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  • From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Technology, was Tractors was: A homestead plan
  • Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:06:08 -0400

Equally ironic that most authors now publish their work online for zero
income, fame but no fortune.

We are all stuck in some moment of time. We choose which moment to
linger in. It is not all black and white.

Don may like machinery, but if I recall, his place in California had
raised beds and were not worked by a tractor.

We all may be homesteaders, or wannabees, or used to bes, or just
interested parties, but we all draw the line on technology and
innovation somewhere. It may be based on health, the lay of the land,
the job at hand, or finances.

I've got a decision to make about a dishwasher. When we moved here
almost 11 years ago, there was no dishwasher, so I handwashed. About 8
years ago, we got a dishwasher and it was great because it was an easy
way to clean up the milking mess and sanitize bottles. Last Christmas
the dishwasher too a dive, and I've been handwashing every since. I
save my evening dishes to wash in the morning because the warm water
helps my fingers and hands loosen up. It is like therapy. I understand
what James is saying about scything and exercise. Obviously dishwashing
is not scything, but it is therapeutic.
So today I had my friend here and we were canning-see my blog for
details, and she very sweetly, decided to wash dishes for me in between
projects. She thought hand washing was a pain in the ass and made a
comment that when I get my dream house I would have a brand new
dishwasher, to which I replied, "maybe". I am so torn on this silly
issue of whether or not to put a dishwasher in my dream house. I'd like
to keep the electricity using appliances to a minimum. I'd like to have
the added cabinet space. I like the theurapeutic spa massage of the hot
water in the mornings. On the other hand, having a dishwasher would
allow me to spend more time with family and visitors and less time in
the kitchen. I could easily heat and hold canning jars. It would be
nice to use a machine every once in a while...like a luxury.
It is really stupid to obsess over a dishwasher. I have a clothes
washer and dryer. I have a refrigerator and two freezers. The
dishwasher just seems like a lazy woman's way out, which is definitely
not true. If you have well water, you still have to dry the water spots
off the dishes, so there is nothing lazy about it. I don't know that I
buy the argument that they use less water than hand washing. Hand
washing is a personal thing and people do that differently. I guess it
all boils down to another item that uses electricity.

In my dream home, which is an earthsheltered home with the kitchen on
one side of the front(south-east facing passive solar design) I will be
taking a minimalist approach in an open design. A dishwasher just
doesn't fit in the plan, but perhaps by the time I am 10-15 years old(in
my 60's, that dishwasher might look like a great thing. Oh well.


There is always technology. The question is, how much of it do you
choose to use. Do you write with a pen, or a pencil, or do you even
write at all anymore?


Bev




Gene GeRue wrote:
Don: Let me start this by saying I am a gear head, I like
machinery.
James: Let me start by saying that I detest machinery and would gladly live in a world without it.

I find it ironic that this discussion, replayed several times over
the last fifteen or so years, is conducted using machines.

--
Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the ocean's depths, MY son is
protecting your freedom on the USS Key West, currently deployed
somewhere in the Pacific and/or Indian Ocean. Go Navy!
EarthNSky Farm, NW Georgia, USA






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