Tag Archives: weather

Optimism When It’s All Out Of Your Control

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by Texas Homesteader~ 

As I’ve mentioned many times before, our area of NE Texas is currently suffering through a third consecutive year of drought. 

Like many of our neighbors we’ve been forced to feed hay to our cattle for months due to the pasture grasses burning & dying in the below-normal moisture coupled cruelly with the above-normal heat.

While nervously eyeballing the amount of hay remaining that we’ve been able to put back for those lean winter months, we’re trying to look forward in making sure we have plenty to feed our cows until spring. 

Even after being hit with these hard knocks we’re still optimistic about the small amount of moisture promised in the next few days.

Circumstances may be out of our control, but it's with a renewed sense of optimism that we look toward the next season. #TexasHomesteader Continue reading →

Cooling Your Home Using A Whole-House Fan & No Air Conditioner

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Did you know you can cool the house quickly without using an air conditioner? A whole-house attic fan cools your home by pulling cooler air from outside throughout the house.

Likewise it can warm a house quickly by pulling warmer air throughout the house.

So each season can benefit with an eco-friendly whole-house fan instead of relying on an energy-heavy air conditioner.

Our whole-house fan in the attic cools the house quickly w/o using an expensive air conditioner by pulling cooler air from outside throughout the house #TexasHomesteader
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Solar Cooking: Dehydrating Garden Produce

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by Texas Homesteader
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I love my solar oven and I use it often. I love that it takes no purchased energy to run. And most of all I love that it leaves all the cooking heat outside where it belongs. 

Recently I began dehydrating overage veggies from my garden. I freeze them as well from time to time but dehydrating them looks pretty cool in my pantry. It also reduces the volume to store by quite a  bit and it works well for use in wintertime Endless Soups – my favorite application.

I decided to try to use my electric dehydrator trays to dehydrate in my solar oven – BIG MISTAKE! Although I left the solar oven’s lid unlatched so it wouldn’t get too hot inside the oven, it apparently doesn’t take very much heat at all to do this:

Did you know you could use a solar oven to dehydrate produce? Then they take no additional energy to store & take up very little space! #TexasHomesteader
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