You can build your own solar panel with this Mother Earth News blueprint. This solar heat box attaches to the outside of a windowsill to harness the sun. This easy-to-follow blueprint includes photographs, wiring instructions and airflow diagrams. Includes a list of materials and step-by-step instructions for a successful DIY project.

You can read more about the solar heat grabber here.

DISCLAIMER

It is your responsibility to make sure that any project you undertake is safe, effective and legal for your situation. All Ogden Publications blueprints are offered AS IS for information and entertainment purposes only. No warranties are expressed or implied. By using this information or this blueprint you agree to hold Ogden Publications harmless from any damages or injuries of any kind that might result from errors, omissions or other causes.

The first step into a new craft can be overwhelming: Where to start? What tools to buy? What projects to begin with? Thanks to author and internationally acclaimed woodcarver Chris Pye, this guide is filled with everything a beginning woodcarver needs to know.

Pye's Woodcarving Course & Reference Manual is akin to having a one-on-one course with a master carver. You'll learn what to look for in a workbench, the importance of commissioning your carving tools-there's more to it than just sharpening!-and how to make exacting cuts and execute a variety of techniques. Like any good instructor, Pye includes practice exercises to make you comfortable with the tools and techniques, so you can build your skills and carve with confidence.

Pye's conversational teaching style will encourage you as you follow the step-by-step instructions and work on a number of motifs, as well as projects for low, high and pierced relief, and in-the-round.

With Pye's help, you'll learn to carve:
• Four types of molding
• A beautiful koi project in three levels of relief carving
• A realistic baseball cap in-the-round
• A charming wren in-the-round

Assemble this wood-gas generator from recycled water heaters. Convert an internal combustion engine (100-cubic-inch or greater displacement) into your own home energy system or use the generator to run a truck. This blueprint includes materials list, step-by-step instructions and black-and-white photos. Advanced mechanical and metalworking skills recommended.

DISCLAIMER

It is your responsibility to make sure that any project you undertake is safe, effective and legal for your situation. All Ogden Publications blueprints are offered AS IS for information and entertainment purposes only. No warranties are expressed or implied. By using this information or this blueprint you agree to hold Ogden Publications harmless from any damages or injuries of any kind that might result from errors, omissions or other causes.

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From a lakeside cabin to a hilltop farmhouse, from an urban brownstone to a suburban ranch — any house can be beautified with decorative pieces crafted from found bits of the woodland landscape, such as pine cones, moss, bark, twigs and river rocks. Artist and author Marlene Hurley Marshall shows you how to use responsibly collected materials to create stylish wreaths, frames, furniture, collages, potpourri, birdhouses, garden pots and much more. Featuring luscious photography by Sabine Vollmer von Falken, Woodland Style gives you the inspiration and instruction you need to enjoy the peace and beauty of the woods and meadows in your own home.

About the author
Marlene Marshall is a painter/collage artist, arts educator, designer, and author of Making Bits and Pieces Mosaics (Storey, 1998), Shell Chic (Storey, 2002) and Woodland Style (Storey, 2010). For more than a decade, Marshall has been conducting studio art classes in mosaic and shell design applications, as well as the visual arts. She frequently lectures at museums, art schools and private clubs along the East Coast. She also designs and consults with communities on outdoor mosaic projects for public walkways and parks. Marshall has appeared on both the Home and Garden and DIY networks. Her work has been exhibited and sold in galleries and museum shops throughout North America. She lives in Hudson, N.Y.

Do you have questions about woodworking? Spike Carlsen has the answers! Woodworking FAQ has everything you want to know, whether you're a beginner planning your first project or an experienced crafter putting in cabinets or making furniture. This book is like a master carpenter standing at your elbow to answer questions as they arise, including: How do I make base molding fit tightly on the inside corners? How do I prevent splintering on the end of a board when I rout it? How do I taper cut a table leg? Is there any way to take the wobble out of a chair without taking the whole thing apart? With its comprehensive information, friendly question-and-answer format, and convenient lay-flat binding, Woodworking FAQ will be the most important tool in your workshop.

Increasingly, we want to know where our food comes from, who grows it and how it is grown, and interest in permaculture, backyard composting, and gardening in general, is growing. So how does the budding gardener ensure that the soil is healthy and nutrient-rich enough to support growing some great food? One answer — worms! Vermiculture is the healthiest and most cost-effective way to ensure that your soil receives the nourishment that it needs. A simple vermicompost bin can produce completely natural, nutrient-rich fertilizer that can be used to boost soil health and, in turn, increase crop yield. In true Crystal Stevens' fashion, Worms at Work is a practical, easy-to-implement guide to fertilizing and enriching your garden naturally. It discusses the vital role worms play in boosting soil health, and the reasons why every gardener should use vermicompost in order to decrease reliance on toxic synthetic fertilizers. Covering simple designs for building your own vermicompost bin, whether for a small backyard garden or for a larger farm or homestead, to the care and feeding of worms and how to use worm castings in the garden, Worms at Work will help you put YOUR worms to work to grow happy, healthy plants in happy, healthy soil.

This is the story of a man, a cow, and a question: What am I eating?

After realizing he knows more about the television on his wall than the food on his plate, award-winning TV producer and amateur chef Jared Stone buys 420 pounds of beef directly from a rancher and embarks on a hilarious and inspiring culinary adventure. With the help of an incredibly supportive wife and a cadre of highly amused friends, Stone offers a glimpse at one man's family as they try to learn about their food and ask themselves what's really for dinner.

Year of the Cow follows the trials and tribulations of a home cook as he begins to form a deeper relationship with food and the environment. From meeting the rancher who raised his cow to learning how to successfully pack a freezer with cow parts, Stone gets to know his bovine and delves into our diets and eating habits, examining the ethnography of cattle, how previous generations ate, why environmentalists and real food aficionados are mad for grass-fed beef, why certain cuts of beef tend to end up on our plates (while boldly experimenting with the ones that don't), and much more.

Over the course of dozens of nose-to-tail meals, Stone cooks his way through his cow, armed with a pioneering spirit and a good sense of humor. He becomes more mindful of his diet, makes changes to his lifestyle, and bravely confronts challenges he never expected; like how to dry beef jerky without attracting the neighborhood wildlife to the backyard, and how to find deliciousness in the less-common cuts of meat (like the tongue and heart). And at the end of each chapter, he shares a recipe.

By examining the food that fuels his life and pondering why we eat the way we do, Stone and his family slowly discover how to live a life more fully, and experience a world of culinary adventures along the way.

Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening offers detailed step-by-step instructions to mastering this method (hint: it’s impossible not to succeed, it’s so easy! All you need is a windowsill or two.), tools and accessories to have on hand, seeds and greens varieties, soil and compost, trays and planters, shelving, harvest and storage, recipes, scaling up to serve local markets, and much more.

Most first responders will tell you that, during the first hours, days, and sometimes weeks of a mass casualty disaster, they will not be able to immediately help everyone. Overwhelmed by people in need of medical care, food, water, and shelter, the emergency response system quickly breaks down. You must be prepared to take care of yourself and the people you care about for an extended period of time. The world we live in is unpredictable. Natural and man-made disasters can occur anywhere at any time. Hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods, fires, civil unrest, chemical spills, and blackouts are constant threats to our safety and well-being. When the unimaginable becomes reality, you may find yourself without electricity, food, water, gas, or any means of communication. The last thing you want to be without is a plan. Your emergency game plan is your disaster preparation and response guide. Its purpose is to provide you with confidence in knowing what to do before, during, and after any potential emergency or disaster. It will provide you the peace of mind that comes with, knowing you are prepared to keep your family safe. Start now to create a clear course of action for your family. You may not be able to control everything, but you can prepare for anything.

Twenty years ago Joel Salatin wrote You Can Farm, which has launched thousands of farm entrepreneurs around the world. In those 20 years, Salatin’s Polyface Farm progressed from a small family operation to a 20-person, 6,000-customer, 50-restaurant business, all without sales targets, government grants, or an off-farm nest egg. With these two decades’ worth of experience as a full-time farmer under his belt, Saladin has decided to build on that foundation with a sequel to his original book, thereby providing readers a graduate-level curriculum. Everyone who reads and enjoys You Can Farm will benefit from this additional information. Located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Polyface Farm serves as a germination tray for new farmers ready to take over the 50 percent of America's agricultural equity that will become available over the next two decades. The farm stands as a beacon of hope in a food and farming system that’s floundering in dysfunction: toxicity, pathogenicity, nutrient deficiency, bankruptcy, geezers, and erosion. Speaking to that fear and confusion, Salatin offers a pathway to success, with production, profit, and pleasure thrown in for good measure.