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By Dave, July 7, 2008 8:02 pm

Got out this morning and moved the plants from the back room outside. Should have done it 3 months ago, but… Went out back and cleared an area just outside the back porch and set a couple of 8 inch cement blocks. Added a couple of more on top of the first two and then a couple of solid 4 inchers on top of them. Gathered a pile of bricks and put them on top of the blocks. Dug a pile of red clay and shoveled it into the wheelbarrow then added an equal amount of ash from the stove from last winter. Mixed it up and chopped up most of the lumps and then added enough water to make a stiff mud. Filled the inside of of the bricks leaving an area for the twigs at the bottom which was filled with a wine bottle. Plastered the inside of the top stack until there was a hole about the size of a wine bottle and inserted it. Went in too easy so took it back out and added a bit more and reinserted it. Packed the mud down a bit and removed both the bottles and finished the inside by hand. Will let it dry for a day or so and then build a fire and fix any cracks. Looks like it will work just fine. Will add a grill to the top to place the pot on to cook in. Cat got a bunch of pix of the mudding part of the building that I will try to get posted asap. For now am going to water the plants out front and then read a bit. Till tomorrow… 😉

Comments (1)

By Dave, July 1, 2008 9:55 pm

Homegrown Evolution: Our Rocket Stove

Low-tech is the new high-tech, and the best example of the low-tech revolution is the miraculous rocket stove–a stove that makes it possible to cook with small twigs–no logs needed! Best of all rocket stoves are easy to build. We liked the idea so much that we decided to build a permanent one just off our back deck for entertaining and as a backup to our gas stove should an emergency take out our utilities.

Interesting build. I’m still looking at building one but haven’t decided on the design yet. May build one like this to try it out.