Woodhenge Self Reliance Campus

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2010-04-29T07:13:00.001-05:00

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On Zombies, camping and making things from scratch

2010-04-27T08:02:00.003-05:00

Don't worry, I will tie these things together. I do like to read zombie books...I like to think of them as metaphors for any emergency situation. I've recently relistened to "World War Z" on my i-pod it is the first book I ever downloaded from the net. I am a bit slow to take on newer technologies. We bring our i-pods camping with us and have a solar charging system to keep them powered up for the duration...it sucks if it is cloudy. The survival situations you could face could be as bizarre as any zombie invasion...perhaps worse. At least you know how to take care of a mindless zombie...if you've read any of the books that is. Using the zombie metaphor is good practice for things that could happen, camping is good practice for the practical things you may have to do to survive and thrive. We're going camping on our favorite island in the middle of the Adirondacks late this coming June. We will be bringing some things to practice honing and developing new skills.

Our meals will be the ones we will publish as recipes for the bug-out bags mentioned in an earlier blog. I try to teach my kid, Lisa (13) a new fire starting technique on each of these trips...this time it will be true flint and steel fire making. We do so much for ourselves that it is easy to forget that others don't can, or make bread from scratch, or grow any of their own food, but even we feel ill-prepared to face an uncertain future. We wonder if we've got enough of the simple things down to face the problems that could arrive without a moment's notice. We'll keep searching out the 'leaks' in our boat and trying to plug them with new skills.

On disposing of human waste

2010-04-13T07:53:00.003-05:00

We take the flush toilet as the norm in our society. I ask myself how we would dispose of our waste if the electrically pumped water supply was cut off. We have and are using composting toilets here at Woodhenge. Our home has flush toilets, the rest of the buildings here have toilets designed after the models presented in Joe Jenkins' "The Humanure Handbook". I actually had cocktails with Joe several years back on a temporary escape from a natural builder's colloquium (just so much herbal tea and tofu we could stand...don't get me wrong the food at this particular seminar was restaurant
quality+, but the drumming and other things made a small group of us need a few hour break- it was a week long meeting).

Joe would rather be known for his books and work on slate roofs, but his humanure book is fantastic. The basics involve building a composter specifically designed for human waste. There are several different techniques described in his book. We chose a modified version that used recycled truck tires with the sidewalls partially removed (to ease emptying). You stack 4 or 5 tires on top of each other and the top tire doesn't have it's upper sidewall removed. You place one of the cut out sidewall pieces from one of the other tires upside down on top of the top tire and cover the hole with a garbage pail lid with a rock or concrete block on top to hold it in place.

Inside the home or outhouse you have a throne made as fancy as you'd like, but using a 5-gallon plastic pail to catch your 'business'. Start with a layer of organic material in the bottom- we use about 2" of peat moss, but have used saw dust, wood ashes, and other easily available absorbent materials. After making your deposit you cover it, paper and all, with another layer of material.
When the bucket is 3/4 full you swap it for a clean bucket and dump the full bucket into the composter. I tend to rotate the buckets; leaving the just emptied bucket outside next to the composter to air out, or wash out with rain water naturally...keeping 2 or three buckets in rotation will eliminate any odor that the polyethylene takes on from the urine.

If you have a higher female population in your home you might have to empty the bucket more often due to the build up of liquids in the bucket. Urea converts to ammonia and begins to stink after a couple of days. Gentlemen it is recommended to just use the nearest tree and this will reduce the amount of liquid going into the bucket.

I do a lecture about sustainability that describes the system...there is always a person in the crowd that gets the 'ugly' face on when I mention this topic. I ask them where their 'stuff' goes.
Most of the time the answer is "away" and they have no clue where. I then describe both the septic tan/leach field/drilled or dug well cycle and the municipal waste water treatment plant and water supply system and explain how fecal bacteria get into the drinking water supply and how they are toxically treated with chemicals and sometimes there is a glimmer of understanding.

What really clinches the usability of this system is in weather over 55*F the last added contents to one set of composter tires is reduced to soil and earth worms in about 10 days. We recommend 4 sets of composters be built for a small family. The resultant compost is odorless, or as odorless as any other well digested compost. It can be used anywhere...we're reluctant to use it directly on root vegetables and other things growing close to the ground, but don't hesitate to use it around fruit and nut trees and berry bushes.

Compared to whatever direct dumping I suspect will take place in urban and suburban localities this is an easy, safe and good use of a 'dangerous' material. I can't imagine the stench of a city that doesn't have a system like this in place prior to a water crisis.

e-mail me for more details at: jsjuczak@gisco.net

Help Wanted

2010-04-09T07:01:00.003-05:00

I have several upcoming projects that are rather big. If anyone is interested in getting experience in installing photovoltaic panel sets, ETC's Evacuated Tube Collectors (for hot water) or a Listeroid
diesel generator set-up then please contact me at jsjuczak@gisco.net. We'll also be installing dense packed insulation, reroofing a building, installing a water tower and gardening/farming with a vengence! None of these are paid positions, but a stipend to cover travel costs and meals will be covered.

Bug Out Bag Seminar

2010-04-07T07:08:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday (04/02/2010) We held a seminar here at Woodhenge on the things that should go into a personal bug-out bag. I have included the handout I gave to each of the 4 students that attended. It wasn't intended to give the participants an exact list of what they should pack, but a start on customizing a bag to their own particular situation. There were some 'door prizes' awarded to every participant: all got a chemical light stick, a cerium fire starting rod, an MRE style entree of their choice, a Swedish military alcohol stove and an East German mess kit. Most of these items were under $2 each and bought through a variety of surplus dealers (see the list in the handout) and I just happened to have 4 extra of everything. We're building 6 bug out bags; three are customized to fit the three members of our family and the other three are more generic in nature for tossing to a friend or relative caught unprepared and in need.

The participants were wonderful. They all contributed to the quality of the 2-hour course- with diversified backgrounds they were all able to add to the list of potential disaster scenarios as well as what they thought was important to have ready to go at an instant's notice. We finished up with trying an old favorite of mine for quick and easy backpacking (or emergency) meals; Dave McLean Stew. This is a dish that makes my wife retch, but is filling and quick for me and others that have tried it. One cup of Minute rice, two packages of Lipton Cream of Chicken Cup of Soup mix and a small (4 to 5 oz.) can of boned chicken. You boil one cup of water and add the ingredients all at once continue to simmer for around 2 minutes and then let it sit for a few minutes. An almost instant meal that will fill you up and not waste a lot of fuel in preparation. Please feel free to send me your ideas for a fast, tasty & somewhat nutritious meal that can be vacuum bagged and tossed into a bug out bag. My wife is already experimenting with things like cous cous, instant refried beans and stuff like that for her own bug out pack.

The handout:

There are certain images that stick in my mind. One of them is of a short section of the television evening news. It showed a short clip of a family that lived somewhere in California being hustled out of their home in the middle of the night in nothing but their pajamas. They were placed into a vehicle and rushed away from the wildfire that soon engulfed their home. There were a husband wife and a few kids who literally had nothing but the clothes on their backs. I looked at them and imagined myself in the same situation…I couldn’t. I can not imagine my family being so oblivious to a local danger that we would have to be awakened and told to leave, take nothing, just get out of your home.

Whether it was a wild fire, flood from levees breaking, hurricane, storm surge, tsunami, nuclear power plant leak or whatever I’d like to think that we’d have some warning and preparation time. When I brought up the idea of being able to leave our home for several days at a moment’s notice to my wife she was surprisingly agreeable to help with the preparations. In fact, quite a few people that I know and asked the question: What would you bring? had great insight..

And so we started the bug-out packing list. I wanted to do this project without seriously impacting our budget. The goal was a pack that weighed less than 45 pounds that came equipped with enough stuff to live relatively comfortably for up to four days. The kit should contain pretty much everything that a person would need to live on a friend’s living room floor or set up a temporary campsite on the side of the road. Three of the backpacks would be customized to the members of my immediate family the other three would be a sort of generic, one-size-fits-all collection.

What did we need? First a pack to hold things- I found, in one of my military surplus catalogs, former Swedish military framed back packs for $8 each. Then the listing started:

*A Swiss military poncho for each pack

*Two one liter canteens (former East German Army)

*A 10’ x 12’ poly tarp

*A double layer sleeping bag

*A Knit wool crew hat

*A pair of wool socks

*A pair of wool blend gloves

*A combination compass & thermometer on a keychain

*Small hunting knife

*Fire starting materials (water-proofed strike anywhere matches, a butane lighter and a magnesium fire starter.

*An LED flashlight (actually two…one is a small keychain sized unit and the other is slightly bigger)

*A small candle lantern

*A couple of chemical light sticks

*A first aid kit with band aids, burn ointment, insect repellant, antiseptic ointment, sun screen, first aid tape, pain medications, …

*A hygiene kit that included: Shampoo, body soap, nail trimmers, tweezers, small towel, comb, stainless steel mirror, q-tips, dental floss, tooth brush with cover and tooth paste…

*Chemical hand warmers

*200’ of parachute cord

*Water purification tablets

*A water filter

*1qt cook kit with an alcohol burner and a pint of fuel

*Combination knife fork and spoon

*Rescue whistle

*Local map

*A personal papers kit that included photocopies of all important family and individual documents and a stick drive with digital copies of the same thing

*$100 to $1000 in cash (and gold or silver coins?).

*A deck of cards

*A small fishing kit

*A pocket sized bible

*A pair of sun glasses

*A pair of cheap 2x reading glasses

*A Tin of hard candy

*Instant cocoa, tea bags and coffee with creamers and sugar

*A brightly colored bandana

*12 vacuum bagged meals (stuff you will eat!)

*Paper and pen/pencil

*A small radio/FRS two-way radio

*Plastic bags (an assortment of zip lock and garbage bag size)

*A sling shot and steel ball bearings

*A mylar emergency blanket

*A signal flare pen/gun

Personalized items in a separate pack able to be stuffed into the main pack:

*Prescription Medications

*OTC medications

*Hand Lotion

*Cell phone with solar charger

*Cigarettes (if you’re a smoker or want to have a great barter item)

We tried to imagine what could happen and envisioned everything from a home fire to an evacuation for god-knows-what. We also tried to imagine leaving ahead of the golden hoard and not being refugees. Refugees are directed by others- travelers direct themselves. You don’t want to be directed by others, unless you can’t help it. The bug out bag might be just the tool you need to make that distinction.

Sources of supplies:

*Sportsman’s Guide

www.SportsmansGuide.com

*Major Surplus

www.majorsurplus.com

*Coleman’s Surplus

www.colemans.com

*Sams’s Club (or any other big box store)

*Local Army/Navy Surplus stores

*Herb Phillipson’s (or any other store that sells camping supplies)

www.herbphillipsons.com

*US Knife Maker Supply -Knives, fire, making supplies, other misc. cheap!
507-947-3760

www.usakms.com

*Aim Surplus -Guns, flare guns and related supplies

www.aimsurplus.com

*Keep Shooting -guns, flare guns and related supplies

www.keepshooting.com

Books and websites

www.SurvivalBlog.com (a daily updated site on survival after “TEOTWAWKI” (the end of the world as we know it)

www.frugalsquirrels.com books and forums on various survival topics

*Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles

*How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times by James Wesley Rawles

*The Complete Walker (any version) by Colin Fletcher

*Survival With Style by Bradford Angier (or any other book by him)

*Survival, Evasion and Escape US Department of the Army Field Manual

*The Boy Scout Handbook by the US Boy Scouts

Waste not, want not...

2010-03-30T09:59:00.002-05:00

My book "The High Art and Subtle Science of Scrounging" is self-published and has met with what I'd call a good success rate. Especially considering the fact that I haven't done much in the way of advertising. I know I have to be more creative about getting it more widely known, but time is time and it has a way of running away from me. Sometimes I feel that I'm running from little fire to little fire with no time to look at the big picture.

I just finished reading Robert Kiyosaki's "Conspiracy of the Rich". He is the author of numerous books, the most famous of which is "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" which is now available on-line for free.
He talks about the conspiracy of the richest people to keep the rest of us in servant mode working to get them richer and richer. He also made me realize how poor my financial training has been. Don't get me wrong I had financial training in classes and from my father, but it was just enough to stay a part of the conventional thoughts on money: study hard, get a degree, find a steady job, buy a home, have a diversified investment portfolio, plan for retirement, etc. Not that all of this is bad, but there are so many aspects more to the picture. He points out that owning a home isn't an asset, but almost always a liability...that mutual finds are not the best, nor the safest investment for a reliable retirement.

I've played with some of the ideas he talks about, some of them even before I read his books and the speed with which money came in was scary...scary enough so that I stopped doing them. Now I'm back to considering them again...I'm not talking about scams, but solid business plans that require me to get the big picture and develop a sound business plan. It is funny that I have so much knowledge about all kinds of things, but haven't harnessed the tools to make that knowledge pay for itself. I can write well enough for people to be interested in buying what I write...the trick doesn't end there though...in fact the writing is one of the smallest parts of the profit building formula. The idea is to turn the book(s) into assets by putting them on a kind of
autopilot- Don't get me wrong here, I love getting the cash and checks for $25 in the mail- it is a great motivator to continue to keep writing, but I have to consider other options...
getting the book out as an interactive book on the internet is the next step. I had always intended on writing a sequel or expanded version and have offered free copies of the new version to people that have good scrounging stories to add to the chapters. That offer will still stand.

Now I have to learn how to get the book on line....

The same could be done with my deep well hand pump plans and kits....my golf cart home emergency power supply system and a lot of other good ideas that should be available to people.
Bill W. gave me a copy of Guerrilla Marketing that I have let languish on my shelf for too long. Time to reeducate myself...How does that quote go? "If you keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting things to change then you really are crazy!"

I am now reading reader comments to this blogsite. Please feel free to write a comment or suggestion or even an addition to my scrounging book. I promise to look and probably respond!

On independence and attitude

2010-03-26T07:04:00.002-05:00

I rarely publish comments sent to this blogsite. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the published comment, but I do feel obliged to present a wide variety of views. I personally do not think the spankings I received growing up in a family of five children (I'm the oldest) hurt me at all or did anything to me in a long-term physical or sexual sense. I did listen to my psychology professors and education professors really well though. Both were filled with a sense of wonder about the capacity of the human brain to learn and change due to internal and external influences.

They also talked about how the senses are integrated and the 'skewing' of the modern educational system to the extreme on visual and auditory learning above all other senses. I do NOT believe you should beat your kids, but some kind of physical intervention to refocus them on hearing what a parent is telling them IS sometimes necessary. It could be a hug or a 'swat'. In this age of abuse scandals on the part of certain churches is is important to realize that going in the complete opposite direction may have unintended consequences. Having taught in a half-dozen school systems at everything from grade school to senior high, both long term (26 years of full-time teaching should count for something) I can tell you we're raising a nation of zombies! The influence of media compared to the influence of parents and the school is ruining the kids ability to think for themselves. Now I'm not talking about your kids...it is the other kids
I'm speaking of (sarcasm intended here!).

The amoung of information that the past two generations has been bombarded with on a daily basis is causing the split in our society. The big businesses and government that they influence are taking advantage of it with sweeping legislation that are eroding our basic freedoms. Supporting is very different from not knowing or caring. I question kids once a month in my 5-hour prelicensing class about their freedoms given to them by the Bill of Rights, Amendments to the Constitution and the constitution itself...the silence is scary and telling. I may get the exact quote wrong, but "May the chains of slavery rest lightly upon your shoulders as you bow down to lick the hand that feeds you" seems to be the destiny of peoples living in 'these united states'. The only encouraging thing I'm seeing is that there are a lot of states loosening up their restrictions of their carry concealed hand gun laws. On the other hand, a kid bringing a butter knife into school can be suspended for carrying a weapon and need a superintendent's hearing to get back into school! I have never heard of an attack ever carried out with a Boy Scout pocket knife....the only injuries I've ever seen were from my own stupidity with my own pocket knives...and those lessons ARE necessary to teach people the dangers of dull and misused knives.
I would never stop those lessons from being learned by banning things like that. Maybe we should ban wood stoves or hot pots because a little kid can burn his finger on them...maybe we're doing that right now bu teaching microwave use instead of cooking on a stove in Home Economics classes.

There are some rays of hope I do see in my exposures to the youth of today. Kids that have any reasonable contact with their parents every day and home schooled kids both, by and large display a refreshing independence and ability to interact with multiple generations that isn't found in the common students I deal with on a daily basis. They will be the leaders of tomorrow...I hope they lead us well!

How sweet it is! on maple syrup and honey

2010-03-22T07:31:00.003-05:00

The survival nut in me always looks for sources of things that won't be available after a major societal collapse. As a type II diabetic sugar is a consistent thought...too much or too little affect my mood and thought processes. We keep a couple of hives of bees..I got into it as a part of my 'get over what you are afraid of' mindset. Plus bees are a great tool for teaching you about working gently with nature. My friend Bruce loaned me a copy of "The Barefoot Beekeeper" and it rekindles my interest in playing with them...besides the honey I extracted a few years back is almost gone and it is time to refill the shelves. Having watched the process of making maple syrup at the FFA Camp Oswegatchie in Croghan, NY a few weeks back and having done a little refining with my middle school kids. I was pleased when Lee took the bull by the horns and used the buckets, covers and taps we'd found while insulating the attic at the local yoga center to tap the trees at the home of our friend Nancy. Lee has made about a half gallon for the season.

I spent a part of yesterday extracting honey from a semi-wild bee hive that had been set up by a swarm of our bees in the roof of our entryway last year. We want to hive these bees and pulled the boards. battens and soffit to get at them. Lee was the brave soul that broke out the chunks of comb that were in the way of the main hive. The stuff we got was not being used...probably abandoned due to the cold as the bees huddled in the central area for warmth for the winter. I used a double boiler arrangement with my canning pot to hold the water and a stainless steel stock pot to melt and separate the honey from the bee debris and wax. I scooped the debris out and dumped it into cardboard egg cartons...I'll use it later as fire starters. I let the wax and honey cool and was able to remove the 2 pounds of wax as a single layer and then poured the honey through cheese cloth into three quart sized canning jars. Not bad at all.

We're going to try to grow a variety of beet this summer that can be juiced and reduced to beet sugar syrup...we'll let you know if that experiment works out. Now to plan the combination sugar shack/smoke house/honey processing facility to add to the hundreds of other projects I want to get done...

On education and children learning

2010-03-20T07:41:00.003-05:00

While substitute teaching in a wide range of grades and subjects I've had the opportunity to observe a wide range of teaching and learning behaviors. I've learned a few things. First was just how unusual I must have been as a teacher with my curricula continuously changing and experimenting with differing teaching strategies. My friend Richard D. called last night a bit worried about how people in our "Ark community" were perceiving his rearing of three active boys.

Don't worry these two themes will come together in a bit.

Richard and Aimee are great people- active and thinking minds, certainly well above even the experts in their perceptions of the effects of present day society has on mental and physical health on people, especially kids. They home schooled their three boys until they had a horse and buggy/car accident that left them recovering from a wide variety of severe physical injuries. The community got together and funded the tuition of getting the two older boys into the local private school hosted by the nearby intentional community. The kids did well there, we all noticed changes in their behaviors that we perceived as positive, especially in their ability to socialize...but were our observations correct? or were the behaviors just what we were used to.

Richard and Aimee have a plan for their kids and it doesn't involve getting their kids into the lock-step regimen of present day educational standards. Some of their approach is sort of Montessori-like and some is conditioned response more on par with the old school of learning. Mostly what they did was to allow their kids to explore the carefully arranged world of their home and farm. While their spelling and 'rithmatic might have suffered a tiny bit, their abilities- and I mean all three of the boys!- to problem solve, interact with the natural world, fix things, use tools, and hundreds of other things was hard wired into them. I watched them doing various things around the new property that amazed me, when the oldest wasn't more than 5-years-old
the three of them managed to figure out how to dig out a hay wagon that had 'melted' into the farm field. It involved figuring out just how much soil had to be removed from the front of each of the tires and at what angle, how to set up the levers and fulcrums and where to push to get this 1000 pound+ vehicle moving again. Dad came over and gave one push with them and it was freed! They spent days doing this project. What 'normal' kid has this ability and endurance...the younger brothers took directions and made suggestions (well maybe the 2-year-old was a bit quieter) to take on a project like this. Tree forts, rebuilding bicycles, and tons of other things are constantly going on.

Their parents, like Krista and me, believe we're on the cusp of a major societal change to a much lower energy economy and lifestyle. What good will all of the computer skills in the world do any of our children if they can't fix a window, grow food from seed, kill a chicken, cut and split firewood (let alone build and tend any kind of fire- even a campfire!) and the thousands of other skills needed to survive a difficult future? Education is supposed to prepare you for the future, right? These kids are already there.

They are three active boys and sometimes the message of "don't" doesn't penetrate their ears...and sometimes they get 'swatted' by their parents. What a wimpy world we live in. People will feed their kids into morbid obesity, allow them to watch countless hours of mindless crap and advertisements on the television, i-pod themselves into a catatonic state, nintendo themselves in a world of imaginary life-destructive computer games, yet they object to a well deserved spank on the rear if one boy is hurting his brother and not stopping after a verbal warning. I have a whole philosophy of education on how narrowly our educational system educates the senses and if you are a tacto-kinectic learner and not an auditory or visual learner you are labeled 'special ed.' What a waste of good energy for the sake of passing a standardized test.

The time I've spent in 4 different school buildings over the past few months has been eye opening. As a sub I have the time to observe what the "don't say 'no'" philosophy has done to the kids. Only positive reinforcement (not in the psychological definition of that term...a punch is a positive reinforcement according to my Psych 101 prof) and making them feel good is turning them into a bunch of spoiled whiners. "This is too hard", "This is boring", "I'm not doing this",
and "They have to pass me anyway" are common phrases in every room I've been in. Granted, I'm just the sub, but the quality of education and even the competitive spirit is being diluted to the point that I don't get the point of it all. I guess I got out of the full-time education business just in time, I would have had a break down if I'd have opened my eyes a bit more the last several years of full-time employment. If we are truly looking to compete in the world educational market we need to stop worrying about scores on standardized tests and get the kids back into the art of learning for the sake of learning.

If I were king of the world most schools would lose about 1/3+ of their student populations just to make the educational system better for the rest. What would those 'losers' do...in the words of my daughter "IDK & IDC" (I don't know and I don't care). I worry about the skill sets of our future doctors and mechanics if all they learned was from a 'standardized curricula' and their parents weren't creative enough to expand their horizons. Richard and Aimee have expanded the horizons of their kids probably ten years beyond their peers by 'keepin them down on the farm' and I applaud them for it.

By the way, the kids are enrolled in the local public school right now and even though they 'tested' a year behind their age related peers at the start of the school year they are all at the head of their classes now! Their parents timed the situations perfectly, the boys were 'ripe' for learning rather than being bored or zombified they are eager to learn...how many of you can say that about your kids?

I work with some home schooling groups and just judged the Home Schooler Science Fair. Now there is a group of eager learners! The projects were great, the kids were oddly socialized and I loved it! Do we want cookie cutter kids or independent thinkers...?

"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the curiosity of inquiry." - Albert Einstein

Enough babble!

Bug Out Bag Seminar on April 3rd

2010-03-16T07:14:00.003-05:00

I'm offering to host a Bug Out Bag Seminar on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010. It will be from
2pm until 4pm. There are any number of scenarios that could require you to rapidly abandon your
home for 3 or more days. Could you put together the necessities in a few minutes? Probably not; which means that you should have it ready to go. I've been assembling 6 "bug out" bags for several years now. My goal was good quality and inexpensive gear that could be used easily by anyone 12-years-old or older. My bags contain a wide assortment of generic gear suited for a wide variety of potential disasters. There will be a smaller pack that customizes the kit for specific individuals that gets tossed in at the last minute- it contains personal items (identification papers, insurance papers, medicines and data storage for irreplaceable items i.e. family photos and basic clothing). The bigger part of the mail kit has the things you'll need to be independent whether you are living at a friend's home, hotel or in the woods. It includes high calorie, low effort meals for 3+ days. Most of the items, including the backpack totaled under $100!

The cost will be $25/person. Some door prizes and goodies will be given away and a great snack will be served!

Contact me if you'd like to register or have more information at jsjuczak@gisco.net or by calling 315 771-7333

Build your own solar panels

2010-03-12T06:40:00.002-05:00

The three day workshop on building your own photovoltaic panels went well. I had around 22 students the first day and 8 the second two days. This was just the right amount to build six 65 watt panels. The wood for the frames and plexiglass had been previously cut, so the kids had to sand, drill, assemble and paint the frame components. Simultaneously we laid out sets of 7 cells and soldered them together. This was fairly easy because the 3" x 6" cells had two pretinned tabs.

The kids had to touch the connection spots on the back of the cells with a flux pen, add a dab of solder to those six points and then solder the tabs from the front of one cell to the six points on the back of the next one in series. We then added some bus wire to the end of each set of seven and hooked 5 sets of 7 cells together. Broken cells, and cells damaged by rough handling accounted for the rejection of around 40 of the cells...MLSolar provided an extra 40 with the shipment...like they knew!

The panels all tested under low light conditions in the cabin we were working in and our first test panel was brought out into the full sunlight and gave us an easy 20+v dc! I'm going to try to post pictures to show you the process. The second workshop will take place at the end of this month and we'll be making a short video of the process. We're going to try to use some double sided tape to keep the cells aligned and a bit more stabilized, some of the damage we had was due to the process of transferring the completed series set of cells from the cardboard to the wooden frame.

The camp was cozy and very easy to use to teach the kids the processes. Bill, Todd, Robin, Jamie and Shari were wonderful hosts. It was fun for me to be a participant rather than the camp cook this time- I learned a lot about how they do things that will save me time and effort the next time I go there.

The second session will have a few more power points and alternative activities to refine the process further. E-mail me if you want to build your own PV panels! jsjuczak@gisco.net I'm also now on Facebook thanks to the careful tutelage of Bill W. on the last evening.

"Be Prepared" & "Do a Good Turn Daily"

2010-03-08T06:04:00.002-05:00

I'll be away for three days to teach a group of students and teachers
how to solder up their own photovoltaic panels. I got the solar cells
from a company called MLSolar on the west coast. I picked this company
because they were the first one that actually had a human answer the
phone. The delivery was earlier than expected and the product was
the right price. I got 500 pretabbed 3" x 6" grade "B" cells for $1 each.

In my earlier blogs I talked about bug out bags, learning skills that you
need to be a survivor in a short or long-term area or nation-wide
'problem'. I was thinking of how I began to get into this mind-set and
remembered the things I learned from being in the Boy Scouts. Being
prepared isn't taught as much of a lesson these days...I've been called
a hoarder(sp?) or survival nut. NO, no, no! Because tied with that
preparedness is charity. Would I share enough of my food and other
gear to endanger the long term survival of my family? Probably not.
But we do have enough to share with friends, relatives and neighbors, if
they'd be willing to take it.

Storing a year's worth of food is cheap if you buy basics in bulk...fifty pounds
of dry navy beans cost me something like $22 the last time I bought them.
Rolled oats were $15 for 50 pounds. I vacuum bag the big bags into
smaller packages. My worry is that neither of these foods are 'instant' and
if you don't know what to do with wheat berries to make them edible then
I just wasted my charity. The same with giving someone a spare solar
panel; unless you give them the knowledge and explain the limitations then
your 'good turn' is useless.

I think that is why I still educate people. We may be soldering up solar panels,
but the kids and teachers will also get a presentation on how the entire system
works and what it will be good for.

My daughter, Lisa, doesn't like to eat fish. However, when our friend brought
over a dish of freshly caught pike she tried it and stated that she would eat it
if she had to...that is a big survival step! I believe most people would NOT eat
what I gave them in an emergency unless I had also cooked it...and then maybe
they wouldn't eat it because it wasn't like Macdonalds...I hope not.

Start to gather the skills, tools and attitude to be a survivor...what do you have
to lose? Just a couple of extra boxes or cans of food every time you go shopping
will allow you to build a few weeks of 'emergency rations' fairly quickly. You can
buy a butane fueled camping stove for under $20..it takes up hardly any room
but will allow you to cook if the power is down. LED flashlights make batteries
last a long time...they are available at the dollar stores...for a dollar! Buy extras!
Remember you can be generous!

On being prepared

2010-03-05T07:25:00.002-05:00

I worry about a number of scenarios that could leave us, as a society, in a world of hurt. Looking at the really recent past with things like Haiti and Chile's earthquakes as well as disasters of the near past like Katrina and 9/11 I wonder how well we could, as a society, pass through a long term disaster on a nation-wide basis. The numbers of people going to the energy events and sustainable living events isn't increasing that dramatically. THis means that there is a lot of complacency in the US. I substitute 2 to 4 days a week in a local school system and use my time to observe the kids, administrators and teachers (In addition to the teaching work, of course!). I figure that this particular group of people represent a good cross-section of our society...with the comparitively higher education of the faculty is, perhaps, skewed a bit, in favor of people that are more than peripherally of the problems of a technically complicated society. I see nothing in the way of more than minimal preparedness on the part of the teachers and their bosses...even in the way of emergency planning for the school in the event of a local disaster. The kids come to school in clothing that is completely inappropriate for even a short walk (I'm talking 5 miles or less). I can see sandals, shorts and t-shirts being worn by a fair number of kids, even in the middle of the winter! Many kids arrive without a coat and go from the comfort of their parent's car or the school bus with nothing in the way of winter layering.

Nowhere in any of the districts I go to have I seen long-term, simple survival being taught. One of the reasons I left teaching as a full-time career is frustration with the lack of practical instruction on any level. Shop class is down, in most cases, to fun little practical science experiments...no formal woodworking, plumbing, engine repair, welding and construction. Home Economics is not teaching anything 'from scratch'...it looks like the kids are taught how to use the microwave more than the stove (which is inevitably electric). "Nobody left behind" is really "Everybody dragged along". It dilutes the curricula for the smarter kids.

None of the cars, to my observation, have any kind of emergency equipment ready to go. I'm not talking about sleeping bags and food, just things like road flares and 'fix-a-flat'. I worry a bit about the 'golden hoard' , but only a bit. I think a lot of people will just sit in their homes during a long-term disaster waiting for the government to bring them a hand-out until it is too late. That, in a sad way, makes me feel a lot more secure. Anyone with a lick of sense IS already prepared or preparing and will be on an equal basis with me and ready to barter and trade, not to try to invade.

Enough ranting...contact me if you want to explore this issues further...jsjuczak@gisco.net
Let's prepare together!

Skills of a Lifetime

2010-02-28T08:56:00.002-05:00

I've recently completed a number of odd jobs that left me thinking about what I have to give to people that want to become more self-sufficient. I have a hard time separating myself from my knowledge base in order to view the skill sets I've accumulated over a lifetime. I do this when I teach bot formally and informally, but don't think about it until I realize that I REALLY do have a set of unique skills. During the installation of the off-grid system for my friend Bruce K. last week I had the chance to work near a friend of his who was doing the wiring for the ac side of the house- the regular outlets and lights. He came onto the site when I was about 15 hours into the wiring of the renewable stuff. He took one look and said something like "I couldn't do that". Here is a guy that has wired hundreds of homes and industries looking at my work and realizing that the work of my 50+ off-grid installations was beyond what he could understand at that time.

I'm finishing up some minor repairs at the local Yoga center in Adams Center. They'd had an outside hose bib freeze and start to leak and the need for an additional 5 outlets in their upstairs
apartment. No biggie for me- I've done hundreds, maybe thousands of this kind of job...the board at the yoga center thinks this is amazing stuff. Which brings me to the topic at hand:
"Small Change"

This was a title for the fair that I'd suggested to Patricia Green, who is chairing the North Country Sustainable Living Fair to be held in Canton, NY this Fall. It is more of how I'd like the 'mood' of the fair to be set. All of the stuff I've learned was simple...it is only the build up over time that makes the total processes complex. You start by replacing a bad switch or outlet. Then you run an additional outlet for a room that has too few. Each activity is seemingly simple. You ask questions...even more importantly you observe how the people before you did the job...after a while you get a 'feel' for what was good work and what was sloppy. Even later you develop a sense of humor about some of the 'more interesting' approaches - jobs like plumbing systems that have been modified with every material known to have ever allowed the passage of water-iron pipe, galvanized pipe, copper pipe, plastic pipe and more have all been found in one home at the same time! I've seen the hot water supply pipe connected to the cold water supply pipe in places (the owner couldn't get his shower hot enough while his toilet tank water was steaming!).

The process isn't so much gaining knowledge but of psychological change. You have to want to do the work. If the desire is there the learning will usually follow easily. Small Change is just what we need...on the personal level and on the world level. Humans don't take to big rapid changes easily, small, incremental changes are what brought us comfort level with the personal computer, i-pods, cell phones, central heating, air conditioning and a hundred thousand other things we take for granted every day. However, many of these things are beyond our ability to control...if they break down we are powerless to repair them. This is my worry- we've built a society so complex that if a series of small catastrophes happen in a particular order then we're
stricken by a world wide disaster...one that may take years to repair or rebuild. And we don't have a fall back position...we can't simply learn what our ancestors knew about growing food, keeping warm, and building stuff for ourselves.

So now is the time to start to accumulate the small changes you will need to weather the big changes ahead. I'm here for you! I will be offering a series of Woodhenge Seminars over the next year to help people get comfortable with the basics of the mechanical and social worlds around them.

A few topics:

Bug out bags: How to prepare to leave before the government picks you up and drops you in a FEMA camp. How to put together a backpack that has the necessities for 4 or more days.
This will also be a primmer on long distance backpacking so it won't all be gloom and doom.
I'm going to try to rope my friend Roy H. an Applachian Trail through hiker to help me with this one. My 6 bug out bags (for family and friends) will be discussed and demonstrated. Roy will go over the higher tech version of lightweight backpacking equipment.

Basics of regular wiring and off-grid wiring
How to repair and add circuits to your home and how off-grid power works.

Basics of growing and preserving food
How to put a garden space together and what to do with the surplus.

Basics of making your own bread
From grinding the flour to eating the breads, crackers, and rolls!

Basics of wood heat
From safe chainsaw use, wood splitter, manual saws and splitters to stacking and burning. How to safely set up a wood burning unit and what to do with the ashes.

Build your own wind turbine
Axial flux designs and others will be discussed and built.

I will also take and of your suggestions. E-mail me at jsjuczak@gisco.net with your ideas and suggest dates!

The new Solar/Wind system installation

2010-02-24T06:24:00.002-05:00

I traveled last week. The first stop was to install a complete new off-grid system for my friend Bruce K. I arrived Monday at noon and was done by Wednesday at 4:00ish. Bruce didn't spare expenses on equipment- He went with his dealer's recommendations. It was really nice working with quality equipment and materials. We installed his main AC circuit panel, his e-panel, wired his PV panels, an Outback 60 amp solar charge controller, his battery bank, lightning arrestors, battery monitoring system, remote control system, his Magnum 4000watt 240volt inverter, the connections for his generator and got the control panel for his Bergey XL-1 wind turbine placed and preliminarily wired.

The moments of truth happened in several stages. I made Bruce make the last battery connections and then flip the main DC circuit breaker. Then he turned on his solar array...it was cloudy and he was still making .5 amps at 28 volts...not much, but it showed us the system was functioning. After I left he tested the generator/charging circuits and all functioned flawlessly.

Most of the equipment came with pretty good factory default settings. All we had to do was to set up the system parameters...battery type, voltage, etc. All of this was pretty easy from the LCD screen prompts.

His friend Bob came by and did some of the AC house wiring. I think he was impressed with the complexity of the wiring in the e-panel...I found it a bit crowded by the end of the project. I generally prefer to wire the DC stuff separately from the AC stuff and like more shut off switches. But this system was professionally designed...I guess I'm more of a "belt and suspender' designer with probably too much redundancy....

I also visited my friend Roy H. In Fairhaven, VT. We went for a hike around and across a nearby lake and had some great conversations.

From there I went to visit Hans K. in Indian Lake. I knocked on his door and had no answer so I did the survey of his landscape and determined that I will be pouring mostly above ground concrete pads for his PV arrays and his ETC water heating system. The property is located on the top of a low mountain and has the typical rock exposures of Adirondack mountain tops.
I will be fabricating the 10'-6" poles for the PV racks. It turns out that he was home and just didn't hear the knock! We've had that happen here too.

I came home and worked on a spiral staircase I'm building for a friend and did the estimates for a plumbing and electrical job at the local yoga center. Not getting the job at JCC doesn't mean that I'm any less busy...It is kind of nice to have so many differing tasks at hand.

I also have the panels for the workshops at FFA Camp Oswegatchie designed and the materials selected. I found a place that will sell me the 3" x 6" Evergreen photovoltaic cells for $1 each.
We'll be building six panels of around 65watts each in each workshop. The pv cells come pretabbed, so the work should go smoothly. I will be cutting the wood and other parts in my old shop with Anthony Cronk so the kids will have to sand, paint, assemble, caulk, solder and wire
the panels over the 3-day session. We will probably be offering this workshop to the general public here at Woodhenge. Drop me an e-mail if you are interested and if you just want to learn how to make the panels or if you want to make some for yourself to take home. It will change the focus and price of the workshop. The PV cells produce more than a watt of power apiece! This means that you will be building panels that will cost under $2 a watt and know how to build more! If you are a good scrounger they could conceivably cost under $1 watt!

You can reach me for questions at jsjuczak@gisco.net.

I'm going on a whilrwind tour ...

2010-02-13T09:53:00.003-05:00

I will not be posting for a week or so. I will be going on a tour of eastern NY and Vermont. I will be stopping at my client/friend's home in Indian Lake, NY to do some measuring for his "Operation Independence" project. Hans wants to have almost 10 kW of photovoltaics, a 64 tube ETC (evacuated tube collector) system for domestic hot water and home heating, a 12 hp listeroid powered generator and more done by the end of this project. My job with him is to teach him how to do the work that will save him the most money and get the best value for his efforts. We will do things like dig and pour the bases for the pv racking system, building the ETC system from scratch, getting the listeroid and generator head from Canada and building the frame and controls for them.

There is room enough for people interested in lending a hand to get in on this process...we will be setting up the calendar for the various component builds. Please e-mail me if you are interested in learning and helping- jsjuczak@gisco.net.

From there I will be going to Morrisonville, NY to help my friend Bruce connect up all of the parts to his wind and sun powered energy system. We'll be doing the detailed wiring and placement of components for a photovoltaic and wind system. His batteries arrived yesterday and he found out that the battery box he'd built was not the right size.

From there I will be visiting my friend Roy H. in Vermont. We hope to take a trip to Williston, VT to visit the Earth Turbines factory.

Then I go home. Friday is our 32nd anniversary of meeting- I hope to get home in time to take my wife and kid out to dinner...whirlwind!

I'm also starting to set up the "Woodhenge Workshop" calendar. Many of you readers have met me at various events and listened to me lecture or watch me demonstrate...tell me what you'd
like to learn and I will see if I can accommodate your needs.

Do It Yourself PV Panels and more

2010-02-08T07:36:00.002-05:00

We just got back from a weekend deep in the woods of the western edge of the Adirondacks. For around 15 years I have been the camp cook for the FFA group that goes to FFA Camp Oswegatchie. The camp is very well run and maintained and we stay in a warm, huge cabin with dorms for both genders. The kitchen is large and up to date with things like a convection oven and new commercial dishwasher. The camp is located on a small lake and has something like 1200 acres to wander around on...athletic fields, dining halls cabins, luxurious bath house and much more. It is available for non-FFA use. The kids can choose from a variety of indoor (board games, reading, movies and interactive video games) and outdoor activities (ice skating, sledding, cross country skiing, nature hikes, etc.) We do semi-home-made food for them. I don't go whole grain nuts (yet), but try to hit a compromise with things like a mexican lunch buffet and home made lasagna.

The camp will be hosting two "build photovoltaic panels from scratch" workshops in March and April of this year. Right now it is limited to the school groups that have already signed up for them. If there is an interest additional workshops will be scheduled either there or here at Woodhenge. Our goal is to build several PV panels by soldering pre-tabbed pv cells into a configuration that will result in enough panels to power up several of the small cabins they have there. The cells will be encased in a home made frame and covered with class. The design I have in mind should make these units last as long as any commercially available units. The units will be about 2/3 cheaper than commercially available ones. We'll probably try to set a 'standard' of 100 watts, or so per unit to keep the panel size and weight manageable. I did a project like this years ago and the kids are more than able to handle the work involved. Scrounging will keep the prices low!

On Sunday we went to an "Ark" meeting directly from the FFA Camp. It was held at St. Lawrence Nurseries near Potsdam, NY. The Ark group is a spin off from a peak oil study and action group- and has a growing memebership- there were at least 40 people at this meeting.
Our topics of discussion and tours included:
*The upcoming Sustainability Fair to be held near Canton, NY this Fall
*How to use and maintain a 'family cow'
*A very detailed guided tour of the McKentley's renewable energy systems: Wind, photovoltaic,
hot water, wood gassification and more!
*Discussions and samples of home made cheeses with Camembert and Cheddar featured
*Tree pruning and grafting were discussed & demonstrated
*The amount of home made foods and great company with it's associated side conversations was and is the thing that makes this group so much fun to be a part of.

If you are interested in taking a photovoltaic panel building workshop or finding out more about the Ark group and it's meetings please contact me at jsjuczak@gisco.net

Pumping news:
The three Stainless steel and Brass pump kits have been spoken for. I have 4 of the stainless steel and PVC kits left. Production time is around 10 days so get your orders in if you are interested.

Bug out bags and the camping mind-set

2010-02-04T05:08:00.002-05:00

As I've stated before I'm a bit paranoid...I worry about things like economic collapse, natural disasters, EMP attacks ( an electromagnetic pulse attack involves the setting off of a nuclear bomb or bombs several hundred miles up above the earth...no extreme amounts of radiation, but the radio waves generated by this kind of device destroys all exposed microelectronic circuitry...nothing from a computer to a car to a municipal power/water system will be functioning in the areas affected....there's not a lot of protected back-ups out there), and natural/man-made pathogens.

What to do? We are attempting to build up the systems here at Woodhenge to become as self-reliant as possible AND to teach these skills to any and all interested. My wife calls this the "camping mind-set" - one of the reasons we got together 31 years ago was that we both liked camping in tents...the mind-set of making your home in the woods and carrying in what you need necessitates for a week, or so and then dealing with the situation of compensating for what you forgot makes you flexible in a way no other event can.

I'm almost finished with 6 "Bug Out Bags". This takes the self-preparedness away from our homes...these are surplus Swedish military back packs from Sportsman's guide or Major Surplus that were on sale for $8 or something ridiculously low like that. I've filled each of these packs with a general 72+ hour's worth of supplies for a 'generic' person. I need only a few more items to complete each kit. Shelter tarp, sleeping bag, flashlight, fire starting stuff, mylar blanket, wool hat, personal hygiene kits, and lots more. I thought about what would be necessary in a Katrina-like situation in our neighborhood or the devistating brush/forest fires that happen on the west coast where you and your family is only given a few minutes to 'get out of Dodge'. Images of (stupid) people fleeing in pajamas - what? they couldn't listen to the news or smell the smoke? - scare me. Becoming a refugee is about the worst situation I can think of being caught in. Most of the commercial kits sold for 'emergencies' are 24 or 48 hour types and do not have much more than food and flashlights.

I wanted to be able to set up a campsite and last for a while. The food portion I'm working on right now. It is a combination of off-the-shelf products and some freeze dried stuff. I'm vacuum bagging things like instant oatmeal in individual packets, dried fruit, instant coffee, minute rice, and instant packaged soup mixes...not the best stuff in regards to organic and chemical free, but quick, easy and packed with calories. I have a Swedish military stove, in each pack, that runs off of dry gas available in any auto store or hardware store...cooking pretty much involves heating water and dumping it over the dried goods.

When the six kits are finished I will publish pictures and lists of what I have included. As a side thought this isn't an expensive kit...the backpacks are just one of the things I picked up from the surplus market...I don't think I'll have much more than $100 in any one completed bug out bag.

Again, if you have questions, critiques or more insight feel free to contact me at: jsjuczak@gisco.net Have a safe day! -Jim-

I tried to post an article I wrote...

2010-02-01T08:53:00.002-05:00

The Psychology of Energy Change is an article I've written about the fact that the current 'energy crisis' is more based upon mindset than any real lack of energy (re)sources. I tried to reproduce the article and found that the blogsite rejected it and instead produced a pile of computer gibberish.
I will have to find soneone that can tell me what I've done wrong. The basic facts of the article are as folows:
1) we are creatures of habit- we've gotten used to using older technologies and are not embracing change as the most solid means of transiting energy problems.
2) basic transportation (ie.:cars with internal combustion engines), lighting (anything that uses a resistive element i.e.: incandescent light bulbs & their near relatives) and housing (wood framed walls that have minimally standardized insulation standards rather than being designed to lose virtually no energy in either direction) are what we're used to...imagine still having fountain pens as a standard writing instrument...these technologies are all from the same era!)
3) an LED (light emitting diode) light bulbs use 1/30 of the energy that a comparable incandescent light bulb utilizes...thirty light bulbs for the energy cost of one....CFL's (compact florescent lightbulbs) were a good idea and they are currently being touted as the 'solution' by being 4x more efficient than the incandescent equivalent. They are being marketed aggressively because the companies have the manufacturing infrastructure to pay for before they switch to making LED bulbs. Despite that the prices for both CFL's and LED's are coming down. Competition in the Chinese markets? You can find CFL's for a dollar and Led's for $5 and if you look around for even less.
4) Think of a dripping faucet and the efforts you will go through to stop the annoying noise and waste of water...if you put the same effort into stopping the silent losses of electricity from inefficient devices and phantom loads (your TV is on right now, but the tube is off for example),
overbuilt internal combustion engines (8 Cylinders! when 2 or three would do!) or heating/cooling the great outdoors with house insulation as efficient as a t-shirt in the winter.
5) We cut our electrical consumption by 3/4 without sacrificing any level of comfort by just changing stuff we were replacing anyway AND changing our habits.

More to follow....contact me at jsjuczak@gisco.net for questions and other stuff.

Odds and ends

2010-01-30T09:01:00.002-05:00

I'm just finishing up a production of 6 PVC and stainless steel pump kits. several are already spoken for, but you can get yours if you contact me at jsjuczak@gisco.net. on a first-served-first-come basis. Next week I will be producing 3 of the stainless steel and brass versions.

I will be writing heavily over the next few weeks, this isn't a career path I ever imagined myself taking...I just seem to have naturally migrated to it. I've been asked to write a number of articles on a wide range of topics including:
1) Stone circle building- I'm helping to set up a small version of Stonehenge at the Kripalu Yoga and Wellness Center in Adams Center, NY...we'll be setting up a gathering area utilizing traditional techniques and modern techniques with stones ranging from several hundred pounds to over 10 tons. The article should appear in the upcoming issue of Metaphysical Times.
2) Practical uses for paper mache...I will be writing an article for a craft/papermaking magazine (I do not recall its name right now) on sculpting a home from papercrete. Recounting the techniques we used in building our cordwood and papercrete home.
3) Water and water pumping for Back Home Magazine. How to figure out where your water is and how to build a hand pump to get it out of the ground.

I've also submitted my applications to two school districts to become a substitute teacher and will submit two more early next week.

Our farm plans are solidifying. Lee and I are just beginning to figure out what quantities we wish to plant and in what order. We'll also be looking to team up with the local CSA association to see if we can join them this year...they have over 200 members and needed more vegetables than they produced last summer...we actually let some things like broccoli and cabbage rot on the stem at the end of the season!

Enjoy your day! -Jim-

Woodhenge seminars

2010-01-29T06:39:00.002-05:00

We're beginning to set the calendar for our warm(er) day activities. These include my expanding lecture circuit at the energy fairs, sustainable living fairs and natural building colloquiums. In the past we've offered seminars here at Woodhenge. These events last from a day to a long weekend.

We offer some accommodations here on a first-come-first served basis - this is for space in one of our homes or building projects. We also have tent space with access to a composting outhouse, shower house, picnic table and fire ring. The topics will vary depending upon what we deem to be in the greatest demand. Please e-mail me with your requests, but for now the list is started:

1) Building your own Photovoltaic panels. We'll have all of the materials on hand to make the frame, assemble the cells so that you walk off with a panel that makes electricity and the skills to build more for less than half the cost of a conventional one.

2) The basics of renewable energy systems. If you feel a bit confused about all of the options out there for adding a renewable energy system the biggest problem is translating the technobabble given to you by dealers and installers. Solar (both electrical and heat), wind and hydro systems will be clarified to the point that you should be able to make wise choices in your renewable future.

3) Mortgage free housing. Sometimes you get so stuck in a mindset that you need a seminar like this to get out of the rut. I cover everything from finding discounted property to finding homes for nearly free! Why buy materials if you can get them for free? Scrounging for construction supplies is fun and easy. Unconventional and alternative construction techniques such as cordwood, straw bale and moving a home will be discussed.

4) Growing and preserving food for your family. We've been taught that the only place to get food is the supermarket. Taking back your right to grow and save your food is a basic skill that most have forgotten...it isn't difficult to learn, nor is it as time consuming as you might think. While you visit us at Woodhenge you will mostly be eating what we've grown and preserved here.

5) Building your own axial flux wind turbine. We were featured on "Invention Nation" building this unit. It has evolved since then. You will participate in building one. All parts and wind theory will be covered.

6) Scrounging. The techniques discussed in my book: "The High Art and Subtle Science of Scrounging" will be covered. Why buy stuff when you can get it for free or nearly free? Cars, homes, furniture, clothing, entertainment, food are all out there for you if you know how to ask or find them. This promises to be a fun gathering!

Please contact me if you are interested in one of these or name your own seminar at:
jsjuczak@gisco.net

Thanks Bill of FFA Camp Oswegatchie

2010-01-26T17:37:00.004-05:00

Bill Waite from FFA Camp Oswegatchie just e-mailed me to say he'd forwarded my blog site to over 1000 people. Hats off to Bill. I will put in a plug for the camp...it isn't just for FFA kids. If you and your business need a FANTASTIC place to hold a multi-day meeting with reasonable overnight accommodations and a kitchen for hire (they'll cook or let you cook) this is the place for you. Plenty of things to do including high and low ropes (confidence & cooperation building), hiking,
winter sports, summer sports and tons more. The camp has updated a lot of its facilities including the bathroom facilities (more like a palace to wash up in!).

We're going there over the first weekend in February with the FFA kids from South Jefferson School. I've been the weekend cook for this event for more than a decade!

My Pumps: I did a lot of drill press work today and have the first 6 kits of this batch well under way (pun intended). I will be shipping several of them by the end of the week. I also got the stainless steel parts ordered from my local supplier for the stainless and brass version. I'm getting the feedback that the stainless and brass version might actually sell better....even though it is $200 more expensive. While I was at my plumbing supply store I looked into commercial versions of this style pump...Holy Cow! Just the upper works were over $700 in a 10 year old catalog (Baker Plumbing Supply Company) the lower portion (cylinder pump) was even more!
Maybe I'm not charging enough? Stalwart pumps are close to $600 and Bison pumps are over $1500.

I hope to publish some pictures on this blogsite of the pump and show you how it works...not all of the secrets though. I just have to figure out how to do that.

I'm writing an article on water supply systems at the request of Richard Freudenberger (one of the head editors of Back Home Magazine) for Back Home. The article will discuss water supply systems for the Homesteader and give a detailed description of how to build your own deep well hand pump.

Have a great day and remember to e-mail me with your questions and observations at:
jsjuczak@gisco.net

Renewable Businesses

2010-01-25T11:08:00.002-05:00

I know there are a few readers of this blog out there. Just to share some of the renewable businesses we're exploring here at Woodhenge:

1) Deep well hand pump plans sets and kits. The plans sets tell you everything you need to do (if your are handy) to build a deep well hand pump from almost entirely off-the-shelf components. The cost for the plans is $20 including postage. I am just beginning to manufacture the pump kits on a regular basis. I'm building 6 right now- these are the PVC/stainless steel versions that cost $250 per kit + postage. I will be moving on to the stainless/brass versions next. I sell these as kits because it both keeps the price down and you will understand how the pump works and how to maintain/repair it should the need arise. The upper part of the PVC pump is a standard cast iron pitcher pump that I modify slightly. You get all of the parts to build a two valve 2" piston pump that is actuated by a stainless steel cable and returned by a stainless steel spring. Each stroke of the pump delivers approximately 1 cup of water. Both pump kits come with a modified cast iron well cap that replaces the cap your presently utilize. The brass and stainless steel version uses a 2" stainless steel cylinder and both brass piston and brass foot valve.

2) Renewable energy education and advisement. I will come to you and explain how pretty much any renewable energy system works. With enough forewarning I will also come and help you assemble your system. This will include anything from mixing the cement for the posts that hold your photovoltaic panel racks to completing the final wiring on your off-grid system and getting you to turn on your first light! My cost is $35/hour plus travel expenses. Having a place for me to put my sleeping bag & tent is a benefit.

3) Writing. I'm presently writing a book on water supply systems for homesteaders (beginners).
It covers everything I could think of about home water supply systems from hydrogeology, hiring a driller, digging your own well, pumps and pumping, storage, filtering and building your own equipment. It is becoming a comprehensive guide to water supplies and will save you potentially thousands of dollars!

My book "The High Art and Subtle Science of Scrounging" is available for $20 + $5 postage from me. It is still available, however I'm on my last 50 copies and will probably not reprint until the ;atest version is written. So many people have given me more stories and ideas that the new volume will be twice as big and include several new chapters.

4) Lecturing. I give fun, energy filled lectures on a wide variety of self-reliance topics. Everything from mortgage-free house construction, growing and preserving your own food, to building renewable energy systems from scratch, and everything in-between.

I can be reached at: jsjuczak@gisco.net
or James S. Juczak
14910 Fuller Rd.
Adams Center, NY 13606

315 771-7333

Thanks for your attention! -Jim-

Home Made...once you get started it's hard to stop!

2010-01-22T07:27:00.002-05:00

Often I forget how differently we live. My wife got
up at 4:15 this morning, just a bit earlier than usual
so she could finish making a batch of 'Lemon Curd".
We'd purchased a bunch of lemons and limes from the
discount produce rack at our local grocery store for
about $1. The batch took under a half-hour to make.
The other day she used a recipe from a '70's copy of
The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook to make
graham crackers. Both were, in our opinion (and several
others) much better than store bought. Sometimes we
buy cases of citrus from an FFA sale at school. I like to
offer to buy whatever is 'left over' at the end of the sale
and have gotten some great deals on cases of navel oranges,
grapefruit, and tangerines. Generally we eat or drink as
much as our bodies crave and then I juice and can the rest.
We keep the fruit in a cooler room of our home and when
we notice that one or more of the fruit is turning brown or
getting moldy it is time to process the rest. I just put 4 1/2
gallons of juice into quart canning jars and hot water bath
processed it. I used slightly modified directions from the
recipe in the "Ball Blue Book" of home canning. The juice
tastes almost fresh squeezed.

Why do this when I could just as easily have bought the curd,
crackers or juice in the store? First off it is cheaper; secondly
we know what is in our stuff (read the ingredients on the
graham cracker box and you will have trouble identifying
several of the ingredients...). Mainly we've learned to have
fun doing things for ourselves. This self-reliance thing is
addictive. I didn't stop my full-time teaching job to be lazy -
just to take a different perspective and do more things for
my family that were a direct result of our labor...in a way
a conventional job is taking you a step or two away from
independence. Some might say that it is a waste of time to
bake bread (I do this once or twice a week 2 to 5 loaves at
a time) when I could just go to the store and buy some...I'm
not condoning or condemning those people. However, I can
multi-task and get the jobs I prefer to do done while stuff is
being made around here. It is easy to write several hundred
words in my book on water supplies while the bread rises. Not
hard to caulk and paint whild the bread bakes. I can easily help
my daughter with her homework while I cut greenbeans up and
put them in canning jars. I can remove the jars from the canner
just before I go to bed and wipe and label them while waiting
for the coffee to perk.

We're trying to get as independent as practically possible. Is complete
independence possible or even desirable...I hope not! But it is
possible to live a bit closer to where the stuff you need comes from.
We don't have a mortgage on our property, we have very little debt.
This come about from not choosing to go through the 'middleman'
on a lot of things. Someone asked if I was worried about someone coming
to our place and demanding food or electricity in a societal breakdown
situation. I went down my hall and grabbed a 5 gallon pail of hard red
winter wheat berries and asked if they knew what to do with them to
turn them into edible foods? A blank stare was my reply..I've since asked
many people if they know how to cook from dry bulk goods and gotten
the same stare. Sure, take my photovoltaic panels...do you know how to
hook them up? I used to think that tall fences and ferocious dogs would
protect me...now I know that my neighbors will protect me because of what I
can do for them and teach them...it is a more secure situation, especially
in view of what I think looms ahead...

Projects at the moment

2010-01-20T07:12:00.002-05:00

I've always been busy. Right now we're working on a series
of projects all at the same time. My book on homestead water
supply systems is in progress, as well as the article on finding water
and building your own deep well hand pump for Back Home Magazine.
I have also started the construction of six deep well hand pump kits
several have been ordered and I need to get the parts together
and sent to the customers.

We started a 24' x 32' cottage fro my parents (Florida residents that
want to avoid the peak heat of the summer). It is conventionally framed
and we put up the weather tight shell in just under two weeks, including
the 12 concrete columns we're using as the foundation! We're taking the
rest of the project a bit slower. Yesterday the last of the internal walls
were completed. We'll move onto outside trim if the weather stays good
this week. Got to go over to my brother-in-laws house to get the scaffolding.

I'm taking the time freed up by being gainfully unemployed to do some needed
home renovations...Andy (our long term kid worker) and I are caulking and
finishing all of the little spots of spackling that leak air and heat out of our cordwood
home.

We are also renovating the power room and beginning our spring cleaning.

I've begun to develop a customer base for energy consulting. Hans is my main
client right now. He is working with me on designing his "Project Independence"
that involves 8Kw of pv, Wind, Evacuated tube heating systems and a long
lived diesel generator set-up. He is also working on food production and long term
water supplies. We have similar views on what is going to happen to 'normal society'
once the economy crashes. Our outlooks are not very positive.

Have a great day! -Jim-