Fresh Preserving Discussion Boards

I JUST FOUND THIS FORUM AND JUST WANTED TO SHARE WHAT MY HUSBAND AND I DO FOR GREEN
I CANNED LAST YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ABOUT 15 YEARS. OF COURSE I MESSED UP SOME.
WE LIVE OFF THE GRID. WE HAVE SOLAR PANELS AND 2 GENERATORS. WE JUST HAULED IN 1000 GAL TANK FOR SAVE RAIN WATER IN AND HES BEEN COLLECTING PVC TO DO THE WHOLE GARDEN.
WE DO THE COMPOST BIN. AND THIS YEAR I'VE INCORPORATED FLOWERS TO HELP WITH POLLENATION.
WE HAVE WILD BLACKBERRY BUSHES EVERYWHERE AND LAST YEAR I MADE JAM
IS ANY NEW IDEAS WOULD LOVE TO HEAR

Welcome to the Ball® forums. Sounds like you might be able to give us some new ideas too.

We live on a double-lot in a large metropolitan city. We're lucky and we know it. Kitchen wise: we always have some kind of vegetable & fruit garden going - along with two kids and the neighborhood visitors - so the space is used. This year, we are doing three gardens for food stuffs. We use cut grass to break down any grass or weeds grown where the beds are/will be, and are easily turned into the ground when planting. We have done compost bins and piles but found that with two jobs it was harder to remember who turned the pile and when. This last winter, we began to compost directly into the ground where we wanted to plant this spring/summer. Remember to rinse (or we soak) egg shells, and watch what else you put out to limit racoons, etc. The smell of kitchen waste isn't a problem in the cold that is our state's version of winter. But once a month or so, my husband will maddock or spade the space which turns things directly into the dirt. Once we started mowing our lawns this spring, that immediately went on top to combat any smells and help digrade. We also keep our shredded papers for composting once our green is more abundant than our brown.

We also changed all the bulbs in the house, turn off the heat mid-April (do or die), turn off the furnace (or airconditioner) from the electrical box as well as the appliance during the off-season, and never wash anything but a full load. We rarely wash in hot, and have an interior clothes line and vent our dryer to the inside during the winter. We're relocating our clothes line so our eldest can help learn the art of outside drying (she's 7). Our 4-year old's biggest job is light & water monitor, and he makes sure water is only run when a stream of water is needed and that lights are out when we leave the room. My husband has taken on most of our auto repairs and keeps the filters clean/replaced to cut down on fuel costs. During the summer, we leave our upstairs windows cracked to let out heat and keep a cross breeze. In winter, we plastic up the windows (and we have new double-panes). Our outside lights are yellow "bug lights" which reduce insects so we have less coming in a less of a reason for air conditioning. They are also on sensors that go off with light so we have instant porch lighting night or inclement weather. (Two for one at Big Lots, and they screw right into the socket).

I hope these ideas help you, and can't wait to read your posts for ideas, too.

CONGRATS on being off grid! It is my hope to get there soon--in about three years, if things don't fall apart before then.

Do you have a BIIIIIG garden yet? I can't wait to have a MONSTER GARDEN. Right now I have to buy out my Farmer's Market for my addiction to fresh food.

The huge cistern is enviable. We have three springs and a bold creek, but every drop counts.

I'm new here too! See you in the forum!

Hello, I'm new also. I've overcome my fear of botulism and decided to finally try canning as I've always wanted to. I'm into trying to be self-sustainable as possible and to be conscious of our earth. I get a kick out of making homemade foods. I even make my own breadcrumbs.
We started a garden and compost bin 2 years ago. We had zoysia grass put in last year when we did our yard as it requires less water and less mowing. Our flower beds are mostly plants that require little water after established. Luckily we work at Fort Leonard Wood where they have a great recycling center. Aluminum and steel cans, clear and color plastic, newspaper, cardboard, magazines as well as clear, green and brown glass. They also take used oil.
Hubby and I comute together 2 days a week, unfortunately the other 3 days our hours are so different.
I've been using a permanent plastic water bottle from Camel-bak instead of using plastic water bottles. And I re-wash and re-use plastic food bags that were use for non-meat items. And lastly, I clean my house mostly with vinegar and baking soda and/or buy the "green" cleaning products, such as my dishwashing detergent.
I would love to have a rain barrel and a wind mill.

I just found the forum too. It is inspiring to read the posts. A big hurrah to those living off the grid-but every effort is important.
A couple of additional things:

One thing we consider is looking to see where the stuff we buy is coming from, even little things. In many cases the energy used in transporting the item is the biggest cost to the environment. Although, we try hard to evaluate the distance cost, sometimes this isn't always easy to disentangle, for example, the local green store has organic cotton shirts. Sounds good right?! but when you look closer they are assembled in China-so I thought about it, someone grows organic cotton in the US or EU, then ships the raw materials to China and then they ship the T-Shirt back. Net, net it is probably less of an impact to buy a T-Shirt with cotton grown in the US and made in the US, even if it isn't completely organic.
(I would love to see packaging laws to require energy expended to produce and ship the item on all food stuffs and consumer goods). Of course it doesn't matter where it was made if it has already been used, so we look for that option first.

Another thing we think about is insulation. One biggest contributions to global warming for individuals is heating and cooling where we live. We already have insulation in the attic and curtains etc. We can't afford to rip down all our walls to add insulation this year, but we plan to replace our doors. We tried weatherstripping and all that other stuff and I can just feel the cold air coming in.

I am so lucky to be able to ride my bike to work!

I got my bike just a short while ago, but I'm getting too old for the bicycle and trying to balance groceries on it, so I got a rather expensive "granny" bike (3-wheel) with a large basket and 6 speeds. That will carry me into old age for sure. Had to add a side mirror to it this weekend. Them "car drivers" sneak up behind you.

I am also fairly new to the forum and to homecanning.
Did a few things years ago and have always done freezer jams but this year the bug hit hard
I just figured if I could make yummy condiments etc for our meals instead of buying it was one small way to help the budget and maybe be a bit green mind you Sunday I was a bit RED from doing pickled beets
We have about 95% of all our lightbulbs changed, AC and heating is kept at a good level ( not to cold or to hot) .
I use the outside clothes line as much as possible during the months when the clothes won't freeze LOL
We use a pine enviroment friendly kitty litter.
Compost what we can and do ALOT of recyclying. Plastic, metal, paper , glass whatever our garbage collectors take we recycle .
We don't buy bottled water but use a filter pitcher and fill reuseable bottles.
We are doing little things as we learn more.

I am also new to forum. We have non-treated wood blocks which we drilled 5/16 holes into it for pollenator bees to reside (Mason)... We have outdoor composts, and indoor worm compost. I used plastic tubs and put holes in top... Put soaked news paper, 2 cups dirt, and worms and fruits and veggies... I always have a 5 gal pail full of water near by to soak toilet paper role cardboard ends, junk mail, old bills, etc and feed it to worms, along with hair from hair cuts, coffee grounds..etc. I just add in. I have many trees, bramble, vinyard, bushes.... I also have chickens... They eat the eggshells after I dry the shells, food leftovers. I pickle eggs, can fruit, make soup, make wine, vinegar... I also collect rainwater. I live on 1/3 acre... Alot of it the house sits on.. I have a garden, grow herbs for seasoning and medicinal... I grow bamboo for fencing... Hope that gives some more ideas!