Lindsey Foster

Don't give up just yet! We do live in a cool climate in Australia, so while we have hot days in the summer we do get cold, short days in the winter. We've found that when we add 2-4 new chickens to the flock each summer we have plenty of eggs all through the winter and generally far more than we could use.

As far as preserving, eggs are quite easy to keep in the freezer. They do need to be cracked, and you can either beat them a little and freeze them (label each container with the number of eggs and date) or you can separate them and freeze them. Egg whites don't need any special treatment for freezing, just pop them in a small container with a label for date and number of whites so you know what's in there. Egg yolks change texture after freezing, so to prevent that you need to beat in a little bit of salt (1/4 tsp salt for each half cup of yolks in savoury dishes) or sugar (3 tsp per half cup for sweet dishes) and then label and freeze.

Boiling works too, but obviously not for the same length of time and then you only have boiled eggs to work with.

Just to add a potential option into the mix... there is a product from Nutrimetics Australia/New Zealand that is greywater safe called OLC (original lotion cleanser). It's a coconut/yucca plant base that was designed to wash pesticides off your fruit and vegetables and is also a good body wash/multi purpose cleaner etc and can be diluted heavily for spray cleaning. Safe enough that you can brush your teeth with it (tastes kinda gross though, I wouldn't recommend it as a first option!). It makes a great dishwashing detergent, too, so once we're fully on greywater that will become the only cleaner I have in the house.

Unfortunately I JUST found out as I went to get a link or business information for Nutrimetics in the US/Canada that the company that had distribution rights in the US has closed down. Still might be helpful for others, though, as Nutrimetics is wide spread in Australia/New Zealand and Europe.

Hi all,

I'm planning a home for the first time in my life and hopefully the last! We want to make all the right design and sustainability decisions now while we have everything as a possibility.

I've been looking through lots of designs for rocket mass heaters, and I LOVE the concept. It would fit so well with our very much off-grid home, but I'm having trouble envisioning the actual heating power for a large space, as most of the thermal mass I've seen is a bench or day bed style in a single room. Could a rocket mass heater be designed to cater for a full sized family home, perhaps by heating the concrete slab it is built upon? The footprint we're working with is actually a recycled barn frame with 1500square foot floor space but a couple of high bedrooms and a playroom in the loft areas. We're planning a huge fan for the purpose of air circulation, so if the slab could be heated well then I believe we could circulate the air well enough to avoid losing all the heat into the rafters. Could this also be incorporated into heat for cooking and water heating, or would I just be dreaming then?

I'm aware I can hire experts to help me with the design when it comes time, but just a general idea of whether it's even feasible would be very helpful!

Thanks for any advice and help!
Lindsey