Topic of the Month

Topic of the Month will be re-opening February 2018.

I think one of our members summed things up nicely:
@duane said:

It is up to you to ensure your survival. Learning to survive crisis big or small, is what Survival Monkey is about. It is time to be prepared or get prepared. Every month, we will be introducing a different topic and/or exercise to help stimulate thoughts and conversations, hoping to promote learning for all.

 

Thanks @Motomom34, we miss the T.O.M. here in our A.O, always thought provoking, especially things we think we know!

 

Happy to see a return of T.O.M!!

 

Looking forward to thought provoking ideas and projects to fill in the blanks...especially any that may have been overlooked!

Thanks @Motomom34

 

How about using a two man saw to get timber for building AND firewood.. This seems to be on my mind of late..

 

What works and what doesn't in gardening. Easy to plant seeds, even easier to watch them not come up, or die. Success one year doesn't guarantee the same results the next year. Been there done that. Garden season is here and Feb is about as late as you can start in much of the US, at least to order seeds, etc.

 

Greenhouse basics. Plans, materials, site selection, water, ventilation, etc.

 

All good ideas .
I've looked at a lot of different sites , pictures , and still haven't found some exact dimensions or plans for a smokehouse , and the proper technique ,preparations and temperatures for proper smoking , and how long for the smoking process .
I seem to find differing information about this , and I don't want to have to fight food poisoning to find out I've gotten the wrong information . any help would be appreciated . This may not be a TOM , as the gardening idea is a good one with the start of the season coming up quickly .
Thanks .

 

I saw that we just had some serious power outages around the country , I wonder if any of our friends have any thing to report ?

 

I'm still good in the NC area . Are they storm related ? or grid problems ?

 

Different ways to cure meat,store eggs,milk

 

T Riley, I have had a Rimol Eastpoint Starter greenhouse for about 15 years now. That is the cheapest greenhouse they make and a 20 by 48 ft with covering and framing kit is about $2,000. Fans, heaters, growing packages, putting it up, shipping is all extra. I bought the basic package, scrounged up fans, bad motor, etc, use wood stove, sited it north south and used plywood on north wall, got some used rigid plastic for the south wall, and had about $3,000 in it. Needs recovering, have plastic, about $500 every 5 or 6 years. Can use high tunnel bender and fence tubing and build one even cheaper, but Rimol is all together, good people, and rugged. Kenai feed in Alaska has sold about 500 of their high tunnel greenhouses so I guess that and NH would indicate that they are rugged. They have a good description of their product line at https://store.rimolgreenhouse.com/ A guy in Texas makes hoop house benders to make your own greenhouse are well worth looking at lostcreek.net . There are some good building video's at both sites that will give you an idea of what you can do. I was about 68 at the time and put up the greenhouse alone, had to have wife help to put on plastic, wasn't hard to do and I really enjoyed building it and still enjoy using it.

 

How about the different uses of coal oil? My grandfather used it in many ways,as a medicine ,a lube for his saws,for light and other uses.

 

@Motomom34 are you looking for suggestions for possible scenarios for TOM?

 

Butter making,clabber milk,butter milk,keeping milk from going sour.we had all this when I was a young boy.

 

Currently February and March topics are spoken for but we are always looking for subjects that the members want to learn and discuss.

Please note, the staff collectively decided it was time to revive TOTM. A shout-out to @Dunerunner for getting things rolling. We will be having more members hosting monthly topics and more mental exercises. We have members here who are experts in some areas and a month of them sharing their knowledge and answering questions would be beneficial to all.

 

Is there a section here where you can just post a helpful idea without starting a whole thread ?

 

You can post topic suggestions in here. Or if you have a suggestion, please send a PM to me, @Yard Dart or @Dunerunner

 

Its not really a suggestion , but possibly a way to make an inexpensive greenhouse for a smaller sized property . And didn't want to make a whole thread about it and it get washed to the side somewhere and get lost then its no help to anyone . The idea just hit me when I saw the posts about green houses up above .