Donating Property to Charity: Dos and Don'ts Last Updated Aug 17, 2009 1:28 PM EDT A recent article about real-estate donations in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription required) advises charities to be extra careful when accepting donations of property, because in this lousy market, real estate can be more work than it's worth. However, the article notes that 2 to 3 percent of all charitable donations involve property -- and many of those are win-win. So what guidelines should you follow if you want to donate? Do: Consult with a financial planner to gain the maximum tax benefit. © 2009 CBS Interactive Inc..
The Urban Homestead at a Glance | The Urban Homestead® - A City Farm, Sustainable Living & Resource Center, A Path to Freedom towards Self-Sufficiency Jules Dervaes sold his 10 acres in rural Florida and purchased this "fixer-upper" home in the mid-1980s at a reasonable price by California standards. Sorely neglected by years of being occupied by renting tenants and located in a low income neighborhood, the home was in bad need of repair (and, heck... we ain’t kiddin‘... it still does in most places! Just sayin’) and the yard was a combination of broken asphalt, large concreted areas, weeds, Bermuda grass, chalky "adobe-type" soil, and a few rather pathetic “landscape” plants. before and after photos You will not find movie stars on this set, but we do have our own cast of characters and enough daily dramas here on the Urban Homestead model to be more than interesting. Thousands of people zoom by on the freeway in their own little automobile cocoons. Over the years, we have documented our progress in our journey towards becoming self-sufficient in a densely urban setting with charts, diagrams and stats. House Size: 1,500 sq. ft. Animals
How to Build a Rotating Compost Bin in 4 Easy Steps November 30, 2007 12:00 AM Composting can be incredibly simple: Just pile up some food and yard scraps, and turn it with a pitchfork now and then. But if you want to speed up the process and keep it rodent-free, a rotating bin is worth a weekend of labor. Once assembled, fill it two-thirds full with scraps, moisten with water and rotate every few days. Step 1 Mark an opening on the side of a food-grade barrel using masking tape. Step 2 Attach the door to the barrel: Use screws or bolts to fasten metal hinges or make a flap hinge from scraps of bicycle inner tube. Step 3 Make two X-shaped stands using pressure-treated 2 x 4s or scrap lumber. Step 4 Attach a wooden turning lever to the end of the barrel using large sheetmetal screws or a couple of bolts.
Learn how to build solar panels from scratch You will need a power inverter to make your solar power system do anything useful in your home. Batteries push out DC energy. All modern home electrical equipment uses AC current. Building solar panels from scratch is simple and completely doable. If you know where to get the parts and equipment to build the parts cheaply then you will be looking at spending less than $200 to get your home made solar system up and running. So if you think you have what it takes to build your own solar panels from scratch then by all means do it and save some serious money while you're at it.
Build a Wood Burning Stove ....................-- Build Your Own Wood burning Stove --..... Here is a wood burning stove you can build yourself and it works good. I heated my house in Wyoming (sole heat source other than solar) for years with this stove and now heat my house in Utah with it. I used a hot water tank and some flat sheets of steel and a big nut and some bolts to add some character to the door.. ............... I wanted a horizontal stove that I could also cook on if needed. It is thick enough that it hasn't ever warped and fits snug against the stove, since the handle assembly (arrow) and pulls it tight against the front of the stove.
How to Can, Freeze, Dry and Preserve Any Fruit or Vegetable at Home Home canning, freezing and preserving, whether it is jam, salsa, applesauce, apple butter, pickles or whatever, is easy; with these simple, fully illustrated directions with detailed tips and tricks. Save money, eat healthier, with no additives or chemicals... and with much better taste! This page provides the links to our illustrated recipes and canning* directions - so easy ANYONE can do it, along with a multitude of other recipes, guides and canning instructions. For safety, these recipes closely follow the USDA recipes, Ball Blue Book and/or those provided by major university extension services. Whenever possible, instructions also are provided to allow you to choose the options that are important to you; such as types of cooking equipment or choices in sweeteners: honey, Stevia (in a prepared form like Truvia, it measures same as sugar; if you use another form, you'll need do your own conversion) - or Splenda, if you prefer, , Stevia, fruit juice or sugar. United States Contents:
How to Build a Rainwater Collection System: 9 steps Steps Method 1 of 4: Getting Rain Barrel Supplies 1Obtain one or more water storage barrels. You can buy a water storage barrel online, but it's cheaper to get a used one from a company that uses large barrels to store food and other merchandise (just be sure to clean it thoroughly with soapy water). A rain barrel can also be made from a large plastic trash can. 2Get additional supplies to turn the barrels into a water collection system. Method 2 of 4: Building a Rain Barrel Platform 1Level an area right next to your downspout. 3Stack concrete blocks on top of the pea gravel. Method 3 of 4: Adding the Spigot and Overflow Valve 1Drill a spigot hole in the side of your barrel. 4Make an overflow valve. Method 4 of 4: Assembling the Collection System 1Connect the downspout elbow to the downspout. 4Connect the additional barrels. Tips Ad Warnings Water collected from some rooftops will also contain chemical components from the composition roofing.Many parts of the earth receive 'acid rain.'
How to Build a Food Dehydrator - DIY When I first took up self-reliant country living in the 1960s, I tried drying foods in a sandwich of old window screens laid at a sun-facing angle across a pair of sawhorses, but found that Mother Nature dries slowly in our changeable New England weather. I also tried an antique sheet-metal wet-heat corn dryer designed for wood-stove-top use, but its single, rusty-hardware cloth tray left barbecue-marks on the apple slices. Plus, it was too small to keep up with our kids' hearty appetite for dried delicacies. In the 1970s I gave in to progress and got one of the MacManniman's big yard-square electric food dryers. For two decades, its gentle electric heat preserved apricot halves and apple sections for babies to teethe on, along with other fruits, fishes and meats. But in time the plastic screen on the racks snagged and frayed, and the oversize box got creaky from being hauled from cellar to kitchen and back. Ready-Made Drying Racks Know those telescoping half-window screens? The Top
Step-by-Step Earthbag Building This Instructable explains each main step of construction for building vertical earthbag walls. Videos on my Earthbag Natural Building YouTube channel demonstrate the process. For those who don’t know, earthbag building uses polypropylene rice bags or feed bags filled with soil or insulation that are stacked like masonry and tamped flat. Barbed wire between courses keeps bags from slipping and adds tensile strength. The final plastered walls look just like adobe structures. I got involved with earthbag building when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Southeast Asia in December, 2004. Our websites at EarthbagBuilding.com and Earthbag Building Blog explain just about everything you need to know for free. The following instructions assume you have cleared and leveled the site, removed topsoil, positioned fill soil around the building site to minimize work, dug a trench to stable subsoil, put about 12” of gravel in the trench, and added corner guides and stringlines.
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