Ideas & Projects
	You're probably familiar with some or most (or even all) of the ideas and projects presented below but I thought I'd post them just in case. This may take a few moments to load - perhaps you'd like a beverage as you peruse.

Permaculture

How Much Food Can You Grown On An Urban Lot?
	You can out more about the Dervaes family farm at PathToFreedom.com.

Community Supported Agriculture

Urban Water Conservation
	Rain Gardens How A Rain Garden Works in the Winter Using Rainwater to Green the Garden: Residential Cistern Demonstration (This one is fairly high tech - you can build a much simpler and more inexpensive cistern that is just as effective.) Above Ground Cistern Construction: Making Use of Runoff From a Commercial Building

Why Compost With Worms?

Projects

If you have the time and inclination, you'll find a variety of projects here to enhance your quality of life. With most of these projects, there is no standard of perfection; they truly are about meeting your needs at the level of effort you care to put into them. If you're short on time, pre-fab wormbins, doggie doolies and other goodies are available at the Traditionalist Trading Post (see link on your left or at the bottom of this page). Enjoy! Photo by Dani Simmonds.

Keep Chickens or Ducks

If you live in the city, maybe you've never thought it possible to gather fresh eggs every morning - but then again, you may have been wrong. In Seattle, it's legal for house-dwellers to keep up to 3 chickens as "pets". Regulations vary from city to city, so naturally you'll need to check the local municipal code for language concerning poultry kept as pets or for meat. Chickens and ducks keep your lawn short, devour your organic kitchen waste, eat bugs and slugs from the garden and produce eggs and meat. They also make delightful pets.

Chickens and ducks each have their advantages. Ducks have more pleasant voices, are more resistant to cold and lay slightly larger eggs (alas, I'm biased). Storey's publishes excellent books on keeping each bird and you can find more information on the following sites: City Chickens Backyard Chickens ChickenKeeping.com How to Keep Chickens In a City Basic Duck Care The Backyard Pasture for Ducks The Omlet Guide to Keeping Ducks

Build An Odorless Indoor Worm Bin
	Outdoor bin information to follow soon. Vermicomposting in a New York City Apartment: Why and How A Comprehensive Introduction to Red Worm Composting by The Compost Guy

Build an In-Ground Dog Waste Composter
	The good folks of City Farmer in B.C., Canada have put together some helpful information on this subject. You'll need a hole in the ground, a cover, some septic tank enzymes, some pebbles for drainage and, optionally, a plastic waste can with holes drilled in to the sides and the bottom cut out (see instructions below).

Convert Your Diesel Vehicle to Run On Straight Veggie Oil

Today, due to the number of restaurants paying to have literally tons of used vegetable oil hauled away, running a vehicle on free used vegetable oil is a no-brainer for those interested in economy and environmental responsibility. Several companies offer conversion kits and provide instructions for converting your car by yourself, or, if you're not mechanically apt, they also provide a list of experienced mechanics. Your car will continue to have a regular diesel tank but you will also have a grease tank. For more information, visit Greasecar, Golden Fuel Systems or Frybrid.

Sarah and Her Greasecar A nice introduction to how it actually works. These folks chose a more comprehensive conversion for their RV and Volkswagen Passat which they demonstrated on their Live Lightly Tour. Trailer for Greasy Rider

Create a Cold Cellar or Root Cellar

When I lived without electricity or plumbing in the mountains of Oregon, the previous occupant of the cabin where I stayed had dug a pit in the ground with a board on top for use as a cold cellar. The idea stuck with me and not long ago, I experimented with using the steps below our storm doors and some coolers as cold storage for cabbages and such (it was a dismal failure - the humidity built up inside the coolers I used and mold set in). Not many people remember much about cold cellars or root cellars (these are actually distinct things) but for those who aren't interested in canning all of the bounty from the garden or farmers' market every year, cellaring offers a wonderful opportunity to enjoy autumn's harvest well into the winter. You'll find a few books on cold cellaring at the Trading Post but here are a few online resources to get you started:

Building A Root Cellar The Root Cellar Home Page A Root Cellar For Your Homestead The Return of The Root Cellars

Make a Crock of Pickles

Build a Smokehouse

Visit the Traditionalist Trading Post