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Going Dark with a Wind Charger#3: lengthening the tower and bracing with steel cable

9:50

You can own a piece of Africa. Here's how.

13:59

Growing Water Chestnuts in an old bathtub

6:49

Building a no-cost Shadeport for my car #2

11:37

Releasing a (really) big Puff Adder

5:30

I tried a pheromone lure for mediterranean fruitfly. Here are the results #1

5:51

Making Olive oil at home

My Olive trees (unirrigated - except for stones) are in their second year of production, so I decided to try my hand at making some oil. It is an extremely labour intensive job and takes several days (at least). Of course if you have an industrial set up all of this can be done by machines, but I'm not planning on selling any of the oil - it is entirely for home use.
It is really satisfying practising this ancient craft at home and doing it by hand ( and you can hear the sighs of contentment floating down from your ancestors as they whisper "well done child!").

มุมมอง: 300

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Going Dark with a Wind Charger#3: lengthening the tower and bracing with steel cable

9:50

Going Dark with a Wind Charger#3: lengthening the tower and bracing with steel cable

มุมมอง 69หลายเดือนก่อน

After realizing that my tower was (probably) too short I added another 3 meters to its height - raising it 6 meters over the ground. The increase in height came from an old steam pipe that was lying around and I secured the services of a friend to come and help with the welding - since I dont trust my own welding skills. Once it was up and secure (you wont believe the effort that went into this...

You can own a piece of Africa. Here's how.

13:59

You can own a piece of Africa. Here's how.

มุมมอง 141หลายเดือนก่อน

Imagine the response when you casually mention your "piece of Africa in the Hex River Valley". And for the unitiated - this is in South Africa. This undeveloped 1081 square meters piece of property is part of an estate that needs to be finalized and is for sale: maps.app.goo.gl/Y5bcNZ4VRfuVogkx5 You pay off the outstanding bond (R300 000 {$15 000}) and its yours. Bordered on 2 sides by ashphalt...

Growing Water Chestnuts in an old bathtub

6:49

Growing Water Chestnuts in an old bathtub

มุมมอง 36หลายเดือนก่อน

The Water Chestnut is an edible aquatic vegetable that is high in nutrients and fibre, but low in calories. I received a handful as a gift some time back and since I had an old bathtub lying around that was just breeding mosquitoes I decided to make use of it. Initially only about 3 of the 10-odd chestnuts that I planted sprouted, but we left them in the water and one day when I walked past the...

Building a no-cost Shadeport for my car #2

11:37

Building a no-cost Shadeport for my car #2

มุมมอง 45หลายเดือนก่อน

This is the 2nd part of the video. In part 1 we put up the frame, but there wasn't any real shade yet. In the interim I placed some palm fronds over it, but they were pretty dusty, and the wind was likely to blow them around. It was finally time to shade the top. We harvested eucalyptus poles from the forest and cleaned them, then put them in position before attaching and straightening them. Th...

5:30

Releasing a (really) big Puff Adder

มุมมอง 4872 หลายเดือนก่อน

On 6 March 2023 I had just finished work when I heard a commotion by my mom's house. On closer investigation I discovered that her dogs had cornered a large Puff Adder and had it surrounded. We finally managed to get the dogs into the house so I could catch the snake. Since there is work being done on the road at my favourite release spot, I had to take him to another place, which wasn't ideal,...

I tried a pheromone lure for mediterranean fruitfly. Here are the results #1

5:51

I tried a pheromone lure for mediterranean fruitfly. Here are the results #1

มุมมอง 483 หลายเดือนก่อน

The Medfly or Ceratitis capitata (not to be confused with Drosophila - what the Americans call fruit flies) is one of the most destructive insect pests in the world. One female can sting 1000's of fruit and I contacted Fruitfly Africa for advice (www.fruitfly.co.za/ ) . I bought the traps and lures from a local agri business (www.inteligro.co.za/ ). There are 2 types of lures - one for females ...

Building a no-cost Shadeport for my car #1

4:30

Building a no-cost Shadeport for my car #1

มุมมอง 933 หลายเดือนก่อน

My little long-suffering car has been parking in the same, sunny, spot for several years now. The problem was that 'sunny' part. So, I thought to myself; why not build a shady spot for it? I have access to lots of eucalyptus poles that I can harvest directly here from my property and know a little woodwork. The initial idea was to build a traditional square shed, but something about it didn't f...

5:19

How to debark fresh eucalyptus poles

มุมมอง 844 หลายเดือนก่อน

In an effort to cut costs and in the spirit of doing things by myself, I have been using eucalyptus poles, of which I have a lot, for several building projects. I have need of a bit of shade for my car and a lot of shade for myself. My next 2 building projects will be shading for my pathway (which will in fact also serve as an air conditioner for my house) and a shade port for my car. In the pa...

Building a Tiny House #1 (Ceiling and Floor)

23:40

Building a Tiny House #1 (Ceiling and Floor)

มุมมอง 1284 หลายเดือนก่อน

My first excursion into the tiny house movement came about when I was asked to convert an old Wendy Hut into a living space. This is a 3m x 6m wooden construction, so its rather small, but I got out some paper and a pencil and soon it started taking shape. My friend Marlon @SimpleEarthSelfReliance suggested placing the hand-basin inside the shower, which I would never have thought of - thereby ...

4:19

Going Dark with a Wind charger #2

มุมมอง 874 หลายเดือนก่อน

In the previous video I showed the unboxing of the wind charger on its arrival. Now a year has gone by (which was 11 months more than I wished!), and I finally found someone to help me with the concrete (my Kryptonite). This video was filmed over a little more than a week and shows mixing of the concrete (riveting viewing material in itself), the filling of the hole (fascinating - I know), and ...

One step closer to off-grid Water Independence

12:06

One step closer to off-grid Water Independence

มุมมอง 1214 หลายเดือนก่อน

As Sepp Holzer put it so succinctly: "water is life". This is very true. For several years I worried about our water resources on the farm. We have a borehole that gives us great water, but we pay for it (in the form of electricity) dearly. If there is no electricity - we have no water. If someone forgets to close a tap - we have no water. If a pipe bursts - we have no water. So, last December ...

16:33

A Boomslang Pee'd On Me!

มุมมอง 1184 หลายเดือนก่อน

A Boomslang (Boom = Tree and Slang = Snake) is one of the most venomous snakes in the world. A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my backyard and one pee'd on me - instantly putting all those philosophers who pondered the age-old question; "Where does a Boomslang pee", out of work. It pees on me! The pronunciation in this video is the correct one - not that atrocious rapine action of Hollywood by ...

11:05

Swale fine-tuning tour

มุมมอง 36810 หลายเดือนก่อน

About 3 years after their installation the swales on the farm got some really good rains and filled up very well. I decided to take a look and share the results with my viewers. Several hundred thousand liters of water are now being infiltrated into the landscape that would have been run-off. This water will now help te recharge our aquifer and create a water plume that will help my trees to es...

11:52

Going Dark with a Wind Charger.

มุมมอง 143ปีที่แล้ว

In December 2022 I ordered a 400 watt wind charger from Wish. I never really expected it to arrive and thought they were just going to refund me again a few days later due to the seller not shipping it. However, this time it did ship and it was with much excitement that we tackled the job of how to put up this beauty. This is our journey.