Summer Kitchen to Greenhouse Project Days 1-3

First few days of trying to build a greenhouse for cheap.

Don't really know what I'm doing here.

Self Sufficient Gardening Guide: Part 3, Oil Crops.

 

Oil Crops: Some people may be wondering why I’ve included this. The truth is that oil is necessary not just for various fats the body needs (in small amounts). But is a major culinary boost and can be a real help to anyone trying to survive off of only potatoes. Additionally oil can be used to make everything from soap to biodiesel (not ethanol you need sugar crops for that). Oil is also needed in working with tools, waterproofing cloth, lube, paint, lamp oil, and probably several other miscellaneous uses I can’t even think of. The point is that oil is useful, here are some places to get self-sufficient oil from. Please note that nearly everything on this list requires some kind of an oil press to extract the oil out of. Also a piece of data sourced by Wikipedia is journeytoforever.org which has an easy to use list of oil yields per acre of crop, however I cannot find any sources for this information that was found other than sources that look to be copied from journeytoforever.org. So take this data with a grain of salt.

Avocados: Millennial dream, shame it only grows in warm climates up to usda zone 9. Avocados produce 282 gallons of oil per acre, that’s roughly 6.26 gallons per 1000 square ft, a considerable amount. This is great info, but for a single tree that takes up around 200 square feet (and is 30-40ft tall) a single tree produces 60lbs of avocados. Assuming that as much as a third of their weight is in oil and all of that can be extracted (this is a big if), that should be roughly 20 pounds of oil per tree (or 2.6 gallons of oil per tree), still considerable provided that one hundred percent of the oil can be expelled from the avocado. As a side note Avocados do not require a pollinating companion.

Walnuts: These nuts are fantastic for self sufficiency, high in protein, high in oil, and the trees can be taped for sugar rich nutty sap to make a product comparable to maple syrup. An acre of walnut trees can produce 258 gallons of oil or roughly 5.73 gallons of oil per 1000 square feet. A single walnut tree takes up anywhere from 450-2000 square feet, they require pollination, but are wind pollinated, not by insects. Doing my own math here. Walnut trees drop 66-350 pounds of walnuts with the highs and lows being on alternating years. Assuming a 60% yield of oil and 15% usable nut meat per nut, that single tree can produce 210lbs of oil or roughly 3.9375  gallons in a good year. Though realistic values will go average out to about 2.25 gallons of oil per year. Please note that the time and effort required to process walnuts is extensive to say the least. Why is it every time I try to do math on walnuts something looks wrong?

Pecans: Not just for pies and southern cooking. Pecan trees can produce 191 gallons per acre or roughly 4.2 gallons per 1000 square feet. Pecan trees can grow to be massive at 70ft tall and a spread of 50ft, Meaning a single tree can require nearly 2000 square feet of space or roughly the same size as a walnut tree. Pecans are roughly 65% oil at 100lbs of pecans for a healthy tree that number is roughly 65lbs of oil converting to roughly 8 gallons of oil for a single tree. Pecans can self pollinate but do best when there are other pecan trees nearby.

Olives: An oil solution from the Greeks, thank Athena, I just wish she gave them a growing zone above USDA 7. Olive trees produce 129 gallons of oil per acre or roughly 2.8 gallons per 1000 square feet. The average olive tree grows only about 18ft wide taking up 250 square feet of land. A mature olive tree produces roughly 40lbs of olives a year, at 20% oil content that translates to just under a gallon of olive oil per tree. Although it would be beneficial to have two for the purposes of cross pollination.

Rapeseed (Canola): First on the list not to be a permaculture crop. This means less long term planning is needed as this can just be planted every year as needed. This also means that it has to be planted every year, and harvesting is likely more difficult than shaking a tree onto a tarp and waiting for the fruit to fall. Anyway rapeseed produces 127 gallons of oil per acre or roughly 2.8 gallons of oil per 1000 square feet. 

Opium Poppy: This one surprised me too. At 124 gallons of oil per acre it produces roughly 2.7 gallons per 1000 square feet. I would try growing rapeseed instead though as it’s less likely to involve a raid by the police.

Peanuts: Already mentioned in the protein crops so this one is a winner. At 113 gallons per acre peanuts produce 2.5 gallons per 1000 square feet. 

Sunflowers: At 102 gallons per acre this is an excellent crop for both aesthetic, pollination, and oil production uses. Per 1000 square feet this produces 2.2 gallons of oil. 

Rice: Also on the bulk calorie crops table so this crop has a surprising double use. At 88 gallons per acre this produces 1.9 gallons of oil per 1000 square feet.

Sesame: A vital component in tahini and therefore hummus production. At 74 gallons per acre this is actually a pretty decent crop for oil production. At 1.64 gallons per 1000 square feet it’s not terrible.

Hazelnuts (Filberts): Surprisingly little of it in Nutella. Filberts are a great tree to grow when space is limited and something other than fruit is wanted. Hazelnut trees can be planted in areas roughly 20ft by 20ft, or at a 20ft diameter circle of 314 square feet though this varies greatly with species. Modern hazelnut varieties provide roughly 2800lbs per acre, although this number is currently rising due to new varieties. Roughly 108 trees can be placed well per acre, and will yield roughly 2800lbs of nuts. That’s roughly 25lbs of nuts per tree. At 60% oil by weight of dry hazelnuts a single tree can produce 15lbs of oil per tree with an efficient process or nearly 2 gallons. Meaning that 3 trees can produce up to 45lbs or 5.5 gallons of oil, on nearly 1000 square feet. An impressive figure provided nearly all the oil can actually be pressed. Although hazelnuts are wind pollinated they still need another variety nearby to pollinate with, though with many trees being as small as glorified bushes (10 to 12ft tall/wide) finding spaces for these trees is usually not a concern.

Flax (linseed): The fibers that make up linens will have an excess of seeds. These can be pressed to produce roughly 51 gallons per acre, or roughly 1.2 gallons per acre of seed fuel. Not bad for something that would need to be grown anyway to produce linen. Additionally this oil is well known for its ability to preserve tools and uses in the machining world.

Hemp: Hemp seeds are getting to be known as a superfood, so with hemp beginning to be grown more and more for one reason or another, hemp oil will likely enter the market as a superfood one way or another. At 39 gallons per acre, help produces about 0.86 gallons per 1000 square feet as a byproduct. Sell or trade it to dumb people for more money! It can be an excellent bonus on top of twisting to hemp into fiber for rope or fabrics.

Cotton: Eli Whitney inventing the cotton gin is one of the oddest takeaways everyone seems to remember from elementary school. The cotton gin separated the seeds from the cotton fibers easily and cheaply, turning cotton into the cash crop of the 1800s. A side effect of growing so much cotton is the ability to take the excess seeds and press them into oil which appears to be good for machining purposes. At 35 gallons per acre, 1000 square feet of cotton produce roughly 0.77 gallons of oil. Not a great result, but an excess of seeds can make this a free oil source.

Corn: Literally the only reason I’m including this on the list is because I never realized how inefficient corn oil is. Corn is a great crop for producing carbohydrates, terrible for oils. There’s a reason corn ethanol is produced and not corn biodiesel. Corn produces about 18 gallons per acre when grown for oil, or roughly 0.4 gallons

Algae?: This one everyone has heard about. Most people probably remember headlines years ago stating that algae would be powering everything within ten years due to its ability to produce biofuel out of practically nothing but waste water. Nowadays the only time I hear about algae fuel is in the background of science fiction novels. The truth is algae seems to be an incredibly effective way of producing fuel, but at the moment it’s more small scale and not large industrial scale. It’s more analogous to brewing or mushroom farming than factory farming which is part of the reason it hasn’t taken over. Nobody can just chuck a vial of microalgae culture into a pond and come back a year later to harvest a transport fleet’s supply of oil. At the moment algae is completely viable for small scale setups such as reused fish tanks and old rain barrels. But foreign contamination can take over easily which means infrastructure costs are heavy for large scale production. There are plenty of tutorials for small scale biodiesel production on the internet with various levels of success depending on skill and luck. Technically speaking Algae can produce anywhere from 5000 to 15000 gallons of fuel per acre or 188 gallons per 1000 square feet, though this would take a great deal of effort to make and refine. A more realistic number would be 1.8 gallons of fuel for 10 square feet of space, say from out of old water heaters. If anyone wants to learn more, I recommend researching Appleseed biodiesel reactors.

Self Sufficient Gardening Guide: Part 2 Protein Crops.

 

Protein Crops: Man can’t survive on bread alone, man can’t survive on anything alone. Man needs a varied and nutritious diet to get through the day. And if Man is doing farmwork out in the field all day trying to figure out how to get a rotting log out of Man’s field, Man will certainly need some muscle mass and therefore protein. These crops are options for high protein foods and I’ll be calculating these by the normal daily amount of protein needed for a human per day at 50 grams. This section will be for crops that don’t grow into trees or happen to be animals. Anything meant to be grown on a small scale goes on this list. Most guides to homesteading I’ve read have recommended growing 3 types of legumes/beans on a farm for variety and crop rotating different fields. 

Common Beans: These are the traditional beans we might think of when a dish calls for beans. Most of them are grown relatively the same way and have somewhat similar yields. 

• Black Beans: Often called black turtle beans, these beans are familiar to anyone making tacos. At 2000 - 2500 lbs per acre yield is roughly 55lbs of beans per 1000 sq ft. That’s 5777 grams of protein, per 1000 sqft harvest. Or 115 man days of protein, assuming black beans made up all of the protein in a person's diet.

• Pinto Beans: Often refried into a can shaped block of mush, also familiar to those who make tacos. For North Dakoda yields, the average looks about 1500-2000lbs per acre. Per 1000 square feet that’s 39-40lbs of beans. With 1lb of dry pinto beans producing 94grams of protein, that’s 3713 grams of protein per 1000square feet. That’s 74 Man days of protein per 1000 square feet.

• Red Kidney Beans: A critical ingredient in a good amount of creol/cajun recipes. Red beans seem to produce at about 2500lbs per acre for a good year but averages 1500-2000. That’s 39-40lbs of beans per 1000 square feet. At 108grams of protein per dry pound of beans that’s 4295grams of protein per 1000 square feet or roughly 85 man days of protein.

• White/Navy Beans: Traditional ingredient in white chili and British morning beans on toast. Yields look about 2000-2500 pounds per acre with a peak of around 2700lbs. Per 1000square feet that’s about 51lbs of dry beans. At 94.5grams of protein per dry pound, that’s 4800grams of protein total or roughly 96 man days of protein. I recommend trying to make traditional beans on toast before growing these.

• Green Beans: Like many people grow in their garden. Sometimes known as French, string or snap beans, these are unlike most of the beans on this list as these are meant to be kept inside the pod after harvesting for the overwhelming majority of recipes. This means that they’re not traditionally dried individually but can instead be canned inside the pod for preservation. Additionally this bean grows quickly(45-60 days) due to the fact that this species is harvested immature traditionally. For the pole bean variety (not bush bean) the yield looks to be around 6000-7200lbs per acre or roughly 150lbs per 1000square feet. The downside is a much lower caloric and protein density, with 1lb of green beans offering only 8.26 grams of protein. That means 150lbs is 1240 grams of protein or roughly 25 man days of protein. An interesting crop to be sure, good yields, hard to preserve, bad for a primary protein source. Grow them if you like them.

Lentils: Small, mighty and full of protein. At 1000 - 1500 lbs per acre letail yield is roughly 33lbs per 1000 square feet. That 33lbs of lentils provides 3466 grams of protein which is 69 man days of protein provided nothing but lentils were eaten. I recommend making a dish of lentil daal before deciding whether or not to grow this.

Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans: My Personal favorite due to being the main ingredient in hummus. At 1700 - 2500lbs of chickpeas per acre is roughly 55lbs of beans per 1000 sq ft. That’s 5445 grams of protein per 1000 square feet or 108 man days of protein. That’s a lot of hummus to make.

Peanuts: The main ingredient in peanut butter, and in more sandwiches I eat than I care to admit. At 3000 - 4000 lbs per acre they produce 88lbs per 1000 square feet. That’s 10,488 grams of protein per 1000 sq ft or roughly 209 man days of protein. It may be difficult to survive off nearly only peanuts, but my younger self would not agree.

Soy: Inside everything from tofu to milk, and with good reason. Soy averages at 3000lbs per acre at 513,066 grams of protein per acre. That’s roughly 11,401 grams per 1000 square feet, or 228 man days of protein. This is by far the best value on this list for protein, and leads me to believe I should start making tofu from scratch.

• Soy Milk: To make soymilk, there are many different recipes. But in essence all that is required is to use pre soaked soybeans. Then add by volume 3 units of high purity water for every 1 unit of soybeans (measured when dry as they’ll absorb water when soaked). Combine these in a blender or food processor and macerate these until they’ve turned into a thick and creamy liquid. Remove the solids via filter or cheesecloth and make sure to press out as much of the absorbed liquid as possible. Then pasteurize the liquid by heating on a stovetop for 20 minutes, and that produces soymilk.

• Tofu: This requires a bit more work than soymilk. But to make tofu, heat up a container of soy milk via stove top until it begins to thicken. Then add one teaspoon nigari (or alternatively ½ cup lime juice or other suitable coagulant) per 4 cups of soymilk. Heat and stir this mixture until curds are formed, then pour the mixture into a cheesecloth or alternative in order to collect the curds. Place this bag of curds into a press (similar to making cheese) and apply weight to press the water out. Once all the water is out, cold water can be added to the degree wished to firm the tofu block (note to cook tofu like meat, expel all the water possible before cooking) and then you have a block of tofu.

Peas: In a pod, but for the sake of math we’ll be taking them out. Not the most impressive crop on this list at 1200-2000 pounds per acre or roughly 44lbs per 1000square feet. So 44lbs of peas will net 4800 grams of protein or roughly 96 man days of protein. Not great, but some people like peas. 

Fava/Broad Beans: Most famous dish is a reference to cannibalism by Hannibal Lecter. Luckily they can be used in more than just cannibalism related recipes. Often used as a cover crop so this bean can serve a dual use, according to an old clipping expected yields are roughly 2200-2400lbs of bears per acre for small seeded varieties. That’s 52lbs per 1000 square feet and at 118grams of protein per pound that’s 6136 gram of protein total. Making roughly 122 man days of protein. Now time to find actual recipes for this that don’t link to Hannibal lecter.  

Chia Seeds: Good for things other than making oddly growing sculptures bought as white elephant gifts. Surprisingly it’s used as an egg substitute by many people in many dishes. At 300-400 Kilograms harvester per acre, that’s 770 pounds per acre or 17.5 lbs per square feet. At 75 grams of protein per pound that’s 1312 grams total, or 26 man days of protein. Not the most impressive crop on this list, but I’m surprised a plant I relegated to being a gag gift could do this well stacked against others.

Ground nuts (not peanuts): A perennial protein crop that isn’t with the nut trees. It’s easier to go by its scientific name when looking it up (apios americana) due to it often being confused for peanuts. Produces both edible seeds and tubers with the tubers being the main article of focus as they have over 3 times the protein content of potatoes. The only downsides appear to be it’s lack of cooperation in large scale agriculture, but for small scale it seems to work perfectly fine. When grown with cranberries and harvested after 2-3 years, yields of 30 tons per hectare are possible. That’s roughly 560lbs per 1000square feet. At roughly 116grams of protein per lb, that means each 1000 square feet of harvest can generatore 1300 man days of food. Insanely great numbers, just a shame it can only be harvested every 2-3 years. This is a great plant to include in any garden and I highly recommend it.

Pigeon Peas: A perennial sort of lentil like crop. While it’s often grown as a perennial in southern climates (usda zone 9 and higher) it can still grow as an annual in northern climates. This plant can live up to around 5 years, grow in poor conditions, and get’s to about 6-12 feet tall and nearly 4ft wide, turning into practically a small tree. The only downside is the time it takes to grow, with many varieties needing up to 300 days. So if growing this as an annual expect it to take up the entire growing season. However yields of up to 30 bushes an acre are possible with this crop, at 60lbs per bushel, expect 1800lbs per acre. That’s about 41lbs per 1000 square feet, (note the nutritional value of dry pigeon peas seems to change often but I’m including the most common result) 1lb of dry pigeon peas seem to average about 21grams of protein. That’s 861grams of protein per 1000 square feet, or about 17 man days of protein. An interesting crop that seems as if it would be good for a low effort semi tropical garden.

Nutritional Yeast (Nooch): Familiar to vegans and not many other people. This is essentially the stuff found in small packets of bread yeast sold in grocery stores. It’s also extremely healthy, full of B vitamins and protein, and can serve well in many recipes that call for parmesan cheese (such as popcorn or pizza). To grow nutritional yeast it’s similar to making wine. Begin with a starter culture of yeast and place in a large sanitized jug/bucket with an airlock/bubbler. Feed the yeast culture by giving it glucose rich foods that can easily be poured inside the container. Beet syrup and sugarcane appear to be popular feedstuffs. I can't actually find what the expected yields are per lb of glucose added, so I’ll have to experiment personally and come back to update this. Once the yeast culture has grown and all the glucose has been consumed (bubbler has stopped bubbling) go ahead and collect the sediment at the bottom. Wash the sediment in clean water, taking care not to pour the yeast down the drain and then cook the yeast slightly on a frying pan until golden brown. And that’s all that’s needed to make nutritional yeast.

Brewer’s Yeast (Marmite): That little bit of sediment found at the bottom of homebrew and micro beer. That goop is also a yeast and is also capable of being eaten (when being cooked down) the only downside is that the leftover brewer’s yeast is often fairly bitter due to the presence of bitter hops in most beer recipes. Still it can be made edible. This is what marmite in Britain and vegemite in Australia is made out of. To make this, collect the yeast out of a beer that’s being racked and collect the yeasty sediment at the bottom. I have no idea if wine, cider, or mead yeasts can be used, but I cannot find any information on this. Anyone once the yeast is collected the bitterness can be brought down by adding water to the mix, mixing, waiting for the yeast to settle, then scooping the water out without disturbing the yeast much. This leaches the bitters out. Then boil down the mixture, add 1 part (by weight) old bread per 8 parts of yeast to give a marmite flavor, add 1 part mirepoix or holy trinity vegetable mixture per 8 parts yeast to make vegemite. Boil this mixture until it turns into a thick brown paste, and that's the brewer's yeast. I recommend adding it to cheese sandwiches or soups to kick the flavor up a notch, but use sparingly.

The Cheap Guide to Surviving Collapse: The Home survival kit that’s 100 dollars or less.

 The Cheap Guide to Surviving Collapse.

The Home survival kit that’s 100 dollars or less.

This isn’t meant to be an entirely comprehensive list or anything like that. This is merely a way of showing that it’s possible to be somewhat well prepared for emergencies for relatively small cost. Will include other info for basic skills and the like as time goes on.

Worry about water first.

Water filter with container: $21.97. Went with this one because it can be screwed onto other water bottles and has a built-in container. This makes it more useful for pouring water out. There are other options that are cheaper or have better options. This one is just an example. Water should be the first concern for anyone making a list like this.

5 gallon food grade container: 0-$20.00. Carrying water and finding ways of storing everything should be high on this list. This list of uses for a 5 gallon bucket with a lid are too large to list here. Prices on these range from free as many stores/restaurants just give them out if you ask nicely (find places that do baking) to up to 20 dollars for some reason, then down to as low as 2 dollars in some circumstances. Maybe they’re a loss leader? Anyway, get some buckets.

Food that’s cheap and shelf stable.

20lb Bag of Rice: $9.78. Cheap source of carbs. If using purely this to survive off of, this sack of rice would last over 16 days assuming a 2000 calories per day. It’s hard to beat that for less than 10 dollars. Makes a great companion to beans. Remember to rotate the supply out!

20lb Bag of Beans: $14.46. Cheap source of protein. If using purely this for protein, that's over 41 days of protein assuming 50grams per day. Makes a great companion to rice. Note these should be cooked thoroughly. 

Things that don’t require cooking: $5.92. Went with these granola bars because they’re cheap, taste fine, easy to hand out to people, easy to eat on the road, shelf stable. For any food store it’s always best to make sure not the entire supply requires cooking as there will almost certainly be times when a heating source is completely unavailable. Replace this with whatever you want and like eating provides it meets the above criteria.

Renewable power/lighting/communications.

Crankable/Solar Radio Flashlight and Phone charger: $19.99. It’s not perfect but it gets the job done. Has an option to charge a phone and the radio somewhat works. It can also be charged off of a regular usb cable to avoid having to deal with muscle and solar power. 

Headlamp: $1.00. Incredibly useful for any task where you need to use your hand in the dark. Which there tend to be a lot of I’ve found when the power is out.

Making Fire.

USB firelighter: $8.00.Would pair with another method of starting fires, but for 8 dollars it’s worth considering. At the click of a button a spark is formed. Best if paired with some paper or light leaves to have it get going.

Magnesium bar and striker: $4.46. The classic, grind down a small pile of magnesium with the little tool then strike the flint to make a spark. A bit more clunky to use than preferred, recommend using another knife other than the tool it comes with.

Keeping warm.

Space blanket: $2.74. Ordinarily I would recommend a high grade sleeping bag per person which can be found in many thrift stores never used. But finding those reliably is fairly difficult so this is the budget option.

Staying Alive.

First aid kit: 6.99. I certainly hope some version of this is already in everyone's home. There should also be some basic meds such as stuff for pain, cold, upset stomach, allergies, daily meds, burn gel, spf 50, bug spray, and probably 50 things I can’t even think of. Please get some kind of first aid kit before you need one. A first aid kit is more vital than a plunger for a house, I’d argue it’s more vital than a bed!

Total = 95.31 /100.00

Note that this list assumes that common things found around the home would be included. So expect there to be more food available, minor tools and sundries such as duct tape, screwdrivers, a decent knife. The kitchen gadgets of at least a sparse apartment including a pot and a few tupperware containers, changes of clothes depending on the season, and maybe fifty things I’m not even thinking of. This list is meant to help someone who already has a basic living space, not make a living space from scratch.