A lighter, lower-cost way to purify water

Researchers at Boston University have developed ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to purify and disinfect water, according to a report posted on Electronics News. The new technology will be a lower cost, lighter, more durable alternative to mercury lamps which could mean wider distribution in developing countries. It also means no mercury to deal with.

There is a video on the link showing how it works.

I already have a clean water supply and purification tablets. Not sure I am ever going to need UV light-emitting diodes but I plan on buying a camping stove  (Thank you Les Stroud) to boil water, among other things. 

Canning 101

I spend a good chunk of my salary every week at St. Lawrence Market and this summer I plan to can every fresh fruit and vegetable I can get my hands on. To get a jump start on the process I called up Nicole Kruzick, a friend and owner of Belly Catering on Queen St. W. The full story is here and the instructions are below.

The video should help - or at the very least give you an idea of what the pots should look like.

We got an early start - canning is best when produce is at its peak of freshness - but Kruzick offers lessons in her store in late summer and early fall.

Kruzick's full recipe is below. Happy canning!

Spicy Pickled Beans

3 tbsp salt

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups water

3 lbs green beans

18 pepper corns

6 cloves of Garlic

6 dried chili peppers

Make 6, 500 ml mason jars

In a large sauce pan combine salt, vinegar and water.  Bring to boil over md high heat, stirring to dissolve salt.  

Place 2 peppercorns, 1 clove of garlic and 1 hot pepper into each jar.  Place the beans in the jar as well, then cover with hot pickling liquid, leaving ½ inch headspace

Place jars in canner - lids on but not super tight - ensuring they are completely covered with water.  Bring to a rolling boil and process for 10 minutes.

Remove from bath (with tongs) and allow to cool and store in cool dark spot.

We are going to need a bigger bucket

 

I am going to need a bigger bucket, shelves and possibly a very large lamp.

I have been growing lettuce in my apartment for about a month and am pleased to report my crop is doing well. A bit too well, so I may have to plan to thin out my bucket to prevent things from getting too crowded.

The rest of my tiny garden, planted on April 10, also seems to be thriving. A few of my plants have not come up, at least one arugula seed seems not to have made it. Not as freaked out by plant life as I was when I started but am still rather worried about the progress of some of my baby vegetables.

My beans however are growing at an extremely rapid, almost obnoxious pace.

At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if I came home and found them smoking cigarettes and stealing lunch money from my basil. 

Katie and I will be changing up the shelving this weekend.

 

Eating grubs: Better from the forest or the store?

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that hunter Brett Potter, 45, survived two nights in the Urewera Forest (with temperatures hovering around 5C) by sleeping in a hollow log and keeping his energy up by eating huhu grubs.

(According to this website, huhu grubs are high in fat and protein and taste like peanut butter when cooked.)

Potter got lost tracking a deer, but was carrying a survival blanket, flashlight, a firearm, map and compass. He also had two muesli bars. Potter was found after a 20 kilometre hike. After a good meal, he rejoined his group and continued the hunt.

I have read about the high protein content in bugs for many years, but am not sure how easily I could get them down — even if they were the only potential food source.

Last month the New York Times reported on the decision made by the owners of Netherlands chain store Sligro to market insects as a sustainable source of protein.

Options include mealworms, buffalo worms and locusts, some dipped in chocolate.

A portion of the article reads:

Dutch breeders of insects, who until now have supplied the market for pet food — insects for geckos and other lizards, salamanders, newts, frogs, birds or fish — have jumped at an opportunity to open a new market and have founded a trade organization to promote the idea. The government is backing them, and last year it appropriated $1.4 million for research into insects as food, to prepare legislation governing insect farms, health and safety standards, and marketing through retail outlets.

I imagine that even if you liked snacking on the store-bought bugs (I'm guessing they would be a bit crunchy), eating them live in the wild would still be a fairly unpleasant experience.

How to grow vegetables in your apartment

Last week my twin sister Katie taught me how to build a sub-irrigated planting container out of recycled materials, so I can grow lettuce in my apartment. The full story can be read here.

I posted the full instructions below (watch the video, I promise it will help) but wanted to include a short list of some of Katie’s go-to websites and places where she learned some of the skills she uses to farm in the city.

www.yougrowgirl.com : Created by Gayla Trail in February 2000 for “people who want to grow but whose garden space is less than ideal,” according to information on the website.

http://rooftopgardens.ca/en: The Rooftop Garden Project, sponsored by Alternative’s magazine in Montreal.

 She also suggests entering sub-irrigated planter on YouTube. Here are a few links to start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el1tn0FpiVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO8gfaSw-Do

My apartment has fairly terrible light. So our next project will be building a grow light. We plan to post that video in two weeks.

Happy planting!

 

THE PROJECT: Kids can do this says Katie, but, of course, let the adults handle the box cutter and the drill.

What we used

1. 16 litre Canola oil bucket with lid. The lid will become your false bottom or reservoir top.
2. 1 litre yogurt container (we did not use the lid). The yogurt container will act as a support to keep the false bottom or lid off the actual bottom of the bucket.
3. 20-inch PVC pipe with end cut on a 45-degree angle. Once the container is assembled this pipe will be used to fill the reservoir with water.
4. 2 10 litre bags of potting soil that contain compost
5. Box cutter
6. Drill and ¼ inch bit
7. Towels to mop up the spills

 

1. If your bucket has previously contained soil, sanitize it to ensure pathogens from previous planting cycles aren’t passed on to this season. We put ours through an industrial dishwasher but you can use a home dishwasher, or wash with hot water and soap and then rinse with a one-part bleach to nine-parts water solution and let air dry. If there wasn’t any soil, hot water and soap with an air dry will do. 

2. Pop the Canola oil spout out of the lid to create a circular opening for the pipe to run through.  If the lid does not have a spout proceed to step three.

3. Use box cutter to trim edges off lid of Canola oil bucket so it fits snuggly inside the bucket. 

4. If the lid did not have a spout, you’ll need to cut a hole in the lid for the pipe to run into the reservoir.  Trace the pipe diameter at the rim of the bucket lid and cut out tracing with box cutter.

5. Trace the top of the yogurt container onto the center of the trimmed bucket lid, being careful to not overlap with the pipe hole.     It is important that the hole you cut in the center of the bucket lid is slightly smaller than the diameter of the top of the yogurt container.  This allows the bucket lid to rest firmly on the container, creating a secure top for the water reservoir.

6. Poke a ring of ¼ inch holes, one inch apart, one inch above the base of the yogurt container.  Repeat this process at two, three, and four inches above the base.

7. Place the hole-punched yogurt container in the bottom of the empty canola bucket and rest the Canola oil bucket lid on top, creating the false bottom. It should look like an upside down hat.

8. Once both parts are inside mark the height of the false bottom or lid on the outside of the bucket, then remove lid and yogurt container.  Steady bucket on its side and drill a hole one inch below the traced line to act as an overflow hole for rainwater or human watering error.  Drill a second hole at the same height on the opposite side of the bucket as a back-up overflow.   

9. FINAL ASSEMBLY.  Place yogurt container, open side up in the bottom of the bucker and rest cut Canola oil bucket lid on top.  Insert pipe in the smaller hole in the Canola oil bucket, with the cut or slanted end of the pipe inside the bucket. NOTE: It is very important to make sure the slanted side of the pipe is inside the bucket. If you place the flat end inside water cannot be poured down into the reservoir.

10. Fill the yogurt container with moistened soil and firmly compress the soil with your hand.  Steady the pipe with one hand so its straight up and down and fill the rest of the bucket with firmly tamped down soil. Now is a good time to get the old towel beneath the bucket to catch any extra water or soil.

11. Moisten the rest of the soil until a teaspoon of water runs out of a squeezed handful. This may take several litres. It is best to use a watering can, but any pitcher will do. Wait at least five minutes between each litre to allow the water to soak in.

12. Fill the reservoir by pouring water down pipe until water flows out overflow holes you drilled in the bottom.

13. Spread seeds and tuck in according to their specific needs for germination or transplant tiny plants into buckets based on their adult spacing needs.

14. Clean up water mess. 

52 projects: A year from scratch

Meet Elizabeth Fraser, the author of the blog 52 Projects, A Year From Scratch

Fraser launched her blog midsummer 2010 with a plan to learn how to do everything from make a smocked dress, pickle eggplant, to build a bicycle-powered generator and make paper. She takes on one new project a week.

Lambs, saws, knives and slippery floors

 

Just a warning: The video may be too graphic for the squeamish. Also, apologies for the poor sound quality.

The floor in the back room of the Healthy Butcher is slippery with what I am told could be fat ... or breadcrumbs ... or both.

After a friendly “hello,” the 23-year-old head butcher at the Queen St. location gets straight to business.

“Do you want to use the knife or the saw?” asks Paul Bradshaw.

Medicinal plants, pesticides in the park and making wine from flowers

 

Turns out there is plenty to eat in your local park, but nothing you want to put in your mouth.