The High End of Low Tech

I had a Thermodynamics professor who explained the earth would be a better place if you could help 4 billion people who cook/heat/live by firewood use less fuel wood than if you got a few hundred thousand yuppies driving hybrids. Think about it. He's not the only one who thinks that way. Many million$$ have been spent developing high efficiency wood cookstoves for those for who burning wood is a way of life, not a choice. The very impressive folks at Aprovecho have developed a simple, low cost, wood cookstove that can boil a gallon of water in 20 minutes (2x as fast) and using 1/2 the wood as the next closest 'technology'. Again, not a big deal to you or me who have the choice of electric stove, propane, or wood, but to those out there who have no choice, cutting one of their biggest daily expenses in half is a HUGE improvement.

Last week I ordered one to try out from Stove Tec (retail end of Aprovecho) and test fired it this weekend. It works on a very basic principle: Hot fires burn clean and efficient. The concept has gotten the name "Rocket Stove". I highly recommend you make or buy one for yourself to try out. I really want to brew a batch of "Off the Grid Ale' over this thing.... it would be perfect for that.

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Time to harvest some of the early crops. Here is what onions look like when they're growing. This patch is companion planted with carrots. Yup, carrots grow in between the onions, and there is no room for weeds to grow. It works. You know when to harvest the onions when the tops fall over or when they send up flower stalks. I did the math on onions.... we eat about one or two a week. A bag of onions 'sets' is about a buck, and is enough onions for a year for us. It may not sound like much, but for something so easy to grow that takes up so little space, it is pretty satisfying to grow your own.