Eight Acres

 After I started using a shampoo soap instead of shampoo in a plastic bottle, I really wanted to make a conditioner bar as well. This was after I tried NOT using conditioner, but it became pretty obvious that conditioner was necessary for my hair. I wanted a plastic-free option, so I tried a condition bar, and then of course I wanted to make my own. I hesitated about making a conditioner bar because I struggled to find "natural" ingredients. Eight Acres is all about handmade, natural and sustainable, and it wasn't easy to find a conditioner recipe that would work. However, I eventually decided that close enough was good enough if I could also help people to reduce their plastic consumption and offer a conditioner bar to go with my shampoo soap bar. What is conditioner? Conditioner works by smoothing the hair’s cuticle, which strengthens the hair shaft, preventing breakage. Hair that has been washed without conditioner feels dry, brittle and static. The key ingredient i...

 Chickens are really easy to look after. They only need a few things - somewhere warm and dry to sleep and lay eggs, regular access to feed (grain + grass) and fresh water. Until recently we were using the old style grain feeders and a bucket of water in each chicken tractor.   ( We did make a chicken nipple system a few years ago, but had trouble with algae growing in the jerry can water reservoir. ) Trying a different feeder.... A few months ago, while we were in the depths of a mouse plague (which has now moved south, sorry NSW!), Pete and I were desperate to reduce the amount of grain our chickens were spilling. We had tried a treadle-type feeder before, but most of our chickens couldn't figure out how to use it. I had bought some PVC plumbing to make a feeder, and some chicken nipples for the waterer, but not made it yet (over a year and counting). So I decided to invest in a two sets of Dine-A-Chook feeders and waterers to see if they would help us with the mice. ...

 I first bought a slow cooker after our first experience butchering a steer at home. Unfortunately, we didn't know that we should try not to stress the animal before the butcher came, we weren't horrible to him, but we did keep him in a small pen by himself overnight so we were ready for the butcher. This change in routine meant that the meat was incredibly tough and the only way to eat it was to slow cook most of it.  ( I have learnt a lot and written a lot about butchering since then, see more posts here )   That was about 10 years ago, and since then I've had the slow cooker going most weeks, for casseroles, curries, roasts and stock. Its turned out to be a very convenient way to cook, even if the meat isn't tough. And I have mostly used it to cook meat, apart from the occasional soup (and even soap !). I wrote about using my slow cooker back here. I also like to use other "low and slow" cooking methods to release the flavour - the solar oven and our...

 We have been talking about getting solar for about 10 years and last week our electrician came to set up our new system. I'll tell you all about the system that we chose, but first a bit of background. A bit of background When we first started looking at solar around 2011, our electricity bill was paid by my employer, so there was no incentive or cost saving for us at the time. I did read our electricity meter and work out the size system we would ideally need. And at the time the feed-in tariffs were high, so it was tempting, but we decided to wait. I wrote some analysis at the time here , and the calculations might still be useful if you are considering solar. We lost that electricity payment at few years later, but by then we knew we were moving to Cheslyn Rise eventually, so there still didn't seem any point investing in solar. Also the feed-in tariffs had significantly reduced by that time. We briefly considered a full solar option for Cheslyn Rise, but at the time...

 As Australian summers seem to be getting hotter and electricity prices are increasing, we need to look for passive techniques to keep our houses cool instead of reaching for the air con remote.  For those living off-grid, this is always a consideration.  When you understand how heat gets into your house, the solutions are clear, and there are a number of options to suit all budgets.  We moved a 100-year-old house on to our property about six years ago and took a number of steps to ensure that we would not require air conditioning, even though it had been essential in our previous house nearby. Heat transfer There are three ways that heat is transferred from the outside to the inside of your house in summer (and in reverse in winter): conduction, convection and radiation.  Conduction is heat transferred through the materials of your house.  First the cladding or the roof heats up, and that heat is conducted through to the interior walls.  Convection ...