A giant London Plane Tree. It is one of a number of beautiful European trees that according local stories were planted at the instigation of Victoria's famous Baron von Muller.

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This post is about using Plane Tree leaf mulch to make vegetable gardening easier and less weedy. Introduction As children, we often encountered the fluffy stuff from the crushed fruit of Melbourne’s ubiquitous London Plane Trees. We quickly learned its properties and called it ‘itchy wool’. We did not tryRead More →

DIY solar kettle emptying and filling

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A DIY solar kettle for free boiling water This post is about a cheap but effective DIY solar kettle that can make plentiful boiling water for hot beverages using just the power of the sun. Note: This post is n two parts. The first is my established simple direct heatingRead More →

Solar PV array (up top). Eevacuated tube heat collectors for hot water service (below). Top of solar kettle (low down to the right of centrer.

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Green stuff is about my various home environmental projects that may interest fellow greenies.Read More →

This big flame is created from damp bush sticks by augmenting the combustion with a jet of air from a tiny USB blower fan.

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This article describes a 125g USB fire blower that can burn damp wood sticks for outdoor cooking and other purposes. The blower is described elsewhere on my website as part of other projects. However, I felt the USB fire blower deserved it own dedicated post.Read More →

Hybrid blower stove with rocks placed beside the exhaust port to provide support for a second pot. The nearest rock also acts to keep the hot gas and flame away from the blower fan/battery unit under windy conditions (as does the 'wing wall' in a formal double pot blower stoves).

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Introduction A hybrid double pot blower stoves is described where a single pot stove is supplemented with suitable rocks to form a hybrid double pot blower stove that can simultaneously simmer a second pot while boiling the first pot. Introduction In my range of blower stoves, I have double potRead More →

Lightest USB backpacking stove gently simmering a pot of water in the second pot over a hole blower stove

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This article describes the lightest wood stove that can burn damp wood sticks and simultaneously cook in two pots. The small blower unit and battery (~75g) is all that needs to be carried to provide 2-3 hours/battery or more cooking time for two pots. The blower unit also doubles as a tool for rapidly starting camp fires under difficult conditions.Read More →

DIY rapid set cement used to make a strong fill for a welding tool

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This post is about how I use a simple DIY sodium silicate to make DIY rapid set cement (~1.5h) without having the mortar ‘go off’ before it can be placed in the mold. Introduction I use portland cement/sand mortar as a filler for many of my projects. It is; simple,Read More →

Lightest backpacking stove. A two pot blower stove formed in a small trench cut into the ground.

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This article describes the lightest wood stove that can burn damp wood sticks and simultaneously cook in two pots. The small blower unit and battery (~75g) is all that needs to be carried to provide 2-3 hours/battery or more cooking time for two pots. The blower unit also doubles as a tool for rapidly starting camp fires under difficult conditions.Read More →

Releasing a stubborn twist cap with steam from a coffee machine.

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Stubborn screw cap release This post describes the use of steam from a coffee maker to rapidly release stubborn screw cap jar lids from home-preserved foods. Introduction to the screw cap release problem If you use ‘used screw cap jars’ to preserve fruit, jams, jellies, soups and pickles you mayRead More →