Hi Alokin,

We did our own kitchen and it is not as hard as you might think. In our building diary there are a number of entries relating to the kitchen that will give you a bit of an idea. We used structural ply for both the carcas and for the fronts. The fronts are covered with 3 coats of water based varnish and we have no issues with water. The…[Read more]

Vestfrost may be one of the better fridges on electricity consumption available in Australia, but it is far from best when it comes to what is available in Denmark. When we moved to Tassie we brought with us a new fridge from Europe (made in Denmark). The brand is called “Gram” and the electricity consumption 380 w per day, or 138 kw per year.…[Read more]

Hi Alokin,

There’s been a thread before on converting a chest freezer to a fridge which will make it a lot cheaper to run. Have a look at this link and maybe you could get some ideas. Space is probably the biggest issue, especially if you have a set place for the fridge and not much chance of shifting things…[Read more]

We basically built the system and then put the plants in. Immediately after the plants came in we had a water truck delivery of fresh water that we put into the first and second stages of the reedbed (as there are plants in both of them). When putting the gravel into the first stage we also put a bag or two of blood and bone to give the plants…[Read more]

It makes sense for Council to make you size the system for the house. What if you sold it – how would the new owners know that it couldn’t handle their larger family? Or what if your family grew?

I would agree with thepoolroom and have no problems about the size of the system. Better to be on the safe side. We’re only 3 people in the house, but…[Read more]

Geir

Wow..Your’s is a work of art and huge compared to what I calculated we needed.

We’ll have no black water in ours. Just bathroom, laundry and kitchen. I calculated in the ball park 250 liters day will go into it.

I’m hoping to not have to have a septic tank. I hope I can just take the water in to a surge tank. One that slows up the water…[Read more]

We’ve got one and using it for both grey and black water. Have a look at these entries in our construction diary:

http://www.pipshy.com/diary/Diary46.html and

http://www.pipshy.com/diary/Diary47.html

If you have any particular questions, just PM us or contact us through the details on our website.

Very happy to answer any questions.

Cheers,
Geir

Welcome Crowquin.

We’re down in Cremorne, so shouldn’t be too far away. A GTG sounds like a good idea Tassie.

Cheers,
Geir

And the final one

Here is the next picture…of the greenhouse, shadehouse part.

Hi again,

Doubling up would be overkill as the 190mm x 45mm in F17 is standard to hold any roof up for a span of 3 metres. But if you have the money to spend…..noone will stop you 😀

As for our glasshouse, well it does not have any glass yet, but happy to post a couple of pictures anyway. As you can see we are converting a 40 feet container…[Read more]

Hi Porgey,

I’ve just finished off the framework for a greenhouse where the opening on the north is 3 metres wide (will eventually have glass there, but for the moment it will stay open). The beam between the post is 190 x 45 seasoned hardwood (F17 rating) which complies with Australian standards.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Geir

If you are interested in strawbale building, there are lots around on the web to have a look at, including our construction diary for our own house:

http://www.pipshy.com/diary/diaryindex.html

Not sure if it is that much cheaper to build with straw – most certainly isn’t if you are getting contractors in to do it – but if you are handy you can…[Read more]

We were very happy with our solar dryer last season and hope we will be able to use it just as much this year, if not more.

You can have a closer look at the construction process here:

http://www.pipshy.com/diary/diary124.html

Good luck.

Cheers,
Geir

Kerrip – it might work, but then I think it would need a lot of insulation around to keep it warm. At the moment the slots at the bottom is to draw in air in order to get a flow that will transport the moisture out of the box.

I would like to build a solar cooker one day too, but too many other things that need to be finalised first !

Cheers,
Geir

Hi Herbman,

Haven’t been on for a long time so didn’t see your tassie plans until now. Sorry to hear that you’ve cancelled the cycling. I was going to offer to cycle up Mt Wellington with you – haven’t done it yet and figured it could be good to be two. I quite often cycle to work now (27 km) and it is really nice to get into it again.

Anyway,…[Read more]

Herbman,

I constructed a solar dryer which we used for lots of zucchini last year. We still have some in the pantry from last season. Generally we just rehydrate them in hot water and use them in pasta souces etc. We have actually found that they become almost better than fresh zucchini as they have a bit more texture even when rehydrated and…[Read more]

My partner makes a beetroot relish she is very fond of with the following ingredients:

1.25kg beetroot
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups brown sugar
1 red onion finely shopped
1 tsp crk peper
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp table salt

Method:
Grate, combine and boil 30 mins until syrupy

Cheers,
Geir

Ayla, depending on where in Brisbane you are, it probably should be possible to get old water tanks and cut them into segments. We have done this for all our garden beds and we’ve only paid a carton of beer to have one of them delivered. Otherwise all free. Easy to do, and self supporting.

Have a look HERE and you can see what they look like.

We…[Read more]

Not really worried Metu as we are still about 4 metres above sea level and there is probably about 2.5 metres from the current lagoon level to the house 😀