diesel, alternative fuels: 77 mercedes benz

I like to travel, which means that when I drive I am using gasoline . . .unless I find an alternative. Many people know that the gasoline system in America is problematic. The internal combustion engine is inefficient, but it is what is highly available. I could go into rotary engines, electric trolly systems, and documentaries like Who Killed the Electric Car? but instead I will just say that I am starting my explorations with more sustainable/cheaper/overall smarter fuel sources by looking at diesels.

The story of Rudolf Diesel is fascinating, how he originally constructed the engine to run on peanut oil, experiments with engine efficiency, and his strange death. The two options for car transportation I had been looking at were EV (electric vehicle) conversion with the truck, and doing biodiesel or veggie with a car/van/bus. EV's are short range, while it seems that road-tripping on veggie oil is not uncommon (depending on your definition of common).

Back in April I ran across two possibilities: an old school bus and a 1977 Mercedes Benz Diesel. While the school bus was tempting for road-tripping and camping the car seemed to fit more readily into my every day at mooncatlife. I bought the car though it had a vacuum problem for $1500.

The vacuum problem meant that in order to shut off this car I had to pop the hood and press a tab that said "stop" that came with these older models for manual engine shut-off. After trying to do research,  and having a friend help me take a look at it I brought it in to a local diesel mechanic.

Steve Pelham in Clinton told me to stop through early on a Monday when he was less busy and he would check it out. I watched him clamp and plug vacuum lines to find out if there was a leak. A leak in the vacuum lines is a much better diagnosis than a vacuum pump that is going bad. A bad vacuum pump, it seems, could have caused damage and caused brake problems. . . .to sum things up Steve was helpful, quick, and friendly. I stopped back in to make sure the car was alright for longer trips later. I was also afraid that there was something wrong with the transmission. The car is slow to shift and it sounded like the rpms were going too high and it would shift in after I let off the gas . . . in a similar way to a manual transmission . . .anyway, Steve said it shifts like an old diesel and is working fine. Whew. I also found a forum online that made the comment that these old diesels sound like they are falling apart all of the time, but will run forever.  And of course that is what everyone is saying, "That thing will run forever".

I MacGuyver'ed a way to choke a vacuum hose from the inside of the car to shut the engine off. . .though some say I can plug the hose that runs to the locks and everything will work fine (minus locks) . . .but plugging it doesn't seem to work that way. I could invest somewhere around $500 to have a mechanic tear into it, check the lines and diaphragms in the doors, but that is not a priority to me right now because it is functional. The leak is not harming anything.

This has been my journey with making sure my cheap diesel is running well enough to consider biodiesel or Veggie conversion. It seems this car is ideal for alternative fuels (the reason I snatched it up in April though I didn't really do very much with it until now). It has been a really fun process. I will not claim to be a gearhead, but have always been a gearhead wannabe and I am enjoying what I am learning along the way. The extent of my previous experience pretty much extends to checking fluids, changing oil/filters, and changing disk brakes.  I love this retro car and am slowly learning the best way to apply steady, consistent pressure on the gas pedal for optimal transmission transitions.

bike trip to mississippi palisades

   
  Our bike trip started out as a trip to Thomson to see a cheese-making demonstration at the newly opening Heirloom Cafe. Mark and Catherine told me that the presenter would be using their raw milk, and I was specially interested because I have been wanting to do just that. Then I suggested that we bike there, then one of us suggested that we just continue on to the Palisades and camp there.  So Saturday morning Jerome and I took off on his Next bike with a trailer for sleeping bags etc. and the battered Schwinn that we found laid out for trash that Bill fixed up.

We arrived a little late and missed the cheese-making, but I appreciated the chance to visit Thomson Heirloom Solutions where they sell Heirloom seeds and solar harvesting equipment.  I listened to Nick (seed connoisseur) and Jerome talk about gardening, farming, as well as chipping in some questions here and there. Next we stopped through to visit a bike shop that we had passed, Arnold's Bikes and Embroidery. The owner, I can't remember his name right now, but I know the last name is Arnold, let us play on his recumbent bikes and even ride his own bike. It was so fun! I am in love with recumbent bikes now. He also put some grease on the bearings of the rear wheel of the Schwinn for us so that it would stop that weird grinding noise it was making intermittently.  He came out with some copper wool and said that Schwinns are known for their chrome, scrubbing the rust spots right off. Then he sent the copper wool with us and told us to shine it up while we were camping.  

[dragonfly coming out of nymph stage at the river]

We continued on the Great River Bike Trail to the Palisades, altogether around 25 miles on a hot day and then jumped into the Mississippi where we hollered and waved to people at the Palisades lookout, snacked, rested our sore butts, swam, and made hair extensions out of sea weed (is it called that in the Mississippi?). I had gotten hungry/hot grumpy but the water made me feel better. Our intention had been to camp at the Palisades but the mosquitos were horrible at night (and we were sleeping in a hammock and sleeping bag, no tent) so we left our campsite in the middle of the night to head back and find somewhere along the way to lay out our bags where there might be a breeze or less mosquitos.

[view from where I woke up]

The ride in the dark was amazing! To the left was the park with fireflies scattered throughout the trees, to the right was the river and fog. After a bit a train rode next to us, offering one of those timeless feelings. It was one of those magical times where I was reminded of what true beauty there can be in the world.  We found a stopping place off of the side of the road a couple of hours in, and hiding our bikes in the trees slept very comfortably until sunrise when we took off for home.  We ate some wild blackberries and mulberries along the trail and snapped pictures of other plants we will look up later.

Upon arriving home we were told that Zac, Tuara, and Sabastein had gathered 18 eggs the day before, so of course we devoured some and fell asleep. My body feels fantastic after that trip now that the saddle-sore feeling has faded. We have decided that next time we won't bring the trailer and we will bring the tent--strapped to a bike.  It was definitely a beautiful trail that I would love to bike again sometime.

There's nothing like nature to help me fall back in love with my life when I'm feeling burnt.

chicken rescue

I had been thinking. It might be time for more chickens. Previously we only had 3, so there was an inconsistent and small amount of eggs. I decided to check craigslist, of course, where else would you go for chickens?  Sure enough we found 500 free organic chickens nearby. When a company or family produces commercially they get rid of the chickens as they get older and production slows. We picked up last year's chickens, egg production had dropped to 50% and it was no longer worth it for the farmer to keep supporting these chickens.

The sad thing is that, what do you do with them? These "hy-line" layers have a small amount of meat on them. We were told about 3lbs, which is not enough pay back to process them. Mark and Katherine made the comment that it is still meat . . .if you process them yourself.  My thought is we get a largish number of chickens, and then before winter (when we can no longer support them all to move inside) we invite uber rough-it-man backwoodsman grandpa to show us how to clean a chicken.

Hmmm, to clean a chicken. I have never killed an animal. I was vegetarian for two years and decided morally, ethically, and spiritually that life was about balance and eating "happy meat" (as my friend Jess calls it --grass fed, antibiotic free, hormone free etc.) actually seemed the better choice. This was a big decision for me. In a way I wanted to actually hunt or kill the first animal that I ate after being a vegetarian so that I could fully appreciate the life I was taking, but I was busy and didn't get to go out bow-hunting with anyone at that time. . . anyway, chickens. I think that, though I would not be excited to kill and clean a chicken, it would be an interesting experience if I am going to be eating some meat. In a way I feel, what right do I have to eat meat if I can't appreciate the balance and appreciate this life as life, which is a beautiful thing.  No really, back to chickens. I'll get off of my meat soap box.

So we got chickens. I asked what would happen to the chickens that didn't get picked up . . .the option then was that they would have to be killed and composted. The farmer genuinely felt bad about this, which is why he posted them on craigslist. I really enjoyed this family, but as the farmer said, with producing eggs commercially sometimes you just have to make that choice.

I know that in this economy people have to make money, I am glad that someone is trying to use organic feed and that the chickens have the option to go outside. . .but is there a better option? Maybe if we all had our own chickens (those that can, which many backyards are allowed) and scaled down and the tough choices of commercial scale weren't as necessary.

If I could find a group of people in the area interested I would teach them how to build chicken tractors for their back yards, go pick up another truckload of free chickens, and watch local backyards become populated with chickens and children dive into oology.  Here is a great recording on how backyard chickens can fuel a food revolution, from Sustainable World Radio. With the Urban Chicken Movement having opened many doors I think we should take advantage of it and step into a more local, sustainable economy. . .beside that, if you have your own chickens you can eliminate the hormones and antibiotics which are creating their own cycle of problems on mass scales that they are being used and going into our bodies, and the earth, and the water . . .and . . .and . . .well, it is one place to start.

The good news is we have 27 new chickens that we are starting out getting used to our place. Soon we are going to see how free ranging will work with them, despite cats and critters. Animals are an integral part of a permaculture system, and it would be nice to have them walk through the garden and eat the cut-worms off of the tomatoes.

CSA June

 I snapped a few pictures this week before the CSA boxes went out. The veggies are turning out beautiful. Last week we got a comment that one of the CSA members didn't want to eat her lettuce because it was so pretty.  The only editing done to the pictures is cropping. We scaled down the number of shares this year, so it is a small number to assist in gaining experience without adding that overwhelmed we-are-trying-to-do-everything-sustainable-in-one-year feeling . . .

Radishes and beets. Zoe put a lot of hard work into weeding the lambs quarters out of the beets so that they could get their sunlight.

Basil, one of my favorites. The Basil is companion planted next to the tomatoes to help keep insects away.  The basil is picked before it flowers, because flowering can change the taste.




Chives

We have a few varieties of lettuce going.  I only snapped pictures of two.

Green onions

Flower bouquets are part of the CSA as well.  The sunflowers have really taken off this year. There were a lot of herbs this week. We included mint and spearmint too. Mint is very self-sufficient as a plant and is very happily spreading this year. We planned a mojito night last week to use up a bunch of the mint. I also enjoy adding mint leaves to ice-cube trays before freezing. Zoe made watermelon mint granita . . . m m m m mmmm

earthship TN, aquaponics, and occupy chicago

Phoenix and I recently got back from some travels and are digging back in on the land back here at mooncatlife. A friend that I met at the Earthship build in Guatemala, Marcus, went to the new Earthship Academy and is starting a simple Survival Model Earthship.  I wanted to see how he was going about it, help get it started, and be around other Earthshippers and Earthshipper wannabees.

At Marcus' build in Tennessee we got to help level, help with some of the layout, lay down plastic, and start pounding some tires. I picked up a number of little tips from Marcus and decided that the Earthship Academy seems like a good idea. I will be looking to see if I can make that happen some time in the future. The Academy is pretty new, previously there had been internships, but with the academy classes  more in-depth information is offered. Marcus recommended the Earthship Academy, he says that one will get out what one puts in, and there is a lot to learn.

On our drive back from Marcus' build I drove past a hydroponics store. I decided to stop through because Carlisle had told me that he thought the closest hydroponics store to our home location is Rockford, which I believe is a few hours drive. In the hydroponics store I asked a few questions and learned that supplemental nutrients are, as one might assume, mined. However to avoid supplemental nutrients one can include fish in the system (aquaponics) and the waste and bacteria that are formed feed plants. I am new to all of this and wanted a reference. The man at the store handed me a book that he said is so good that he re-reads it every year. The book is Aquaponic Gardening by Sylvia Bernstein. I love this book so far! It is easy and fun to read as well as very thorough.

After Tennessee I had planned to go to Chicago a bit to put out some flyers and promote the upcoming Touch For Health Kinesiology conference. In putting flyers around I learned that having a price on flyers can limit options as far as where you are allowed to place them. Phoenix and I made a visit to Reba Place Intentional Community, where we were staying when she was born, and had a chance to catch up and connect with a few people. I would like to teach TFH kinesiology to this community and we are going to set up a time to come back so that I can work on some people there.

 Our third night in Chicago we met up with a friend who is involved in the Occupy Chicago movement. I got to attend one of the meetings and see what is going on with the movement. I will not go into a lot on here right now but was told first-hand stories of violence toward protesters (one woman got pulled away by her hair and thrown in jail, others were targeted . . .  )
anyway, it seems that the call for change and empowerment that the Occupy movement is calling for is something that many people are feeling right now. There are many ways to express this and I identified with one person who wanted to take the movement into urban gardening. I am excited to watch where that goes.


 I searched for a Permaculture documentary to watch online while washing the dishes a couple of days ago. I had an odd assortment pop up by association and ran across a documentary called The 1 Percent, produced in 2006.  I was fascinated with the premise especially since my recent introduction to Occupy Chicago.  There are so many questions right now about the wealth gap and empowered people. I think that perhaps we are beginning to see that capitalism breeds certain extremes. I am not calling for a full on movement to some stereotypical failed communism but an openness toward cooperation, movement away from the fear mindset. Muhammad Yunus tried to salvage capitalism (because, he says, non-profits are limited in structure) and has some very interesting ideas that have produced amazing results.

people and frogs

I am very much in a place of appreciating the people who have come to be a part of the land here with us lately. I am reminded about how the native americans believed that no man/woman could own land, but as I watch people here I see that nature owns a place in all of our hearts.  I really needed the encouragement that I am receiving lately in all of these people that are passionate about veggies, dirt, and caring for the earth.

This past week we released the tadpoles/tiny frogs into a pond nearby. Zoe and Bill have come from Chicago to play here, dig in some dirt, engage with some plants, help with the gray water planter, watch the Venus transit, help put gutters on an outbuilding connected to used poly-tanks for water for the plants, finish the chicken enclosure, jam out around the campfire, oh, and so much more.  Zoe made vegan banana peanut-butter "ice-cream" that we ate as a break last night from our bottle and cement planter. I have recently learned that it takes way too long to try to harvest my own sand . . .there is a quarry in a local town that I bought some sand from and things are moving so quickly now!

We have had other interesting visitors as well lately including Carlisle who, along with a friend, got a hydroponics project going at his college nearby. He sketched this out for me and I have all sorts of plans running through my head now . . .

Billy has some experience with bikes and has been fixing up one that we found on the curb. It has also been interesting to hear about his explorations into some of the grasses that are around the property.

We are getting ready to take off to Tennessee tomorrow to help a friend of mine to build his survival model Earthship. Taura is driving with Phoenix and I. I met Taura at Independent Scholars in Moline when I talked about Earthships. She said that she was surprised that someone around here was interested in them and I am now trying to convince her that she and her boyfriend don't need to move to California to live in a co-op/alternative community and explore Earthships and permaculture . . .

 Beautiful thistle at mooncatlife with a red-winged black bird behind. I love the sound that red-winged black birds make. We live close to the river, as well as the fact that there is a lot of clay in the north-west corner of our property, causing water retention that these marsh birds like.

  Flowers, peppers, chives, mulch, and free river rock

We officially have the double-hammock up. Siesta and a good place for watching the sunset.

 Releasing the tadpoles with Bill and Zoe.

 If you look closely you can see a frog who has made this broken jar his home. We are reading The Borrowers to Phoenix right now. I can just see a tiny Arriety peeping into this frog's home.

 Ducklings and momma. This is at the nearby pond we dropped off the tadpoles at. Phoenix thought it was adorable to watch the ducklings speed across the water.

may pictures

I came back to . . .

tadpoles in the living room. Jerome and Phoenix found some outside in a puddle after a large rain, they figured the puddle would dry up so they got an aquarium off of craigslist and we are now raising tadpoles inside--very exciting. They like boiled lettuce.

 Phoenix by her tadpoles

ripe strawberries, Jerome did such a good job mulching around some of these, but they definitely need a  lot more work

 my favorite bib that Phoenix had when she was a baby said "give peas a chance"

 onions

garlic scapes

 lettuce in their beds

 the asparagus are up and we just planted them before I left, I planted those puppies pretty deep too

chives

 my climbing rose has flowers

 lots more radishes

a small amount of blueberries, but exciting to see it producing (the blueberry bush in the hoop-house seems to be thriving compared to the one outside, but both are doing well)

 a few red currants (we already ate some)

 some young raspberries (in the hoop-house)

flowers on the blackberry bush (in the hoop-house)