good grub

Here are some of our latest eats off the wood stove. veggie cheeseburgers with store bought gmo goodness rolls and cheese slices along side some sweet potato chips.We had this on shopping day and I knew I had forgotten to take rolls out of the freezer.Kitchen sink soup, was very good with the appalachian cat head biscuits I made. The left over biscuits from tonite will be used for bacon gravy and bicuits in the morning.The beef stew and dumplings from the other night and the almost fried apple pies.

basic aquaponics systems

Aquaponics is the integration of hydroponics and aquaculture, a sort of symbiotic relationship between the plants and the fish. The fish provide food for the plants, and the plants clean the water for the fish...Many folks raise cat fish or tilapia in the fish tanks thus providing yet another source of food for the table. Aquaponics is basically a closed system, meaning nothing really needs to be done other than the basics of it in order for it to sustain itself. It provides itself with everything...

This is something i have been fairly interested in for a few years and each year it makes it to my goals list but never seems to actually get done. There is a good side to this though because the longer it takes for us to accomplish, the more I get to research and find a solution that we could work with.

Our needs are not much here therefore any system of anything we put in must also be very basic. It must be able to be made with either recycled or very, very cheap materials.. It needs to be able to run on minimal power sources and should also be able to run on a cheap, simple and very small solar set up if need be..

After much research and net searching I have finally found what (don't tell manthing) sort of system I would like to build, barrelponics . Basically a small aquaponic system done with plastic drums, which we happen to have a few of.

Here are free down loadable e-books on the subject of aquaponics and an e book on barrelponics that goes into detail on how to build your own system. Here is a video on this same system.

Here is a system set up by an internet acquaintance that is quite simple but very doable for a beginner It is an excellent size set up for patios and urban setting set setting
patio aqua garden
update

There are many different systems out there. Some more basic than this set up and some that are very large and are actual working farms. Here is a neat video on urban aquaponics, part of a series (which are all good to watch).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kENge...layer_embedded

Make your own oil lamp

We've all seen the kind of oil lamps that you can buy at drug and department stores and the pretty colored oils that you can get to go with it, but did you ever think about making one yourself? It's very simple, much easier than making a candle and much brighter too.

Make a small decorative oil lamp out of an empty glass bottle with screw-on metal lid. It's cheap, easy, and possibly romantic. Actually the possibilities of what you can make these out of is endless. From slicing open a tin can (not exactly kid friendly) to an old soda or wine bottle to baby food or spaghetti sauce jars to a mug or even a bowl. If it will hold liquid it can be made into a crude lamp.

Wicks can range from a conventional wick that you purchase to a piece of old cotton or linen cut down . In a pinch you can also use paper towel as a wick..

The great thing about oil lamps like this is you can use leftover cooking oil, sure some oils give off a little odor, but I find that things like canola and olive oil are virtually odor free. Vegetable and peanut oil also work well. Lard even works but does stink some. I have even read of where people press their sunflower seed, pecans and acorns for the oils in order to use them. Another great thing about using cooking oil is, if somehow you knock it over, it will extinguish the flame unlike candles that can start fires.

If you want to get creative with your lamps, infuse the oils with herbs or fragrances. Dye the oils or even put trinkets and other doodads down in the jar cover with water then add your oil, add a bow or some lace and wallah. (these can make some nice cheap personalized gifts ).

here are a couple different versions of basically the same thing. Use your imagination, be creative and have fun... (these can make some nice personalized gifts ).

Here are a couple different how to's on making the lamps.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It...-Oil-Lamp.aspx

http://www.instructables.com/id/Glass-Bottle-Oil-Lamp/

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.co...-oil-lamp.html