Homestead

Chickens, Greenhouses, Consulting

I’ve suffered from seasonal allergies for over 15 years. When I was a teenager, I had prescription-strength nasal spray, eye drops, and pills (Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra). All of these were somewhat helpful in addressing the symptoms I encountered: sneezing, itchy, puffy, watery eyes. When it got bad, I would rub my eyes so much that they would swell shut.

On Health, Honey:

A few years ago I started paying attention to eating healthy foods (non-GMO, organic, that sort of thing) and one of the topics that came up was that of eating local, raw honey to combat seasonal allergies.

Friday, 05 December 2014 17:34

Product Review: Berkey Water Filter

We have been using our Royal Berkey Water Filter for 10 months now, and I wanted to post some quick feedback.

Where we live, most of our neighbors have well water.  Our place is one of the "lucky few" to have city water.  So, when people used to come over and drink our tap water, they usually made "that face."  They tasted the chlorine right away.

We have been using our Napoleon 1402 wood-burning insert in our home for over 1 year and 7 cords of wood.  The stove is able to heat our entire home (~1800 square feet) down to about 30 degrees (F); below this, and the propane needs to kick in to help out.  The stove typically runs at between 300 and 500 degrees (F), and we leave the blowers on high at all times.

Overall, very happy with the stove.  We had it cleaned and the flue liner did not have any "bad" creosote in it, meaning that the insert kept burning at a high temperature and stayed fairly clean.  About once a week, I open up the damper and let it get nice and hot for an hour or so... just as a maintenance thing.  Here is a photo of inside the firebox, after removing the baffles.  You'll also see that some of the bricks were cracked, probably from trying to cram logs in that were a little too large (16" firewood is what you want with this particular stove).

  • “Defiance, not obedience, is the American’s answer to overbearing authority.”

    – Ayn Rand

     

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