Our First Rocket Stove

My wife had told me long ago, when we started plotting our self-sufficiency scheme, that she wanted a rocket stove to cook on in the summer months when it will be entirely too hot to keep a fire inside. Finally, after much delay, here it is! The Rocket Stove, v1.0!

All 23 bricks, as well as the entirely too heavy diamond plate steel were salvaged from under old barn shelters around the farm. Sometimes it really pays to come from a family that never threw anything that may possibly almost one day be useful. The construction was as simple as it looks, the only tricky part was setting the base right. Setting three bricks wide, with one and a half bricks running horizontally along the back sets the base right, and the other half brick will be placed on one side or the other of the front facing, to allow for the opening. After that, its as easy as stacking. I didn’t use any mortar for this first run as we’ll be moving soon, but for v2.0 I’ll mortar all of my joints, and likely find a minor thing or two that can be improved for our more permanent home.

This little stove heats amazingly well, with a remarkably small amount of fuel. We made lunch on it, using exactly two sticks of dry pine, and a handful of small kindling previously regarded as scrap as far as the wood stove was concerned. It truly is an amazingly simple way to effectively use as much heat that as little fuel as possible can generate, and you get the joy of being outdoors while you do it. I’ll have to look into figuring out a rocket mass heater someday now!

Until next time,

The Family at Whispering Trees.

Why we practice NFP

  Here I have compiled a list of all the reasons that my husband and I chose to practice Natural Family Planning.

1. It’s natural! I don’t have to consume strange chemicals that strip my body of its ability to do what it was programmed to do. I don’t have to wonder what “The Pill” is doing to my body. The fear of side effects never has to cross my mind.
2. Open communication! I have a lot of friends who are not comfortable talking with their spouse about  sex. Opening this door to communication has lead to Chris and I being more open with each other in other areas of our lives.
3. It’s cost effective! Not only are many forms of birth control dangerous to our health, they can also be expensive!
4. There are no side effects “coming off” NFP. Since NFP doesn’t change the way your body functions, you don’t have to wait for your body to regulate itself.
5. Because a couple practicing NFP intimately knows their fertility, they can get pregnant faster when they are trying to conceive.
6. Trying to avoid pregnancy with NFP is not as hard as it sounds! Once you get good at charting, no matter which method you use, it becomes second nature.
7. It is morally acceptable to us, My husband and I are both pro-life, and, to take that a step further, I am Catholic. Many forms of chemical birth control are known to cause abortions. Yikes!
8. It’s green! Chemical and hormonal contraceptives are polluting our water systems, leading to sex changes in fish, and many other nasties!

Do you practice NFP? If so, why do you?

Cloth Diapering the Frugal Way

If any of you know me outside of the blogosphere, you know that I am just a little crunchy (and getting more crunchy every day). However, I like saving money while I’m saving the planet. We are a one family income which means that the more trendy cloth diapers out there simply were not an option.

Even on Amazon.com the more inexpensive brands were still running at about $7.00 for a cover. Factor in the necessity for different sizes as baby grows (or the horror of having a big baby that didn’t fit the newborn sizes you bought) it adds up. Some of the covers were size adjustable, but they were still more than I was willing to pay!

My mom started talking about the diaper covers that she used to use when my sisters and I were babies. In all my searches of cloth diapering blogs I have never heard of them! They are called Gerber Waterproof Pants. They’re about $6.00 for a pack of four! They come in different sizes etc.

No, they are not fashionable, but they are functional! Not only do they work really well, but they fit under baby clothes a lot better than some of the other options out there!

After I bought those, I simply bought a ton of prefold diapers. You really are going to want a ton. Babies (especially breastfed newborns) go through a lot of diapers in one day-trust me on this. The prefolds take a little practice to master, but you can do that on a doll before baby gets here. Yes, babies squirm a lot more than a doll, but it will help you get the technique down before you’re dealing with a seriously miffed baby. My two month old STILL hates getting his diaper changed.

I don’t use safety pins like many people a generation ago used to use (that fear may be why people opt for the more expensive covers that hold the prefold in place). There is this cool little doodad called a Snappi that holds the diaper in place without the risk of a needle poke for either you or baby. Find them here:

If you would like tips on how to use prefolds this way, let me know!
Disclaimer: if you do follow the Amazon link and purchase through the link, I will receive a small commission.