Here we are, here we go

I found a book years ago that put me on this path. I will have to find it now, but is was something along the lines of "control your food supply". Luckily I grew up canning food with my mother and grandmother so the seed was already planted, so to speak. I started doing other things to achieve a sustainable lifestyle, baking my own bread, growing more of my own food, raising chickens etc.

Most recently I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, which is Gluten Intolerance. This translates to no food with wheat, barley, rye and for the most part oats. It gets complicated to buy processed foods at the store or eat at restaurants. Life has given me some hurdles recently that put road bumps in my journey of food control, but after the diagnosis it hit home that now more then ever I need to control my food before it controls me.

There are so many things people can do, even in an urban environment, to achieve control of your food supply, from top to bottom. Do a little or go all the way, I promise all of it will be fulfilling and you will have a better connection with the foods you eat.

The topics near and dear to me, that will be discussed are - local, sustainable agriculture, vermicomposting, composting, growing food, edible gardening (gardens can be pretty), preserving the harvest, baking and cooking Gluten Free foods that taste like food, farmers markets, CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture)......I am sure I will add to this list over time.


Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Worm Composting / Self Cleaning Rabbit

Ok, this is actually something I did years ago. Funny enough I have run across it reposted on a couple worm composting sites after I posted it several years ago. This is an idea I had, sketched out on a scrap of paper for my carpenter father and this was the result. I told him how I need it to function, dimensions I was shooting for. He brought me furniture. This is rabbit cage/worm bin I could put in the freaking living room, however it still lives in the basement or the garage.

Here is the ALMOST Self cleaning rabbit cage / Worm Composting Bin. I think with a few tweaks it could be brilliant. Hell I thought it WAS brilliant until I lived with it's function for awhile, now it is just a decent idea. I will go into the "flaws" later.


This is the overall view of the unit. Rabbit cage on top, worm bin underneath, pretty basic. A few keys are the "trap door" or scraper unit underneath the cage. This stops stuff from falling into the bin constantly. When I need to "clean" the cage, I open the drawer underneath, take the lid off, push the bin back underneath the cage then pull out the trap door. Everything falls into the bin (thanks to the built in "funnel" Dad built in underneath) then I put the lid back on the bin. This is key, I didn't want to keep the bin "open" as I have it indoors and bottom line if you are using ANY manure in a bin, you will eventually have flies, so the lid is essential.

Here is a better photo that shows the three parts.

Another key is the bin is built into a large drawer on wheels. This is a LARGE rubbermaid bin and full of worms and materials it is heavy. This makes it very easy to handle.

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