Sunday, December 31, 2023

Saturday, August 5, 2023

Bushcraft and Survival Garden (updated)

 

Dawn in the bush


We live in the bush and have created a garden that was unheard of in these parts. In fact, the old timers thought we were crazy (26 years ago). Cultivating wild flowers, greens and vegetables along with domestic greens and vegetables. Enriching the soil with what is around us, starting apple trees, doing it all by hand with the help from tools we've made. Simply. Leaving a light footprint. 

We live in the "working forest".  Logging, ranching and mining. Consuming.


We call it bushcraft gardening. I suppose you could call it survival gardening because that is how we survive.

diy greenhouse
Our tree limb greenhouse. 150lbs of tomatoes

Since we've been here the winter temperatures have gradually risen. We don't see a week or two of -30 or -40 anymore. When the cold began to move into our cabin anything on the floor froze.   

It might get down there for a few nights now. We might get a week or two between -20...-28 with a -18 in there. Still cold but it's an easier way. How fragile we are.

.
We're more relaxed now
. We still live in our 800 sq foot cabin. We would not live anywhere else.

Fruit trees have been difficult but now we have a small orchard. Between moose, deer, bears, voles and mice it has been a challenge.


Honey bees have been emotionally draining because they die from causes we can't control.  We don't raise them now. Instead we've been cultivating our relationship with wild bees. Every year there are fewer. This year we had bumble bees. The 5 or 6 species of wild bees usually pollinating our plants were missing.. We've been using a feather trying to pollinate


Growing our own food has taught us about survival. In between frost, hail, bear, moose and deer, birds, rabbits, mice, voles, bugs, hillbilly pigs, the dreaded free range cattle and the government spraying herbicide over the forest we try to relax. The boreal forest is filled with animals that want almost everything that we grow.
raising children in a healthy environment


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's a young adult now. 

After a judo tournament he skyped us,

" My body is aching, my fingers and toes skinned

My face hurts to touch and I can't make fists due to ligament injuries 

My spirit is unwavering 



Looking forward to getting my Nidan and making knives".

 

This gardening method is sustainable, organic and has very little impact  except birds, bugs, mice, snakes and worms have never had it better.

healthy food

It's a state of mind going into the wilderness with nothing but seeds and a shovel, an open mind, relaxed and keenly observing your surroundings with a sense of freedom and balance.

tomatoes, ppeppers and garlicEverything around you may have a use for your bush garden. Rocks act like sinks storing heat energy from the sun that can offset cool nights. They are fertilizers slowly giving important nutrients to the soil. They collect and trap water. They can also be protection from animals and cover for others, like toads.
That old stump – do I remove it, or can I plant a garden around it and let it slowly fertilize?
Heat sink rock wall
Rocks picked for a garden wall
now
survival garden

The fence is to keep out free range cows. For 26 years the free range livestock has been the greatest threat to our garden.


Rotten wood has got to be the supreme bush fertilizer adding organic material and fluffing up heavy soil.There are droppings from animals like deer, moose and rabbit which are good "on the spot" fertilizers.

Harvesting what you need with care and never taking more than 1/3 of anything.

wild mushrooms, boletestoad held in hands

Surviving with respect and again, with a light foot step
Those “weeds” or wildflowers – pull them out or cultivate them, let them flower to attract the bees.

If the location of your plot is covered with grass or weeds turn it over and leave it in place. It will decompose and become food for your plants.
fireweed
Fireweed shoots--Excellent greens


  Cultivate dandelions, wild onions, wild parsnip, lambs quarters,

We've been fertilizing by mulching with green grass (before it goes to seed) covered with an inch of sand then covered with rotten wood. We have some chicken manure that we fertilize beans and greens with. After the crop is harvested plant rye grass or Chinese vegetables. When the thick head is 6 to 8 inches high we turn it over.


a toad and our son
a young adult now learning about the city and people. The old timers are dead. It will be our 27th winter. Not much has changed here. We're older and still thriving in the bush. We wonder and ask ourselves.
the lake in nature

Regards,
Aki and Scott

Our business, http://www.caribooblades.com/

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Living with Energy from the Sun for 26 Years, what we have learned (update)

We all live here. Moose reflecting people

It almost feels like sun worship. Watching our garden grow, working, feeding our electricity habit and staying healthy by the sun. 

We live a low energy lifestyle and work in an isolated spot in the interior of British Columbia. Getting away from the geopolitical mess or at least putting a bit of head space from the mess of corruption and manipulation.

We started with two 85 watt panels and two golf cart batteries 25 years ago. Powered our 12 volt tv and a light. Now we run 3 small, independant solar arrays.

The smallest is made up of  a 75 watt panel fixed to our roof, facing south connected to a charge controller. The controller is connected to one 12 volt deep cycle battery. It powers a 12 volt light in the pantry, a 12 volt water pump from our well, a cd, tape player and radio.

solar panels on a tracker
A second system is made up of 4 panels (400 watts) mounted on a sun tracker 5 metres high that we built for less than $50. The panels are connected to a 40 amp controller that is connected to 4 x 6 volt deep cycle lead acid batteries. The batteries are connected to a 1750 watt inverter. The system is 20 years old. Two of the panels are 25 years old. The system runs electricity into our cabin and shop. It cost us $5000.


 

DIY solar tracker
500 watts of solar panel
The third system is made up of  5 panels (500 watts) mounted on a sun tracker 3 1/2 metres high we made for less than $100. The panels are connected to two 30 amp controllers that are connected to a 2000 watt inverter.  One controller has a disconnect from the batteries for charging automobile batteries. This system is 2 1/2 years old. The cost was $1600. In the years, since purchasing the last panels 20 years ago, the price of panels and inverters has come down 80%. The price of batteries has risen about 10%.

solar panel sun tracker


Sun trackers can provide a 45% increase in power. 

We built this one 20 years ago. It has been modified since then to hold 4 panels vertically.

the sun's energy


We live and work here. The trackers are manual. We turn them directly on the sun three or four times a day in the summer. Spring and fall, 2 or 3 times. In the winter they are static. Working with the sun. On dark winter days we run a 3000 watt inverter generator for a few hours, assuring everything stays rock hard in the freezer.

Besides lights, computers and the odd kitchen appliance, we power our shop. Our most demanding machine is the band saw with a 3/4 horse power motor. 


What we have learned to get the most from your solar panels is:

charging batteries and relying on that stored power is not the way to go. Battery technology is inefficient. For us stored power is just enough for lights and computers when there is no sun. When the sun is out we'll work. From March until October we have unlimited power for our needs. We work full time with smaller machines (10 amps and less) when the sun is out. The bigger machines we use intermittently and because of our lighter wiring we run one 3/4 horse machine at a time.When the batteries are charged and there is a 60% sun day the process is a lot more efficient. Solar energy flows through the panels. The batteries act like a conduit. Energy the inefficient batteries will not accept on a full sun day is the energy  we can use up.

After working in the shop, at the end of a day the batteries have as much charge as they had at the beginning of the day. If the day involved lots of heavy use, like using the table saw ripping or milling apple wood with the band saw  etc, all over 15 amps, then we would alternate system. Keeping the batteries charged.

Winter in the bush in chilcotin territory
Our shops

 

This power set up could be doubled, tripled, quadrupled... You would just need more. Heavier wiring, more wattage (panels), larger capacity controllers etc....

We help charge the batteries with a generator in the low sun months from November until the middle of February. We need to use a generator for machine power in the winter and on heavy load days in the early spring and fall. We slow our work right down in the winter. It works out.

Having two main systems that are interchangeable has proven to be a great asset in the low sun months. As one system is being used and discharges the other is charging.  

4.6 billion years old. The sun will start a transformation into a red dwarf in 5 billion years. Swallowing the earth, Mars...

Consider, the sun provides enough power in one hour than the planet of people use in one year.

We are fortunate to live and work with the sun. A few panels and batteries have worked for us. What we've paid for our 1000 watt systems, today, you could buy  6 or 7 times as much power.  A system of 5 or 6 thousand watts would pay for itself in 2 or 3 years if not sooner. 

It almost feels like sun worship. Watching our garden grow, working, feeding our electricity habit and staying healthy by the sun. That is the point. The sun. The most eye opening idea we've seen is the fact that the sun will supply everything human kind needs and more, it's staggering how much  more,


 

Regards,

Aki and Scott


www.caribooblades.com

 

 

Saturday, November 26, 2022

Chance For Peace


 

1953,  President of the United States...

President Eisenhower - Chance for Peace - Full 1953 Speech

how many chances do we get?

Friday, March 11, 2022

For Profit


 


 

 The link below leads to an article published by Bloomberg January 18th. We've posted it as well.  Everyone should read this if they are vaccinated with the Pfizer covid 19 vaccine. It is background to a report from the FDA published a few days ago. 

We've posted more information below the article as well.


https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/why-a-judge-ordered-fda-to-release-covid-19-vaccine-data-pronto

Why a Judge Ordered FDA to Release Covid-19 Vaccine Data Pronto

Jan. 18, 2022, 1:00 AM

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Food and Drug Administration asked a federal judge for permission to make the public wait until the year 2096 to disclose all of the data it relied upon to license Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine.

That is not a typo. The FDA wanted court approval to have up to 75 years to publicly disclose this information.

In its attempts to build public support for Covid-19 vaccinations, the FDA repeatedly promised “full transparency,” and reaffirmed its “commitment to transparency” when licensing Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine.

With that promise in mind, after the vaccine’s licensure in August 2020, Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, a group of highly credentialed scientists submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for the data submitted by Pfizer. The scientists explained that, until all the data is produced, a proper review cannot be conducted because missing even a single data set could throw off any analysis.

In response, the FDA produced nothing. Therefore, in September 2021, the scientists, represented by their attorneys at Siri & Glimstad, sued the FDA demanding it produce this data by March 2022.

The agency originally estimated it would need to produce 329,000 pages, and asked the court for permission to produce just 500 pages per month, which would have taken 55 years. In its final brief to the Court, the FDA admitted that the total page count was at least 451,000, but still sought permission to produce just 500 pages per month. Meaning that it could have taken 75 years, when most Americans alive today would be dead, to fully publicly disclose this information.

On Jan. 6, a federal court in the Northern District of Texas ordered the expedited release. As of Jan. 12, the FDA hasn’t indicated it intends to appeal.

Scientists Requested Data After FDA Licensing

The FDA licensed the Pfizer vaccine on Aug. 23, 2021, just 108 days after Pfizer started producing the records to the agency. During that period, the FDA asserts it conducted an intense, robust, and thorough analysis of those documents to assure the public that the Pfizer vaccine was safe and effective.

Yet, when asked to share those documents with the public, the FDA claimed it needed over 20,000 days. The FDA’s production schedule clashed with its promise of transparency.

The purpose of FOIA is government transparency. When it comes to the Pfizer vaccine, the need for transparency is unprecedented. A majority of Americans are now mandated to receive a Covid-19 vaccine under penalty of losing a job, or worse.

This has never been done before. Typically adult vaccine mandates have been limited; even the seminal U.S. Supreme Court vaccine mandate decision, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, only involved a state-imposed $5 penalty, and school vaccine mandates have historically had liberal religious or personal belief exemption policies.

Even more problematic is that Americans, if injured, cannot sue Pfizer. There is virtually no other product where a consumer is prohibited from suing the company that manufactures, markets, and profits from the product.

Decoupling a company’s profit interest from its interest in safety creates a moral hazard and departs from centuries of product liability doctrine. Thus, it is extraordinary that Americans must take this product under penalty of expulsion from work, school, the military and civil life, but they cannot sue Pfizer for any resulting injuries.

The federal government created this unprecedented situation. It granted the immunity, licensed the product, and aggressively sought mandates. This situation therefore warrants unprecedented transparency.

As then-presidential candidate Joe Biden told the American people, “You’ve got to make all of it [the vaccine data] available to other experts across the nation so they can look and see.” He repeated that need to share the data numerous times. So did senators and representatives on both sides of the aisle.

FDA Claimed It Can’t Comply, Judge Orders Compliance

The FDA apparently disagreed. During a hearing on Dec. 14, 2021, its counsel steadfastly maintained that the court should not require the agency to produce more than 500 pages per month, harping on the FDA’s purported limited resources, its need to redact personal information, and duty to protect Pfizer’s trade secret interests, all the while ignoring the interests of the American people.

The FDA’s excuses were incredible. The FDA has more than 18,000 employees and a budget of over $6.5 billion. It would be laughable if any multibillion-dollar company came before a court and claimed poverty to escape making a document production, but that was the FDA’s position.

U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman, Northern District of Texas, expressed dismay at the FDA’s proposed rate of production. He found the duration requested by the FDA unreasonable, comparing it to the actions of totalitarian nations. As such, the judge on Jan. 6 ordered the FDA to produce at least 55,000 pages per month.

In his ruling, the judge recognized that the release of this data is of paramount public importance and should be one of the FDA’s highest priorities. He quoted James Madison as saying a “popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy” and John F. Kennedy as explaining that a “nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

America has some of the greatest institutions of learning the world has ever known. We need the scientific community, both inside and outside the government, to address the serious ongoing issues with the vaccine program, including waning immunity, variants evading vaccines, and that vaccinated individuals can still transmit the virus.

The FDA’s attempt to close the door and lock out independent scientists from the data necessary to address these issues was irresponsible.

Transparent, Independent Review Is Needed

The failure of the government’s closed-door approach is exemplified by the fact that the FDA did not send a representative to the court hearing because, as the government attorney explained, the FDA’s Covid-19 protocols would not permit it.

Meaning, despite a reported vaccination rate of over 96% across federal health agencies back in November 2021, and the FDA’s claim that the vaccines are “effective,” Covid-19 is still disrupting everyday life. This brings into stark focus the need to open the door and involve independent scientists.

As Pittman recognized, America needs transparency and independent scientists to review this data—not in 75 years, but now.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Write for Us: Author Guidelines

Author Information

Aaron Siri is the managing partner of Siri & Glimstad LLP, and has extensive experience in a wide range of complex civil litigation matters, with a focus on civil rights involving mandated medical procedures, class actions, and high-stakes disputes. Twitter @aaronsirisg.

 


Pfizer made $40,000,000,000 extra last year.


Regards,

Aki and Scott

 

https://www.caribooblades.com  

Saturday, January 8, 2022

For What it's Worth

For the New Year. 


1. YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE
2. IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE NEVER HAVE A JOB
3. SOME PEOPLE ARE TOXIC AVOID THEM.
4. PROFESSIONALISM IS NOT ENOUGH (or THE GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF THE GREAT)
5. LESS IS NOT NECESSARILY MORE
6. STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED
7. HOW YOU LIVE CHANGES YOUR BRAIN
8. DOUBT IS
BETTER THAN CERTAINTY
9. IT DOESN'T MATTER
10. TELL THE TRUTH


Milton Glaser
 

A butcher was opening his market one morning and as he did a rabbit popped his head through the door. The butcher was surprised when the rabbit inquired ‘Got any cabbage?’ The butcher said ‘This is a meat market – we sell meat, not vegetables.’ The rabbit hopped off. The next day the butcher is opening the shop and sure enough the rabbit pops his head round and says ‘You got any cabbage?’ The butcher now irritated says ‘Listen you little rodent, I told you yesterday we sell meat, we do not sell vegetables and the next time you come here I am going to grab you by the throat and nail those floppy ears to the floor.’ The rabbit disappeared hastily and nothing happened for a week. Then one morning the rabbit popped his head around the corner and said ‘Got any nails?’ The butcher said ‘No.’ The rabbit said ‘Ok. Got any cabbage?’’

Regards,

Aki and Scott

www.caribooblades.com
 

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Living with Solar Power for 26 Years, What We Have Learned

We all live here. Moose reflecting people

It almost feels like sun worship. Watching our garden grow, working, feeding our electricity habit and staying healthy by the sun. That is the point. The sun.

We live and work in an isolated spot in the interior of British Columbia. We started with two 85 watt panels and two golf cart batteries 25 years ago. Powered our 12 volt tv and a light. Now we run 3 small, independant solar arrays.

The smallest is made up of  a 75 watt panel fixed to our roof, facing south connected to a charge controller. The controller is connected to one 12 volt deep cycle battery. It powers a 12 volt light in the pantry, a 12 volt water pump from our well, a cd, tape player and radio.

solar panels on a tracker
A second system is made up of 4 panels (400 watts) mounted on a sun tracker 5 metres high that we built for less than $50. The panels are connected to a 40 amp controller that is connected to 4 x 6 volt deep cycle lead acid batteries. The batteries are connected to a 1750 watt inverter. The system is 20 years old. Two of the panels are 25 years old. The system runs electricity into our cabin and shop. It cost us $5000.


 

DIY solar tracker
500 watts of solar panel
The third system is made up of  5 panels (500 watts) mounted on a sun tracker 3 1/2 metres high we made for less than $100. The panels are connected to two 30 amp controllers that are connected to a 2000 watt inverter.  One controller has a disconnect from the batteries for charging automobile batteries. This system is 2 1/2 years old. The cost was $1600. In the years, since purchasing the last panels 20 years ago, the price of panels and inverters has come down 80%. The price of batteries has risen about 10%.

solar panel sun tracker


Sun trackers can provide a 45% increase in power. 

We built this one 20 years ago. It has been modified since then to hold 4 panels vertically.

the sun's energy


We live and work here. The trackers are manual. We turn them directly on the sun three or four times a day in the summer. Spring and fall, 2 or 3 times. In the winter they are static. Working with the sun. On dark winter days we run a 3000 watt inverter generator for a few hours, assuring everything stays rock hard in the freezer.

Besides lights, computers and the odd kitchen appliance, we power our shop. Our most demanding machine is the band saw with a 3/4 horse power motor. 


What we have learned to get the most from your solar panels is:

charging batteries and relying on that stored power is not the way to go. Battery technology is inefficient. For us stored power is just enough for lights and computers when there is no sun. When the sun is out we'll work. From March until October we have unlimited power for our needs. We work full time with smaller machines (10 amps and less) when the sun is out. The bigger machines we use intermittently and because of our lighter wiring we run one 3/4 horse machine at a time.When the batteries are charged and there is a 60% sun day the process is a lot more efficient. Solar energy flows through the panels. The batteries act like a conduit. Energy the inefficient batteries will not accept on a full sun day is the energy  we can use up.

After working in the shop, at the end of a day the batteries have as much charge as they had at the beginning of the day. If the day involved lots of heavy use, like using the table saw ripping or milling apple wood with the band saw  etc, all over 15 amps, then we would alternate system. Keeping the batteries charged.

Winter in the bush in chilcotin territory
Our shops

 

This power set up could be doubled, tripled, quadrupled... You would just need more. Heavier wiring, more wattage (panels), larger capacity controllers etc....

We help charge the batteries with a generator in the low sun months from November until the middle of February. We need to use a generator for machine power in the winter and on heavy load days in the early spring and fall. We slow our work right down in the winter. It works out.

Having two main systems that are interchangeable has proven to be a great asset in the low sun months. As one system is being used and discharges the other is charging.  

4.6 billion years old. The sun will start a tranformation into a red dwarf in 5 billion years. Swallowing the earth, Mars...

Consider, the sun provides enough power in one hour than the planet of people use in one year.

We are fortunate to live and work with the sun. A few panels and batteries have worked for us. What we've paid for our 1000 watt systems, today, you could buy  6 or 7 times as much power.  A system of 5 or 6 thousand watts would pay for itself in 2 or 3 years if not sooner. 

It almost feels like sun worship. Watching our garden grow, working, feeding our electricity habit and staying healthy by the sun. That is the point. The sun.


 

Regards,

Aki and Scott


www.caribooblades.com