit suggested by Stephen Harris at battery1234.com. Later today ill hook up the old batteries and let them charge on the 2amp setting. For 24 hours and see if they are any good. I got the charger put together and two of the 4 batteries hooked together and the charger on the. Only one cell in each battery was a tad low, so I topped them off with distilled water. I hooked the charger up to them and they were reading 11.6v which I think is a pretty good sign because they have been sitting, unused for at least 5 years! I hit the 2amp charging selection and pressed auto charge and the charger started humming away. 1/8/13- Well, I got the 150amp schumacher charger recommended by Steven Harris on battery1234.com. It has desulfating mode in its programming, but the batteries are too far gone to even hold a charge...so I guess I'm going to have to get some new batteries. I did figure out how I can use the batteries and inverter as a business expense in my event decorating business though... as well as a lot of other equipment preps that I might want to get.

I will be getting a set of 6 Costco GC2 6volt golf cart batteries. 

I will also be getting a 2000W inverter to go with them. I have an event decorating business that i have been running for 7 years now. I recently got a request for some lighting in a off-grid location. I will be getting the above mentioned items to be able to perform this new service. This way i will be able to use the items as a business expense!


Breaking news!! I just scored big on 10kW of solar panels. Only .35 cents per watt. Also got a xantrex 5kW GridTie inverter for only $1500. I'm selling 1/2 of the panels and the 5kW inverter to my dad and will be helping him install a system on his house this year!


Update 5/6/2013

I have my basic system set up.  I purchased the costco GC2 golf cart batteries last week. I decided to go with 8 instead of the original 6 I was thinking. I have the hooked up in sets of 2 for 12v. the 4 sets of 2 are then wired in parallel for a battery bank that has 800 to 880 amp hours.  After searching the inverters i decided that there were a lot more 12v things available and they were more commonly stocked that the odd voltages 14, 36, or 48. Plus i already had 2 12v inverters. I have a 400 watt and an 800 watt...

I got a super cheap charge controller on eBay months ago...I hooked it up yesterday to a sharp 125watt 12v panel that i had everything seemed to be in order so i hope that the charge controller doesn't cause me any trouble. I'm not 100% sure that one panel will charge such a large battery bank, so i am looking into the midnite solar classic 150 charge controller. With the classic i will be able to use 2 or 3 of the larger 285w 36v panels that i was given off of the solar project at the place i work. As i understand it the classic can take the higher input from the panels and drop it down to 12v for the battery bank. 

One other thing I have started on is installing a solar sub panel in the garage next to the main breaker panel. I need to do some more wiring, but firstly i plan on getting my 2 chest freezers off grid. Then i will expand from that point!

thirteen in 13 challange - Fitness

It is new years eve, sitting at a family get together. I feel full, and I only had a serving of meatballs, and some pulled pork.  As I've researched the paleo diet I've decided that I'm going to have to do a modified diet for my month trial. With 2 children under 4 eating a lot of meat isn't a real option, and throwing all carbs out of the house. I'm going to have practice some self control! Ill be eating paleo breakfast and lunch, and a low carb dinner.  

My starting numbers are;

Weight:263
Waist:48"
Chest:48.5"
Right bicep:16"
Left bicep:15"

So I'm on day 3 of my 30 trial of my modified paleo diet. The first 2 days went well. I do like eating lots of meat and veggies! As a person with celiacs disease its really not much different than my normal diet, although I do notice that I'm eating less, or snacking less than I used to. I have decided to do a weigh and measure every week to chart my progress.

1/4/13-
I took the day off work today for my daughters 3rd birthday. We went to Six flags which was fun, and I was able to stay on my paleo diet. We even went out to dinner at chic-fa-lay. It was difficult to stay off the fries but I did it!

1/6/13-
Sunday we switched schedules to  early church. I like this better than 11am like we did last year. Its just get up, get ready and go. There is no time to start any projects or be tempted to eat anything. One week mark is still a few days out.  I'm very interested in seeing if I've lost anything.

1/8/13-
Weight:258
Waist:48"
Chest:48.5"
Right bicep:16"
Left bicep:15"

Although my measurements haven't changed at all the scale says I lost 5 pounds. I'm not surprised that my measurements have not changed. I have not done any exercising or weightlifting. I have noticed that I have been eating a lot less in both frequency and portion size. Having a gluten free diet defiantly does not mean I have a carb lessdiet. In fact it seems like you are always in search of something to replace the standard carbs that most people eat. I did have several birthdays in my family this week but was able to mostly stay on the "modified paleo" diet. I'm going to continue on the next week and see where this takes me. I'm also going to start doing morning push ups to build up my stamina and build muscle.

1/15/13

Weight:255

Waist:48"
Chest:48.5"
Right bicep:16"
Left bicep:15"

This past week I lost 3 pounds...which is pretty good loss for 1 week.

1/22/13

Weight:253

Waist:47"
Chest:48.5"
Right bicep:16"
Left bicep:15"

Not as dramatic of a loss as earlier in the week, but I'm down another 2 lbs! If i stay with the Paleo diet i think i will be able to reach my target weight goal of 200-205lbs and 60 lbs lost by June! They say that it takes 21 days to make a new habit...and here i am. I'm pretty well on the path and view my judge mymeals against a paleo standard.

1/29/13

Weight:253

Waist:46.5"
Chest:48.5"
Right bicep:16"
Left bicep:15"
 

Well...its been 4 weeks now and my total loss this month has been 10 pounds. I think that is quite an accomplishment. My weight has always fluctuated +/- 5 pounds from 260. It really didn'tmatter what i ate or even how much i ate.  Ive been telling other people i know about the paleo diet and I've gottena few people turned on to it. My family has always eaten more on the healthy side than most, but the processed snacks have always been our downfall. Going dairy free was pretty easy for meI will be starting to have a little bit of Grass fed butter and raw milkin February to introduce more healthy fats and fat soluble mineralsin my diet. I have been growing our supply of chicken and turkeyson pasture for the past two seasons, and my family has recentlybegun having seafood, organic beef, and grass fed buffalo burger.

Month 2 update-

  Ive been on my modified paleo diet for 2 months and i feel that things are moving along nicely. My weight loss up to February 26th is a staggering 15 lbs! I have been increasing my physical activity as the days are getting longer and warmer. Homesteading is hard work!    

Month 3 update- 

  Im calling the diet a huge success. So far ive lost 20 lbs in the 3 months ive been doing it...with only moderate walking and gardening efforts. No heavy or time consuming exercise!

13 Skills Challenge

This year (2012) I discovered a podcast called The Survival Podcast.  It is put on by a guy named Jack Spirko. As began listening i was amazed by how may different topics he covered, and how may of them coincided with what I had done, was doing, or was planning on doing.

In a recent post he announced a new website called 13skills.com was live. He also layed out the 13 in 13 challenge. The new website is a way to track the new skills you plan on learning. I will be documenting my new skills on this blog with more details and hopefully lots of pictures.

My list may change but as of now the following are my goals;

Fitness
Alternative Energy
Archery

Leatherworking

Second Language

Permaculture Design

Wood Working 

Reloading
Curing/Smoking meats

Fermenting

Dam building
Blade Sharpening
Family Fun

I usually have a lot more than one project on my plate at a time... I will be writing up my goals as I work on them..and it may not be in this order. I also may post to several different projects at once.

I encourage you to head over The Survival Podcast and 13skills and become a regular user of them both. The podcast and the skills site will be a benefit to you and your family.

March 19^th 2012

With the month of March pushing towards its close I guess it’s time for me to get going on this month’s post. The weather has been all over the place here from unseasonably warm, dry, wet, cold. Because of this it has been difficult to actually get a lot of seeds in the ground. So far I have planted 200 feet of broccoli, 200 feet of sugar snap peas, 100 feet of Yukon gold potatoes, 100 feet of blue potatoes and a 16’ x 16’ patch of sweet corn. The mangle beets that I planted last fall overwintered nicely in the ground and have started putting out new greens. My Spelt experimental planting is growing very well. In the time between postings I have been blessed to be able to obtain 15 new fruit/nut trees and get them planted. Accompanying the 7 – 22 year old apple trees that my dad and I planted when I was 9 now there are 4 cherries, 6 new apple, 4 peaches, 2 plums, 2 almonds, 2 walnuts, 1 fig and 1 apricot. I also added to my concord grapes with 3 new varieties of table grapes. Last spring before I ordered my turkeys in I read over at the deliberate agrarian that the herb comfrey is high in protein and turkeys really go after it. So I ordered 6 roots and planted them. They took off and grew wonderfully. A few weeks back I finally dug up the 6 roots and was able split them into about 25 new individual plants. I planted them in a raised bed I had made back in December.

New chicks!

Last week I finally placed my order for chicks. I will be getting 24 Rhode Island Red egg layers, and one Rhode Island Red rooster and 25 Cornish/rock cross meat birds. They will be arriving next week and I really need to get working on finishing up the new coup I am building and the chicken tractor I have plans for to house the meat birds. My plan with the Rhode Island reds is to be able to continue my flock without having to purchase any new birds in the future with sustainability in mind. The meat birds are unsustainable on account of their fast growth rate, but I think it’s more prudent to use what is available now to provide protein for my family without relying on the industrial suppliers. The next obstacle to tackle is being able to provide all of the feed from my own land.

Tool storage/shed/greenhouse/other…

Progress on the 9 x 16 out building is progressing although it is getting more expensive than I was first planning on although it will be much larger and cheaper than anything I could have purchased, plus I get to add to my construction skills and tools.

Water Catchment

I have wanted to add a system to catch the rainwater from the roof of my house for a few weeks. It had been raining off and on for the week prior and I was feeling a sense of urgency about getting the system installed. I was able to complete ½ of this on the afternoon of the 16^th. I redirected the two rear gutters into a 275 gallon tote and just as I was making the last connection the rain started coming down. In a few short minutes of light rain I had collected about 50 gallons! Needless to say I was very pleased!! I went to bed that night feeling accomplished, but little did I know what bounty would await me when I woke. At first light I peeked out the window expecting to see at most an additional 50 gallons. To my shock and amazement there was over 200 gallons in the tote! Everyone that has a roofline should be collecting the rainwater that falls on their roof. Everywhere I go, every roof I see, I picture hundreds of thousands of gallons just running off not being captured and used to its highest potential. Just imagine if all housed had several thousand gallon capacity cistern installed under it that would be able to supply a large portion of the watering needs. The next project I am thinking about is how to capture the grey water and use it for watering our landscape or use it for flushing the toilets…

6 Years on Sunday

This past Sunday was our 6 year wedding anniversary. It seems like it’s been much shorter though and I can truly say I have been blessed beyond measure by my wife. She is a hard worker and puts everything she has into building up our family. I love her dearly and am looking forward to an eternity with her.

I have lots of things on the plate for the upcoming month. Until next time may the lord bless and prosper you in your endeavors!

P.S. Im going to attempt to add more pictures in my future posts.

February

Ever Changing…

Since my first post it has been nearly a month and a half and it seems like the time just disappeared. As my list of things to do grows ever longer, my time to do the things on my list grows ever shorter! Even though this blog has not taken up any time at all I think I want to make it my goal to post something every month. The more I vividly I bring my dreams forward they more likely they are to become reality, or so I’ve been told. If nothing else it will be a good record for my children and who know I may even be able to self publish a book at some time in the future. I have managed to make some real headway on my storage shed/workshop in the past few weeks. The walls are framed and standing, the door is installed and I’ve sheeted over the lower section of all the walls. I’ve got a list of building materials that I need to purchase in order to move ahead on the project. I try as hard as I can to spend a lot of time with my family. With a new baby in the house my lovely wife needs all the help she can get. At times it’s a struggle, but when it’s good…it’s GOOD.

With the sometimes trying sleep schedules of 2 children under 3 years of age. The nights seem to pass just as quickly as the days, possibly even faster. I find myself waking up to my alarm clock to get ready for work feeling like I just gone to sleep. The other morning I was standing in the kitchen in the dark thinking that there must be a better way…and there is!

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1.

So as I am standing in the dark I think to myself “I would really like to wake up to the sun, and go to bed when it gets dark.” We have the perfect alarm clock and it was created by god. Electronic alarm clocks are a poor, poor substitution.

Planning my planting

The other day I managed to get a row of Yukon gold potatoes planted right before a storm rolled in. That got me thinking about what I was going to plant this season and where I might fit everything I want to get in. I’ve got about 1.5 acres that I am using at my parents house to hone my agrarian skills. My family lives in town at the current time but my goal is to move to somewhere we can homestead. I started having the desire to till the ground around 4 years ago. When I was around 10 years old, my father and I planted 550 apple trees on the 1.5 acres where I now plant my crops. As the apple trees matured I helped prune, water and mow. We grew the apples organically and sold them to stores in the area. 17 years later I decided that I wanted to use the land to grow a bigger variety of fruits and veggies, so I took all but 8 of the trees out. My first few years it was a struggle trying to find a balance because I didn’t know how much my family was going to use and I ended up wasting a lot of time and a bit of money. Slowly but surely I am getting better at planning. Up till now I have managed to grow more than my family can eat, but I haven’t sold anything just composted it or fed it to the chickens. Selling produce seems to me like a big time consuming headache that I don’t really need, but I have been kicking around the idea of setting up a roadside stand to sell my extra increase.

Blessings

I recognize that I have many blessings in my life, but I have noticed that I am prone to just looking at the problems. I am going to make a concerted effort to acknowledge our Heavenly Father for the blessings in my life, and find the blessings in things that I once would have seen as problems.

Day Job

Sitting in a financial meeting yesterday at my job I realized that I am no doing what I want to do with my life. It’s not a difficult job, but I feel I could be better benefited physically, mentally, and spiritually by a move to an agrarian lifestyle. I also know that my wife and children would benefit from me being home more.

Until next time...

Reasons for starting this blog

For the past several years have been very interested in learning about the Christian Agrarian lifestyle. I have located several online resources that have been following;

The Deliberate Agrarian - by Mr. Herrick Kimball has been my main source on inspiration. I have spent many hours reading all of his old posts. I have been able to glean many golden nuggets of information and inspiration. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning about living the good life. He also has another great blog at Agrarian Nation. I highly recommend it as well.

Another great blog is at Redeeming the Dirt. - by Noah Sanders. I have only been following this one for a few weeks, but have been highly impressed with the posts there.

An Agri-lifestyle it something that I am striving for. I believe that such a lifestyle is central to building a strong family free from the poisonous influences of modern society.

This lifestyle is not something that my family can jump into as quickly as I want to. Ultimately, my goal is to live in such a way as to minimize contact with the negative influences of the world, and supply as many of the needs of my family from the land.

What hope to do with this blog is to document my efforts to live an agri-lifestyle

I will post as often as time allows.