Michael Janzen

I just ran across what seems like the best place to buy long-term food storage containers. I’ve not ordered from them yet though, so this is not a product endorsement of any kind (yet).

The sell BPA-free gamma lids and the prices are really low, at least lower than I’ve seen elsewhere. They also stock mylar bags, heat sealers, 5-gallon buckets, oxygen absorbers, rainwater collection barrels, and water storage tanks too. I kind of suspect many other preparedness retailers get their stuff wholesale from a place like this. Luckily they also sell direct to the public in small quantities.

Baytec Containers

This is spooky… I stumbled on it using StumbleUpon. It’s a list of online background check resources in case you wanted to do a background check on yourself (or someone else). It’s really spooky how much info is out there about each of us.

Background Checks

I found this great resource today that summarizes the height, width, length maximums of trailers for each state. I’m not sure how accurate the information is but it’s an excellent place to start. This is important data if you are planning on building a tiny house on wheels.

RV Road Laws

It’s not easy to find a company that makes truly eco-friendly custom-printed t-shirts that are made in the USA and use organic fabrics & water based inks. Here’s one that looks great, but their minimum order is 200 shirts. Not sure if I’m ready for that kind of commitment for an experiment. I’d like to offer a t-shirt for sale on Tiny House Design.

tsdesigns.com

There is some really useful and fairly technical info in this video, but the short version is that propane is a refrigerant and can be used in a normal air conditioner to keep you cool. This could be very useful info is you don’t have access to other refrigerants.

Ran across this article on The Oil Drum today that summarizes how to get started with setting up an edible landscape. This is something I keep talking about doing so running across articles like this helps move me in the right direction.

Edible Landscape

I’ve been doing a little research on lightweight backpacking equipment and ran across this great little tri-fuel system. It burns alcohol, wood, and esbit (fuel tabs). It’s a little expensive but the price seems fair for the flexibility and materials.

Caldera Ti-Tri Stove

I was doing a little research on long term food storage and found a couple good resources. The first is this very detailed resource on survival-center.com which catalogs many different types of food that are good for this kind of disaster preparedness. The other is a blog called the Bear Ridge Project. The blogger, Big Bear, explains a simple approach to food prep on a tight budget.

Don’t worry… I’m not an off-roader. But after reading about ATVs and homesteading in Mother Earth News it occurred to me that an electric ATV could be very handy for heavy chores, mowing, and even plowing small fields. I know that sounds crazy but many ATVs can pull small trailers and tools like mowers. If all you had was electricity (solar, wind, or even grid) your ATV could serve as a battery backup most of the time and a useful tool when needed. This is all theoretical of course. Here are a few I’ve found:

• Barefoot Motors (Ashland, Oregon)
• EVS – ATV (Ellicottville, NY)
• RTEV (Winnsboro, SC) – more like a golf cart

It sounds like a green house or an indoor grow set-up is required in most parts of the world to grow coffee. But it also looks like growing your own coffee plants is definitely doable, just not easy. Read about how to grow coffee plants at Sweet Maria’s.

Grow Coffee Plants at Home