Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net>]

I am sorry to say I only now got to see your mail written a week ago. This new computer is doing strange things such as hiding incoming mail.

Our rocket stove was made the classical way from a 40 gallon barrel. I put another 50 cm of the same sort of barrel on top of this by means of cutting slits in the bottom of this about an inch long and hammering these tight around the top of the first barrel then firming this up with a galvanised metal  ring used for keeping the top on a plastic barrel from the same dimensions. Cut a section out of this oven part and gave it a firmly fitting hinged door made out of the remaining part of the second barrel.

Practical problem was that the nuts or heads of the little bolts I used for hinges and locking system would have prevented closing it tight so I drilled neat holes in the oven body to acomodate these.

A layer of cob/lime was applied on the oven body above the metal ring and we now have something that can bake our daily bread. Only problem is that there is no thermostat and you need to keep an eye on things or you may burn said bread. It is fantastically efficient but takes a good bit of learning. Such as never to have a door on the North side open while the fire is going or smoke comes in. Any other direction makes no difference to the fire.
John

On 08/12/14 15:04, l kelly wrote:

COL130-W623D7B92A8E4EDF1EF672CA4640@phx.gbl" type="cite">

Hello,
Glad to hear, John, that you built a rocket stove-mass heater.
I cannot express how satisfied we are with the same in our home in Arkansas.  We burn so little wood now.

> Built a rocket stove- mass heater + oven for cooking and finished a
> compost toilet today. Soon the place will be liveable.
 
You say "+ oven" and I'm curious as to if you mean you integrated an oven into the stove somehow.  I can imagine it, perhaps.
I built a separate outdoor wood-fired oven (out of cob) and am also extremely satisfied with that.
  I've attached it to two cob stove burners (like little rocket stoves, only I cook over the heat risers) for summertime cooking.
The outdoor oven and stove are under a generous roof, so cooking in the rain isn't a problem anymore.
Before I finished these projects, I cooked over a mostly open fire and used a camp stove in emergencies.  Since the cob oven/stove was completed last summer, we've never needed the camp stove again.  It's wonderful, and very thrifty with fuel.
 
I find that the baked goods I can produce in the cob oven are an excellent supplemental income at our winter farmers market here.  In fact, I sell way more baked goods than produce in winter, even though I have a greenhouse and hoop house that produce plenty.  Right now I have parsley, cilantro, green onions, kale, beets, chard, lettuce, parsnips, snow peas, fava beans, the Mediterranean herbs, kohrabi, radishes and of course, lots of spinach.  Northwest Arkansas (zone 7a) can be kind for winter farming, though last year's negative degree lows pushed our limits.
 
We also use a sawdust composting toilet based on the Humanure Handbook http://humanurehandbook.com/.  I recently sent a sample of the resulting fine-tilth compost to our local extension office and will be glad to relay results when they arrive. 
 
Good tidings to all the small farmers breaking water trough ice and chopping wood.
Laura
 
Winslow, Arkansas

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