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Air purification using plants is a beneficial and natural way to improve indoor air quality. Plants have the remarkable ability to filter and detoxify the air by absorbing pollutants through their leaves, roots, and soil. Here are some detailed reasons why air purification using plants is advantageous:
Removal of Harmful Pollutants: Indoor air can be contaminated with various pollutants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde, benzene, and xylene, as well as airborne toxins like trichloroethylene and ammonia. Plants act as natural air purifiers by absorbing these pollutants through tiny openings called stomata on their leaves and breaking them down into harmless byproducts. For example, snake plants are known for their ability to remove toxins like formaldehyde, which can be found in household products, while peace lilies are effective in reducing levels of benzene and trichloroethylene.
Improved Indoor Air Quality: When plants remove pollutants from the air, they help improve the overall air quality indoors. This is particularly beneficial for people who spend a significant amount of time indoors, such as office workers or individuals with respiratory conditions. Cleaner air can reduce the risk of respiratory issues, allergies, and other health problems associated with poor indoor air quality. Breathing in cleaner air can also enhance cognitive function, mood, and overall well-being.
Increased Humidity: Plants release moisture through a process called transpiration, which helps increase humidity levels in the surrounding air. This can be particularly beneficial in dry indoor environments, such as during winter or in buildings with central heating or air conditioning. Optimal humidity levels promote respiratory health, prevent dry skin, and reduce the spread of airborne viruses and bacteria.
Noise Reduction: In addition to their air purifying properties, plants can also help absorb and reduce noise levels in indoor spaces. The leaves and branches of plants act as natural sound absorbers, helping to dampen and soften noises. This can be especially beneficial in busy environments, offices, or apartments located in urban areas where noise pollution is a concern.
Aesthetically Pleasing and Biophilic Design: Incorporating plants into interior spaces not only provides air purification benefits but also adds beauty and a sense of tranquility. The presence of plants has been shown to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and increase productivity. Biophilic design, which integrates natural elements into indoor environments, has become increasingly popular due to its positive effects on mental well-being and overall satisfaction with the space.
Sustainable and Cost-Effective: Air purification using plants is an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach. Unlike mechanical air purifiers, plants do not require electricity to operate and maintain. They are also relatively low-cost, making them an affordable option for improving indoor air quality in homes, offices, and public spaces.
It is important to note that while plants can contribute to air purification, they should not be relied upon as the sole method of maintaining good indoor air quality. Regular cleaning, proper ventilation, and minimizing the use of pollutants are equally important for creating a healthy indoor environment.
During the 2010s NASA conducted a study called the Clean Air Study to identify plants that are effective in purifying indoor air by removing various pollutants. Here is a list of some of the best houseplants for air purification, based on data from NASA:
Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata)
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)
English Ivy (Hedera helix)
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii)
Aloe Vera (Aloe vera)
Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)
Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)
Dracaena (Dracaena spp.)
These plants have been found to effectively remove pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, and ammonia from the indoor air. They are relatively easy to care for and can thrive in various indoor conditions.
Remember, while these plants can help improve indoor air quality, they should not be relied upon as the sole solution for air purification. Adequate ventilation, minimizing the use of chemical products, and keeping your living space clean are also important factors in maintaining good air quality indoors.
The name brings fear to the minds of many people in Ontario.
Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario, and he is a jerk. A real nasty jerk. He wants to dump nuclear waste in Bruce County, close to the town of Teeswater. The Teeswater River (and the underground aquifer beneath the region) supplies the drinking water to:
Tens of thousands of people.
Dairy cows.
Water for agricultural farming (corn, potatoes, soy beans and more).
Water for Aquafina bottled water.
Cattle, pigs, turkeys and chickens. Bruce County is the Beef Capital of North America, but it also produces a lot of other meat products.
If you live Ontario you've eaten food many times from Bruce County. Guaranteed. You've drank the milk. You've eaten the cheese. You've eaten beef, pork, turkey and chicken. You've eaten the corn, the potatoes, the soy products. You've drank Aquafina water.
Even if you are a vegan and don't eat milk and dairy, you should still care where your soy products and other vegetables are grown and where your bottled water comes from.
And that is why you should care.
If you care about what you eat, then you should protect what you eat. Learn more at:
The type of soil and rock present on the land could affect its suitability for building a log home or cabin. A proper foundation needs a solid, level base underneath it. Otherwise, it could shift and cause serious damage to the home over time.
People can often determine the soil present on the ground by a simple visual inspection. They may need to obtain soil samples from a few feet down to see how they can establish a foundation. Land buyers may encounter soils like:
peat
silt
sand
clay
chalk
loam
Experts often prefer loam for building/new construction, because it contains a combination of soils that are less likely to expand or erode. If people discover that the soil is sitting on a solid and fairly level bedrock, they may have the best arrangement.
Homesteaders must buy Alaska land that is already fairly level, or plan to excavate it properly before they put in the foundation. Properties with a notable slope may pose concerns about soil erosion and water flow. People should confirm that the ground below the foundation is unlikely to shift with changes in the water table. This will help to guarantee a solid construction that will last for many years.
Potential Crops
Although people will usually have a number of options for growing crops on almost any kind of soil, the type will alter how they approach the growing season. Some soils, like clay, are hard to till, take a long time to change temperature in the spring, and do not drain very effectively. Because of its high moisture content and heavy texture, clay is often better for summer crops than spring vegetables and fruits.
Drier soils like sand or gravel will drain well, but tend to lose moisture and nutrients quickly. Because they are minimally compacted, they will change temperature rapidly in the spring. Root vegetables and spring plants may be an ideal choice for sand. Peat soil, which is soft and damp, offers similar options for growers. Loam, which is often a combination of sand, silt, and peat, provides a balance between the two extremes. All of these soil types may need replenishment of nutrients through composting or other means.
Most people can identify the type of soil on a portion of land by looking at it and watching it absorb water. Clay is sticky when wet, and may feel like a brick when dry. Moisture-rich soils like peat could feel spongy to the touch. These soils need additional drainage to avoid over-saturating the crops with water. Sand feels dry and gritty, and chalk usually looks like small rocks. Land buyers may want to research the type of soil on the property to learn more about its maintenance needs.
Livestock
Building a homestead that can allow livestock to grow and thrive requires enough space to support them, and, in most cases, soil that is ideal for grazing. As a general rule, people should keep in mind that the larger the animal, the bigger the space needed. Fowl such as chickens and ducks may require the least amount of space — as little as four square feet per bird for shelter. Rabbits are also a viable option for meat that demands only a small area. Although these animals are considered ideal choices for people just starting out, they also need protection. Homeowners need to build a fence to keep them in and predators from gaining access.
People should also consider how much land they will need to grow food for the livestock they intend to keep. Fowl, rabbits, and goats may be able to eat almost anything already on the property. When allowed to graze free-range, goats can help to clear out brush near the home. By comparison, pigs, sheep, and cows may need much more. For example, experts suggest that homesteaders provide at least one acre of grazing land per cow.
Proper testing can determine if the soil will support the grasses that most livestock need to survive. As a general rule, the grasses ideal for cows need soil that is a little more acidic. People can use natural components like lime or fertilizer to change the soil acidity. Keeping the soil at the right pH, properly watered, and covered will promote greater output.
Determining the benefits of solar energy requires a nuanced discussion. Solar panels, properly installed and maintained, can be a benefit in almost any region. The path buyers have to navigate shows them how to get the most out of the panels, and whether or not this method will provide enough energy in exchange for the investment.
Contrary to popular belief, solar panels do not necessarily require direct sunlight in order to capture energy. This means that the panels can still convert daylight to power, even if the sun is not directly shining on the panels all day. That said, direct sunlight is a more efficient and effective means of improving the panels’ output. Since the position of the sun varies throughout the year, homeowners may choose to install panels in a variety of places on the roof for maximum year-round exposure.
The climate and estimated maintenance of a system can also affect the solar energy yield. A region with many very hot days each year could actually decrease energy capture by as much as 30 percent. Areas of the country with consistent cloudy days may limit efficiency to 40 percent of the maximum. Panels will lose about 10 percent of their potential if they get dirty, so homeowners must prepare to keep them clean. These factors may not be significant enough to reject solar panels as an option. If people know that they will have to deal with these problems, they may want to consider more than one type of energy source for their homes.
Solar Energy for Growing Crops & Greenhouses
Growing crops successfully depends on a delicate balance of sun, necessary nutrients in the soil, and a good maintenance routine. Sun exposure is an important aspect to weigh in the purchase of property good for growing produce. Most land, especially properties that are somewhat developed with structures and mature trees, will have spots with a lot of sun and shady areas. Homeowners must understand and respect the unique plant’s needs to get the most from their investment.
When people start to select plant species, they need to know what the crop requires for sun exposure and whether or not they can guarantee it. Plants labeled “full-sun” need at least six hours of direct sun each day, although some need more. Those with a designation of “partial-shade” should have 3-6 hours of sunlight to avoid damaging them. Although some species are hardy and able to adjust to a range of exposure, not enough sun (or too much) often translates into a lower yield.
Ensuring adequate sunlight requires the ability to estimate direct sun exposure during the season in which the fruit or vegetable should be grown. It may not be enough to estimate peak summer light and assume it will work for all plants, year-round. Home buyers should also factor in their plans for trees and outbuildings to the shade of the space. For areas in which they intend to plant, people should confirm that they will get the minimum amount of sun necessary for healthy crops.
Like sun or water, wind is a natural resource that many homeowners can use to increase the amount of available electricity without having to rely on the local power grid.
Similar to microhydro electric power, wind can be harnessed to run a turbine that generates electricity to power a generator. If there is a lot of wind at the height of the turbine, homeowners may be able to generate some or even all of the power they need to run the homestead. Turbines appropriate for residential use yield a power output ranging from 20-100 kilowatts.
Homesteaders must first determine if the property is suitable for a wind turbine. Experts recommend that homeowners have land of at least one acre. Buyers should confirm that the zoning of the area allows them to install and use a turbine. Wind turbines are often quite tall, simply because taller towers can gather wind at a higher speed. Regulations often specify that there must be at least 30 feet of clearance around the spinning blades of the turbine.
To get the best output, homeowners should plan to purchase a turbine that stands at least twice as high as the tallest nearby object. If there are existing wind energy systems in the area, people may be able to get data about common wind speeds at the proper height. Most systems need regular speeds of at least 9 miles per hour. Greater speeds can improve energy output.
Potential Soil Erosion
While wind is a resource to homesteaders in many ways, it can also pose a threat to soil and vegetation. Soil erosion is a natural part of the life cycle for almost any property. However, people who rely on a particular patch of land to grow crops or plants to support livestock need to understand how erosion could affect the property’s sustainability.
Areas with strong winds can shift the nutrient-rich topsoil that homeowners need to grow plants. Overgrazing or clearing land could make this problem worse. To prevent erosion, people should plan to keep at least 30 percent of the land occupied with ground cover. Professional farmers suggest tilling plant remains into the soil when homeowners are done with the crops for that season. This helps to preserve necessary moisture, which can make it harder for the wind to move the top layers.
One way to prevent this erosion however is to build greenhouses.
So when it comes to building your own greenhouse, I firmly believe people should do more research about the type of greenhouse they are building - and pay attention to its architecture, because a lot of people are being lazy and ignoring various fundamentals of architecture and engineering.
And issues surrounding snow.
In the video below you will see the owner of the greenhouse explaining what went wrong with his greenhouse. His greenhouse is basically useless during the winter because he made the structure in the shape of a half cylinder, which means the upper part of the roof is almost flat and collects snow. What he should have done is made the roof peaked in a sharp triangular shape, so that the snow is forced to slide down the sides rather than collecting on top of the roof.
In the next video you can see how easy it is to build one of these half-cylinder greenhouses... which is great if you don't mind snow collecting on the roof. The clip is from "This Old House", an American TV show based in Boston, where they don't get as much snow as Northern Ontario does. Boston gets average annual snowfall of 43.5 inches. Sudbury meanwhile gets average annual snowfall of 103.7 inches. And then there is the issue of accumulation. In Boston, the snow is more likely to melt within a few hours or days. In Sudbury, the snow just piles up and rarely melts until Spring. Thus a greenhouse in Boston doesn't really need to worry about snow accumulation, but a greenhouse in Ontario does need to worry about it.
But there is actually a solution. DO MORE RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUILD!
And if you are living in northern climate, then you need to choose a design that will cause the snow to slide down the sides of the structure.
#1. The Shallow Peak Greenhouse
Take the example on the right. Is it an improvement over the half cylinder design? Yes. Could it be better, also yes. The top and sides of the structure could be a sharper and steeper peak.
The design is very similar to the one shown in the "This Old House" clip, but it can definitely be improved by making the roof taller with a steeper peak so that snow is more likely to slide off with ease.
Would it really cost that much extra to just make it 2 or 3 feet taller? Or take that much extra time to build? No and no. So just make it taller, as a shallow peak really won't be doing its job of keeping the snow off.
Plus the taller the structure is, the more sunlight/heat it captures and traps inside the greenhouse, and you have more room for shelves up higher for a 2nd layer of plants.
#2. The Sharper Peak Greenhouse with Vents
So the builder of this greenhouse went for a more wood design, but they also designed the peak with adjustable vents so they can control the amount of heat being trapped in the greenhouse.
The wood structure with bricks, gravel and cement around the base suggests this is meant to be a more permanent structure, so they decided to be more thorough with their design.
The roof has a nice 45 degree angle peak, which should be excellent for keeping the snow from accumulating.
The extra cost of all the wood in this design means that they likely chose to make the greenhouse smaller for budgetary reasons, but on the plus side this design should last a lot longer.
#3. The Asymmetrical Peak Greenhouse
The peak does not have to be in the middle of the greenhouse. Indeed, if you are building the greenhouse next to an existing structure, you could just make the peak on one side so that all the snow falls down the other side.
The two sides don't need to be even either. If one side of the structure faces south, it might make more sense to make that side of the structure longer. In the example below they reused an older brick wall from a previous structure.
#4. The Pyramidal Greenhouse
You aren't stuck using a single peak running the length of the greenhouse. There are many other shapes you might consider, such as a pyramid-shaped greenhouse. It will take more effort to design and build a pyramidal greenhouse, but the single sharp pointed peak will definitely keep the snow off of it.
#5. The Geodesic Dome Greenhouse
This particular design works well in warm climates, but it won't be so good in a northern climate because the top of the roof is not steep enough. A way to fix this would be to make the top of the structure a sharper peak rather than a rounded roof.
#6. The Hexagonal Greenhouse
The example below fixes the design problem mentioned above by adding an extra section for a peak at the top, which also functions as a vent. The design is also fairly easy to build, and part of the structure is brick for added permanence.
OFF GRID ISSUES FOR GREENHOUSES
Once your greenhouse is built, you will need to determine what amenities you want for it, such as water and if you think it needs electricity.
Rainwater off the sides of the structure could be collected into rain barrels, and thus used for the plants.
Ideally you should place any such rain barrels inside the greenhouse to prevent it from freezing during the winter, with pipes leading up to troughs. A valve and pipe system could be constructed to prevent water from freezing inside the pipes, but also for distributing water to the plants.
Some people will want electricity for venting the space, but that can be accomplished without using electricity by opening doors, windows and ceiling vents. If heat is still an issue you can also soap up the walls and ceiling of the structure, as the soap residue will block out sunlight.
Some people also talk about using a gas heater, electric heater or even a wood stove to keep their greenhouse warm during the winter, but if you are resorting to such things then you clearly designed a low efficiency greenhouse that is not insulated enough.
If you need more insulation, during the design process you could have simply added an extra layer of plastic with some space in between the two layers of plastic. This barrier acts as an insulator to keep the interior of the greenhouse warmer.
The guy in the video way at the top mentions adding an electric blower to blow air between the two layers of plastic, but this is unnecessary if you simply design the structure to have a few inches of space between the inner and outer layers of plastic.
The pros and cons of a double layer inflation are:
Improved insulation.
Protects from wind better.
Can sometimes push snow off the outer layer.
Costs more to build.
Costs more for the electricity to inflate the outer layer.
Requires you have access to electricity, which may be harder to get during winter months.
Having the 2nd layer of plastic with a space between already improved insulation, and helps protect from wind damage. If the structure has a steep peak then snow really is not an issue anyway. Using electricity to inflate it seems rather unnecessary to me if the structure itself is designed correctly to prevent snow from accumulating in the first place. Inflation seems more of a thing to do if you were lazy during the design and building process and didn't think to add a steeper peak to keep the snow off.
How to Fix a Half Cylinder Greenhouse and make it a Double Layer with a Peak
Basically all you need to do is build the 2nd layer and make the outer layer have a steep peak to keep the snow off. It doesn't matter if the inner greenhouse has a round roof because it is the outer layer that gets snowed on, and that is the layer that needs to be a steep peak to prevent snow.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Some people are just making things harder than they need to be.
So what design would I choose?
Honestly, it depends on the size of the space and the budget I have allocated for the greenhouse, but I would probably go for the Asymmetrical Peak Greenhouse design and have it facing south. I would make the roof very steep with lots of room for shelves above. By making the structure taller, it adds more room for square feet of shelves for "growing space".
To feed a family of 4* during the winter a greenhouse would need to be fairly big, roughly 80 sq feet of "growing space" per person. So a family of 4 would need 320 sq feet of "growing space", which does not include where you walk/etc. The more space you have to grow the better, so 360 sq feet would be even nicer.
* So that estimate for feeding a family of 4 during the winter is based
on the idea of each person consuming an average of 4 ounces of veggies
per day. 16 ounces is 1 lb, so you need to be growing an average of 1 lb
of edible food per day during the length of the winter. Different foods
grow at different speeds and yield different amounts of food, so you
really need to be smart/wise about which foods you choose to grow in
order to get a greater yield per square foot of greenhouse garden.
If you have 3 shelves on each side of greenhouse (6 shelves total) and the shelves are an average of 4 feet wide by 15 feet long, that is 60 sq feet per shelf, x 6 = 360 sq feet.
Giving myself 4 feet between the shelves to walk and carry tools, this greenhouse would need to be a minimum of 12 feet wide and 15 feet long, plus the dimensions of the structure itself. So lets make it a bit bigger and go for 15 feet by 20 feet, just so there is even more space.
And if we make it slightly taller, maybe fit in another set of 4 feet wide shelves to grow 33% more food, since 8 shelves is clearly better than 6 shelves.
Another way to improve the structure would be to make it square, say with an interior space of 20 by 20 feet. With that shape you could have 2 aisles for walking (4 feet wide each) with 3 rows of shelves. So instead of 6 shelves, 9 shelves... and if tall enough for 4 shelves per row, then 12 shelves.
By then you are looking at...
4 feet wide, 20 feet long shelves = 80 sq feet per shelf. X 12 shelves = 960 sq feet of growing space.
That would be more than enough space to grow all the veggies a family of 4 eats all year round, even if some of the plants have terrible yields. You could be growing it and giving away excess food to friends and family members and guests.
20 x 20 feet of space isn't unreasonable either. Many backyards in cities have 400 sq feet of space available. In the USA it is true that backyards are shrinking, but many people would not have too much difficulty fitting in a small or medium size greenhouse into their backyard if they wanted to - especially anyone who lives in the countryside and has ample space.
So yes, for my purposes an Asymmetrical design facing south, 20 x 20 feet, and I could have 3 shelves in the south row, 4 shelves in the middle row, and 5 shelves on the north row. That would provide all the veggies my family and I would need, with lots left over.
Anything left over I could turn into jams/pickles/etc and give away or sell.
How do you fit the Plants in?
There are many ways to organize your shelves and space inside the greenhouse, so you will want to consider your options here too. The design below use PVC tubes and works well with any greenhouse that has slanted walls.
You might decide to use normal shelves, you might want your shelves to be tiered like steps, or inverted tiers...
Or you might even want the shelves to rotate with a crank so you can get easier access to shelves that are otherwise harder to reach.
So there was a discussion on a Facebook group I am a member of and one person argued that people don't have time to grow a garden. (And also argued that you cannot grow certain vegetables in Canada - which is false, because you can grow ANYTHING in a greenhouse, and we have greenhouses in Canada.)
So that one person contacted me via private message, basically wanting to continue the discussion.
And here was my response:
Growing your own food is like printing your own money. You save money and time.
Think
about how much time you spend to earn $60 which you then spend on $60
worth of groceries. Plus the actual time of going to the grocery store.
So money really should be measured in time.
So when you buy a pineapple instead of money, you are essentially spending time.
But
what if you didn't buy a pineapple. What if you spent that time earning
that money to plant tomato seeds instead. And the amount of time you
spent at the grocery store each week you spent gardening instead.
Lets
say you have your own backyard. In the amount of time it takes to go to
the bathroom during a TV commercial break (2.5 minutes typically) you
could go outside and spend 2 minutes plucking weeds in the garden.
(Also some weeds are edible...)
The
point is that people have ample time to garden, it is really more about
time management and using less time in grocery stores and more spare
moments gardening.
Or alternatively half an hour per week at a community garden. Or doing guerilla gardening.
Or even foraging for food... but that is another topic.
Lets expand a bit on a few of the topics I mentioned above.
#1. Money = Time, and Vice Versa
A lot of the time people buy groceries because it is lazy and convenient to have someone else do it for you. eg. The work of gardening, farming, preserving food, etc.
Depending on how much money you make per hour doing "work" it does make some sense to let someone else do all the gardening and farming for you, and then you just buy what they make.
If you are poor then you probably have more time than money, so it makes sense to grow your own food.
If you are rich then you have lots of money and it makes sense to let someone else grow food for you, but it makes even more sense that you can afford to garden as a hobby.
So either way, unless they have extremely busy careers, they should be able to find time to garden.
#2. How much time is a Pineapple?
Well, considering pineapples are typically about $4.99 (depends where you shop though) + tax, lets just assume the average pineapple is $5 (tax included).
If you are making $10 per hour when working (whatever you do) then you can work really hard and buy a bunch of pineapples.
But if you are making say $50 per hour suddenly you can do a little work and in a single hour you have enough for 10 pineapples.
So Time is Relative to how much money you make... or don't make.
#3. So what if people stopped buying pineapples and grew tomatoes instead?
Obviously growing your own food is going to save your money, regardless of whether the food you are growing in tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, squash, cucumbers and more.
It will take you time to plant such things. Time to plant, time to remove weeds, time to harvest, time to clean. But overall you ultimately save time because you gain lots of food for a relatively small amount of time and effort.
If you really wanted more exotic fruits like pineapples, bananas, etc - you might need to build a greenhouse. But ask yourself, do you really NEED exotic fruits? Aren't they really just a frill? They are not a necessity.
#4. Gardening Once per Day for Two Minutes
Seriously doable.
2 minutes per day to weed. For a small garden. Not a huge one.
Assuming a growing season of April to October (or May to September), we are looking at roughly 5 to 7 months of gardening. 60 minutes per month overall, spread out over individual days. Overall you are looking at maybe 5 to 7 hours worth of work over the course of a year.
So completely doable. Very easy to find 2 minutes per day to do a task, even if it is for a ridiculously short amount of time.
But consider this... the price of seeds vs the price of produce.
$1 of seeds is typically worth about $75 worth of produce.
$1 is what you would expect to spend for a small package of carrot seeds.
So expect to get about $75 worth of carrots by the end.
If you grow 10 different kinds of vegetables, spending $10 on seeds - expect to get roughly $750 worth of produce when it is time to harvest.
So approx. 6 hours worth of work spread out over 5 to 7 months, how much is that per hour?
$125 per hour.
Hence the saying: Growing your own food is like printing your own money.
So two minutes per day and you are effectively getting paid $2.08 per minute, isn't that worth it?
#5. Some Weeds are Edible.
Okay so technically lots of things are edible. If you can fit it in your mouth, it is edible. It is really more of a matter of whether the weeds you are digging out actually taste good.
For example I consider kale to taste disgusting. I am sure there are some weeds that are better tasting.
#6. Time Management
Would you rather spend time:
Browsing the grocery store. (Plus the time of going back and forth to the grocery store.)
Gardening.
Seriously, it is really a matter of choice. (And hopefully having land available to garden on. But hey, that is where community gardens and guerilla gardening is for.)
You should try to find a good book on the topic of medicinal plants. You should be looking for a book that is both comprehensive and covers the region you live in. eg. Ontario, Canada.
I also recommend that the book be well illustrated so that you can easily recognize the plants in question.
There are plenty of books on this topic, so really a library will be your best bet for becoming an expert on the subject in a hurry. Borrow every book on the subject and then start reading them from cover to cover.
A lot of what you do with respect to learning about medicinal plants will ultimately come down to how much you can research on the topic and remember.
#2. Keep a Notebook on Medicinal Plants
As you reading and researching, take notes of which plants you think you might be able to find locally and which have useful properties you would like to use. Some you might decide you just want them as a herbal tea, others you might find useful for sleeping, for getting rid of headaches, etc.
Remember, you cannot remember everything so you might as well take notes.
#3. Learn how to Properly Extract the Medical Ingredients
Don't just eat the plant. That is stupid and even dangerous as some medicinal plants have parts of them that are toxic. What if you are supposed to eat the cooked root of the plant and you are eating the leaves instead? You have to learn which part of the plant is actually useful, how to extract that part of the plant, and how to prepare it in a manner that makes it taste better and works more effectively.
eg. When was the last time you saw someone eating chamomile flowers raw???
#4. Learn how to store the medicine
Some plants will rot over time so you need to figure out a way to safely store it so it stays "fresh" and useful to you. If it rots, molds, falls to pieces then it is useless. It might need to be preserved in honey, extracted and ground up with sugar into a pill, or any number of means to keep it fresh and useful. You might even decide to store it as bags of tea - in which case keep your medical tea away from your regular tea, you don't want to drink the wrong tea by accident.
#5. Start a Medicinal Herb Garden
You don't have to forage for everything. In fact, if you know you are planning to use a particular plant again and again a good solution is to plant it in a garden and grow it for future use.
Having the plants handy in the garden means you will be able to grow as much as you need, prepare it all and store it - and while starting and maintaining the garden is extra work and requires space, you will garner so much more from it than you would normally get from foraging alone.
Plus you can grow additional plants that are just for eating, not for medicine. So Win-Win.
Eating vegan off the grid comes down to the basic issue of whether you are any good at gardening. See also my old post Going Vegan Off the Grid.
So lets start with 12 plants that are easy for beginner gardeners to grow:
#1. Lettuce. Extremely easy to grow and harvest. My parents grew their own lettuce in the garden and whenever we needed lettuce during those times of year we could just walk out to the garden, grab whatever lettuce we needed, wash it off in the sink and it was as easy as apple pie! Can be grown indoors.
Growing Plants Indoors
#2. Onions and Green Onions. Also very easy. Easy to harvest too. Green onions can be grown indoors.
#3. Radishes. Can be grown indoors.
#4. Potatoes. Takes a bit more effort to harvest them all, but they last most of the winter if stored someplace cold. Any that sprout by Spring should be replanted to grow more potatoes in the coming season.
#5. Peas. Very easy to grow, but a little time consuming to de-pod them all. Listen to some music while de-podding them.
#6. Beans, including Broad Beans and Runner Beans.
#7. Mint. So easy to grow you can even grow them in your window sill.
Garlic is easy to grow indoors!
#8. Garlic. Can be grown indoors.
#9. Tomatoes. Can be grown indoors.
#10. Beets / Beetroots.
#11. Peppers. So easy to grow you can grow them indoors.
#12. Basil and Parsley. Can be grown indoors.
If you live in a city it is pretty much impossible for you to "live off the grid", but you can live in a neighbourhood that is very friendly to vegans. eg. If you live in Toronto's Vegan Village then you will have easy access to the many neighbourhood restaurants and grocery stores like the raw vegan restaurant Rawlicious or the grocery store The Sweet Potato.
Yes, you could try growing foods indoors in your home - but unless you live in a large greenhouse you won't be able to grow enough food to feed yourself - let alone a family.
For #300 you can rent a backhoe, dig a hole in the ground, buy some old bricks, wood and plastic - and then build your own Underground Greenhouse for very little actual money.
Whether you build it in a desert or in a forest clearing, an Underground Greenhouse can be used to grow vegetables most of the year... thanks to much of the structure being below the frost level and protected from the elements.
In a more northern climate you can extend your growing season and protect your plants from animals that might eat your veggies.
In a desert environment you can more easily control how much light your plants get, control the water levels inside the greenhouse, and get higher yields than simply planting outside and hoping the plants survive the blistering heat.
Plus the structure protects plants from wind erosion, so they are not robbed of water or nutrients.
The structures were first developed in South America during the 1980s and 1990s, and have since become quite successful because they are both cheap to build and efficient for growing.
Over time you can also add waterproofing, drainage and ventilation - but the end result is a cheap and cost effective greenhouse that is perfect for growing vegetables.
There is a very strong argument for going Vegan or Vegetarian if you decide to live "off the grid".
Becoming self-sufficient using gardening - without the need to buy groceries, butchering farm animals, going hunting or fishing - means you will have a lot less hassle with hunting and fishing licenses, taking care of animals such as pigs, chickens and goats (and later butchering them for their meat) and you really only need to worry about one thing - GROWING PLANTS.
The problem with having your own garden is that a lot of people don't realize the sheer amount of food the average human consumes in a year.
I even had an argument with a friend less than a month ago while she was BBQing meat in her backyard, and her claim that her tiny backyard was large enough to feed a whole family for a year. So assuming she was talking about a momma, a poppa, and two kids (which might be teenagers and eat like pigs) stop and do the math on how much food she is talking about.
Well lets assume that the average adult consumes about the equivalent of 6 carrots per day. I say equivalent because they would be eating other things too, lettuce, cabbage, potatoes, beans, nuts, berries, etc... but for simplicity's sake lets use the "equivalent of six carrots" per day rule. Little kids might eat only 3 carrots per day and teenagers might eat between 4 and 6 carrots per day, so lets assume an average of 5 carrots per teenager.
Thus assuming 1 kid, 1 teenager, and 2 adults a family of 4 should be eating roughly 20 carrots per day. (Because 6 + 6 + 5 + 3 = 20.)
364.25 days in a year, x 20... 7,825 carrots. Or the equivalent thereof.
My friend's tiny backyard was a mere 25 feet long by 15 feet wide. There is no way she could 2185.5 carrots needed to feed herself - let alone a whole family of 4 people.
Lets pretend for a moment you decided to become a carrot farmer - and then sell / trade your carrots with other farmers for potatoes, corn, beans, flour, rice, etc, whatever you happen to need. Well then you are going to need a LOT of land to grow your intended crop of 8,000+ carrots.
Ideally you shouldn't be putting all of your eggs in one basket either.
Most subsistence farmers plant many different things because some years the weather will be bad for certain plants and you can have a famine of that one kind of plant. (Research the topic "Irish Potato Famine" sometime.)
Thus you will want to plant many different kinds of vegetables.
And you will also need to go berry picking, grow an orchard for apples, pears, grapes, etc.
It wouldn't hurt if you also researched edible flowers and wild plants too.
And if there is sugar maples nearby you could also tap them for sap for making maple syrup.
And once you've done all this, what about storage for the winter? Learning how to can and make preservatives? Making pickles, jams, jellies, etc.
The point I am getting at is, yes, you can go vegan or vegetarian and that will certainly save you time away from hunting, fishing, growing/butchering animals, milking goats, etc... but you will need to learn a lot about farming.
And lets face it, unless you grew up on a farm, you probably know diddly squat about farming.
For example.
Do you know what YIELD means when talking about farmland?
Yield means the crops you get off a particular piece of land. Typically measured in bushels per acre.
1 acre is 43,560 square feet. Roughly half the size of a soccer field.
When I was growing up and living with my parents the farm they lived on was 97 acres, but only about 70 acres was arable farmland (the other 27 acres was the house, barn, shed, grass, trees, wetlands, river, etc).
So with 70 acres of arable land - 3,049,200 square feet (enough to grow about 12 million carrots assuming a high yield rate) - then yes, absolutely, a family could grow enough food to feed themselves and still have lots left over to sell at the local farmer's market. Because lets face it, you might still need money for trips to the dentist, school supplies for the kids, new clothes (note to self, write a post about growing your own cotton for clothing), medical supplies, etc.
But what if your yield rate is really low during a particular year? The carrots could get blight, insects, thick weeds, and even wildlife like deer and ground hogs can destroy a lot of your crops.
The point is, with a small garden you're going to have a percentage of your crop that either fails to grow, is ruined by environmental hazards (too much water, too much sun, or not enough of either), plus pests, deer, rabbits, ground hogs, etc.
The biggest threats vary from year to year. One year it might be drought. Another year you might from problems with insects and wishing you had sprayed pesticides, another year several families of rodents might move into your farmland and start tearing up all your lovingly planted carrots.
I am personally a fan of intercropping. Intercropping is a method whereby you plant certain things in rows next to each other and they form a symbiotic relationship in order to keep certain pests and blights away. It raises the yield per acre of the different crops, but you have to harvest everything either by hand or use special machinery.
That is the reason why most modern farmers don't do intercropping, because its easier - machinery wise - just to plant an entire field with only 1 crop.
Then there is the issue of rotating crops. You can't plant the same thing every year in the same spot, because it will eat up the nutrients in the soil and then after several years most of the nutrients will be gone - especially if its plants like corn, which suck a lot of the nutrients out of the soil.
Even with small gardens you should be rotating your plants every year.
I argue therefore that if you have a large field that you would be better off sectioning it into 4 different quadrants and planting 4 different plants each year in that field, rotating the crops clockwise every year.
If you are serious about gardening and farming, well then I strongly recommend you research the topic a lot more so you have a better idea of how much food you will need, what kind of yield you can expect, how much land you will need to accomplish a minimal yield (assuming bad weather and conditions), what plants you will need to grow on a yearly basis and how much of each.
Its a lot of things to research - and a lot of things to grow. Have fun!
Making and maintaining a garden will be a mandatory part of your daily living if you want to live off the grid and be self sufficient. You could of course hunt and fish, but eating fish and meat all the time isn't very healthy for you - or your kids.
Children need lots of vitamins, a variety of them, in order to grow up healthy. This means lots of fruits, veggies, berries and nuts.
Now depending on the season and where you live in the wilderness you can gather nuts and berries. But be sure to learn which berries are edible and which are poisonous. Same goes with mushrooms, although to be fair less than 1% of mushrooms are poisonous.
Also, in addition to nutritional value, you can't always rely on hunting or fishing. Sometimes there is very little game available, during the winter months. Or maybe the fish just won't bite. Either way, you are going to need a more reliable source of food.
Here is some tips for growing your own garden!
#1. More is Better. Why? Expect some of the food to spoil. It is better to have more than enough than not enough.
#2. Pests and insects will be a nuisance. You need to find a way to deter pests and keep your plants insect free. Now you might think that pesticides is the easy solution, but another easy solution is to either plant something which is poisonous or repels numerous insects. For example, Chrysanthemums are poisonous to bed bugs... So if you get a bed bug infestation go buy yourself some Chrysanthemums potted flowers. A variety of insects all have vulnerabilities to certain plants which either kill with poison or repel them due to their smell. #3. If possible build a greenhouse. You can regulate the control of water and sunlight, heat and cold, more easily inside a greenhouse. For discounts on heating lamps / daylight lamps if you have excess electricity, go try police auctions because the police seize equipment from grow ops and later sell them. So its a cheap way to get extra stuff for your greenhouse. #4. Variety - You can't live on potatoes alone. Try to get as much variety in your planted veggies as possible. For fruit this will be more difficult as apple trees / etc take decades to grow and produce lots of fruit. #5. Storing fruits and veggies. You will need to learn how to store your food for the winter. Some of this may require canning, or you may need to make a cold cellar where you can store food in a dry environment during the winter. Do NOT store onions and potatoes next to each other! The onions do not react well with other vegetables, causing them to grow rot on them. #6. Weeding is a necessary part of growing a garden. You will need to weed it regularly so your plants grow efficiently and aren't losing precious water and nutrients to rival weeds. Plan to weed your garden every 2 or 3 days, because weeds grow very quickly. NOTE: Weeds would be ideal for terraforming Mars for an oxygenated atmosphere because they grow quickly, are hardy plants, produce oxygen, reproduce quickly and could turn Mars into a green planet in a short number of years. 2nd Note: Reminder to Self, write a post about settling Mars / terraforming Mars / Living Off the Grid on Mars. #7. Get input from your kids about what foods to grow. Try and grow more foods that your kids like and will eat. But try to keep a variety at the same time. #8. Think yield per square foot. Try to allocate equal space to plants based on yield per square foot so you get a roughly equal amount of various foods. If you eat more of one type of food, try to plant more of that so you have adequate amounts. #9. Learn patience. Gardening is a great way to learn patience, but you also need perseverance to stick with it. You reap what you sow! #10. Get your kids involved in the planting, weeding, watering and harvestingn process. They will enjoy the food more if they know they helped grow it. BOOKMARK THIS SITE FOR MORE FUTURE GARDENING TIPS!
Here is a list of laws for bow hunting in Ontario. #1. You must be over 16 years of age and have a valid Ontario Outdoors Card. #2. You ...
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