The Confusion between Heirloom and Open-Pollinated Seeds

"Many gardeners today are using the word heirloom when they really mean open-pollinated or non-hybrid.  Heirlooms are treasures.  Heirloom seeds are the seeds for open-pollinated varieties with histories, with stories.  At one time, someone, somewhere thought each heirloom was a treasure and passed on its story.  However, not all open-pollinated varieties are treasures.  Sometimes the original reasons have been forgotten.  Sometimes they are being grown in a different climate...

Open-pollinated is the description to look for if you want to save your own seeds. Open-pollinated seeds come from relatively stable varieties resulting from pollination between genetically similar parents.

On the other hand, seeds saved from hybrid and genetically modified varieties, the opposite of open-pollinated, present a complicated challenge for seed savers.  Only a small percentage of will resemble the orginal parents.  Some will be sterile.  Most are patented.  Saving seeds from some is now illegal." - seedstrust.com

You will sometimes hear the term GMO.  This means Genetically Modified Organisms. Stay away from GMO seeds, GMO plants, and GMO animal products.  Genetic modification is destroying our sustainability.

First Meeting, a Real Learning Experience

I extend my deepest thanks to all who attended the December 11th meeting.  We all learned a lot.  It was entertaining to be addressed as "professor" during the meeting, but I felt like I was the youngest pupil in attendance.

I was surprised to see that only two people showed up with an intent to learn about non-technical things.  And because of the way things went, I feel responsible that those two individuals were neglected.  I want to extend a whole-hearted apology to those two individuals.  If you're reading this, you know who you are.

Additionally, I would like those two people to know how honorable it was to have them there.  When Pat and I decided to have this meeting, we did not know exactly what the meeting needed to be about.  We truly wanted to create something which could bring so many people together from various backgrounds so that we could work together.  Our thought was that we would get enough gardeners and farmers there and then divide into groups, and the folks with an interest in food, water, and other survival issues could have a conversation among themselves.  But instead, the majority of the people in attendance were interested in energy technology.  This was totally unexpected.  I thought that the people interested in my energy research would make up the smaller portion of attendees.  Being unprepared for this, I did not handle the beginning of the meeting as I would have liked.  In hindsight, I wish that I had opened the evening with some questions to deal with food, water, and other issues so that the two individuals mentioned could be edified.

That in mind, Pat and I intend to rectify the situation by speaking to those people and connecting them to the resources they need.  Thanks again, to those two people!!

For the rest of the crew who are involved in the energy work, I congratulate all of you on your patience with our technology research and determination.

And to everyone who attended, I commend you on your desire to plan for a sustainable future.

AR15.com Survival Forum

The AR15.com site is a collection of forums separated by categorical links on the top of the page.  Its probably one of the primary sites visited by gun enthusiasts.  But the Outdoors section contains excellent information for all of us seeking survival bags.  In the Survival forum, there is a sticky thread at the top that talks about what you need in a BOB (Bug-out Bag).  There is also a food and garden forum!

The following link goes directly to the Outdoors category of the site:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/board.html?b=10

Missouri Valley Community Action Agency Helps with Energy Needs

MVCAA offers a variety of programs and services to help lift individuals and families out of poverty. Among those services are Energy Assistance and Home Weatherization!

http://www.mvcaa.net/index.cfm?Page=ProgramsandServices

The Hartweg Approach to a Home that Costs Nothing to Heat and Cool

The typical home suffers from something I'd call "sun abuse."

In summer, a dark asphalt-shingled roof takes most of the sun's beating, soaking up heat and transferring it directly into the home's attic.  The attic then acts like a giant heat sink holding that heat all night long and making it nearly impossible to cool the home during hot summer days.  West facing windows without any shade from summer afternoon sun take in unnecessary amounts of light and require additional air conditioning to counter the effect.

In winter, sunlight which needs to enter the home is often ignored.  And even if windows are placed such that light does get in, too much of the heat is lost back out through the windows after the sun goes down!

Enter the Larry Hartweg approach to home design. Larry tells it like it is. He doesn't hold any punches about how to design a home that is properly heated and cool without the use of expensive air conditioning or furnace appliances. This is called "Passive Heating and Cooling". Though Hartweg's ideas are optimally applied when planning the construction of a new home, his principles can be used to improve existing homes.  Find out more about home designs that use zero energy:

http://www.zeroenergydesign.com/

On a personal note, I wish Larry would get a better website, but the information he teaches is real and some of the best out there.

Recommended Gardening and Farming Books

Here are some recommended reading for anyone who is interested in growing their own food.

All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.  Grow more in less space!  The techniques in this book produce up to 4x the yield of traditional techniques on a given plot of ground and also remove a lot of back-breaking busy work that are the reason for so many failed gardens.  If you want to make the best use of your time and available space to grow a garden, I highly suggest reading this book.  Many folks even in the Holden area have tried these techniques and will vouch for their success.

You Can Farm by Joel Salatin.  I have not personally read this book, but have heard good things about it.  The book shows why most small farms (as little as 20 acres) fail and explains how a small farm can be made to turn a profit even in this world where corporate enterprises have put so many smaller farms out of business.

Panacea University

There are some fantastic courses on electricity and other technologies found here:
http://www.panaceauniversity.org/

If you have interest in electrical devices, I recommend checking out the John Bedini course and Imhotep Radiant Oscillator course.  The most incredible course includes information on how to build an electric heater that puts out 17x more heat than a traditional resistive heater while still using the same quantity of electricity.

I have invested thousands of hours of research into these particular devices as well as many others from all kinds of sources.  I am thoroughly convinced that the courses from inventors on Panacea University describe working inventions if you follow the build instructions correctly.

For some clarification, you will note that the "Courses" and "Research" are on the same webpage with Research listings being toward the bottom of the page.  The Research listings are for devices that people are still trying to figure out -- they do not include working devices.  The Courses listing is dedicated to known working devices with instructions on how you can replicate them.