Inaka Life 田舎の生活: Muscovy Ducks

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Muscovy Ducks

Through the internet I've met some interesting people here in Japan. Not a bad apple in the bunch. Some were hitch-hiking the length of the country, some are on pilgrimages. Others are starting farms , homesteads, trades, even villages and trying to live as simply as possible, slowing down, perhaps dropping out, but never giving up. Occasionally in life you get to meet someone who walks the walk. Thanks to the good people at http://journeytoforever.org/index.html we are able to take part in a journey. One that we should all be on, to live more in tune with each other and our home, than against. Their extraordinary website has provided inspiration for thousands of people all over the globe to undertake their own journey to forever. Good luck wherever your journey may take you!

Muscovys are more known for their meat than their eggs

New extra large coop for the extra large Muscovys

5hrs and 13,000 yen later. It's the best I've made so far

http://journeytoforever.org/index.html

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some background

We've been living in our present home in the mountains of central Hyogo for 8 years. I'm trying to slowly evolve our lifestyle into a more green or energy efficient one . Some parts such as food and transportation are very difficult to say the least. Others are simple.

Our best efforts in efficiency are through heating/cooling. Our home has no central heating or cooling system. We heat 90% with local wood, usually scavenged for free or almost free. We also run two kerosene heaters for short periods, using about 10L per week. Cooling is through ceiling fans in almost every room.

Our latitude is the same as Tennessee, with very wet, hot, humid summers. We also see a good amount of snowfall due to proximity to mountains and the sea. Summer high temperatures are usually 35C/95F , 80%humidity. Winter lows are usually -5C/ 23F. The coldest I've seen here is -10C/14F. Summer temps indoors are usually 25-30C/80-85F. Winter temps indoors 15-20C/ 60-70F.

We use electric for cooking, hot water and of course lighting. We average a little over 600KWH usage per month. Less in summer, more in winter. Our hot water is through a very efficient "eco- cute" heat pump. We also enjoy "candlenight" once per month, this is very fun.

In cooler months we use greywater from the bath to do laundry. 2 washloads can be done from one bath. We probably do over 50% with greywater per week. Oct-May. Greywater pumps are standard on most washers here now. All laundry is line hung, usually indoors in a dedicated drying room.

I am currently trying to produce a percentage of the food we eat. Of course this goes up in summer and down in winter. Now we are at perhaps 5-10%(in season) of food produced, which is better than nothing. How high I can raise this remains to be seen.

It only takes 1 meal per week out of 21 (3meals per day X 7 days in a week) to equal 5%. ONE MEAL. If your homegrown ingredients only account for 1/2 the meal, then 2 meals per week. It is that simple. It adds up to substantial savings, even taking into account outputs such as gardening/farming supplies. There is nothing more satisfying for me than to eat a homecooked, homegrown meal.

In other areas I am slowly working on a small solar power system, and hope to install a small wind turbine in the future. These will be used for outdoor/recreational lighting or emergencies. Eventually I would like to get the house lighting onto these sources.

Inaka Life 田舎の生活

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Muscovy Ducks

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Post a Comment

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