Thoughts about rainwater collection and making sauerkraut
It seems to me that whenever it rains on a Monday, it's easy to stay in bed or in front of a computer screen a little bit longer. We're not just having rain right now but thunder and lightning. Peculiar as I often relate storms to evening and night time. I made a hearty mushroom and seitan with potatoes and onions for breakfast. Green tea and cherries. Grey skies and a photo in the garden while the first rain comes down.
The 275 gallon water catchment is full. We really need to get some more. Often I think of the possibilities of what we can do with rain water that has been collected. Stored in cisterns in the basement and sent up via pump for toilets. Indoor hydroponics systems. Of course watering the garden. So much water is wasted or unused. Once upon a time, deep in thought, I was thinking about the water cycle and it dawned on me, we are drinking the same water the dinosaurs drank, we are of each other. This spun off into saved memories in water, childhood puddle stomping and playing for hours in our bathing suits in the rain and the smell of worms.
Back to water collection though. Since I am completely rehabbing a house and we're down to the studs, why not use some of that wall space to create filtration systems that replicate naturally occurring ones? Through the usage of plexiglass, sand, charcoal and gravel, the interior walls of our home could filter rain water directly from the roof and be potable. The city of Detroit has been shutting off people's water for years now. The water rates keep rising and people can't afford it. If we were able to modify homes to not need city water as much, if at all, how marvelous would that be? I also like the idea of using empty space in walls for something extremely important.
I chopped up three heads of cabbage the other day
Then I salted and crushed it layer by layer.
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In a few weeks I'll have sauerkraut. I added more weight this morning while breakfast was cooking. The liquid is perfect right now.