So, how grassroots do you get with other stuff?

I realized lately that we've been getting more and more "grassroots" with everything at the house (doing it ourselves instead of buying it). First it was cooking dried beans instead of canned (which super easy, super cheap, and much tastier!), then it went to a composter, and it just kept snowballing.

The best one yet though? Deodorant. Yep, the armpit sauce. Mrs. Javelin started brewing our own. Now, I'm a smelly wrench monkey, so I'm a good test, and this stuff actually works, and well. The best part for me though is that it doesn't itch and it doesn't stain my dress shirts for work.

Recipe

What do you grassroots and how? We like trying other stuff!

I am trying to do more. Making pickles tonight.

93EXCivic wrote: I am trying to do more. Making pickles tonight.

Shoot, I totally forgot about canning! We made a E36 M3-ton of jam in spring and will be doing pickle relish in a week or so. And the whole growing a giant garden thing. (I have to admit it's fun to go "pick a snack" from the back while in the middle of a wrenching session on the Javelin).

does stripping my place to the studs and rebuilding, room by room, by myself.. count?

mad_machine wrote: does stripping my place to the studs and rebuilding, room by room, by myself.. count?

Damn straight it does! Where's the build thread?

Javelin wrote: I realized lately that we've been getting more and more "grassroots" with everything at the house (doing it ourselves instead of buying it). First it was cooking dried beans instead of canned (which super easy, super cheap, and much tastier!), then it went to a composter, and it just kept snowballing. The best one yet though? Deodorant. Yep, the armpit sauce. Mrs. Javelin started brewing our own. Now, I'm a smelly wrench monkey, so I'm a good test, and this stuff actually works, and well. The best part for me though is that it doesn't itch and it doesn't stain my dress shirts for work. Recipe What do you grassroots and how? We like trying other stuff!

Re: Beans--pressure cooker. Buddy of mine has a lot of Brazilian friends, a pressure cooker prepares dry beans in a fraction of the time.

http://flavorsofbrazil.blogspot.com/2012/04/recipe-pressure-cooker-beans-feijao-na.html

I wish I could do more on the house. I've discovered I'm a horrible carpenter. Can't drive a nail straight to save my life. OTOH, we shopped for clothing at thrift stores before it was "cool". We were doing pretty good with the garden before she went on the overnight shift..seems that I have a brown thumb, and she doesn't have the time or energy to do it all herself (or lead my dumb backside through it). We didn't even plant this year. If I can find a job before this fall, I'm considering taking up hunting again--but that's more about our concerns about the quality of factory farmed meat, rather than about saving money.

I might have to dry the de-funktifier.
We've been Grassrootsing things since I lost my job a few years ago, 2 years of unemployment taught us a lot. We garden now, clip more cupons, I get 175 miles per gallon driving to work, compost, many of our groceries are purchased from a co-op (organic), the list goes on.
Oh, there was my solar collector project that I think I'm going to ramp up soon-ish. Instead of cable we have a computer with a tuner card. I can watch anything I want and only have to pay for the internet.

Javelin wrote:

mad_machine wrote: does stripping my place to the studs and rebuilding, room by room, by myself.. count?

Damn straight it does! Where's the build thread?

Just wait till I buy my boat next year... grassroots sailing

We garden and compost, can a bunch and do a lot of home cooking - although that's cheating since I'm a trained chef.

I do as much as I feel comfortable with in terms of household repair and maintenance, though I'm not good with household electricity or HVAC, but I'm learning - replaced the fan motor on my dead condensing unit last week! I've built several rustic/industrial/contemporary shelving units for the house, which fit our aesthetic quite well, and we're in the planning/acquisition phase of a major upstairs redesign/remodel.

I'm doing a lot of the build-out in my new shop, including building my brick oven and restoring my 40something-year-old French mixer.

On the non-sport side of motoring, I drive a 24 year-old truck and do all the repair and maintenance, and I work on my own motorcycles (when it's not 120° in my garage).

Oh, and I work on/build my own guitars and try to fix stuff for my bandmates to save everybody a little money.

I'm glad we all agree this is Grassroots, instead of just being a cheapass.

I made this:

I designed it, cleared the lot, worked with the foundation crew, framed it with two other guys, worked with the roofer and the electrician, installed all the doors (27, if I recall correctly) and windows, put down the subfloors, installed the sinks, vanities, toilets, shower and tub, the kitchen cabinets, painted the interior, did all the trim and railings, installed all the appliances, built the decks, laid the brick sidewalk and landscaped everything.

I farmed out the well and septic system, insulation, drywall and taping.

We broke ground the day after Thanksgiving and moved in the second week of April.

When I was all done and grew some grass, I designed and built this:

It's worth noting that at the time that I built the house, I didn't own a truck, so I used one of these (mine was white):

This:

Made me want this:

Javelin wrote: I realized lately that we've been getting more and more "grassroots" with everything at the house (doing it ourselves instead of buying it). First it was cooking dried beans instead of canned (which super easy, super cheap, and much tastier!), then it went to a composter, and it just kept snowballing. The best one yet though? Deodorant. Yep, the armpit sauce. Mrs. Javelin started brewing our own. Now, I'm a smelly wrench monkey, so I'm a good test, and this stuff actually works, and well. The best part for me though is that it doesn't itch and it doesn't stain my dress shirts for work. Recipe What do you grassroots and how? We like trying other stuff!

Tell me about the deodorant. Is is sloppy? does it dry? Is it closer to a roll-on or dry stick?

It's not sloppy. It really does have the consistency of frosting. It's ind of like using a gelstick or a roll on. You just rub it in a little and voila! I have really hairy armpits, so for me it's been especially useful as the sticks tend to just mat the hair down. It dries when you leave it out and put it on. Washes of nice and easy in the shower.

Only on this board will we discuss hairy armpits and deodorant. Thanks Jav! I might just make me some.

I build and repair my own cameras, develop my own film. I assemble but do not yet build my own bicycles.

I'd love to learn how to pickle, maybe later this year. Pickles are the best, and there are so few pickled varieties of vegetable in the store!

Im hella stingy, so yea. Unless I don't have the resources, I'm grassroots with everything for the most part.

Woody wrote: I farmed out...............drywall and taping.

Smart man, smart man you are.

DrBoost wrote: Only on this board will we discuss hairy armpits and deodorant. Thanks Jav! I might just make me some.

My mother recently had her 86th birthday. She grew up poor & in rural NC. I've heard her tell of using baking soda alone as pit food way back when.

before we moved to TX I had a NICE compost pile going, also made my own laundry detergent that worked pretty well... also tried some DIY dishwasher detergent.

also filmed the church announcements... used my DSLR with aftermarket firmware for better control, a $27 lav mic (that gave some good audio quality after a little tweaking of the EQ settings in post), and a mix of shop and pan lights and white posterboard as bounce cards for lighting and got some amazing results...

Since we're on the subject how do you go about doing a compost pile? I need compost for dummies...

Datsun310Guy wrote:

Woody wrote: I farmed out...............drywall and taping.

Smart man, smart man you are.

I never found dryway and taping that hard.. and I have to admit.. I like making dust when sanding it down

Woody wrote: I made this:

I am beyond impressed. Seriously. Awesome.

I have the GRM sickness myself. I am currently breaking up a portion of my driveway to replace some underground drain pipe. Everything I know about the project came from the Internet, and I am saving hundreds if not thousands of $$$. Plus I get a sense of satisfaction in doing it myself and I got a new sledgehammer.

I have to fix the toe on my left foot, and since I paid to have the right one done, I know what to do and how to do it. Hmmmmm.....

I'm repairing old tube amps (guitar and HiFi) in my basement. I'll be building my own '50s Fender Champ amp (5F1; for your amp code nerds!) without a kit, just buying parts.

We renovated the whole house with cash and my labor - tile, showers, floors, everything. Recovered the existing deck.

We also bought some land to eventually build Castle de 4CF - we already planted about 40 shrubs - every spring, Home DepLowes has tiny 1 qt shrubs on sale for about $5 or so. We planted a small nursery on the land this spring. By the time we're ready to build, we will have well established mature shrubs to transplant - voila - instant landscape for only a couple c-notes!

trenched and re-laid my sump pump waste line when it broke up and wasnt flowing well - Pros quoted $4k, me and the FIL did it for $217

I can cast my own car parts - I think that should count, yes?

Ive also been seriously considering building a DIY rainwater colelction setup, and a solar power collector to supplement the house.