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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (7868)	6/15/2008 10:04:30 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 24213

I still need a grain mill... Hi Will, That article was timely, because I have been intensely studying this issue lately. I always say that I have a foot in two worlds. One is in the world of technology, in which I am looking for solutions to mitigate the difficult situation I see in front of us. The other foot is back on the farm, where I am getting prepared for survival. I consider that my insurance policy in case things deteriorate rapidly. Primary question is on making your own flour. Wheat grows well in my area, but I have never attempted to grow any. I wouldn't really know how to turn it into flour. Can you fill me in? Do you just grind the wheat? What do you grind it with? Also, do you have air conditioning? That is the primary obstacle I see in getting people self-sufficient in energy (beyond the costs). I grew up without AC in SE Oklahoma, and it's not all that much fun. Just wondering whether that's an issue for you in summer. Edit: I see you addressed the AC question in the comments following the article. Have you ever tried to figure out how much solar it would take for you to run your AC? Thanks, RR == Jon Kutz on June 14, 2008 - 7:47pm Grinding wheat to flour is quick and easy. I buy my wheat in 6 gallon pails (wheat = hard red, hard white and soft white) and bake most of my bread in a top of the line bread machine with a whole wheat program. Quick and easy and I have never had a failure. Most of the time my bread is 50% hard red + 50% hard white. Cookies and cakes are mostly 50% hard white and 50% soft white. I would never go back to that store bought white bread. Follow the link for infor on the grain mill I use and also some others: pleasanthillgrain.com == Will Stewart on June 14, 2008 Robert, There are a number of grain mills on the market; powered vs. manual, stone vs burr vs impact, etc. Stay away from the cheap ones, you'll grow tired and frustrated fast. I have the Country Living Mill, which is one of the best, but the Family Grain Mill also did well in the Walton Grain Mill Comparison. I haven't attempted to calculate A/C as a solar load, though I do have a 2 ton SEER 16 unit. The well and refrigerator are my biggest loads, and we had power to spare when grid power went out last week for 3 days when the storm with high winds blew through. The rest of the time, I'm net-metered, spinning my meter backwards when I'm generating more than I'm consuming at any given moment theoildrum.com