“One of the things the soon-to-be-deindustrializing world most needs just now is green wizards. By this I mean individuals who are willing to take on the responsibility to learn, practice, and thoroughly master a set of unpopular but valuable skills – the skills of the old appropriate tech movement – and share them with their neighbors when the day comes that their neighbors are willing to learn”. Green Wizard Forums. (+ criticism & response).
Water Batteries for Trees
June 25, 2010 by Filed Under: Deforestation, Desertification, DIY, Farming, Gardening, Irrigation, Reforestation, Trees, Water
“Using groundwater to grow crops and trees doesn’t make sense to Pieter Hoff, a Dutch inventor. Not only are traditional irrigation techniques inefficient because most of the water is lost to evaporation, Mr. Hoff says, but water can be easily captured from the atmosphere to grow just about anything.
To prove his point, Mr. Hoff retired from the lily and tulip export business in 2003, established his company, AquaPro, and devoted himself to the development of the Groasis Waterboxx (manuals), which he says will grow food crops and trees even in the driest places on earth.” Read more.
Maximizing Growing Space
“If you want to grow food but don’t have a garden or an allotment then lack of space is probably one of your biggest challenges. But it’s amazing what you can do with even a small outdoor space. Indeed, lack of space can be a great inspiration to get creative.”
Vertical Veg – high yields from tiny spaces. Has very good links, too.
Domestic Terraforming: Gardening for Geeks
“Gardeners are among the world’s most charming snobs. Rightly so: As
with music and mathematics, the more you know, the more elegant your
work. Erudition is valued, and so is a smattering of pretension. If you
are a geek looking to put down roots, welcome to gardening. We offer
you common ground. Think of it as localized terraforming, if that helps.”
Instructions at Wired. Hat tip to Lloyd Alter. Also:
DIY Replicas of 1930s Race Cars
April 9, 2010 by Filed Under: DIY, Low-tech cars, Racing, Random, Travel
CycleKarts are small, lightweight, nimble machines made by their drivers for the pursuit of motoring sport. They’re not serious speed-machines or status-generating show cars. They’re purely for the gritty fun and satisfaction of tearing around in a machine you’ve built yourself. Their name originated from the use of bicycle or motorcycle tyres. More.
Related: How to make an adult soapbox kart.
Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts
Vladimir Arkhipov’s “Home-Made” (Amazon link) presents objects made by ordinary Russians inspired by a lack of immediate access to manufactured goods during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Each of the more than 220 artifacts is accompanied by a photograph of the creator, their story of how the object came about, its function and the materials used to create it.
The book is expensive, but you can find some pictures and stories here, here, here, here and here. Related (but the Soviets obviously had better materials): Jailhouse Technology.
Forum
Arkhipov continues the reach of his project through his multilingual Folk Forum website where anyone is free to post examples of hand-made objects. The website is not very user-friendly (tip: start by manipulating the layers), but it hosts some great ideas and pictures (some of them below).
Thanks, Caroline!
