Kyle’s Crazy House: Earthen Plaster on the Gnestle

Dancing Rabbit is the best place to see many examples of natural building first hand.  We have over 30 natural buildings in one place built from mostly local, natural, and reclaimed materials.  In this video, and the next few I post, I will be showcasing the buildings of Kyle Yoder, who’s lived at DR for several years and is known for the organic forms of his design.  One of the great things about natural building is the freedom it gives builders to think beyond the 90 degree angle.  Kyle’s just begun the finish plaster of his own home, the Gnestle, and we’re going to get a peek at his work and a little explanation from the builder himself.

Making Fire-roasted Salsa Over a Hardwood Fire

One of the canned foods I eat most of every year is salsa.  In the late summer, I get a bounty of tomatoes and other salsa ingredients pouring in from my gardens and I like to turn them into a good supply of salsa for the year.  If you’ve never had real fire-roasted salsa, you should try it sometime.  It’s like a different animal from store-bought salsa.  So much depth of flavor and a smokiness that liquid smoke just can’t replicate.  In this video I take you through the process of making it from scratch.

Trick for Doubling your Corn Harvest

For a long time I planted small plots of corn in my garden and was disappointed with the harvest.  Often the ears wouldn’t fill out properly, missing kernels in spots or not filling out to the end of the ear. This trick helped me get full ears nearly every time and effectively doubled my harvest of food.  There’s nothing better that sweet corn in summer, except maybe getting more of  it out of the same space.

My Story: How I Came to Live in an Ecovillage

Why do I think I can have a  channel called Hardcore Sustainable?  This is more of a personal video talking about my story and my motivations for moving to an ecovillage and making a commitment  to doing things the really hard, and hardcore sustainable way.  Given all the ecological problems facing the planet, we need to go further in our lifestyle activism.  Cooperation with others can  be  one of the best ways to make our lives richer while consuming less resources, and living in an ecovillage makes cooperation much easier.